1. Media representations of gender
Learning objectives: To examine and theorise the representations of gender in the media

2. Starter – looking at the images
What message does this send to the audience about the portrayal of females in the media?

3. How are men seen in the media?

4. Introduction
Since women are now achieving visibility outside the home and competing with men on an equal basis you would expect to see this in the mass media
Sociological research suggests that although there are greater equalities in some ways….the roles allocated to the sexes across a range of media – advertising, TV and film have been limited in the following ways:
Women allocated limited number of roles
Women less visible in media than men
Women presented as ideals
Women selected to appeal to men
Men seen as aggressors, women as victims

5. Feminine Identity-
Bob Connell (2002) argues that feminine identity in the UK is still the product of hegemonic ideas of how the sexes should be socialised and how they should behave as adults.
Women are still given very distinct roles, including the traditionally main domestic one (as mothers, housewives and emotional caretakers).
Media representations of gender

6. Sexism in the workplace

7. Supporting evidence
Female issues may be marginalised by the media. Most papers have women’s pages which focus on women as a specialised group with special, often emotional needs.
These pages often focus on beauty & slimming
Tuchman uses the name term ‘symbolic annihilation’ to describe the way in which women in the media are absent, condemned or trivialized.
Women’s sport in particular is underrepresented.
Research by Newbold (2002) into TV sport presentation shows that what little coverage there is tends to sexualise, trivialise and devalue women’s sporting accomplishments’

8. Sex Appeal
Women often presented as sexual objects to be enjoyed by men.
Most extreme version of this is pornography and ‘page 3 girls’ in newspapers.
Mulvey (1975) argues that film-makers employ a ‘male gaze’, whereby the camera lens essentially ‘eyes up’ the female characters, providing erotic pleasure for men.
Men’s magazines such as FHM and Maxim encourage young men to dress, smell and consume in particular ways.
However, less pressure on men to change themselves to this ideal.
Women on the other hand may feel the need to conform to ensure they are desirable.

9. Duncan & Messer (2005) agree with the views of Newbold, they argue that different types of ‘discourse’ is used when talking about women in sport. Men are described as ‘gutsy’ and ‘aggressive’ whereas women are referred to as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘fatigued’. Women athletes are views through the ‘male gaze.’

10. In addition young women are often seen as sexual objects, and viewed in terms of their physical attributes (size, shape etc), and not their intellect.
Connell points out that all agents of socialization are involved in creating these expectations about femininity but that the mass media has and continues to play a particularly important role in reinforcing these traditional ideas about women.

11. Why is this bad for the representation of women?
Women also absent from top jobs in media.
The glass ceiling comes into effect!
Majority of media owners are men (Rupert Murdock)
In 2005, fewer than 5% of chief executives of largest media companies in Britain and fewer than 10% of editors of national newspapers are female (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2005)
Why is this bad for the representation of women?

12. Now, it’s time to apply your knowledge
Identify and briefly explain THREE ways in in which women working in mass media organisations today are disadvantaged.
(9 marks)
Mark Scheme
One mark for each of the three identified characteristics
Two further marks for each of the three satisfactory explanations

13. Women as Ideals
Ferguson (1983) carried out a “content analysis” study of womens’ magazines between 1949 and 1980.
She concluded that many magazines were like “apprentice manuals” to teach women domestic skills.
She noted that such magazines are organised around ‘a cult of femininity’, which promotes an ideal where excellence is achieved through caring for others, the family, marriage and appearance.
Modern female magazines, especially those aimed at teenagers, are moving away from these stereotypes – although Ferguson argues that even these tend to focus on ‘him, home and looking good (for him)’.

14. The “Cult of Femininity”-
Ferguson claimed that these magazines encouraged a “cult of femininity”.
In other words women were encouraged to judge themselves in terms of being good wives and mothers and how good they looked for men.

15. Angela McRobbie (1982)-
She studied specifically girl’s magazines and drew similar conclusions to Ferguson.
Magazines like Jackie encouraged girls to see romance and marriage as primary goals and to value themselves only in terms of how they are valued by boys.

16. WOLF (1990) – ‘BODY IDEALS’ – through advertising and printed media

18. Do you think the media has an affect on the way we see ourselves?

20. Criticism- These studies are now dated.
The character of women’s magazines has now changed.

21. Marxist Feminist
Penny (2012), however stresses the supportive role such magazines play in women’s lives. Successful women are depicted as women who have been able to have loads of children and become top managers is business firms (fueling capitalist ideologies)

22. During the past 30 years new women’s magazines have emerged such as Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Options.
These magazines tend to focus on issues such as domestic violence, careers and sexual freedom.
In other words, these magazines seem to reflect fundamental social and economic changes.

23. Stories tend to focus on sexuality rather than romance
Stories tend to focus on sexuality rather than romance. “THE HOTTEST SEX YOU’LL EVER HAVE” (MORE, May, 2003) Women are portrayed as the sexual aggressors rather than sexual objects

24. Mc Robbie 1999
Women are encouraged to be assertive, confident, and supportive of each other through magazines and the media.

