Effective case studies for the Representation question on your AS Media Studies Exam

1. Categories:
• Ethnicity.
• Gender.
• Events.
• Young people

2. WOMEN
Representation of women has developed to reflect cultural and sociological changes.
However there are still some:
• Stereotypical representations of women where they are defined by how men see them
and how society expects them to look.
They tend to still be judged on their looks and appearance and the
representations tend to concentrate also on their sexuality.
LAURA MULVEY’S MALE GAZE: Objectification of women for a sexual appealing
purpose, placing the audience (no matter their gender) as a male heterosexual,
even in situations where female sexiness plays no part.
HOWEVER…
• Some women enjoy being looked at in such way (beauty pageants).
• This Gaze can also be directed to same gender subjects for extra-sexual
reasons, like comparison of body image or clothing…
• Now-a-days we have got to a point where we can apply the reverse of this
theory, “female gaze” in the sense that men are sometimes objectified by
women in order to appeal through their sexual connotations.

3. WOMEN
Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke, ft. T.I. and Pharrell. (2013).
This pop music video puts women as sex predators, labeling them as: “animals” who need some type of
“liberation” that can only be delivered to them by men.
The portrayal of women as sex objects is very clear therefore in the lyrics, and is further enhanced in the
mise-en-scene and graphics. We can appreciate women dancing around a suited man with sunglasses as
if they were his property, his pets (animals) wanting something from him. This “pet-like” image is
emphasized through them being naked (sign of vulnerability) and not taking part in the singing, just being
there for the men to be entertained through the sexuality, appealing to a male audience through Laura
Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory. Because as the lyrics explicitly say, the power is on the men, men are the
ones who will give what they know women seek (“I know you want it!”). In this way, not only are women
being portrayed as sex objects, the objectification portrayal goes even further to them actually seeking
the sex, as if sex was the only thing women wanted.
However, with the polysemy nature of all media texts in mind, it could be interpreted that men are
actually victims to this desperate sex-seek carried out by women, they are the forbidden fruit that every
woman is desperate to grab hold to, and as a result can be stuck up and like it.
Can also be used for male*

4. WOMEN
Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke, ft. T.I. and Pharrell. (2013).
A male audience may well take a preferred reading of the text as they will feel identified with
the male subjects and strive to be in a similar position of power over women, where they
themselves are that “forbidden fruit”, so the video will be an aspirational text to them.
However, some women exposed to the text may take a completely oppositional reading
rejecting the objectified representation of themselves offered, either because they find it
insulting for the fact that the actresses in the video feature naked, or because for personal
experience they do not feel that is their behavior.
At the same time, for some other younger women the text may not be incentive for them to
change their behavior in a personal level in order to be perceived in a different way, but
motivate them to follow such sexually inciting representation and maybe go beyond it. This
will apply specially in the younger audiences who’s personalities are still developing.

5. WOMEN
Cosmopolitan, March 2015.
The main image features a feminine gorgeous model as a source of
inspiration for the female target audience. Her body and face are just perfect
(airbrushed in order to achieve this effect), acting as a role model to imitate,
this is how a woman should look like in order to be successful in the 21st
century, says Cosmo. The bright yellow dress conveys the time of the year
(spring) and emphasizes her smiley gesture and femininity, representing as
well that women need to be always on trend.
The pose combined with the direct address of the model is a key tool to
further emphasize the model’s femininity, but at the same time it results a bit
similar to that of models at a catwalk, suggesting some type of artificiality
and that such beauty may be for others (male presumably) to see and enjoy,
and that this may be the source for the woman’s content. She needs to feel
admired by others, once she has achieved it then she will feel realized. Cosmo
puts this as the duty of every woman to be happy.
The hashtag #sorrynotsorry encourages social interaction and is a key tool for appealing to the target
audience’s wants, as it is key in a media text according to the Uses and Gratifications theory (Blumler & Catz
1974). Moreover it builds up on the representation of women implying that they should all be modernized
and familiar with such technology. Other cover lines include inter-textual references: “FIFTY SHADES…”
portraying wide-read, up-to-date women with knowledge in other fields and formats genre-related to their
interests. The main cover line: “JEAN-IUS” employs a comic double entendre with a merger of the words
“jeans” and “genius” and added meaning in the continuation of the cover line bellow. This presents an
additionally quick and witty woman profile.

6. WOMEN
Cosmopolitan, March 2015.
However, the rest of the cover lines are impregnated with how to
maintain the perfect aspect and how to best cultivate aesthetics of
the woman, emphasizing the idea of artificiality introduced by the
model’s pose as well as the perfection to be successful.

