This document discusses various theorists' perspectives on representation in media. It outlines common types of representation including age, gender, social class, ethnicity/race, and sexuality. It provides overviews of theorists John Berger, Stuart Hall, and Karl Marx's views on how media represents gender, interprets meaning, and portrays social class differences. It also gives examples of stereotypical representations around these attributes, noting some are becoming less common, and concludes with an analysis of representations in a fictional media production.

1. By Dilini Gorsia

2. Representation is defined as “the description
or portrayal of someone or something in a
particular way or as being of a certain
nature”
Common types of Representation:
 Age
 Gender
 Social class
 Ethnicity/race
 Sexuality

3. John Berger
 “Men look and women appear”
 He argues that women are objectified and are solely there
to please men within all platforms of the media.
Stuart Hall
 Encoding/ Decoding theory
 The meaning behind a piece of media text is not fixed and
is open to interpretation.
 Media reflects reality and constructs society
Karl Marx
 Believes in a capitalist society
 Focuses on representations of social class
 Two social classes are the bourgeoisie and the proletariats.
He argues that the bourgeoisie own everything and control
everything and that the proletariats are there to ‘serve’
them and fulfil their needs.

4.  Age – one way people may be represented is
through their age. For example the elderly may
be seen as vulnerable and helpless meaning that
they may require more attention, whereas,
adolescents may be represented as delinquents
and may be demonised.
 Gender – In terms of gender, Females may be
portrayed as being the weaker sex in comparison
to men who are often seen as very ‘Macho’ and
strong.
 Social class – some people may be represented
by their social class or background. This may be
measured through their income. Those that are
of a higher social class may be seen as more
powerful than those of a lower social class.

5.  Ethnicity/ Race – Often, people are represented
or stereotyped for their race. For example, all
Asians owning a corner shop and all black people
having a strong liking for chicken. As well as this,
blacks and Asians are less likely to play lead
roles in films. As films become more modern
however, more black and Asian people are being
casted for lead roles e.g. Will smith, Morgan
Freeman and Denzel Washington.
 Sexuality – Sexuality is a lot more accepted in
modern day society and film. However, for
example, bisexuals may often be seen as greedy
or hormonal whereas homosexuals may be
represented as more ‘normal’.

6.  Steph is an 18 year old homosexual student. She is
currently attending sixth form and my representation is
negative. My target audience empathises with her as she
has suffered a lot of heart ache from her ex girlfriend. It
may be argued that the way Steph is dressed conforms to
some similar stereotypes of quite masculine clothing
however, she is generally a counter typical character and
isn't represented in any particular way.
 The same also applies for Natasha, who is 19 and goes to
university. Although the audience don’t empathise with her
as much she is seen as flirty, girly and fun. As a result
there are also no major stereotypes with her.
 Both girls have a range of representations within their
clothing and the way they act in the scene but no major
representations stand out in the production which is what i
intended it to be.