Media Gender
Presentation
Hilary Dion
Topics in Communication
What is Media?
Media is everywhere. You see it, read it, and write about it. This
frenzy is taking over Society and its culture.
Our text notes, “Media are ubiquitous in contemporary US
society: prints, paintings, television, movies, radio,
newspapers, comics, commix, novels, zines, magazines, CDs,
podcasting, and the internet, to name just a few”(p. 235).
Media Versus “The media”


Media is explained to function as one entity and a single unified function of society.
When introducing genders in the mix we can deeper understand this purpose. On page
235 of our text it notes, “We mention all forms of media because ALL media
communicate understandings of gender, and gender influences all forms of mediated
communication.”
How is Media an Institution?


Not only is it relative to youth and its electronic media but also media shares
conventions through construction of content and also construction of
audience. It has so much more data than one chapter can provide.
The economics of Media : The television


The economics of media is driven through mass mediated texts. The
perfect example is television. Here audiences experience excessive
commercial breaks as well as overt product placement. These are relayed
to certain targeted audiences. The TV guide examines these shows as
“stuff we can’t live without.



Examples…



One Tree Hill



The OC



Everwood
Media and Power


The US is a consumer culture. Therefore media and its institution manifests
itself into power and its elements of change or growth. “Media exert power
over how people do gender” (p. 238). Example would be female beauty or
norms.
Quotes and points from chapter
Continued..


“Television and true media forms have become
“simultaneously, and commodity, and art form, and an
ideological forum for public discourse about social issues,
and social change” (p. xi).



“Media is more than just entertainment or money”



Page 238 of our text notes, “ Media forms also influence
social norms, concerning gender, race class, nationality, and
all of the other ingredients that constituted identity, for they
provide models of what it is to be feminine or masculine,
and encourage people to buy products.”
Media and Hegemony


We learned from chapter one that hegemony was, but did not learn how it
relates to gender and other branches of social institutions.



…We as a nation encourage conformity



”Media, as a central institution of a society, maintain hegemonic
understandings of gender, even as they create gaps and fissures in
representations of gender” (p. 240)
“People’s Levels of thoughtfulness and
creativity is based on Education”
 1)

Examine how powerful or effective
oppositional responses are, compared to
power of hegemonic messages.
 2) Try to discern the roles media play in
facilitating oppositional readings.
 3) Explore what we, as textbook authors,
and you as students, can do to facilitate
abilities.
What makes media so special?


Our text notes that media may be the most intersected institution. Media is
the gateway for other represented and constructed ways of behaving or
dealing with social change or distress. For example, when media discusses
family functions or roles people in society usually reflect that new knowledge
towards how their family is run.
It’s not all about the sex differences, or
is it?
Differences among
women

Similarities between
women and men



Socialized to focus on body image
ideals



Men tend to overestimate their
degree of masculinity



Differences in media messages
within races and sexes



Many relations of body image is
seen through sports messages



The beauty standard is not the
same for all women



Like women, men are influenced
by body aspirations or images



Women found their bodies to be
more sexualized in the US
advertisements versus the Asian
ones



We must keep up with physical
advancement, occupational power,
and ideal notions of being a man or
women
Women, Men, and Violence in Media (p.
245)


TV programming and the entertainment arena showcase women and
minorities, but only showcase 14% of women guests.



39% of characters were women and 61% were men.



Music videos use imagery of the portrayed sexy women.



Children programming is known for showing violence. Research shows that
violence can enhance people to act in more violence.



US culture and media allows us to get sucked into this mediated world. What
we see is what we do.



Shrinking celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie aid in examining
the relationship between media content and its social context or audience.
Monkey See, Monkey Do..
https://www.google.com/search?q=lindsay+lohan&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=7jmnUsDlII21kQeD1YHwCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&
biw=1123&bih=528#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Ij5cK7Oq3SYRmM%3A%3BVolwMBSaWOuiM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhdwallpaperspictures.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F12%252Flindsay-lohanen-la-gala-amfar1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhdwallpaperspictures.com%252Flindsay-lohan%252F%3B590%3B688
Mediated Showcases of Rape


Our text notes,



“The challenge posed by these criticisms of mediated representations of
rape is, then, how to create an ethical representation. It is difficult to
enable a person who has not experienced rape to understand the trauma.

Do you believe that showcasing rape
enables it to become a familiar experience
versus a tragedy?
The Gazes in the chapter..


The construction of audience is the next formation of this chapter and its
media analysis.