7. MEN
There have been many cries that masculinity is in crisis and that men no longer have a
traditional role to play in society as they once did. Moreover with the advent of the New Man
there appeared different representations of masculinity. However, the representation of men,
even of this “New Man” still tends to focus on:
• Body image and Physique.
• Physical strength.
• Sexual attractiveness and relationship with women.
• Power and independence.
One media area that has massively developed is the men’s magazine market. Now men as well
as women are given aspirational and unrealistic role models to emulate. Men too, now have to
be concerned about weight and body image.

8. MEN
Men’s Health, April 2011 – magazine.
We can clearly appreciate a main image of a man uncovering the
upper part of his body (stylistic feature in the fitness genre), in
order to show off its perfectly sculpted figure. It has surely been
airbrushed in order to present the ‘perfect body’ and act as a
source of inspiration to the male target audience; that is how they
should look like if they are truly men of the 21st century. The
model is proud of his shape and is self-obsessed looking away
from the audience, therefore a profound, preferred reading of the
text may start cause an emulation of self-obsessed men.
Once the role model is given to the audience then the magazine
offers keys to imitate it through the cover lines: “ONE MONTH +
TWO MOVES= THESE ABS”, “ADD 5KG OF LEAN MUSCLE”. This
fulfills the male aspirations with the actual content and in the
powerful way the info. is conveyed; a direct mode of address:
“your” (inclusive pronoun) and the use of imperatives: “add” and
creates an appeal in the male target audience to buy the magazine
as the key to their success.
Also through the cover lines, we can appreciate that this “new man” is concerned with health
and diet but also reverts to a more traditional type referring to “sex” rather than
relationships.

9. YOUNG PEOPLE
Educating Essex – (2011)

10. YOUNG PEOPLE
Educating Essex – (2011)
This reality show is recorded as a fly on the wall documentary, with the aim of constructing an illusion of reality
that becomes accepted by the audience as the truth. It positions the audience on a privileged expectator position,
almost voyeuristic in order to enhance the negative stereotypes of the youth in a school context (wild, dumb, lazy,
irresponsible, rude) while creating a sense of exclusivity in the audience for being able to have access to such
unconventional, “forbidden” content as the subjects of the texts seem to be completely “exposed”.
This effect is also achieved by the thorough process of mediation conducted as the producers only select the
footage that will truly have an impact on the audience and that provides the desired representation of young
people, revealing in this way the text’s ideology. A clear example of this is the September 2011, Channel 4 advert to
promote the show. In only 41 seconds it portrays all different of situations in the school context in which the profile
of the young subjects is the stereotypically dumb, lazy, wild and rude, including lesson time, conversations with
teachers, free time… transmitting to the audience that this is what all young people are like.
In addition, the fact that it is Channel 4 who is broadcasting the show and it is a British public television
broadcaster working since 1982, it inspires confidence and will have a big, loyal audience share, who will take a
preferred reading of the text absorbing the stereotypically negative representation of young people offered, not
even stopping and thinking about challenging them. This will mainly apply for older people whose watching habits
are already heavily built up. However, a younger audience being active, as Stuart Hall defends in his Reception
theory, the negative representation of young people may not actually be taken as the truth, having adopted an
oppositional reading of the text. This might have been because they are themselves young and know for
experience that those stereotypes can no longer be applied to them as a whole. On the other hand, those negative
stereotypes presented of dumb, wild, irresponsible and rude youngsters, instead of being an incentive for young
people to change in order to not be perceived in such way, it may motivate them to keep on following them and
going beyond even, as they are the most influential part of society and the media their greatest reference.

11. ETHNICITY
Black people are increasingly sustaining leading roles in important TV shows like: Luther,
Castle, CSI New York… in which they break up completely with the stereotype of: crime, drugs,
violence, tattoos, gangsters…
Black actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Hale Berry, Naomi Harris or Morgan Freeman
are all over the place in leading or protagonist roles which totally challenge the black
stereotype.

12. ETHNICITY
Luther – BBC One Crime Drama (2010 -2013) + 2 final episodes (2015).
Famous BBC crime drama in which we have a black, male lead detective, Luther, played by Idris Elba. He is
an eponymous hero as the crime drama itself is named after him. He is strong and brave as well as clever.
This crime drama challenges the black, male, gangster, tattooed, dangerous stereotype turning it around
completely; putting the black male on the good side of the law and moreover as the one who not only works
out thoroughly the plans in the most successful way, but also the one who has the courage to take the action
immediately no matter what, risking everything (his home, job and own life) in order to save another one’s
life or achieve the common good keeping the bad ones away. This strength he has is contagious to his team,
they become impregnated with it and as a result more active trying to imitate him. So he is a source of
inspiration as well.
He is very emotional as well, we can appreciate this in every relationship he holds with another character.
Through Luther’s behavior, the aptitudes of a black man in this field and moreover in a detective position are
portrayed as the ideal ones.

