Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, Van Zoonen, Judith Butler

1. Representation 1: Stuart Hall
Strategies to subvert stereotyped media representations

2. Stuart Hall
• Stuart McPhail Hall (3 February 1932 –
10 February 2014) was a Jamaican
born cultural theorist and sociologist
who lived and worked in the United
Kingdom from 1951.
• Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and
Raymond Williams, was one of the
founding figures of the school of thought
that is now known as British Cultural
Studies or The Birmingham School of
Cultural Studies.[1]

3. Theories of representation
Since the 1960’s, many strategies have
been implemented in order to contest
what Stuart Hall calls a racialized regime
of representation.
Three of this strategies are presented by
him:
• Reversal of stereotypes
• Substitution of negative images by
positive ones.
• Attempting to make stereotypes work
against themselves.

4. Reversal of stereotypes
• Reversing the evaluation of popular stereotypes is not necessarily to overturn or
subvert it.
• Escaping the grip of one stereotypical extreme may simply mean being trapped in
its stereotypical “other” (or oppositional stereotype: women assuming male
stereotypes, black people assuming white stereotypes, etc.)

5. Substitution of negative images by positive ones
• Celebration of difference/diversity
and racial or gender hybridity.
• Based on positive identification,
rather than negative identification.
• Expand the range of gender or racial
representations and the complexity of
what it means “to be black in a white
world” or “to be a woman in a man’s
world” challenging the reductionism
of earlier stereotypes.

6. Substitution of negative images by positive ones
• Do these images evade difficult
questions, dissolving the harsh realities
of gender discrimination or racism into a
liberal mishmash of difference?
• Do these images appropriate difference
into a spectacle in order to sell a
product?
• Do these positive images
displace/replace the negative ones? Is
this actually positive or effective when
the intention is highlighting and
reporting on these issues?

7. Attempting to make stereotypes work against themselves
• This strategy makes
elaborate play with
‘looking’, hoping to
de-familiarise the
audience with the
stereotype, and so
make explicit what is
often hidden.
• It is not afraid to
deploy humour to
highlight the
exaggerations and
oversimplifications of
the stereotypes that
challenges and
contests.

8. Bring your own examples
• Can you find at least two examples of each one of these
representation strategies with regards representation of
women in the media (past and present)?

9. Representation 2: Paul Gilroy
Representation of race in the media

10. Gilroy
• Professor Paul Gilroy is a British historian, writer and
academic, who is Professor of American and English
Literature at King's College, London.
• Gilroy is a scholar of Cultural Studies specialised on
the Black Atlantic diasporic culture and its
manifestations in British culture.
• He is the author of There Ain't no Black in the Union
Jack (1987), Small Acts (1993), The Black
Atlantic (1993), Between Camps (2000; also
published as Against Race in the United States),
and After Empire (2004; published as Postcolonial
Melancholia in the United States), among other
works.
• Gilroy was also co-author of The Empire Strikes Back:
Race and Racism in 1970s Britain(1982), a path-
breaking, collectively produced volume published
under the imprint of the Centre for Contemporary
Cultural Studies at Birmingham University, where he
was a doctoral student working with the Jamaican
intellectual Stuart Hall.

11. Gilroy
• Theories of representations of race, ethnicity and
the post-colonial world.
• The concept of the ‘Black Atlantic’ draws attention
to continuities in the culture created by the
African diaspora across national boundaries, e.g.
in newspaper representations of black popular
culture.
• The concept of the ‘Post-colonial melancholia’
draws attention to the continuing role of colonial
ideology – of the superiority of white western
culture – across a range of representations in
newspapers.
Evidence that might support this theory includes:
• Examples of representations celebrating a
transnational Black culture (the Black Atlantic)
• Examples of representations that reinforce a white
version of Britishness and a view of the world that
reflects the British experience of empire and
colonialism.

12. Gender representation
Van Zoonen, Judith Butler, bell hooks

13. Representation 3: Liesbet van Zoonen
Representation of gender in the media
(feminist theory)

14. VAN ZOONEN
• In a patriarchal culture (Simone de Beauvoir), the
way women are represented as objects
(objectification/ Laura Mulvey) is different to the
representation of male bodies as an spectacle.
• Gender is performative – our ideas of femininity
and masculinity are constructed (Angela
McRobbie) in our performances of these roles so
gender is ‘what we do’ rather than ‘who we are’.
Gender is contextual – its meaning changes with
cultural and historical contexts (Judith Butler).
• Van Zoonen disagrees with arguments that the
internet, being based on collaboration, is a
technology that is true and close to women and
femininity. Van Zoonen believes there is a rich
diversity of ways that gender is articulated (on the
internet, for instance) in contrast to simple ideas
of an essential femininity.

15. VAN ZOONEN
Evidence that might support this theory
includes:
• Examples of representations centred on
objectifications of women’s bodies and
other patriarchal representations
• Examples of news that represents the
construction of gender (e.g. debates
about trans women).

16. Representation: concepts and terminology
Decontextualisation:
• Consider (something) in isolation from its context.
Instrumentalisation:
• The act of rendering something instrumental. The act
of direct, organize or adapt something.

17. Beyonce performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at
The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California.

