Claude Lévi-Strauss, born on November 28, 1908, was a French anthropologist and a key figure in the development of structuralism. He theorized that human understanding is based on binary oppositions, which help categorize and interpret the world, reflecting dominant and subordinate cultural representations. His ideas are applicable in various fields, including media, where gender stereotypes and narratives often rely on these binary oppositions.

2.  Claude Lévi-Strauss was born on the 28th November
1908 and died on the 30th October 2009.
 He was a French anthropologist whose work was key in
the development of the theory of structuralism and
structural anthropology, He has been called the "father
of modern anthropology".
 Strauss believed that the way we understood certain
words depended not so much on any meaning they
themselves directly contain but by our understanding
the different of the word and its opposite.

3.  A binary opposition (also
binary system) is a pair
of related terms or
concepts that are
opposite in meaning.
Binary opposition is the
system by which, in
language and thought,
two theoretical opposites
are strictly defined and
set off against one
another.
• Claude Levi Strauss
studied hundreds of
myths and legends
worldwide, and came to
the conclusion that we as
humans make sense of
the world, people and
events by seeing and
using binary opposites.

4.  Binary Oppositions and
Subordinate Groups, like Dyer,
is a way of understanding how
representation are deliberately
placed in binary opposition to
ensure the dominant culture is
maintained and the minority
representations is seen as
subordinate and marginalized.

5. Dominant
 •civilized
 •modern
 •rational
 •order
 •centre
 •stability
 •unmarked
 •self
 •white
 •superior
 •majority
 •citizen
 •insider
Subordinate
• primitive
•backward
•irrational
•chaos
•margin
•violence
•marked
•other
•non-white
•inferior
•minority
•illegal
•outsider
-Gender stereotypes in Media.
Women are often seen as women
have been shown as low-position
workers, loving wives and mothers,
responsible for raising children and
doing housework, while men are the
‘heroes’ of the film.

6.  Binary opposites are
usually the basis of our
understanding of a story
as it is a conventional
narrative an enables a
equilibrium.
 Within the media field,
Binary oppositions are
frequently used in the
plots of films, especially
in the horror genre.
 Our understanding of the
word “villain” depends on
the difference between
that word and the
opposing word “hero”.
Examples
• Good vs Evil
• Peace vs War
• Male vs Female
• Protagonist vs Antagonist
• First world vs Third world
The image on the
right is effective in
expressing the
binary opposite to
the audience of
good vs evil.