Asses the Role of the Mass Media in the Representation of Gender

Using material from item C and elsewhere assess the role of the mass media in the representation of gender. (18 marks)

The judgments we make about people, events or places are largely based on our own direct impressions. But for most of the knowledge, we rely on media. The media are responsible for representing the world to the general public and representations they portray can have a substantial impact on the thoughts of a normal person. However, the media only shows us some aspects of the world, ignoring the rest and usually with a bias interpretation of stories that are reported. The media have the power to choose what is to be shown and what is to be discarded or seen as unimportant.

Stereotypes can be defined as an exaggerated belief about an individual or a group based on their appearance, behaviour or beliefs. Today, the media is so powerful that it can make or break an image of a person and also can change the views of the audience. There has been an argument that the media has pressed stereotypical views of gender, this is shown through item C, “feminists have criticised television production companies for showing women in stereotypical roles”. The general conception of media representations of gender, explained by Gilmore, is that men are presented as tough, macho breadwinners and these qualities represent masculinity. Iconic fictional characters such as Rambo and Commando support this ideology, however, we have continuously seen a rise of the new man who are ‘in touch with their feminine side’ such as David Beckham and Jamie Redknapp.

Tuchman’s symbolic annihilation theory is the view that achievements of women largely go unreported and if a woman is reported it is due to looks and sex appeal. This can be seen through the Olympics in London when Jessica Ennis was the poster girl for the competition instead of someone like swimmer Rebecca Aldington. As Jessica Ennis would be viewed as more attractive by most male viewers she was deemed more...