Presentation by Andreas Schleicher Tackling the School Absenteeism Crisis 30 ...
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The sociology of mass media: Representations of gender on the media
1. The Sociology of Mass Media
Representations of Gender in the
Media
2. Introduction
- Throughout the 20th century, and
to a great extent still today,
representations of
gender in the
media reflected (and
caused) the hegemonic realityâŚ
patriarchy
3. Whilst the family is generally
.
seen as primary gendersocialization agent, media plays a
teaching and
reinforcing these cultural
key role in
expectations
4. ACTIVITY: can you think.of some characteristics
of this patriarchy and how it might be
represented in the mass media?
5. .
Men as central to the world of
employment;
responsible
and
breadwinners
household heads; these are all reflected in movies, soap
operas, advertising etc.
9. .
Ambitious
go far in life; and
increasingly, good men should be a âhigh-achieverâ in
Good men should want to
numerous areas e.g. sport, employment, sex life than most women
10. .
Aggressive
never back down
A good man should
from a
physical or emotional challenge, and should be much more eager
to
risk
his safety or reputation than most women
13. .
Femininity as âŚ
Domesticated
A womanâs place is in the home
Cooking and cleaning in the home is the
responsibility of the female members of the
household
15. .
Normal women place a higher value
on personal relationships,
gossip and the latest
fashions than most men
16. .
Subordinate and inferior
As with all the characteristics mentioned,
there are always many exceptions; but women
are most often portrayed as being of slightly less
intrinsic worth than men in most
times, spaces and situations
18. Representations of femininity
Symbolic annihilation (this is the term of Tuchman et al, 1978)
-
Womenâs achievements under-reported, condemned, trivialized
-
Women more likely to be presented in a sexualised or infantile manner
19. Tunstall (2000)
-
.
More than 50% of British women are in paid employment; and
weâre seeing continuing progress in the proportion of
leadership positions filled by women
- yet
role as
this is under-repâd in the media; instead, womenâs
mothers, housewives and
consumers is over-repâd
-
Only around half of all sexual activity involves a woman, yet
women are far more likely to be portrayed in a
sexualised way
20. .
The âJust the Womenâ report ,2012
-
Study of repân of women, and
violence against
women, in British newspapers
-
Part of the Leveson Inquiry (2012), more widely known for its
investigation of
unethical journalistic
activities e.g. phone-hacking
-
For two weeks, 11 national newspapers were subject to a
content analysis: 1,300 reports contained
âsexismâ
ACTIVITY: What were some other the findings of Just the Women?
21. .
The âSeen but not Heardâ report, 2012
- Random sample of front pages of 18 national
newspapers
- 78% of people mentioned in headlines were male
- 84% of people mentioned in the stories were male
- Very few stories about female expertise or
professionalism; instead, most of the âexpertsâ (e.g.
scientists, psychologists, economists) were male
22. Cochrane (2011): content analysis of BBC productions
.
- 72% of BBCâs Question Time panelists were male
- 92% of guests on BBCâs Mock the Week were male
- 84% of reporters and guests on BBC radioâs Today
programme were male
23. - Males even dominate .
childrenâs TV; the
Bristol Fawcett Society (2008) found that only
30% of characters on BBCâs CBeebies were
male, ALL narrators were male, and most
presenters were male
ACTIVITY: The Bristol Fawcett Society specialises in studies
using content analysis; can you recall any specific CA studies?
24. .routinely
⢠Computer games
under-represent women numerically,
and in the way they are
⢠Womenâs
portrayed
sexualisation and
marginalisation is, according to
Ivory (2006), most extreme in this media
format
25.
26. Magazines and femininity
Magazines are a particularly interesting format as
they are even more likely than TV shows and
movies to be aimed at one particular sex e.g.
âwomenâs magazinesâ, âLadsâ
magsâ
Sociologists have long argued that both menâs and
rigid
ideals of masculinity
femininity; playing a key role in
womenâs magazines promote very
and
the reproduction of patriarchy
27. The Cult of Femininity?
This term is that of Ferguson (1983)
â˘
Ferguson (1983) : content anal. of womenâs
magazines (e.g. âGood Housekeepingâ and
âWomenâs weeklyâ) from between 1949 and
1980
cult
⢠Aâ
of femininityâ prevailed;
high value on women attaining
excellence through care, family,
marriage and physical appearance
28. .
Ferguson also looked at current magazines
and found some change; but often this was
superficial and not
equality
a sign of genuine
âhim, home and
looking good (for him)â
focus still on
29. .
⢠The Bristol Fawcett Society (2008) analyzed
front covers of magazines (that featured
people), finding the same prevailing ideals and
images