Representation

Representation of Male and Female

Masculine	Feminine
Tall	Petite
Independent	Organised
Easy going	Stubborn
Patemal	Maternal
Sporty	Fashionable
Courageous	Sociable
Proud	Caring

Objects 

Masculine	Feminine
Football	Make up
iPod	Mobile
Trainers	High heels
Sports	Shopping
Beer	Wine
Mechanic	Beautician
Aftershave	Perfume

Representation in the Media

By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. When studying the media it is vital to remember this - every media form, from a home video to a glossy magazine, is a representation of some one's concept of existence, codified into a series of signs and symbols which can be read by an audience. However, it is important to note that without the media, our perception of reality would be very limited, and that we, as an audience, need these artificial texts to mediate our view of the world, in other words we need the media to make sense of reality. Therefore representation is a fluid, two-way process: producers position a text somewhere in relation to reality and audiences assess a text on its relationship to reality.

Stuart Hall (1950)

Created this audience theory -  ENCODE & DECODE media want us to agree with the majority of things we see. 'Preferred'

For example with Yorkie bars, the advert stating not for girls was put across in a certain 'preferred' way therefore they rebel and decide to buy it therefore Yorkie's 'preferred' idea worked.

In order to fully appriciate the part representation plays in a media text you must consider:

• Who produced it?
• What/who is represented in the text?
• How is that thing represented?
• Why was this particular representation (this shot, framed from this angle, this story phrased in these terms ect.) selected, and what might the alternatives have been?
• What frame of reference does the audience use when understaning the representation?

Representation of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

• Beauty (within narrow conventions)
• Size/Physique
• Sexuality
• Emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
• Relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Representation of Men.

Masculinity is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following:

• Strength (physical and intellectual)
• Power
• Sexual attractiveness
• Physique
• Independence (of thought/ action)