A2 Media Studies: Representation

A2 Media Studies: Representation

1. Stereotypes

   • Judgements are made on the way people look.
   • These judgements are a part of life. and change over time. For example: Smokers used to be the height of sophistication whereas smoking is now a rather lower class thing to indulge in.
   • Quite often sterotypes are negative. This isn't always the case though because one stereotype is that Asians are good at Mathematics.

2. Power of Representation

   • The media can shape the thoughts and beliefs of people.
   • An Example of this is the way in which the Nazis made the Jewish seem in the Second World War.
     • This encouraged persecution and prejudice.
     • Led to the Holocaust that killed over 2 million people.
     • The media encouraged indifference and this was conveyed through propaganda.
     • The public came to believe that Jews were undesirable.

3. Gender Representation

   • In the 1950's and 1960's Women were almost always portrayed in the same way. Which is where the feminist movement came from.
   • Women were displayed as: Looking Attractive, Being a supportive role for the husband, being in charge of house work and children.

4. Representation of Ethnicity

   • Stuart Hall in the 1970's
     • Hall studied the representation of black people on British Television in the 1970's
     • He found that black people were represented in three ways.
       • The Faithful and Happy Slave.
       • The primative and cunning natives.
       • The Clowns and Entertainers
     • The 3 types of representation helped to reinforce ideologies of the time.
       • Such as slavery and colonialism is acceptable and that black people embrace and accept this hegemonic position