Media Representations Writing Task

Media Representation Writing Task

Representations in media are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies so that audiences can make sense of them.

I will be looking at different media theorists and their theories and analysing whether their theories support or oppose this statement.

Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze Theory

Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ involves the representation of gender in the media. Mulvey is a feminist film scholar that argues that women in cinema are only there to look nice for men and be sexually submissive. An example of this theory in our current media is Morgan Fox in the Transformer’s movies. She is not there to add to the plot or even be a character, she is only there to be the romantic interest of the protagonist and look pretty for the audience. This links back to the statement as it shows a simplistic representation of the female gender that reinforces a dominant male patriarchy within the media and society. So, Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ supports the statement.

Mary Ann Doane – Masquerade Theory

Mary Ann Doane’s ‘Masquerade’ theory also involves the representation of gender in the media. Doane argues that women show off their sexuality in an impowering way. Rather than women showing their sexuality for men to see they are showing their sexuality to resist masculinity and therefore are impowering themselves and other women by doing so. Female music stars such as Beyoncé are example of this, they show their sexuality in an impowering way to other women. This links back to the statement as it shows a more complicated representation of women in the media and does not reinforce a dominant patriarchal society. So, Mary Ann Doane’s ‘Masquerade’ theory opposes the statement.  

Paul Gilroy – Post-Colonial Theory

Paul Gilroy’s ‘Post-Colonial’ theory involves the representation of ethnic minorities within the United Kingdom. Gilroy argues that white citizens in the UK still ‘other’ ethnicities because they feel superior over them because of the olden days of The British Empire. An example of this theory is ‘The Daily Mail’ who constantly other immigrants in their headlines and are constantly saying bad thing about any immigrants that come to the UK in their newspaper. This links back to the statement as it provides a simplistic representation of immigrants and ethnic minorities and reinforces the dominant ideology that white people are in top in society. So, Gilroy’s “Post-Colonial” theory supports the statement.

Stuart Hall – Reception Theory

Stuart Hall’s ‘Reception’ theory involves how the audience receives and responds to the representations the media puts forth. Hall argues that there is no one meaning to a text but rather the meaning of the text is in the reading. There are three possible readings of a text: a majority reading where audiences accepted the preferred reading, a negotiated reading where they accepted some elements of the text and a resistant reading where they may have an alternative reading that directly challenges the majority reading. This links back to the statement as it suggests no representation is simple as there will be many different readings of that representation and that even when the media attempts to reinforce dominant ideologies some will reject them. So, Stuart Hall’s ‘reception’ theory opposes the statement.