How far are the representations constructed in the set texts of Zoella and Attitude Stereotypical?
Stereotype: A set of widely held beliefs/attitudes about a certain group of people or individual.
Stereotypes are created when knowledge is lacking or unattainable and the substitution of thoughts and opinions are implemented.
This often leads to misjudgement and unfair discrimination towards certain groups. (Stuart Hall)
In media products, they have the potential to impact the mindset of audiences, often sustaining, perpetuating and creating stereotypes.
Media products portray the unspoken norms of an ideology.
Such products appeal to the widest audience - intellectually and globally.
Stereotypes of gay men:
Feminine
Fashionable - conscious of their appearance
Articulate
More open with their emotions
More friendly with female friends
The representation of the LGBT community is often narrow and stereotypical.
Gay men are often represented as camp, effeminate, theatrical or flamboyant, functioning as visible markers if difference in relation to heterosexuality and masculinity.
While this may represent some gay men, it does not reflect the diversity of gay male identities.
These representations can be said to be promoting hegemonic understandings of masculinity by constructing the gay man as 'other'.
Masculinity is often equated to heterosexuality.
This construction of dominant ideology can be related to Hall's theory.
This could cause some stereotyped groups to adopt the stereotypes as a defence to those creating the stereotypes.
Media representations of sexuality in Britain are overwhelmingly heterosexual.
"The role of stereotypes is to make visible the invisible, so there os mp danger of it creeping up on us unawares; and to make fast, firm and separate what is in reality fluid and much closer to the norm that the dominant value system cares to admit. " Richard Dyer 2002
Sexuality is quite unique in that it is and invisible part of our identity.
Heterosexuality is not generally encoded with signs and signifiers to make it apparent.
Homosexuality, however, is often made visible through media language codes eg dress code, body language, colour etc.
Under-representation of the LGBT community still remains an issue.
Sandler de Riddler et al (2011): "The right to be visible, acknowledged, and in this way legitimated, is indispensable for social change. Therefore, media representations of gay and lesbian identities in popular culture are crucial.
George Gerbner (2002) argues that the media participate is the symbolic annihilation of LGBT by negatively stereotyping them, by rarely portraying them realistically, or by not portraying them at all.
Craig (1992) suggests that they are often stereotyped as having amusing or negative psychological and social characteristics.
Campness - the camp persona reinforces negative view of gay sexuality by being somewhere in between male and female.
Macho - a look that exaggerates masculinity and which is regarded by heterosexual men as threatening because it subverts traditional ideas of masculinity.
Deviant - evil or as devious in television drama, as sexual predators or as people who feel as tremendous guilt about their sexuality. In many cases, gay characters are completely defined by the 'problem'.
Gauntlet argues that the LGBT community are still under-represented in the mainstream media, but things are slowly changing for the better.
Potentially damaging stereotypes
Theories around ethnicity and post-colonial theory: Paul Gilroy
Post colonialism is the study of the impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies. For example, despite being a tiny island, Britain colonised and declared ownership of many countries, including India and Australia.
These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post colonial era.
These post colonial attitudes have constructed racial hierarchies in our society, where for example, white people are by far and large given more positive and important roles than BME people.
Media producers are also guilty of using binary opposition to enforce BME peoples characters as other.
Stereotype: A set of widely held beliefs/attitudes about a certain group of people or individual.
Stereotypes are created when knowledge is lacking or unattainable and the substitution of thoughts and opinions are implemented.
This often leads to misjudgement and unfair discrimination towards certain groups. (Stuart Hall)
In media products, they have the potential to impact the mindset of audiences, often sustaining, perpetuating and creating stereotypes.
Media products portray the unspoken norms of an ideology.
Such products appeal to the widest audience - intellectually and globally.
Stereotypes of gay men:
Feminine
Fashionable - conscious of their appearance
Articulate
More open with their emotions
More friendly with female friends
The representation of the LGBT community is often narrow and stereotypical.
Gay men are often represented as camp, effeminate, theatrical or flamboyant, functioning as visible markers if difference in relation to heterosexuality and masculinity.
While this may represent some gay men, it does not reflect the diversity of gay male identities.
These representations can be said to be promoting hegemonic understandings of masculinity by constructing the gay man as 'other'.
Masculinity is often equated to heterosexuality.
This construction of dominant ideology can be related to Hall's theory.
This could cause some stereotyped groups to adopt the stereotypes as a defence to those creating the stereotypes.
Media representations of sexuality in Britain are overwhelmingly heterosexual.
"The role of stereotypes is to make visible the invisible, so there os mp danger of it creeping up on us unawares; and to make fast, firm and separate what is in reality fluid and much closer to the norm that the dominant value system cares to admit. " Richard Dyer 2002
Sexuality is quite unique in that it is and invisible part of our identity.
Heterosexuality is not generally encoded with signs and signifiers to make it apparent.
Homosexuality, however, is often made visible through media language codes eg dress code, body language, colour etc.
Under-representation of the LGBT community still remains an issue.
Sandler de Riddler et al (2011): "The right to be visible, acknowledged, and in this way legitimated, is indispensable for social change. Therefore, media representations of gay and lesbian identities in popular culture are crucial.
George Gerbner (2002) argues that the media participate is the symbolic annihilation of LGBT by negatively stereotyping them, by rarely portraying them realistically, or by not portraying them at all.
Craig (1992) suggests that they are often stereotyped as having amusing or negative psychological and social characteristics.
Campness - the camp persona reinforces negative view of gay sexuality by being somewhere in between male and female.
Macho - a look that exaggerates masculinity and which is regarded by heterosexual men as threatening because it subverts traditional ideas of masculinity.
Deviant - evil or as devious in television drama, as sexual predators or as people who feel as tremendous guilt about their sexuality. In many cases, gay characters are completely defined by the 'problem'.
Gauntlet argues that the LGBT community are still under-represented in the mainstream media, but things are slowly changing for the better.
Potentially damaging stereotypes
Theories around ethnicity and post-colonial theory: Paul Gilroy
Post colonialism is the study of the impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies. For example, despite being a tiny island, Britain colonised and declared ownership of many countries, including India and Australia.
These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post colonial era.
These post colonial attitudes have constructed racial hierarchies in our society, where for example, white people are by far and large given more positive and important roles than BME people.
Media producers are also guilty of using binary opposition to enforce BME peoples characters as other.
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