19. The “This is how a feminist looks like” campaign

20. Apart from the obvious decontextualisation and
political instrumentalisation of the concept
feminism shown in the previous examples, some
other debates which imply ideological
confrontations have prompted from the media.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2827035/Scandal-62p-hour-T-shirts-
Shame-feminists-betrayed-cause-writes-ROSIE-BOYCOTT.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/feminist-t-shirts-made-
ethical-conditions-fawcett-society
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-
blog/2014/nov/08/feminist-t-shirt-scandal-ethical-problem-economic
Feminism: concepts and terminology

21. Representation of gender and feminist theory
Apart from the obvious decontextualisation
and political instrumentalisation of the
concept feminism shown in the previous
examples, some other debates which imply
ideological confrontations have prompted
from the media.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2827035/Scandal-62p-hour-T-shirts-Shame-feminists-
betrayed-cause-writes-ROSIE-BOYCOTT.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/feminist-t-shirts-made-ethical-conditions-
fawcett-society
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-
blog/2014/nov/08/feminist-t-shirt-scandal-ethical-problem-economic

22. Judith Butler
Judith Butler (born
February 24, 1956) is
an American
continental
philosopher and
gender theorist whose
work has influenced
political philosophy,
ethics and the fields of
feminist, queerand
literary theory.

23. • Gender is created in how we perform our gender roles –
there is no essential gender identity behind these roles, it is
created in the performance. Performativity is not a singular
act but a repetition and a ritual that becomes naturalised
within the body.
• Any feminism concerned only with masculinity and
femininity excludes other forms of gender and sexuality.
This creates ‘gender trouble’ for those that do not fit the
heterosexual norms.
• Butler is an important postmodern writer and has defined
Queer theory – theory which deconstructs and aims to
destabilise apparently fixed identities based on gender and
sexualities.
Judith Butler: Theory of Gender Performativity

24. Gender Trouble (1990)
• In her most influential book Gender Trouble (1990),
Butler argued that feminism had made a mistake by
trying to assert that 'women' were a group with
common characteristics and interests.
• That approach, Butler said, performed 'an unwitting
regulation and reification of gender relations' -
reinforcing a binary view of gender relations in which
human beings are divided into two clear-cut groups,
women and men.
• Rather than opening up possibilities for a person to
form and choose their own individual identity,
therefore, feminism had closed the options down.

25. Gender Trouble (1990)
Butler notes that feminists rejected the idea
that biology is destiny, but then developed an
account of patriarchal culture which assumed
that masculine and feminine genders would
inevitably be built, by culture, upon 'male' and
'female' bodies, making the same destiny just
as inescapable. That argument allows no room
for choice, difference or resistance.

26. Gender Trouble (1990)
Butler prefers 'those historical and
anthropological positions that understand
gender as a relation among socially constituted
subjects in specifiable contexts'. In other words,
rather than being a fixed attribute in a person,
gender should be seen as a fluid variable which
shifts and changes in different contexts and at
different times.

27. Gender Trouble (1990)
• Butler says: 'There is no gender identity behind
the expressions of gender; ... identity is
performatively constituted by the very
"expressions" that are said to be its results.'
(Gender Trouble, p. 25).
• In other words, gender is a performance; it's
what you do at particular times, rather than a
universal who you are.

28. Gender Trouble (1990)
Evidence that might support this theory includes:
• Examples of repetition of representations
reinforcing gender performances
• Examples of news that ‘queers’ gender norms.

29. Gender Trouble (1990)
“Gender is a performance and gender lifestyle
magazines provide the script for this
performance”
• To what extent do you agree with this
statement?

40. Man of the year Woman of the year

47. Suit Supply Shameless-III campaign for 2010

48. Suit Supply Shameless-III campaign for 2010

49. Suit Supply Shameless-III campaign for 2010

50. Representation 5: David Gaunlett
Identity and Media Representation

51. David Gauntlett
David Gauntlett (born 15
March 1971) is a British
sociologist and media
theorist. His earlier work
concerned contemporary
media audiences, and has
moved towards a focus on
the everyday making and
sharing of digital media
and social media, and the
role of such media in self-
identity and self-
expression.

52. “Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they’ve got one. Magazines and talk
show hosts urge us to explore our ‘identity’. Religious and national identities are at
the heart of the major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea of
‘identity’ in the modern society. Blockbuster movie superheroes have emotional
conflicts about their ‘true’ identity. And the average teenager can create three
online ‘identities’ before breakfast…Thinking about self-identity and individuality
can cause some anxiety – at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to
value their personal uniqueness. Each of us would like to think – to some extent –
that we have special, personal qualities, which make us distinctive and valuable to
the other people in our lives (or potential future friends). But does this mean
anything? Is individuality an illusion? Maybe we are all incredibly similar, but are
programmed to value minuscule bits of differentiation.”
(Gaunlett, David. Creative explorations: New approaches to identities and
audiences. Routledge, London. 2007)
David Gauntlett

53. “ I have argued against the view that men’s lifestyle magazines represent a
reassertion of old-fashioned masculine values, or a ‘back-lash’ against feminism.
Whilst certain pieces in the magazines might support such an argument, this is not
their primary purpose or selling point. Instead, their existence and popularity
shows men rather insecurely trying to find their place in the modern world,
seeking help regarding how to behave in their relationships and advice on how to
earn the attention, love and respect of women and the friendship of other men. In
post-traditional cultures, where identities are not ‘given’ but need to be
constructed and negotiated, and where an individual has to stablish their personal
ethics and mode of living, the magazines offer some reassurance to men who are
wondering ‘Is this right?’ and ‘Am I doing this OK?’, enabling a more confident
management of the narrative of the self”
(Gaunlett, David. Media, Gender, Identity. Routledge. London. 2002)
David Gauntlett

54. David Gauntlett: Summary
• The concept of identity is complicated, however, everybody
feels/thinks that they have an individual one .
• Religious and national identities are at the heart of major
international conflicts.
• We create numerous identities in a short space of time
depending of the circumstances (specially evident in the
use of the social media and networking sites)
• We like to think we are unique, but Gauntlett questions
whether this is an illusion, and we are all much more
similar than we think.