Gender Communication in Media

1. GENDER COMMUNICATION
AND MEDIA
KATYA GODES

2. BASIC FACTS ON GENDER IN MEDIA
• Viewers sometimes forget that everything they see on television, in magazines, and on their computer
screen has in some way been manipulated, especially is it is a woman’s body.
• In 2011, the American Medical Association (AMA) disapproved of alterations of models images. They
said that it gave unrealistic expectations to children and teenagers.
• The social learning theory shows us that people watch their favorite actors on television and learn from
them.

3. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY EXAMPLES

4. DEFINING MEDIA AND HOW IT FUNCTIONS
• Media is everywhere in the U.S. now such as paintings, comics, blogs, magazines, and many more.
• General Motors and Ford were one of the top two companies that spent billions in advertising in 2010.
• Media functions in a way where industries convey messages in a certain way where it creates demand
for a specific product.
• Media influences how people dress, what they listen to and what they might watch on television.
• There are two ways in which media conveys these messages: the first is that it will depend on what the
content of the television show is and the second will be the way that the advertising is used around that
product.
• By 2012, there was about 76% of homes that had at least one computer.

5. IMPORTANT DATES IN MEDIA HISTORY
• In August 1996, Google was launched.
• In 2001, Wikipedia was launched.
• In 2004, Facebook was started.
• YouTube was founded in 2005.
• Twitter was launched in 2006.
• All of these websites have become apart of everyone’s daily
lives if they are highly active in social media.

6. MEDIA HEGEMONY
• Media hegemony is basically so that the ideas of the ruling class become the rules in society all the time.
• Maintaining this type of lifestyle is not easy and must always be maintained, repeated, reinforced, and
modified to make sure that the rest of society responds and does not oppose.
• Media though has a very hegemonic view of gender even after they make gaps while trying to represent
gender.
• Media hegemony is mostly present in Marxist societies.
• It is mainly argued that media content is mostly directed towards individuals in the U.S. who define
themselves as capitalists.
• An example of this would be around the time the Sandista Revolt was happening in Nicaragua. The
television crew mostly focused on the rebels and did not show anything that would support how the
country was going through this.

7. MEDIA POLYSEMY
• Media polysemy is when a word, phrase, or some kind of a symbol might have more than one meaning
to it.
• Meaning is not figured out by the providers of the media messages but by the individuals who watch
them.
• “ However, it also is true that people’s level of thoughtfulness and creativity is influenced by their
education (formal and otherwise)” ( DeFrancisco and Palczewski, p. 229).
• One example that is relevant is the television show The Simpsons. Because of some of the actions and
topics brought up by this television animated family, it might be interpreted different by many
individuals.

8. MEDIA HEGEMONY VS. MEDIA POLYSEMY
Hegemony
• This image is showing that the news is in control
because the man is just being fed it without
saying or doing anything.
Polysemy
• This image is showing the word “bass” and the
two different directions a person’s mind can
wander to when they hear it.

9. MEDIA POLYVALENCE
• Polyvalence is basically having a large mount of
valuations.
• An example of this is when there is a beer
commercial during the Super Bowl. During the
halftime show it might be more masculine of
men to drink beer. But there is a disagreement
of whether or not men’s masculinity should be
encouraged by drinking beer.
• One big factor that tends to influence how a
message is received is peer groups.

10. WAYS OF SEEING
• Ways of seeing was a book written by a couple of
different writers about males are majority of the
viewers in European art.
• John Berger’s version of the book states that the
assumed sex of the viewer is male. If it is a woman
that is viewing art, then they will view themselves
through men’s eyes.
• The same can be said when a woman will be
judging her body. Women will not think of another
woman’s opinion but what will a man think.
• Berger points out that the way a women’s body
might be positioned will engage a multitude of
codes that individuals will read without even
knowing that they are doing it.

11. THREE LIMITS IN JOHN BERGER’S BOOK
• The first is that it explains ways that individuals might look at Western traditions in art. Compared to
Asian art, Western art is more focused on a woman’s body. But Asian art has a different tradition.
• The second limit has to do with how men’s bodies are presented in advertising. It states that men
should not be on display due to it making them seem more feminine.
• The third and final limit is Berger opposes of “acting” and “appearing” and it is seen as a false duality.
Women’s appearances will usually involve a lot of intense action.

12. HOW PEOPLE READ CODES OF GENDER
• In terms of whole body posing, mean are usually either standing up or moving and women are
portrayed lying down most of the time.
• A male’s head will usually be straightened and looking at the camera and a women’s head will be might
be at an angle or looking away.
• A man’s eyes might be focused and watching the camera when modeling but a woman’s eyes will not be
paying attention and look as if they are spaced out.
• It is common for women to present themselves as objects of the gaze, but it is not acceptable for men
do it.

