...cultural groups are confirmed. In this essay, a broad range of texts will be used to examine the ways in which the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes around gender, ethnicity and age, as well as how the media shape one's imagination though direct images. It cannot be doubted that the media profoundly influence people's attitudes and outlooks. They convey a whole variety of information which individuals would not otherwise acquire. Newspapers, books, television, radio, films, recorded music and popular magazines (Giddens, 1989, p.79) bring individuals into close contact with experiences of which we 'would otherwise have little awareness' (Giddens, 1989, p. 79). There are very few societies, in current times, even among the more traditional cultures, which remain completely untouched by the mass media. Electronic communication is accessible even to those who are completely illiterate, or in isolated areas of the world. According to Juredini and Poole, gender usually refers to the 'behavioural and attitudinal characteristics' as well as roles that are learned and derived from a 'particular cultural milieu' (2000, p.171). An important source of gender information in a consumer society is television. Despite some notable exceptions, for example 'Sesame Street', most television shows continue to portray males and females in stereotypical gender roles (Sigorelli, 1990, citied in Newman, 2000, p. 136). In a recent study of television...
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...have been guilty of an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of gender roles especially for women. In the early years, women were portrayed as submissive, emotional and dependent on males and males are portrayed as the lead hero in the movie, saving the day and getting the girl in the process (Gilpatric, 2010). However, in recent times, we can observe a new trend in recent movies. Films such as Tomb Raider (2000) and Kill Bill (2001) have emerged showing women in a new light. Similarly, films such as Gladiator (2000) and Finding Nemo (2003) have showed a softer side of males that is rarely shown on screen. So what is have the film industry progressed towards a fairer and more accurate of gender in movies? Literature Review In recent studies, Gilpatric (2010) uses violence as a tool of measure to demonstrate that movies are still depicting gender stereotypes in violent female action character. This is backed by Sternheimer (2003) as she argues that even though females appear to be independent, they are still dependent on males which reinforces traditional gender stereotype. Nevertheless, there has been a noticeable trend that there is a fairer portrayal of gender in films in recent years (Nelmes, 2007). Such a trend is evident in Finding Nemo as Brydon (2009) claim that even Disney, the champions of gender stereotype, has the capacity to steer away from traditional gender roles. Heroines in films have “cross[ed] variable gender boundaries” (Brown, 2003, p. 52). In another article, Brown...
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...Gender is a social construct created through culture, traditions and observed in texts we read. Texts such as novels and films reinforce gender stereotypes. In some cases, novels and films challenge these ideas as well. The construct of gender sets restrictions and constructs boundaries through stereotypes and traditions we have created ourselves. In news articles, the film Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro, and the novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, written by John Marsden, traditional stereotypes are challenged, either directly or indirectly. Different writing or film techniques are used to portray relatable and personal experiences that the viewer or reader can identify with. Gender is a construct that can be discussed through characterisation,...
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...[Hook/anecdote on observations of nephews etc] A few years ago, a video of a five-year-old girl named Riley went viral. Standing in a decidedly pink toy aisle she laments, “Why do all the girls have to buy pink stuff?” Riley is not the only one questioning the ways in which toys are gender-stereotyped and marketed, and some go so far to argue that, in addition to shaping gender identity, it in contributes to gender inequality. [additional discussion/framing main questions of the paper etc] Gender, not to be confused with sex, which is biologically defined by reproductive organs, may be understood as a socially constructed range of characteristics that pertain to and differentiate between masculinity and femininity. To further clarify, “male” and “female” are sex categories,...
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...ZYM Sociology of Gender and Sex Instructor BAS Gender Display in Fashion Magazines Advertisements Introduction Images in advertising that depict stereotypical gender roles and displays have long been a major concern in the field of gender studies. Before beginning research of gender display in advertisements, it is imperative to understand that advertising is a significant agent of socialization in modern industrialized societies (Kang, 1997), and is often used as a tool to maintain certain social constructions, such as gender. According to Rohlinger, the bodies in advertisements represent an ideal that individuals seek to achieve, and thus create the foundation for a masochistic relationship with one’s own body (Rohlinger, 2002). This statement is confirmed by the increasing rate of body dissatisfaction, greater weight concern, the development of eating disorders and lower self-esteem. Moreover, gender is a routine, methodical, and recurring accomplishment that actually surfaces in everyday human interaction (West and Zimmerman, 1987), and gender relations are learned through these advertisements, which essentially serve as a distorted reflection of the real world. These sexualized and stereotypical gender images are teaching the viewers a vast array of social cues, a certain way to interpret social reality, and are eventually reconstructing the definition of femininity and masculinity. Various studies have been done regarding the covert ways that magazine advertisements...
