Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
media representations of gender - Coggle Diagram
media representations of gender
masculine
change
Metrosexual man- emerged in 1980s with mags like GQ. a 'new man' who takes interest in toiletries/beauty products, takes active roles in family/childcare and focuses on their emotions. David Beckham, Harry Styles 2020 vogue cover
Whannel- media reps of Beckham are fluid/contradictory – his good looks, his football skills, competitive spirit and his commitment mark him out as a traditional ‘real man’. Balanced with alternative media representations that stress his metrosexuality: his emotional commitment to his family and the fact that he spends effort on his image.
Mort- men's bodies now sexualised by media. Subject to a 'female gaze' in adverts and on TV
Queer eye and Joker show media reps of men outside of hegemonic masculinity/ covering taboo issues for males. gay and mentally ill.
same
Tuchman- men portrayed as authority figures, breadwinners, and sportsmen. outnumbered women 3 to 1. Discussion programmes always presented by men
Gauntlett argues that there are still plenty of magazines aimed at men which sexually objectify women and stress images of men as traditionally masculine. Rutherford suggests that these magazines are symbolic of what he calls retributive masculinity – an attempt to reassert traditional masculine authority by celebrating traditionally male concerns in their content, i.e. ‘birds, booze and football’.
Eastthorpe (1986)- men seen in films and video games (and Call Of Duty)
as strong, violent, aggressive and competitive
feminine
change
Gill (2008) argues that the depiction of women in advertising has changed from women as passive objects of the male gaze, to active, independent and sexually powerful agents
Gauntlett (2008) argues that magazines aimed at young women emphasise that women must do their own thing and be themselves, whilst female pop stars, like Lady Gaga, sing about financial and emotional independence.
same
Women are generally represented in a narrow range of social roles by various types of media, whilst men are shown performing a full range of social and occupational roles. Tunstall (2000) argues that media representations emphasise women’s domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. The media generally ignore the fact that a majority of British women go out to work. Men, on the other hand, are seldom presented nude or defined by their marital or family status.
Tuchman et al. (1978) used the term symbolic annihilation to describe the way in which women’s achievements are often not reported, or are condemned or trivialised by the mass media. Often their achievements are presented as less important than their looks and sex appeal.
Ferguson (1983) conducted a content analysis of women’s magazines from between 1949 and 1974, and 1979 and 1980. She notes that such magazines are organised around a cult of femininity, which promotes a traditional ideal where excellence is achieved through caring for others, the family, marriage and appearance.
challenged by Winship (1987), who argued that women’s magazines generally play a supportive and positive role in the lives of women. Winship argues that such magazines present women with a broader range of options than ever before and that they tackle problems that have been largely ignored by the male-dominated media, such as domestic violence and child abuse.
Content analysis of teen magazines in Britain indicates that almost 70% of the content and images focus on beauty and fashion, compared with only 12% focused on education or careers. Many encourage the idea that slimness=happiness and consequently Orbach (1991) suggests that such media imagery creates the potential for eating disorders.
Wolf (1990) suggests that the images of women used by the media present women as sex objects to be consumed by what Mulvey calls the male gaze. According to Kilbourne (1995), this media representation presents women as mannequins: tall and thin, often US size zero, with very long legs, perfect teeth and hair, and skin without a blemish in sight. Wolf notes that the media encourage women to view their bodies as a project in constant need of improvement.
Newbold’s research (2002) into television sport presentation shows that what little coverage of women’s sport there is tends to sexualise, trivialise and devalue women’s sporting accomplishments.