13. THE GAZE
• The camera, audience, and the male character in a movie or television show looks at women in a
certain way so that the male will be seen as active and the female character will be more passive.
• As stated by Laura Mulvey, she thought that there was only one white male gaze and nothing else. But
there are all kinds of different gazes depending one where that man or woman might have come from.
• There is a valid argument in terms of what Brend Cooper states. She says there might be some
individuals who will reject the dominant male gaze even in movies that might be popular to others.
• As an example, when someone says “How do I look?” That individual should also be thinking about
other parts of their identity such as their race and ethnicity, their nationality, their class, and their
sexual orientation.

14. EXAMPLE OF THE GAZE
• As stated previously the men will usually be
looking right at the camera while the women
might look as if they are spaced out or looking at
something else.

15. THE OPPOSITIONAL GAZE
• The oppositional gaze is mainly if someone wants to actively be critiquing gender in media, instead of being
passive about it, they should have enough vocabulary to be able to discuss the content and the direction of
the gaze.
• If someone wants to use the oppositional gaze, they first have to think about what kind of perspective they
are coming from. That individual should also ask themselves who they identify with and whose image they
might like.
• The second is that this person should think about how much they participate in their culture or just culture
in general.
• The third is that an oppositional gaze might go from critiquing someone socially to taking some kind of
political action.
• The fourth way to embrace the oppositional gaze is to be conscious of how contemporary media engage in
commodification.
• Commodification is defined as “ the selling of cultural, sexual, or gender difference in a way that supports
institutionalized discrimination” ( DeFrancisco and Palczewski, p. 237).
• An oppositional gazes also gives you the ability to see that not every person is represented equally in media.

16. THE OPPOSITIONAL GAZE

17. WHO IS REPRESENTED IN MEDIA
• There was a study done in 2011 where a few scientists looked at almost 6 thousand books. They found
that male lead outnumbered females two to and they also appeared 1.6 times more than women.
• In the news arena in 2011, women were only shown slightly more than 20% as guests on Sunday
morning shows, almost 40% in local televisions news, and 22% on the local radio news.
• Between the years of 2000 and 2008, the appearance of African Americans on televisions shows has
greatly declined. As well as Hispanics and other minority groups which have almost disappeared.
• Videogames are also a common area where women and Hispanics are greatly misrepresented.

18. THE SEXUALIZATION OF WOMEN
• Sexualization is mainly defined as when a person’s value is only coming from their sexual behavior, their
standard is so that their physical appearance will look sexy enough, they are forced to be sexy so that
they will become a thing for someone else, or your sexuality might be pushed onto another person.
• A common example of this is with the Bratz dolls that kids used to have. The dolls had heavy eye
makeup and leather short skirts as well as high chunky leather heels.
• One common form of media that might never disappear is that women are presented as sexual objects.
• One thing that parents sometimes teach their children is to have a critical view on media. This will help
children in the future because the effects of sexualization can be declined.
• Another way to lessen sexualization is to be aware of your actions and not become a victim of the gaze.

19. MASCULINITY IN CRISIS
• Gauntlett states that whether it is in the United States or in the United Kingdom, magazines show men
as if they are insecure and confused.
• He believes that masculinity is something that males socially construct in their own lives and not
something that is just given to you.
• Masculinity is hegemonic but there can also be many forms that are not hegemonic.
• One form of masculinity that might be displayed while playing video games is called primitive
masculinity. This is mostly where violence will be expressed.

20. REFERENCES
• DeFrancisco, V., & Palczewski, C. (n.d.). Gender in communication: A critical introduction (2nd ed.).
• http://feministing.com/2015/03/19/remembering-why-redefining-masculinity-is-important/
• http://mastermasscommunication.blogspot.com/2012/02/media-hegemony.html
• https://chantelemedia.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/polysemy-in-the-media/
• http://artandwomenfa2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/male-gaze-and-oppositional-gaze_3923.html
• https://womenandmediaspring2014.wordpress.com/2014/02/page/2/
• http://dreamrly.com/2014/03/31/ways-of-seeing/
• http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr06/2013/5/6/21/enhanced-buzz-wide-4988-1367889343-
23.jpg
• https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/12/b2/da/12b2dabe5c0dc795070d5e73c12c62b4.jpg
• http://largestmixer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/HiRes.jpg
• http://blogs-images.forbes.com/insider/files/2014/11/social_media_strategy111.jpg