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...Introduction: Advertising & Gender The adverts are carefully crafted bundles of images, frequently designed to associate the product with feelings of pleasure stemming from fantasies and anxieties (Craig 1997). Advertising can also be defined as a paid for mass-media communication, and a means of managing and controlling the consumer markets at the least cost (Brierley 1995). It is clear that advertisers seem quite willing to manipulate these fantasies and exploit our gender identities to sell products. Gender is a social construct, a dichotomy that exists in all societies (Costa, 1994). It is used to describe the socially constructed differences between men and women, referring not only to individual identity and personality, but also at the symbolic level, to cultural ideals and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity and, at the structural level, to the sexual division of labour in institutions and organisations (Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences). The definition of gender encompasses a great deal. Temperament, abilities and skills, activities and behaviours, ideal types and accepted and unacceptable deviations from the ideal, sensuality and culture based essence of what it means to be male or female, are all part of the gender constructs of a given society. Therefore, marketers perform their activities differently when their targets are male than they do when the targets are female, and consumers’ responses often differ on the basis of gender. Sales personnel...
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...The normal challenge for female Correctional Officer or Staff member is the gender itself. Often at times the staff in a prison facility are harsher to those that are of the dominate gender in that one facility. Some may believe that females are not capable enough to handle the hardships that come with working with inmates. Statistically, many facilities don’t have female staff members due to aspects of working in a prison facility; especially in a male dominated area. According to Frank DiMarino, as of 2007, the number of female correctional staff was at about 37 % (Women as Corrections Professionals). There are few but hard-hitting effects of female COs that make working at a facility challenging; which include gender bias/victimization, stereotypes against women in the environment of a facility, and attitudes in the facility with gender bias, and aspects of stress with working at a facility that is predominately male. An increasing factor that follows the female population around the work-force is the association with gender bias. Too often do work-forces harshen the work load when the difference of gender comes into play at a place where it is predominately male or female. The underlying factor of gender difference is one of the most reasons why most women do not last in a predominately male facility for correctional officers. Women often feel fearful and/or vulnerable in a male dominated correctional facility. “A female corrections officer is more likely to respond more...
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...How does the representational system of music constructs gendered subjectiveness? How does the construction of gendered subjectiveness effect women who would like to pursue careers as conductors of major orchestras? (Minimum 250 words) Natasha Bedingfield’s Single has expressed her views to the stereotypical society we live in by exhibiting that she does not need a man to complete her. I believe that this video is conclusion because she is taking a feminist approach to being single instead being attached to a man because society wants a women to be completed by a man when men are not always needed to live and survive in the world. From her clothing to the club scene, Natasha shows us that she is independent and can handle herself in situations. Dating back to the initial exclusion of women from the church as singers-“Let women keep silent in the church”, women have been perceived to be “more nurturing and emotional”. Women were “incapable” of higher learning because men thought that the women (female) society is mentally and physically inferior to the male-dominated society. This gives women less rights to be involved in higher musical positions regardless of how qualified women may be for a job; men would get the job over women just because they are women and do not possess the skills that men have to do certain jobs that require an authoritarian role. The representational system of music constructs “gendered subjectiveness” through degradation of the women in society...
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...(1500)A Book Review of Everyday Revolutionaries: Gender, Violence, and Disillusionment in Post-War El Salvador by Irina Carlota Silber (300)This book review defines the continued violence and social destabilization that is found in El Salvador in Everyday Revolutionaries: Gender, Violence, and Disillusionment in Post-War El Salvador by Irina Carlota Silber. Silber’s argument is founded on the premise that the post-war culture of El Salvador continues to project a violent “revolutionary” environment, which has made many of the women that fought in the revolution the “subjects” of neoliberal globalization. In this manner, many of the “revolutionaries” are examined through an anthropological gender analysis to identify the reactionary nature of post-war identity that continues to divide communities and also creates the “trans-border” family. More so, Silber (2010) argues that many women are presented as being symbolized as “masculinized” women, but the underlying patriarchal values of El Salvadoran society continue into the post-war era. Therefore, the issue of gender roles continues define some of the myths of “feminism” that have been historically defined as part of the women’s movement in the FMNL during the revolution....
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...Gender Identity Every sexual thought, attraction,preference, development, feeling, memory, fantasy, and choice stem from complex brain activity. A complex genetic code determines body type; but that type does not always dictate sexual identity. Sexual identity is an even more complex development that encompasses hormone levels, social learning, individual perception, and attraction. Humans are born genetically male or female; but that does not necessarily control which sexual identity the individual will discover. Planned Parenthood (2012) defines gender identity as how a person feels about and expresses his or her gender; despite genetic or natural gender assignment. Some humans are genetically male or female and identify with the traditional gender roles; but others may find that the traditional cultural norms do not match their feelings or thoughts. Sexual identity is the sexual part of human expression that does not include ideas like sexual orientation, sexual preference, physical gender, or body type. If an individual considers his or her gender as female and is at ease with referring to his or her individual sexual characteristics in feminine terms, his or her gender identity is female. Gender identity has nothing to do with the physical characteristics of gender; but focuses on how the individual thinks (either masculine or feminine) and how he or she expresses those feelings. Ghosh (2012) explains gender identity as “self-identified, as a result of a combination...
