2. Mediation: 3 things to look for
1. Selection- Whatever ends up on the screen or in the paper, much more will have been left
out- any news story has been selected from hundreds of others which the producers decided
for you were less interesting, any picture has been chosen from an enormous number of
alternatives.
2. Organisation- The various elements will be organised carefully in ways that real life is not-
in visual media this involves mise-en-scene and the organisation of narrative, in the recording
of an album the production might involve re-mixing a track. Any medium you can think of will
have an equivalent to these. This organisation of the material will result in…….
3. Focusing- mediation always ends up with us, the audience being pushed towards
concentrating on one aspect of the text and ignoring others. If you are watching a film the
camera will pan towards an important character, in a tabloid the headlines will scream, for
your attention. It can be easy to ignore how different from our everyday lives this is. If you
are walking through a field, you are unlikely to see a sign saying "look at this amazing tree."
You make your own decisions about what is worth our attention. The media text, through
mediation, tries to do this for us.
3. Representations and Social Groups
Write down the dominant representations in the media for the following groups
Dominant Representations Examples
Age Young people Lazy, problematic, intelligent Bart simpson
Old people Grumpy, rich, need to care of, Montgomery Burns
Ethnicity White people Dumb, ignorant, basic, cant rap White chicks
Black people Fast, dangerous or very friendly. Morgan Freeman, Marlon wayans
Latinos Good at dancing, cholos, god looking, funny Fluffy (Gabriel Iglesisas), Machete
Sexuality Homosexual Friendly, social Damien
Heterosexual Most dominant
4. Magazines
Most of the magazines with a woman as the
front cover needs to show the beauty of girls
and some curves if it is more directed to
woman that want to look for a beauty
standard.
But if it is more directed to women that looks
for inspiration, more natural beauty needs to
be shown, and a good body as well, but being
empowered at the same time, for woman to be
inspired.
5. Magazines The man is seen to be powerful, tough,
masculinity, the person that kills if he wants.
They need to irradiate masculinity bye talking
about exercise, body, power.
7. Plenary:
How do Hollywood movies and Magazines confirm gender
stereotypes?Write 2 paragraphs / examples / using the words ‘representations’ / stereotype / mediation / countertypes
Most movies follow stereotypes regarding genders, which people take as normal, nothing out of the
ordinary, yet in this example, women are empowered, a countertype of gender stereotypes, in which men
are seen as the pillar of society and the one with power. A movie is normally more successful if it follows
this countertype, for example, Tomb Raider, showing Lara croft as the dominant character saving men
and woman, dimming the masculinity and focusing in the empowerment of women. On the other hand, if
the countertype is not portrayed properly in the movie, it would be seen as something that made in a
forced way, as the empowerment of the woman is not being portrayed smoothly.