25. Is it changing?

26. Arianna Huffington
She is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.
As of 2014, she is listed as the 52nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[7]
In 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million and made Huffington President and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which included The Huffington Post and then-existing AOL properties such as AOL Music, Engadget, Patch Media, and StyleList.[8]
In 1973, Arianna wrote a book titled The Female Woman, attacking the Women's Liberation movement in general and Germaine Greer's 1970 The Female Eunuch in particular. In the book she wrote, "Women’s Lib claims that the achievement of total liberation would transform the lives of all women for the better; the truth is that it would transform only the lives of women with strong lesbian tendencies."

29. A feature of the film, shared with the 1939 version, is that the movie does not show a single male actor or extra, with the exception of the baby at the very end of the film.

30. Ballister (1991)-
Notes that these magazines seem to present conflicting messages.
On the one hand, women are encouraged to behave radically in terms of sexuality and careers but are encouraged to conform to traditional feminine ideals concerning appearance.

31. Women therefore suffer from contradictory messages.
They are encouraged to have careers and independence but society still seems to want them to see marriage and children as their ultimate goal.

32. Most women in films and on TV (especially presenters) tend to be under 30.
Physical looks, sex appeal and youth seem to be necessary for women to be successful in TV and cinema.
The same is not true for men, who are still accepted as sexually appealing until much later in life.
Wolf (1990) points out that the media (especially advertising) present a particular physical image as normal or ideal body image though this is often unattainable for most.
Commentators such as Orbach (1991), have linked such images to anorexia and bulimia in teenage girls.

33. Modern magazines have moved on a great deal offering visions of femininity that involve independence and confidence as well as beauty and domestic concerns.
However, in magazines like More, Red and New Woman still encourage to look good in order to attract men.

35. Guy Cumberbatch (1990)-
Cumberbatch’s study of television commercials concluded that such adverts reflected an “unacceptable face of sexism” and contribute to the patriarchal idea that ultimately women exists in what is essentially a man’s world.

36. Cumberbatch’s study found that youth and beauty were the main features of women in commercials, and that women occupy a decorative role far more than men.
Cumberbatch also found that men were more than twice as likely to be shown in paid employment while women were more than twice as likely to be shown doing things like washing and cleaning.

39. Do you think there has been a change in media representations of gender?

40. Gauntlett 2002
Increase in proportion of main female characters, from 18% in 1992 – 93 to 43% in
A massive decrease since the 1970’s in the proportion of women being portrayed as a house wife. Now only 3%.
‘Female and male characters are likely to be as intelligent, talented and resourceful or stupid as each other.’

41. Men and women are often portrayed in a similar way today
Men and women are often portrayed in a similar way today. There are many strong females in soap operas and films today. Women are no longer portrayed in ‘traditional’ female roles.

42. There has been an increase in ‘stronger’ roles for women e. g
There has been an increase in ‘stronger’ roles for women e.g. Sex and the City
Buffy the Vampire Slayer also portrayed a strong female in male dominated sci-fi world.
Soap operas also tend to promote strong female roles, whereas male characters tend to be weaker.
Can you think of other examples of strong female characters?

43. What does Hakim (2011) mean by ‘erotic capital’?

44. Visibility In 1990, 89% of voice-overs for TV adverts were male.
Women were the main stars of only 14% of mid-evening TV.
Analysis of Hollywood films at the time suggested few women stars were seen by major studios as being able to carry a film by themselves.
Recent years have seen this change e.g. Kill Bill and Tomb Raider.

45. FEMINIST CRITIQUE Venker (right wing) – men are the butt of the jokes – commercials and tv shows. Men are constantly being emasculated. We’re living in a ‘womans world.’ This is not an improvement. The feminist movement affects women, men and children in a negative way

46. What would the feminist perspective have to say about these depictions of women?

47. 3 Strands of FEMINISM Liberal feminism Visibility Portrayal changing
Ladette Culture
Strong/
independent
equality

48. Media is patriarchal dominated by me who portray women as subordinate
Magazines
Advertising
Newspapers
Internet
Little change in
the portrayal of women
Radical feminism
Media Outlets
Media is patriarchal dominated by me who portray women as subordinate
Sexualised images

49. Marxist feminism Pornography Exploitation of women for PROFIT
Sex sells!
Economic Inequalities
Marxist feminism
Media perpetuates negative female stereotypes however this reflects the needs of CAPITALISM rather than patriarchy.
Discrimination in pay
Unpaid labour

50. Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines

51. Essay writing - Success Criteria Point (Make a statement)
‘Gender is still too often portrayed by the mass media in ways which reinforce stereotypes’ To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? 33 marks
Essay writing - Success Criteria
Point (Make a statement)
Evidence (Use sociological theory and real life examples to back up your point)
Explain (Make the point and evidence relevant to the question)
Link (Make the connection to the next thinker of theory – do they support/critique?) Don’t forget to link back to the question.
Grade Criteria
A/B – CHALLENGE!
Am I explaining concepts in detail before moving on the next?
Am I constantly referring back to the question?
Do I use relevant examples from my knowledge in all past units?
Do I use connecting phrases?
Am I evaluating the good and bad points of a theory/Concept?
C/D
My answers are mainly knowledge based with little or one sided evaluation. I use some examples but they are not always specific to the question . I jump from concept to concept without explaining my points well. There is a lack of analysis and interpretation in my writing.