4. Representation - Theories Flashcards
David Gauntlett’s Identity Theory.
Claims the media provides us wit tools and resources that we use to construct our own identities.
In the past, media products conveyed straightforward gender identities. Nowadays it’s more pick and mix.
Stuart Halls Representation Theory.
Stereotyping reduces people to a few simple, recognisable characteristics.
Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power.
Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory.
This theory suggests women are objectified, due to heterosexual men being in control behind the camera.
Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory.
Scopophilia.
The notion of looking from a heightened sexual perspective, being forced upon the audience.
Liesbet Van Zoonen’s Feminist Theory.
Gender is constructed through discourse (written or spoken) varying based on cultural and historical context.
The idea of displaying women’s bodies as objects.
Males are Spectacles.
Men admired, Women desired.
Bell Hooks Feminist Theory.
1) Feminism is a struggle to end sexist / patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination.
2) Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice.
3) Race and Class, as well as Sex, determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed.
Naomi Wolf’s Beauty Standards Theory.
‘To live in a culture which women are routinely naked where men aren’t is to learn inequality in little ways all day long’
She argues ‘The Beauty Myth’ communicates ideologies that women should treat their bodies as a project in need of improvement.
Hilary Radner’s Psychofemme / Masculine Femininity Theory.
Tough and resourceful female action heroines have rejected the violence towards women by being equally as violent.
However, often these women still retain sex-appeal.
Donald L. Mosher and Mark Sirkin’s Hypermasculinity Theory.
A callous sexual attitude towards women.
The belief violence is manly.
The experience of danger is exciting.
Jackson Katz’s Violent Masculinity Theory.
Boy and young men learn from an early age that to be a real man they have to conform to stereotypes.
Media is the most influential place they learn this.
Alvarado’s Ethnicity Theory.
He says there are 4 main themes in racial representation: Exotic Dangerous Pitied Humorous
Paul Gilroy’s Post Colonial Theory.
Colonial discourses contribute to contemporary attitudes towards race and ethnicity.
The idea that civilisation constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of ‘otherness’ and ‘difference’.