“Men act women appear”

“Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This
determines not only most relations between men and women but also the
relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male:
the surveyed female. Thus she turns into an object, and most particularly an
object of vision: a sight” (p. 47).
Four against one restless female?
We as women see how we should act/ appear therefore believe that’s
how we will become accepted or attractive to the opposite sex. We study
media and hope audiences see it how we wish them to see it.
There are more gazes than just one ~


“Not only can multiple gazes exists, but Brenda Cooper (2000) argues that
one can find a rejection of the dominant male gaze even in mainstream
Hollywood films (p. 250).

… Just as my picture showcases, not all women agree to be seen as
the weaker link or overpowered by the male sex. As our text explains,
female figures are often mocked and challenged. Therefore are
forced to become more powerful and create their own social position.
US/ British Men’s Magazines
Gendered Constructed Media
Representations


Representations of gender are showcased in magazines such as the ones seen
on the first slide. They force ideals of masculinity and femininity and suppress
“insecure” or “confused” manners of the mediated world of social norms.



What about nationalities, race, culture, or ideals of individuality and
expression? That is the core to my presentation. Although my chapter is
full of mediated controlled media we forget the truth and valuable aspects
of the meaning and goals of what media should be or should represent.
Does internet create the gendered
norms? Is it all that bad?


Internet is new and considered our phenomenon.



When it was first discovered, we thought the internet would be free of
discrimination.



Issues of sex and race have become the prominent aspect of internet and its
concepts.



The control panel is now personal advancement, artistic expression, humor, or
even social support (Warnick, 1999).
Wrapping it up..


Because we are allowed to be creative and
artistic through media and its creations we can
become creative with how we express our
femininity or masculinity. Our family values are
become constructed through images through
the media and as a nation we feed into it. As a
society we much distinguish the positives versus
the negatives when it comes to the internet and
our personal interpretation of society (p. 261).
Works Cited


https://www.google.com/search?q=media&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=BnKjUvilBdS_kQeyoIGoBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1138&bih=
553#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=WKpXUzqcOXkNHM%3A%3B-2piiD0UsjAXxM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogsimages.forbes.com%252Fmarketshare%252Ffiles%252F2012%252F11%252FSocial-MediaMarketing.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.forbes.com%252Fsites%252Fmarketshare%252F2012%252F11%252F29%252Fdogpile-on-socialmedia%252F%3B1308%3B1055



https://www.google.com/search?q=media&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=BnKjUvilBdS_kQeyoIGoBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1138&bih=
553#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7j9fFBqUzPZmSM%3A%3BJu5a_Bj8ctYLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.personal.psu.edu%252Fbfr3%252Fblogs%252Fasp%252Fmedia-spoonfeedingcartoon.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.personal.psu.edu%252Fbfr3%252Fblogs%252Fasp%252F2013%252F03%252Fmedia-influence-stop-itor-use-it.html%3B749%3B450


https://www.google.com/search?q=gender+in+the+media&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=XmjUvX_CITpkAe894HgDA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1138&bih=553#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-JecDZK0KEnfZM%3A%3Bwo7AvXjwai6ZM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thelampnyc.org%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252Fandrejpejic.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thelampnyc.org%252F2011%252F09%252F28%252Fgender-101-for-media-literacy%252F%3B489%3B650



https://www.google.com/search?q=audience+watching+media&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=TNKmUu2OKIq2kAeyj4CYBw&ved=0CAcQ_A
UoAQ&biw=1123&bih=528#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=IMS0tcXgIZJxAM%3A%3BaID_xTpuaYrFoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstereotypebyinternet.f
iles.wordpress.com%252F2010%252F03%252Fwatchingtv.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstereotypebyinternet.wordpress.com%252F%3B400%3B3
00



https://www.google.com/search?q=muscle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ctSmUobgBtKkkQeUjIC4DQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1123&bih
=528#q=girl+flexing&spell=1&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=VntuVqzedQbg9M%3A%3BYpIXb4QSoOJQDM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi.istoc
kimg.com%252Ffile_thumbview_approve%252F19543504%252F2%252Fstock-photo-19543504-black-fitness-girl-flexingmuscles.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.istockphoto.com%252Fstock-photo-19543504-black-fitness-girl-flexing-muscles.php%3B380%3B253



https://www.google.com/search?q=media+and+race&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FEKnUt_ANIfukQf1lIDwDw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ
&biw=1123&bih=528#q=media+and+racism&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7InHy3OiSXAQkM%3A%3BhJK2F39IPT5x8M%3Bhttp%2
53A%252F%252Fmedia.theweek.com%252Fimg%252Fdir_0042%252F21305_cartoon_main%252Fmedia-stretches-evidence-for-healthcare-racism.jpg%253F197%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ftheweek.com%252Fsection%252Fnfcartoon%252F201434%252Fmedia-stretchesevidence-for-health-care-racism%3B465%3B331

Media gender presentation