Here are some key points about Roland Barthes' concept of mythologies: - Mythologies refers to the ways in which cultural products and practices come to be regarded as natural and taken-for-granted. - Barthes was interested in unpacking the unstated assumptions and ideologies behind these cultural myths. - He analyzed how ordinary objects, gestures, and images come to take on additional layers of meaning and symbolism (their connotations) beyond their literal functions. - For example, a BMW connotes traits like ambition and success, while a Citroën 2CV implies environmentalism - even though they serve the same functional purpose as vehicles. - Barthes' goal was to make the implicit

2. Marxism says that people in the world are organized into
different groups or classes based on their relationship to how
things are made. Most people are called "workers" because
they work in factories or offices or farms for money.They
belong to the "working class" (or "proletariat"). Another group,
who are not as big as the working class are "capitalists",
because they own the factories, land and buildings that the
workers have to work in and also own all of the tools the
workers have to use. Marx calls Capitalists the "Ruling Class"
because they live off of the work of all the workers. He also
says that the Capitalists own the government, army and
courts.

3. In Marxist views, Capital is the "means of production" and
money which the Capitalist can invest in different places of
business so that they can "profit" or gain more Capital.
Most workers work for companies owned by Capitalists or
"Petit-bourgeois" (small business owners).The capitalist pays
a wage to the worker in exchange for the worker's time.The
capitalist has bought a period of time from the worker which
the worker must then use to labour for the Capitalist, which
according to Marxist economic thinking is the only thing that
can create value in a commodity, and then exploits the time
of the worker as much as they can.The capitalist amasses
capital by paying the worker less wealth than they make for
the Capitalist.

4. Cultural hegemony is the philosophic and sociological concept,
originated by the Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, that a
culturally-diverse society can be ruled or dominated by one of
its social classes. It is the dominance of one social group over
another, e.g. the ruling class over all other classes. The theory
claims that the ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the
norm; they are seen as universal ideologies, perceived to
benefit everyone whilst only really benefiting the ruling class.

5. The gaze is a Feminist theory developed to highlight the power imbalance
between men and women analysing the way men see women, the way women
view themselves and other women.The theory suggests that an audience are
forced to view the text from the perspective a heterosexual male, films
constantly focus on women’s curves and events that happen to them are
portrayed at a male angle.
The male gaze denies women human agency, relegating them to the status of
objects.Therefore the female viewers experience the text narrative secondarily,
by identifying with a man’s perspective (male gaze). In addition she argues that
sexism can also occur in the way the text is presented. Moreover, people are
encouraged to gaze at women in advertising that sexualizes a woman's body
even when the woman's body is unrelated to the advertised product.

6. Jean Kilbourne is internationally recognized for her
pioneering work on the image of women in advertising and
her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. Her
films, lectures, and television appearances have been seen by
millions of people throughout the world. She was named by
The NewYorkTimes Magazine as one of the three most popular
speakers on college campuses. She is the author of the award-
winning book Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the
WayWeThink and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon:The
New Sexualized Childhood andWhat Parents Can Do to Protect
Their Kids.The prize-winning films based on her lectures
include KillingUs Softly, Spin the Bottle, and Slim Hopes.

7. Walter Lippmann defined stereotypes in the 1920s. He was anAmerican
public intellectual, writer, reporter, and political commentator famous for being
among the first to introduce the concept of ColdWar. Lippmann was twice
awarded (1958 and 1962) a Pulitzer Prize for his syndicated newspaper column,
"Today andTomorrow".
Walter Lippmann

8. Later, Dyer (1993) described four functions of Lippmann’s definition,
which are:
• an ordering process - stereotypes serve to order our reality in an easy to understand
form which although an incomplete picture of the world is certainly not false, after all,
knowing a little about New York is better than knowing nothing at all!
• a ‘short cut’ - because they are simplifications, stereotypes act as a shortcut to
meanings. One of the most powerful short cuts to meaning is stereotypes used in
iconography. For example, yellow cabs are in New York; red buses in London; an
intellectual wears spectacles and so on ..
• way of referring to the world - Since stereotypes have their origins in the real world they
are social constructs and as such are a form of re-presentation
• an expression of our values and beliefs - Stereotypes are only effective if they are
believed to be a view of a group of people which has a consensus. Of course, as many
of the people who hold the stereotype actually derived their view from the stereotype,
then the consensus is more imagined than real.