13. YOUNG PEOPLE
The Sun – Tuesday,
August 9, 2011.
The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, catches the reader’s attention straight
away through typography with the serif, poster-bold font in its headline:
‘ANARCHY’. A single word in which hyperbole is employed to provide
totally chaotic connotations that is further anchored by a main image of a
face-covered, terrorist–like young man standing before a car on fire. This
completely violates the sense of safety in the reader shocing them and
creating in him/her a moral panic, confirming Stanley Cohen’s theory of
the media creating widespread panic in order to be more effective. It will
also create a pre-disposed rejection towards young people as they are
presented as the cause of this ‘ANARCHY’. The Sun is clearly putting them
as the ones to blame, featuring a young man as the subject of the main
image and the main anchor of the headline.
However, as all media texts are polysemic (have more than one meaning
to different audiences), this issue from the Sun may only result in a
preferred reading among the older audience on whom the moral panic
will hit with more strength for their age and for sharing the Sun’s
traditionally right-wing ideology, being loyal customers maybe.
Can also be used for events*
The London Riots (2011) – Tabloid- The Sun.

14. It is worth mentioning that there are only three additional sell lines in a
much smaller font, and are also part of the main story introduced by the
headline, in order to further nurture the panic and shock created with
extra information including facts: ‘215 arrests’. This also allows the
reader’s attention to focus in the menacing image and believe the
negative representation of the young people to be the predominant
message conveyed.
A younger, sporadic audience who is also aware of the paper’s ideology
may feel insulted, as being young they might sympathize with the
subject an feel blamed as well, being labeled with the negative
stereotypes of violent, dumb, mindless and wild traditionally attributed
to the youth, adopting therefore an oppositional reading, either
because they are not part of it at all or because they do not feel they are
the ones to blame.
YOUNG PEOPLE
The London Riots (2011) – Tabloid- The Sun.
The Sun – Tuesday,
August 9, 2011.

15. EVENTS
Charlie Hebdo attack – Daily Mail, January, 8, 2015.
The main headline catches straight away the reader’s attention
through its serif, poster-bold font in a size bigger than that of the
Daily Mail’s masthead, suggesting the story will be more important
than anything else on the paper in order to focus the reader’s
attention on it. Containing the word “WAR” it already provides the
worst connotations to the representation; death, blood, violence…
this is further anchored by the black background building up on
the negative, obscure connotations and furthermore by the main
image featuring a masked, armed man directing to kill a
defenseless policeman. They are the ones to protect society and
by representing them in such vulnerable way, the Daily Mail is
creating a moral panic, as Stanley Cohen defends in his theory, as
it is violating the reader’s sense of security.
However this representation is only a tool to add shock and fear towards a more effective main
representation of dangerous Islamic terrorists, the ones to blame for this “WAR” against
“FREEDOM”. This is more clearly distinguished through the subheading, which provides the
needed cohesion: “Al Qaeda gunmen slaughter 12..” All the panic created is now directed to Al
Qaeda terrorist through Daily Mail’s mediation process.

16. So they are the bloodthirsty, murderers and therefore we should
totally reject them and hate them, because THEY have started a
“WAR ON [our] FREEDOM”. This is the message that the Daily Mail
wants to transmit through its representation. Those loyal
customers who share their slightly right-wing ideology will take a
preferred reading of the text and take that as the truth
implementing it in their own lives and this can be dangerous,
because if over-stimulated, it could severely damage the whole
Islamic population in the West, regardless whether they appear to
be radicals or not.
We can appreciate as well that represented victims are the 12
people killed by Al Qaeda, at any moment is the Daily Mail referring
to the actual killers as victims of their own radical ideology, which
they actually are and that is what has taken them to commit such
crime and to die themselves, providing the whole of the Islamic
population with negative, dangerous connotations.
EVENTS
Charlie Hebdo attack – Daily Mail, January, 8, 2015.
This is further reflected in the people’s reaction with the “Je suis Charlie” slogan, enhancing
even more the difference between “US” and “THEM” and representing no pity whatsoever
for the people that are current victims of these ideologies.