2. JUDITH BUTLER - ‘PERFORMATIVE NATURE OF GENDER’
Judith Butler, a gender theorist, believes and arguesthat genderis
changeable in certain situations. We act differently depending on the
situation we arein and who we are with e.g. a female who spendsmost
ofhersocial time with males may adopt malesocial characteristicsand
act more “masculine”.
3. LAURA MULVEY - ‘THE MALE GAZE’
Laura Mulveyis a British feminist film theorist. Mulvey
believes that women areobjectified in the media and
often oversexualised. Shealso believes that women are
portrayed as either the “virgin” and “innocent” character
or the “whore” character.
4. BLUMLER & KATZ- ‘USES & GRATIFICATIONS’
‘’Blumler & Katz” believe that audiences want media
products that expresstheir personal uses,needs and
gratifications. Thesemay be centeredaround
entertainment purposes,self-actualization, escapism etc.
5. YOUNG & RUBICAM- ‘’FOUR C’S; CROSS CULTURAL
CONSUMER CAHARCTERISTICS’
‘Young& Rubicam’ is an American
advertising agency that developed an
audience theory the‘FourC’s’. This
categorises specific audiences intogroups
e.g. “Mainstreamers”, “Reformers”etc.
6. ANDREW GOODWIN
Andrew Goodwin believes thereis often a relationship
between the lyrics, visuals or/and music in music videos.
This“relationship” often links together or completely
contradicteach other.
7. CAROL VERNALLIS
CarolVernallis believed that editing is seen more within
music videos than anyother media platform i.e. films.
Editing in music videos grabsthe audiences attention
more due tothe paceofthe musicwhichmakes the
audience try to keep up with it.
8. RICHARD DYER – ‘PARADOX OF THE STAR’
RichardDyer is an English academic holding a
professorshipin film studies. His theorysuggested that
the starin musicvideos (and other media platforms)
have two representations. Theyareeither portrayed as
exactly like usyet better at the same time to create a
mode of addressbetween the audience. Thisis also gives
the audience someone theycan relate to yet inspire tobe
also. The secondrepresentation is where the audience
cannot relate tothem because they arerepresentedas
“too perfect”.
9. MICHEL MAFFESOLI– ‘URBAN TRIBES’
MichelMaffesoliis a sociologist who believed in ‘Urban
Tribes’.Theseare groupsofpeople that sharethe same
beliefs, styles and behaviours. Urbantribes are made up
of“alternative”, “mainstream”, “urban”,“leading edge”
and “aspirant”. Thesegroupsare divided people into
stereotypes:
Alternative = punks, hardcoregamersand skaters.
Mainstream= sportsfans, junkies and “fangirls”
Leading edge = streetartists, activists and creators
Urban= “wastemen”
Aspirant –bloggers and hipsters.
10. JOHN BERGER
JohnBergerbelieved in the idea that the purposeof
women in the media is tobe objectified. Menare the
spectators and the women areseen toattract and flatter
them. Although hebelieves women are thereto be
judged, he also believes in the idea that women can stand
up and judgetoo.
11. TRICIA ROSE
Tricia Rosebelieved that hip hop gave power to black
females to challenge their representations. Rose suggests
that hip hop gave them a voice.
12. BELL HOOKS – ‘COLOUR CODES’
Bell Hooks is a feminist and social activist who writes
about issueswith race, genderetc. Hooks came up
with the ‘Colour Codes’ theory whereit is implied that
lighter skinned women areconsidered more desirable
and fit better intowesternideologies ofbeauty. She
also believed that black women are especially
objectified and sexualised in hip hop, reflecting white
people’s views ofblack women being sexually
disposed.
13. STUART HALL– ‘AUDIENCE RECEPTION’
Stuart Hall discovered the ‘Audience Reception; theory which
depicts media and audiences “blurring racesand class together by
associating a specific race with a specific class”. This implies that
audiences read/understanda specific text according to their
cultural upbringing and how the western(white dominated)
culturesmisinterpret ethnic minorities in the media due to
repressedand unrevealedracist tendencies (linking back to
cultureand their history) and still referthem to as “other”.
14. ANGELA MCROBBIE’
Angela McRobbie is a Britishcultural theorist and post
feminist icon. Her theories depicts that female characters
are determined, strong,independent and in control,yet
they also take advantage of their sexuality for their
benefit. Thistheory basically implies that woman show
both stereotypicalrepresentationsoffeminine and
masculine traits.
15. TESSA PERKINS
Perkinsbelieves that stereotyping haselements
oftruthinvolved. Althoughstereotyping is seen
as a negative act and canhave negative effects, it
is often based, to some extent, on reality but
slightly twisted and manipulated for the media’s
entertainment purposes.
16. JEAN BAUDRILLARD – ‘HYPER REALITIES’
Jean Baudrillard stronglybelieves that representation is
problematic and that it createssimulations ofrealities that
don’t exist. Baudrillards work on “Hyper Realities’ showshis
conceptthat “real and fiction are blended together with no
distinction” suchas celebrity images. Healso continuesto state
that “humansaccept simulation over reality in whichresult'sin
people not being able to identify the line between reality and
altered representation”. Thisleads Baudrillard and many others
to question; “is anything trulyreal in theage ofmass media?
