The representation of the physically challenged and their stereotypes as portrayed in film
Shane Willoughby Title The representation of the physically challenged and their stereotypes as portrayed in film Hypothesis or Aim The sociological issue, to be researched is, the representation of the physically challenged in the mass media, concentrating on popular films. I've decided to use four main stereotypes, which are most common in the media. After reading into "Media and Mental illness" by The Glasgow Media Group, I became intrigued and started to reflect on the images portrayed. As I have a physical disability, I thought that I would have a better understanding of my research, and a good empathy for people who are being portrayed badly. After researching on the Internet, based on the research I developed my hypothesis: There will be no physically challenged people portrayed in "normal" roles, instead they will fit into one of the four stereotypes. (121 words) Contexts and concepts The Broadcasting complaints Commission study showed that in television programmes 7% of persons were disabled. They showed that disabled people were mostly in broadcast films, drama and soap operas. Langmore (1987) Studied on the different forms of representations of disabled persons, and how the audience reacts to seeing a disabled person on the television as a pose to an able bodied person. The results show that people generally feel a lot more sympathetic, pitiful and
Examine the ways in which males and females are represented in the mass media
Examine the ways in which males and females are represented in the mass media I believe that the representation of males and females in the media is an interesting and important issue to address as it is evident that through television especially, females are depicted to be passive, anonymous sexual objects where as men are portrayed as hard working, dominant figures of authority within society. In this essay I will examine the different ways in which both males and females are represented in all types of media and the ways in which, according to certain sociologists this affects the way society perceives males and females to behave and how the younger generation are affected. With reference to newspapers, society is often concerned about the media representation of sexual violence against women. Newspapers often sensationalise the details of rape attacks on women and thus rape victims are stereotyped as good or bad, therefore deserving or undeserving. Joan Smith (1989) suggests that the female fear of violence is used as a basis for many TV shows for example, "The Shining" which adds to the notion of women as weak and vulnerable figures within society. In my opinion this cannot send a healthy message to young people of society if when reading exaggerated stories of rape accounts and viewing it on TV they are accustomed to the view that males are aggressive characters whom
Mary Tyler Moore and Feminism
Running head: VISIONS OF AMERICA The Feminist Movement ________________ I was too young to watch the original airing of The Mary Tyler Moore Show but I certainly enjoyed watching it in syndication during the 80s. It was one of my favorite shows and I wanted to have the same exact life that Mary Tyler Moore did. She was independent, stylish and smart with the perfect job. I actually based my early career goals on journalism and chose it as my major during my round of college. It is one of those shows that had an impact on me personally and it is a great representation of the second wave of feminism and a new era for women during that time. The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977 on CBS and was the first television series that portrayed an independent career woman as the lead character. Her character’s name was Mary Richards and she was a young woman in her thirties who was starting over after a break-up. She lived with her boyfriend previously whom she helped through medical school until he received his degree and then left her. She moved to Minneapolis where she wanted to start a new life and make it on her own which is where the show successfully portrays a strong person determined to succeed. Mary “finds a job as Associate Producer of the evening news and, as a result, finds herself in a position of some
Assess the effects of mass media on popular culture.
Assess the effect of mass media on popular culture Popular culture is defined as social and cultural products that are there as a form of entertainment and for use by the mass culture, and are commonly short lived and acknowledged to hold little artistic value, such as movies or pop music. Alternatively, high culture is something that is considered unique, and different to everyday life. It is usually aimed at the upper and middle class, and is commonly approved of by the intellectual elite. Furthermore it usually takes place in environments that are significant in high class culture, such as the theatre. There are several different arguments as to how the mass media has affected popular culture, for example Marxists argue that popular culture is the bourgeoisie's way of dumbing down the proletariat, and thus controlling them. By promoting the false ideologies that popular culture bases itself off, such as owning an iPod, the proletariat are distracted from the poor working conditions and the exploitation that they are facing. Furthermore, Marxists also argue that the working class experience "false class consciousness", meaning that they have come to believe that the capitalist system is a fair one that can benefits everyone equally, because the lower class are also able to obtain these false needs. Therefore they fail to notice the reality of their situation, that they
Media and The Sexualization of Young Girls
Robinson Brianna Robinson English 4 Dunfy Media and The Sexualization of Young Girls Introduction Why is it that you walk down the streets now a days and see 13 year olds wearing clothes that could make a seasoned stripper blush? Why do I see 10 year olds wearing more make up than I have ever worn in my 17 years of life? What is causing these little girls to want to be considered “sexy” , To feel the need to have boyfriends and trade in Barbie dolls for push up bras? Media is bashing the idea of sex and the glamour of it all into everything and it’s talking a major effect. Instead of watching Barney, young girls are looking up to the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan. They’re watching movies where the beautiful girls with the makeup and the flirty personalities get the best opportunities, the Attention of all the guys, and the popularity that so many seek. They see the ads telling us how to be beautiful and what the guys want. The change in behavior of young girls these days is becoming more drastic. We’ve gone from girls covering every part of their body in fear of being called “easy” or “loose”, to showing up in school with miniskirts and belly shirts. The way the sleazy girl dressed in old movies is similar to how the “good” girls dress today. The message that girls are receiving these days are more confusing than ever. Although
Do Video Games Develop Important Skills For Me?
