cms 498: media
TRANSCRIPT
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.