2. What is stereotyping?
Stereotyping is “the portrayal of people of places
through a few obvious characteristics.”
3. Class…
What is class?
a set of categories of things having something or attributes in
common, differentiated from others by kind, type or quality.
There are many types of class for example
Upper class – often shown as rich, clever and snobby.
Middle class – often shown as „normal,‟ with good family values.
Working class – often shown as poorer, less happy and intelligent
but strong community links.
Lower class – often shown as criminals, no family values and no
community links.
The lower the class the less people think and the more
stereotypes.
In TV drama, people of different classes don‟t tend to mix
and when they are shown together, they are shown to be
clashing with each other and also very different.
4. Sexuality…
What is sexuality?
Sexuality is sexual character or potency.
Typical stereotypes for sexuality, for example
Gay men, are portrayed as camp, feminine, funny, outrageous
OR very attractive and sleep around.
Lesbian women, as seen as butch, manly, blunt and „man
haters.‟
In TV drama heterosexual characters are represented as
the „norm,‟ whereas homosexual characters are often
represented as being different, strange or separate from
mainstream society.
5. Disability…
What is disability?
a physical or mental condition that limits a person's
movements, senses, or activities.
There are many stereotypes of disability, for example
Physically Disabled/ Disfigured people are often shown
as outsiders and unable to do normal things.
Mentally disabled are often shown as strange, odd,
childlike and outsiders.
Finally able bodied and minded people are shown as
normal and ideal.
Traditionally, villains were often given a disability or
deformity to make them seem more scarier or evil.
However disability is still linked to weakness and makes
disabled characters object to pity.
6. Regional Identity…
What is regional identity?
Regional identity is identifying a person‟s identity which is
rooted not only in the setting of the film but also in the
speech, costumes and the region they live in.
There are many different stereotypes of regional identity for
example;
Scottish people are usually seen as being money obsessed,
won‟t pay for anything, drink a lot of alcohol however they are
also seen as being aggressive and violent.
Northerners don‟t tend to speak/pronounce words properly.
Whereas stereotypes of southerners are that they are quite
posh and rude.
Yorkshire people are often shown as living in rural
countryside, with rolling hills and being quite old fashioned.
7. Age…
What is age?
the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed.
There are many different types of stereotypes for age, for
example
Children are often shown as the innocent, naïve, sweet but also
helpless and powerless. This is because they are seen as
„treasurable‟ but also with being such a young age the range of
knowledge can‟t always be used to help others out and don‟t know
how to act or think in certain situations.
Teenagers however are shown as aggressive, moody, lazy and
have a negative attitude towards most things. This is because they
usually lounge about the house or hang around on street corners.
Elderly people, are often shown as being unattractive, slow, weak
confused and dependent on others.
In TV drama most ages are shown, however they don‟t
always get along when they are together.
8. Ethnicity…
What is ethnicity?
the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common
national or cultural tradition.
The typical stereotypes of different ethnicities are;
White people are often shown as good, pure, heroes and strong,
however they are also sometimes racist.
Black people are shown as exotic, strange however there are also
negative stereotypes, such as; criminal and poor.
Asian people are mainly shown as intelligent, submissive and also
interested in technology.
Often in TV drama people from particular ethnicities have
storylines that centre around their culture, for example
Indian characters often battle with the clash between
British culture and their own, e.g. arranged marriages.
9. Gender…
What is gender?
the state of being male or female
The typical stereotypes of
Females are that they are usually seen as girly, stays at
home to look after the children and do work around the
house.
Males are shown as being muscly, brave, however
sometimes aggressive and dominant over women.
In TV drama both genders are widely shown.