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...focused on the concept of gender in translation (e.g. von Flotow 2001, Simon 1996, and Chamberlain 1998). According to Chamberlain (1998: 96), “the issues relating to gender in the practice of translation are myriad, varying widely according to the type of text being translated, the language involved, cultural practices and countless other factors”. Von Flotow (2001) offers a comprehensive overview of research areas in which the issue of “gender and translation” could be investigated: - Historical studies (who translated what when and how, and how did gender play into this?) - Theoretical considerations (how do different gender affiliations, definitions, constructions play themselves out in translation and translation research?) - Issues of identity (how does gendered identity or a lack of it affect translation, translation research?) - Post-colonial questions (does our largely Anglo-American "gender" apply in other cultures and their texts? Does it translate into other languages? And what does it mean if it doesn’t?) - More general questions of cultural transfer (is the current government-supported export of Canadian women’s writing, a hot commodity in some literary markets, really about Canadian tolerance and egalitarianism?) Whereas most of researches done regarding gender in translation have dealt specifically with the issue of the translators’ gender identity and its effect on their translations, the main focus of current article is on how gender itself is translated and...
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...For the purpose of this assignment I am going to discuss the social construct of disability by focusing on eugenics and language. In addition to the medical and social model of disability, segregation and the oppression of disability. Furthermore the Medias influence on social constructs. Within the United Kingdom there are an estimated 9 million disabled adults. (Office for Disability Issues updated Department for Work and Pensions estimates based on Family Resources survey 2009/10). Despite the high number, people with impairments are treated as a separate homogenous group to the rest of society. Firstly, to understand where we are today with disability as a social construction I will provide a historical account of disability in western society. To pinpoint precisely the origins of society’s attitude towards disability and disabled people would be almost impossible (Barton 1996). One theory that has been suggested, is that the view that our perceptions of impairments and disability are influenced by psychological fear of the unknown, the anomalous and the abnormal (Barton 1996 cites Douglas 1966). Historically, disability has been a source of oppression where disabled people have been socially excluded from many areas of social life. The exclusion can be traced back to an era when biblically ideas formed of society. The religious model of disability produced notions of what was acceptable and not acceptable; this included the exclusion of imperfections of the body. Imperfect...
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...The influence of media on gender roles Over the last forty years, the gender roles for male and female have changed quite a bit. In the past, women were often viewed as having to assume the duties of the housewife, while the men are the breadwinner in the family. However, these stereotypical views of men and women alike have changed over time to shape the present. Firstly, in attempt to define the meaning of a stereotype Wikipedia (2009) notes that: “Stereotype is a preconceived, oversimplified, exaggerated, and often demeaning assumption of the characteristics possessed by an individual due to his or her membership in a specific group. [It] usually functions to deny individuals respect or legitimacy based on their membership in that group. They are the hardest to dislodge in situations where a dominant group desires to keep another group subordinate”. The purpose of this essay is to generate an understanding of how gender roles are shaped and defined in society due to an overwhelming amount of stereotyping and the influence of the mass media that has left an undeniable impact on our everyday life. When talking about gender, we are referring to “culturally learned notions of masculinity and femininity” (Tepperman et al., 2007, p. 187). As noted by Tepperman (2007), “From a social standpoint, gender is the social enactment of a biological difference.” The result of this is males are treated as men because they play masculine roles, and females are treated as women because...
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...possible cause of ethnic differences in education could be at the fault of the education system. To investigate this Sewell carried out a study using semi-structured interviews and observations in an inner-city boys’ comprehensive school. His study revealed the ways in which African-Caribbean students are labelled by their teachers, peers and white students as ‘problems’ in the classroom. Sewell showed how Black boys use these negative perceptions to construct different responses to school based on their own ‘masculine’ images. Many of these belong in the anti-school culture, such as conformists and rebels, all in favour of gang culture. However some sociologists are critical of this study in that they feel Sewell is blaming ‘black-culture’ for the educational failure as opposed to recognising racism within the education system. Another reason for ethnic differences in achievement lies in the school itself. Connolly found that teachers are more likely to be overly critical of African-Caribbean pupil’s behaviour due to stereotypical...
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...The Dramaturgical Process as a Mechanism for Identity Development of LGBTQ Youth and Its Relationship to Detypification -Erica Rosenfeld Halverson According to Erica Halverson, “youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) construct and present complex identities by using a method known as the dramaturgical process”(Halverson, 635). The dramaturgical process consists of the telling, adapting, and performing of personal stories. This study involved the About Face Youth Theatre (AFYT), a Chicago based organization that works with LGBTQ youth on the dramaturgical process. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between the dramaturgical process and the psychosocial process of identity development. There were forty different youth who participated in the 2003 season of AFYT, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty, and with different ethnic backgrounds. This study mainly focused on eight of those participants. Of these eight, four were female, three were male, and one was transgender, all with varying ages. The independent variables of this study was the sexual orientation of the participants and the participants’ views on how they wanted to be represented in front of an audience. The dependent variables were the scripted scenes that would be performed by the group for a public audience. The main findings in this study was that the use of personal stories allows youth to engage in the change events described...
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