This document contains summaries of three lectures on representations of gender in media. The lectures discuss how gender is portrayed in literature, film, performance and visual media. They examine objectification theory and the male gaze, and how media socializes gender roles and stereotypes around issues like body image, consumerism and politics. The impact of biased media representations and lack of women's representation in media production are also addressed.

1. REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER
Lecture 1
Gender as Represented
Dr Poulami Aich Mukherjee
mepoulami@gmail.com

2. Introduction
• Gender & Literature
• Gender, Film & Cinema
• Gender & Performance
• Visualizing Gender

3. Gender & Literature

4. Gender & Literature

5. Gender, Film & Cinema

6. Gender, Film & Cinema

7. Gender & Performance

8. Gender & Performance

9. Visualization of Gender

10. Visualization of Gender

11. Conclusion

12. Thank You

13. REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER
Lecture 2
Gender in Media
Dr Poulami Aich Mukherjee
mepoulami@gmail.com

14. The Media

15. Media Culture

16. Theories of Media Culture
Hypodermic-Needle Theory/Magic Bullet Theory: sees media
consumers as passive and easily manipulated
Critical Theory/Conflict Theory: proposes that media attempts to
entrench power structures, and encourages media literacy to challenge it
Postmodernism/Post-structuralism: believe in the power of
individuals to use media messages in ways that subvert the way it was
intended, and they can influence media culture by acting as media
producers in the social media era.

17. Media Culture & Society
• Body Image
• Gender Roles/Gender Stereotyping
• Race/Ethnicity
• Culture/Ideologies
• Politics/Governance/Justice

18. Representation of Women

19. Representation of Women

20. • 69% of print news is written by men, 31% is written by women
• 63% of news wire bylines (AP and Reuters) are snagged by men, 37% by
women
• 57% of online news is written by men, 43% by women
• 50% of anchors and correspondents on TV prime-time weekday evening
news broadcasts (cable and network) are men, 50% are women
• 63% of election coverage was by men, 37% by women
• 59% of international news and politics coverage was by men, 41% by women
• 54% of COVID-19 coverage was by men, 46% by women
• 53% of racial justice coverage was by men, 47% by women
• 50% of social justice coverage was by men, 50% by women
– WMC Divided 2021: The Media Gender Gap Report
Representation of Women

21. Impact of Media Culture
• Representations of beauty and body image in fashion
and beauty advertisements
• Representations of consumer culture in advertisements
• Representations of gender roles in television and film
• Representations of politics and social issues
• Representations of race and ethnicity

22. Impact of Media Culture
• Representations of sexuality in music videos and movies
• Representations of technology and its impact on society
• Representations of the environment and climate change
• Representations of violence in video games and movies
• Social Media and the representation of self

23. Women in Media

24. Conclusion

25. Thank You

26. REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER
Lecture 3
Portrayal of Women in Media
Dr Poulami Aich Mukherjee
mepoulami@gmail.com

27. Gender Roles

28. Portrayal of Women
Shulamith Firestone, Simon de Beauvoir, Kate Millet
• Mass Media is portraying stereotype pictures of
women as:
– ‘submissive’
– ‘ inferior’
– ‘subordinate’
– ‘home maker’
– ‘lack of all rights of decision making’

29. Portrayal of Women
• Gendered language: For example, it includes using
masculine pronouns (he, him, his) to refer to people in
general. This tendency occurred as a result of the historical
patriarchy where being a man was a norm, and a woman was
marked as „the other‟
• Choice of characters: Male characters often took the
leading role, establishing their masculinity and physical power.
Female characters had to accept authority without any choice
of freedom and independence
• Perception of the author’s gender: Men writers had a
serious advantage in telling their own stories. In contrast,
women‟s writing was considered immoral, treated with bias,
and harshly criticized. As a result, they had to publish under
male pseudonyms to have a chance of professional acceptance
among writers

30. Gender Stereotyping
• Categories of female stereotyping
– Obedient
– Beautiful and seductive
– Emotionally trapped
– Woman as an object of love
• Limited view of masculinity in arts and media

31. Representation of Women
Female Archetypes
– The Virgin is a pure woman whose primary
function is to get married.
– The Mother is a woman who does everything to
support her children and her man.
– The Witch is a wise, non-conforming, or
unusually beautiful woman who is punished for
her “otherness.”
– The Whore is a woman considered lower than
men, deviant, and unworthy of having a job
– The Predator is dangerous yet powerfully
attractive
– The victim is vulnerable and fragile

32. Objectification Theory:
Martha C. Nussbaum
• a framework for understanding the experience of being
female in a culture that sexually objectifies the female body.
• proposes girls and women, more so than boys and men, are
socialized to internalize an observer‟s perspective as their
primary view of their physical selves
• perspective is referred to as self-objectification, which leads
many girls and women to habitually monitor their bodies‟
outward appearance

33. Objectification Model

34. Objectification Theory:
Martha C. Nussbaum
• Main features of Objectivity
– viewing a person as an object
– treating or using a person as an object.
• Nussbaum, there are seven features involved in the idea of
objectification:
– Instrumentality(the quality or state of being instrumental)
– Denial of Autonomy
– Inertness (lacking the power to move)
– Fungibility (the right to exchange a product or asset with other individual
products or assets of the same kind)
– Violability (capable of being or likely to be violated)
– Ownership
– Denial of Subjectivity

35. Objectification Model

36. Male Gaze Theory: Laura Mulvey

37. Male Gaze Theory: Laura Mulvey
• According to feminist theory, the male gaze is a sexualized
way of portraying women.
• By objectifying women, the male gaze represents women
through the sexual desires of heterosexual male viewers.
• It depicts the female body and personality as an object for
men to view, own, and conquer.
• Typical examples of the male gaze include medium close-up
shots of women from over a man's shoulder, shots that pan
across and over as well as fixate on a woman's body, and
scenes that frequently occur which show a man actively
observing a passive woman

38. Conclusion
• Gender Socialization
• Family & Gender Roles
• Gender Experiences
• Gender Movements
• Gendered Self

39. Thank You