Candidate Name: Alexander JamesCentre Name: Oxted School Candidate No: 7566 Centre No: 64175 Do Video Games Develop Important Skills For Me? As a child growing up in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, video games have become increasingly popular to me for that the technology is new and exciting to use and interact with. Right now the “wired generation” being the children of this age (me), playing video games, side-tracking them from real world problems, making it the new “norm” in our technologically driven society we as a country live in. It has been more than 20 years since video games had been invented, one of the first being an arcade video game being Pong (which was a tennis sports game featuring two-dimensional graphics), this creates a lot of data to study on. There have always been speculations onto how video games have affected us mentally from the violence that is shown on some games, and physically as exercising is becoming less apparent when you do not have to move your body around, only your hands. Post modernity applies to this as a new way for people to gain skills that apply to everyday life such as reading – As I may play, some adventure games forces me to read carefully when playing games, and by practise, my reading will improve as reading carefully in video games will help me solve problems which may be untaken in a game. Logical
Assess the ways gender and sexuality are represented in the mass media
Representations of gender and sexuality in the media. Representations of femininity, masculinity, sexuality and homosexuality gradually start to deviate from hegemonic definitions (those dominating the society), in which the media play a dominant role. As role of women in society advances, so does the variety of female representations. Similarly, representations of masculinity are changing in response to feminisation. Homosexuality becomes more visible in the media, signifying changing perception of LGBT community. It is argued the media plays the key role in shaping youth’s view of sexuality, however its coverage in the media is still subject to stereotypes and hegemonic values. Despite positive changes in representations, women tend to be more sexualised by the media still. Moreover, issues of homosexuality are largely still marginalised. The media shape youth’s understanding of sexuality and expressing it, which means its representation in the media is highly significant and should promote positive messages. BACHELOR argues the positive aspect of representations of sexuality is that importance of contraception and consent are emphasised in the media. However, he acknowledges that contraception is seen as female responsibility, while men are seen as pursuers of women. Representation of gay teenagers is extremely limited, although there are positive tendencies. More
Assess the postmodernist views of the mass media.
POSTMODERNIST view of mass media. PM argue mass media are central to the PM theory, as the decline of traditional communities, time-space compression and flexible production – all derived through the media. PM argue the global society is media-saturated, making it harder to distinguish between reality and hyper-reality, and making culture fragmented and unstable. PM challenge viewing audience as passive and easily manipulated, as they use media images to construct individual identities. The major criticism of PM is that their argument is based on abstract concepts and a lack of empirical evidence. Marxists criticise PM for ignoring inequalities in media access, and that the media messages can mislead the audiences, as the main effort behind them is maintaining profit for capitalists. PM argue the society today is media-saturated. BAUDRILLARD argues the media messages dominate and distort the perception of the world. People live media-led virtual lives, spending time on social networks (eg. Twitter) or playing such video games as Second Life. Media-saturated society had created increasing uncertainty in the world by making it hard to discern reality from fantasy. BAUDRILLARD notes people are bombarded with the mass media daily. As a result, the media define our sense of reality and self-perception. To support, BAUMANN suggests people live in a liquid modernity, where we
Assess cultural pessimist views of the new media
CULTURAL PESSIMISTS ON NEW MEDIA Cultural pessimists have a negative view of new media, arguing the rise in new media has been exaggerated by neophiliacs. Cultural pessimists argue new media is not so ‘new’, instead it is an extension of old media. The only novelty of new media is its speed, allowing information to be accessed in the real time. Cultural pessimists believe new media retains negative features of old media, particularly ownership patterns (i.e. concentration in hands of elite groups), which is supported by Marxists. Cultural pessimists argue new media promotes low/candy floss culture of poor quality. Cultural pessimists believe the effects of new media on society are negative, meaning the government should regulate its content. By contrast, neophiliacs disagree, arguing new media brings many benefits to the society, including enhancement of social life and democratisation of the society. Cultural pessimists believe new media is merely an extension of old media. Cultural pessimists argue new media is still run by and for the benefit of major corporations. JENKINS argues cross-media ownership benefits big media companies. The Internet is dominated by a small number of media companies like AOL (owned by Time Warner), which is US main Internet service provider. Most of the Internet is controlled by the big entertainment, press, telecommunications companies,
Poverty Stereotypes: Fact or Fiction? Evidence of this use of labels can be found in the 2006 motion picture The Ron Clark Story.
Matt Bernstein Writing Seminar Essay 3 Poverty Stereotypes: Fact or Fiction? Is the notion that children in impoverished inner cities suffer academically a stereotype or a cultural fact? Schools in these poor communities are often at a disadvantage due to violence and vandalism, as well as a lack of funding and qualified teachers willing to put themselves into sometimes daunting situations. Families living in lower-class areas commonly have more than one child and live in unfortunate housing situations and conditions. By stereotyping all inner-city children to be of this environment, we are propagating common misconceptions of how we perceive and value each other. Many filmmakers rely heavily on one-dimensional, over-simplified portrayals of people or groups of people for the purpose of quickly and easily establishing a movie character’s traits. Evidence of this use of labels can be found in the 2006 motion picture The Ron Clark Story. The made-for-television film follows the inspiring tale of an energetic, creative, and idealistic teacher who leaves his small North Carolina hometown to teach in the sixth grade at a public school in Harlem. Through his passionate use of special rules for his classroom, highly innovative teaching techniques, and an undying devotion to his students which includes helping them cope with their problems, Clark is able to make a