2. What is representation?
- A representation can be a single image, a sequence of
images or a whole programme.
- The media do not present reality they’re ‘re-present it’
–they are representing things that have already
occurred.
- The description or portrayal or someone/something in a
particular way or as being of a certain nature.
3. Laura Mulvey – argues that cinema positions the audience as a male. The
camera gazes at the female object on screen. It also frames the male
character watching the female.
- We watch the girl; we see the male watching the girl; we position
ourselves within the text as a male objectively gazing at the female.
McRobbie – Analysed gender in youth culture. Argued that more
emphasis was needed to address the importance of taking gender into
account and the need to examine the works of male writers for the
versions of masculinity they contain.
Ella Shohat – Argues that we should constantly question representations.
She also suggests that representations in one ‘sphere’ (the sphere of
popular culture) affect the other spheres of representation, especially
the political one.
Branston and Stafford – stated that representation has characteristics
such as the following:
- A categorising and evaluation of the group being stereotyped
- The evaluation is often, but not always, a negative one.
