Novea Lindsay

Print Media• Newspapers

• Books

• Magazines

• Advertisements

Television• News Broadcasts

• TV Shows

• Commercials

“96.7% of househols have at leason one televison

set.” (227)

Film

•Feature Length Films

•Short Films

•Documentaries

Radio

• Music

• Talk Shows

• News Reports

• Advertisments

Computers• The Internet Social Media Blogs News Stories Ads

• Blu-Ray• DVDs• CDs

“As of 2012, 76.7% of households had at least one computer.” (p.227)

“Mass entertainment now performs a

similar normative role in our media-

saturated society.” p.(227)

How individuals dress

How they interact with one another

What is socially acceptable

How individuals understand• Themselves

• Each other

• Society

• world

Adorno/Frankfurt School: media" 'churn[s] out products which keep the audience blandly entertained, but passive, helping to maintain the status quo by encouraging conformity and diminishing the scope of resistance” (229).

• Media creates a false consciousness Audience members believe they choose what they view Audience member believe their opinions about what they view

are products or their own cogitation, not media influence.

Fiske: audiences engage with media “actively and creatively…” (229).

Hegemony: “one way the predominant

social group can make its beliefs appear to

be common sense is through media

representations that shape the cognitive

structure through which people perceive

and evaluate social reality.”

In order for hegemony to successfully “respond to and overcome the forms that oppose it” messages must be:

Message Made

Message Maintained

Message Repeated

Message Reinforced

Message Modified

Hegemonic messages about gender are

maintained even as additional messages that

“create gaps and fissures in representations of

gender” are introduced.

Vs.

Polysemous: • media messages are “open to a range of different

interpretations at different times.

• Meaning is determined by individual audience

members, not media.

Polyvalence: occurs “when audience

members share understanding of the

denotations of a text but disagree about

the valuation of these denotations to such

a degree that they produce notable

different interpretations” (p. 229).

Polyvalence: when audience members share an

understanding of the message, but disagree of the

messages importance.

Ex: A commercial for skin cream that

claims to banish a woman’s fine lines as

she ages reinforces the notion that to

remain physically attractive women must

maintain a youthful appearance. Audience members may disagree on the importance of

women maintain a youthful appearance as they age.

Media is structured around the male

perspective• Diminishes the perspectives of women and

transgender individuals

Oppositional Gaze: critically examines the

messages proliferated from the male-

dominant gaze• Ex: critically examining the world from through the

experiences of a female rather than those of a man.

Developing an oppositional gaze:

• Embrace an oppositional perspective Understand how you view the world

• Identity the extent to which you participate in culture Examine how you consume, produce, and reinforce media

messages

• Critique and transform messages Understand media messages, as well as providing

alternatives the convey opposing meanings.

• Remain cognizant of commodification

Commodification: “the selling of cultural,

sexual, or gender difference in a way that

supports institutionalized discrimination” (p.

237).

Ex:

Situated in the backseat

with her male companion

looming over her from

behind the closed door, the

sexuality of the female is

not only referenced, but is

objectified from the imagery,

to the text, to the tone of the

message. The ad implies

that the car provides more

than extra space to just

stretch one’s legs, but

serves as an arena for male

pleasure.

Underrepresentation of women in media• Male Characters are

dominant in:

• Children’s Books

• News

• Television

• Film

• Video Games

Underrepresentation of people of color

Types of Sexualization

• Individuals value comes solely from their sexual appeal or behavior

• An individual’s physical attractiveness is equated with “being sexy” (242.)

• Objectification Person becomes an object for sexual gratification rather than

an actively engaging human being

• “Sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person” (242).

Factors of Sexualization

• Sexualization of society stems from increased portrayals of sexuality on TV.

• Male Gaze Women are objects for pleasure, not individual entities

• Societal Values “A woman’s self-worth is influenced by her look, clothes, and

accessories” (243).

• Men’s Magazines Normalize extreme sexual behavior towards women.

“Masculinity is a social construction, not a cultural given”(p.247).

U.S Hegemonic Masculinity:

• Power mean physical force and control

• Professional Achievement

• Family Patriarchy Male acts as primary provider

• Embodies frontiersman/outdoorsmen archetype Handy and resourceful

• Heterosexual

Although the media presents consumers with images and

messages about the social construction in which they live, it is

imperative that viewers develop a critical lens through which the

latent meanings of such messages can be identified, examined, and

countered. Consumers of media must become producers of media

so that they can define media, rather than being defined by it.