Binary structures in media often reinforce norms and power struggles between groups. Age, race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion are commonly presented in simplified binary terms. Younger people are shown as troublemakers, ethnic minorities as subservient or criminal, the lower class as uneducated with no social mobility, women as subservient to men, homosexuals as exaggerated stereotypes, and religious people as extremes. These binary representations are argued to help media makers promote themselves as the norm and keep other groups in their place.

1. Binary
Structure

2. What are Binary structures?
• binary structures can be argued to help create and reinforce the
norms of thinking in our society or to help demonstrate the power
struggles between all groups of people.
• In media they can be used to help promote certain people, mainly
ones that represent the film makers to help secure there place by
making others think its where they belong, at the top. As well as to
try to keep people in there place and allow the professional middle
classz`

3. Binary structure of Age
• The first binary structure we will look at is age, these are split into
three groups the youth; which are shown as violent troublemakers,
and while they can be shown as clever they are still represented as
inexperienced and powerless.
• The second is the Professionals (middle-aged), these are shown as the
most powerful and wealthy. (as it represents the film makers
themselves as well as the majority of the population)
• The laast is older people, who are shown as old fashioned and out of
ouch with the world.

4. Binary structure of race
• Ethnic minority groups (EMG’S) are portrayed as
subservient workers.
• Often EMG’S are involved in negative things like drugs,
violence and anti-social behaviour
• EMG’s are also often shown as self-aware of the inability
to climb the social ladder, and almost always in film when
the they try they always end up worse off.

5. Binary structure of class
• There are 3 main classes: upper, lower and middle
• The upper class are shown as a little stuck up and disrespecting to the
lower classes, and there only interactions with them are in work
relations. They are also shown as highly educated and arrogant to the
plights of the lower classes
• The lower class are shown in a way of council flat culture(poor, anti-
social behaviour, gangs etc.) also shown as uneducated and like the
EMG’S aunable to climb the ladder
• Whereas once again the middle classes are shown off the best .

6. Binary structure of Gender
• Women: in media women are objectified by men making them a tool.
they are also shown are quite subservient to men, in both
professional and personal relationships.
and although women can be shown as powerful e.g. Charlies
angles they still report to someone more powerful…the MAN Charlie

7. Binary structure of sexuality
• Homosexuals are often showed as extreme exaggerations e.g. gay
men are shown as overly famine where as gay females are shown as
extremely masculine.
• There jobs ibn the media Is normally shown as hospitality (e.g. hosts
for guys) or industry based (e.g. mechanic for girls)
• They also show homosexual males as living the ‘party boy’ lifestyle
which involves parties, drugs and promiscuity

8. Binary structure of Religion
• In media the religious representations of people are shown in
extreme stereotypes, for example thing of Dot from EastEnders she is
shown as a catholic but a extremely strict and religious catholic which
is unlike most Catholics.