9. Star Theory
Stars as Constructions
Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being "real
people", experiencing real emotions etc. It helps if their image contains a USP
(unique selling proposition) — they can be copied and/or parodied because of it.
Their representation may be metonymic — Madonna's conical bra in the early
1990s, Bono's 'Fly' sunglasses, Britney's belly, Justin Bieber's bangs. Pop stars
have the advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be much
more consistent over a period of time, and is not dependent on the creative input
of others (e.g. screenwriters writing their lines).
Dyer proposes that:
A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other
aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising,
magazines etc as well as films [music]).

10. Rethinking Stereotypes described the assumptions many people hold
about stereotypes
1. Stereotypes are always erroneous (false) in content
2.They are pejorative (critical) concepts
3.They are about groups with whom we have little or no social contact; by
implication, therefore, they are not held about one's own group
4.They are about minority (or oppressed) groups
5.They are simple
6.They are rigid and do not change
7.They are not structurally reinforced
8.The existence of contradictory stereotypes is evidence that they are
erroneous, but of nothing else
9. People either 'hold' stereotypes (believe them to be true) or do not
10. Because someone holds a stereotype of a group, his or her behaviour
towards the group can be predicted.

11. Uses and Gratification Theory
Uses and GratificationsTheory is a popular approach to understanding mass
communication.The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of
the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media
does to people” (Katz, 1959) . It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but
take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.The theory
also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs.The
approach suggests that people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications.
5 reasons why people may engage with the media:
• Escape from reality (film)
• Relate to others/characters (soap) Elihu Katz
• Entertainment (drama/comedy)
• Informed and educated (news/documentary)
• Socialise with others (Facebook/popular series)
Jay G Blumler

12. The theory suggests that stories
begin with an equilibrium or status
quo where any potentially
opposing forces are in balance.
This is disrupted by some event,
setting in chain a series of events.
Problems are solved so that order
can be restored to the world of the
fiction.

13. Began by studying traditional Russian folk tales.
From here a theory emerged for studying media texts
and productions, which indicates that there were 7
broad character types - the result of the author’s
analysis of 100 tales.
The villain (struggles against the hero)
The donor(prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the
narrative)
Her father
The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero
off)
The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

14. Barthes often claimed to be fascinated by the meanings of the
things that surround us in our everyday lives. Barthes said he
wanted to challenge the `innocence' and `naturalness' of
cultural texts and practices which were capable of producing
all sorts of supplementary meanings, or connotations to use
Barthes's preferred term.
Although objects, gestures and practices have a certain
utilitarian function, they are not resistant to the imposition of
meaning.There is no such thing, to take but one example, as a
car which is a purely functional object devoid of connotations
and resistant to the imposition of meaning ....

15. Example:
A BMW and a Citroën 2CV share the same functional utility, they
do essentially the same job but connote different things about
their owners: thrusting, upwardly-mobile executive versus
ecologically sound, right-on trendy. We can speak of cars then,
as signs expressive of a number of connotations. It is these sorts
of secondary meanings or connotations that Barthes is
interested in uncovering in Mythologies. Barthes wants to stop
taking things for granted, wants to bracket or suspend
consideration of their function, and concentrate rather on what
they mean and how they function as signs. In many respects
what Barthes is doing is interrogating the obvious, taking a
closer look at that which gets taken for granted, making explicit
what remains implicit.
Think about objects which accompany women. What can we connote about
the woman from what she has about her?