AQA Media Studies for A Level: Revision Guide

83 6 Media representations As stereotypes reduce things to one or two simple characteristics, they inevitably misrepresent a group/place as they cannot give a full picture. Some media products, however, create a deliberate selective or inaccurate representation to serve their own agenda. A selective representation of a person will focus on the speci c ideas that the producer wishes to communicate and may ignore other aspects of the person/place to position the audience’s interpretation. Some selective representations are created less deliberately but are in uenced by the dominant ideologies of the producing culture. These representations re ect the hegemonic values of the culture. The representations of gender in the Broomsticks and Score adverts below re ect the hegemonic ideas of masculinity that were present in the late 1960s, which today appear outdated. These values can be seen in both these media products coming from the same historical era. Identity Discussions about stereotypes often focus on the impact the media has on the way we see others. David Gauntlett discusses the in uence the media may have on the way people view themselves. If we see ourselves represented in certain ways (our race, our gender, our age group, etc.) it is suggested that this can have an impact on our own sense of self. The media becomes a mirror and we see ourselves through the eyes of media producers and may then compare ourselves to the ideals presented. Men’s Health offers a coherent idea of what makes a man ‘manly’ and reinforces its central ideas in each issue. The reader is encouraged to act to achieve the ideal being communicated and take on this de nition of masculine identity. The Broomsticks advert demonstrates a similar set of values about men and women to the Score advert CSP. A consistent idea of masculine identity in Men’s Health .