Starter Activity

• Discuss and list your ideal man and/or woman in your groups.

• What does this suggest you value most about men/women?

• What is it about those values that you think you think is important?

To understand the outline of the courseTo begin to understand how gender is represented

Learning Objectives

AS Media Studies

What will I study?• Representation• Genre• Audience• Textual Analysis

How will I be assessed?

• MS1 - Examination - 2 ½ hours (50%)• MS2 - Coursework – 1 Pre Production

task and a linked Production and a written reflective report (50%)

AS Media Examination topics• 1 Question – Textual analysis of an

unseen text (print or moving image) 40 marks

• 3 Questions on media representations and audience responses (30 marks each)

AS Media Coursework• Pre-production task (20 marks); • Production which develops from the pre-production (40

marks) • 1200 – 1600 word Reflective report on the production

process (40 marks)• Group work for the production is only allowed for

audio-visual productions (group size no more than 3)

• Become more familiar with media texts you would not normally consume – newspapers, news reports, any genres you would not normally be familiar with

• Read around the subject – Media supplements in newspapers, text books and dedicated websites

• Be up to date with news and current affairs

What can I do to help myself?

1. Textual Analysis2. Representations3. Audience Response

What is Media Studies all about?

The Media is a channel of communication from producer to audience.Producers create MEDIA TEXTS which we consume:• advertisements• DVD covers• CD covers• newspaper front pages• magazines /comics• radio sequences• Films• television programmes• music videos• websites• computer games

The Tool Kit for analysis

What is representation?

• Representation is the way in which the media constructs aspects of ‘real life’ including people, places, events, culture, ethnicity and issues (WJEC, Exploring the Media)

• The media don’t just present reality they re-present it.

Understanding Representation

• To be able to understand representation we need to be aware that part of it is how we see things and this is affected by our own experiences, culture, gender and preconceived expectations.

• Task- write a 50 word description of yourself and then ask the person next to you or someone on your table to write on of you. How are they different?

• They are different because of the person’s positioning and relationship to the subject matter which in this case is you.

Same person: one year apart. Consider how Miley Cyrus was representing herself last year, compared to her most recent representation.

Miley Cyrus

This is the image on Miley Cyrus’ homepage of her official website. Why has this image been chosen? What does it represent?

Important Points to Consider!

• What kind of world/image is being created by the

text?

• Is it positive or negative?

• How will audiences interpret this?

• This will depend on how the person sees the particular person or celebrity, what their relationship is to a certain event or issue

• It will also depend on the persons age, gender, ethnicity and situation

What is gender?

"Sex" refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.

"Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

...and transgender should be part of this too.

• Consider birthday cards and girls/boys magazines.

• What do these say about what it means to be a boy/girl?  What do boys like and what do girls like?

• Do you think this changes in men’s/women’s magazines?

• Spend 5 minutes discussing the contents of ‘men’s magazines’ and ‘women’s magazines’.

• What types of articles do they feature?

• What does this suggest is important about men/women?

• What do you think about this?

Masculinity and femininity

Gender and representation of gender is tied up with ideas of masculinity and femininity...

Are the following ideas about the representation of men and women reinforced by what you found in the magazines?

Representation of MenRepresentation 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 (which may be

based on the above) • Physique • Independence (of thought, action,

finances)

'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 (which may be

based on the above) • Physique • Independence (of thought, action,

finances)

Representation of MenRepresentation of Men

• Male characters are often represented as isolated, as not needing to rely on others (the lone hero). If they submit to being part of a family, it is often part of the resolution of a narrative, rather than an integral factor in the initial balance.

• It is interesting to note that the male physique is becoming more important a part of representations of masculinity.

• Male characters are often represented as isolated, as not needing to rely on others (the lone hero). If they submit to being part of a family, it is often part of the resolution of a narrative, rather than an integral factor in the initial balance.

• It is interesting to note that the male physique is becoming more important a part of representations of masculinity.

Representation of WomenRepresentation of Women

Representations of women across all media tend to

highlight the following:• beauty (within narrow conventions) • size/physique (again, within narrow

conventions) • sexuality (as expressed by the above) • emotional (as opposed to intellectual)

dealings • relationships (as opposed to independence/

freedom)

Representations of women across all media tend to

highlight the following:• beauty (within narrow conventions) • size/physique (again, within narrow

conventions) • sexuality (as expressed by the above) • emotional (as opposed to intellectual)

dealings • relationships (as opposed to independence/

freedom)

Representation of WomenRepresentation of Women

• Start observing how people are being represented. Look at real people around you – how are they representing themselves? Look at actors in soaps? Read about celebrities. Representation is everywhere?

• For next lesson I want you to have one example of an observation.

Start observing…