Transcript Slide 1

Vehicle Strand
Questions of Representation
What is a Representation?
 B&S Ch. 4
 can be pictorial, textual, filmic, etc
 can be of an object, event,
individual, group, etc
 as vehicles, media convey
representations
 representation is re-presentation
 representations are not ‘transparent’
 partial, varied, rare, etc: constructed
Remember Semiotics
 meaning is all about difference
 syntagm = collection of signs
 signs are selected from paradigms
 syntagm = thus set of author’s choices
 choices inform audience’s
understanding of text
 e.g. The Matrix scene (syntagm):
set, costume, actor, dialogue, music
 key terms: representation, stereotype,
feminism, post-feminism, irony
Stereotypes
 stereotypes are part of representation
 help show how representation works
 stereotype = a simplified representation
of a group of people thought to share
characteristic qualities
 term derives from printing (typography):
a duplicate element used instead of
the original to print identical, unvarying
copies
How do Stereotypes Work?
 categorise (distinguish)
 focus on a characteristic
 often negative
 absolute difference not spectrum
How do Stereotypes Work?
 categorise (distinguish)
 focus on a characteristic
 often negative
 absolute difference not spectrum
E.g. Media Studies students:
 distinct group of students
 watch lots of television
 lazy and work-shy
 Media Studies students and no more
Stereotypes as a Bad Thing…
 Prejudice
 grain of truth: Media Studies students
do watch more TV?
 but limited and limiting
Specific Objections
(1) we are all individuals
different from one another
unique, special, distinctive
(2) we each belong to many groups
similar to lots of others
gender, ethnicity, interests
Are Stereotypes Necessary?
 William James: reality is a
“great, blooming, buzzing confusion”
 generalisations are useful
 details give us a general picture
 we need generalities, patterns, types
a degree of prejudice – “pre-judging” is
inevitable and necessary
 the danger lies in adopting stereotypes
uncritically.
What does the stereotype say about
the stereotyper?
Representations of Gender
 extended example: gender
sex: physical characteristics, sex
organs, hormones, chromosomes
gender: culturally formed
characteristics, in addition to the
physical body
Sex vs. Gender
E.g. women
 child-bearing is a matter of biology (sex)
child-raising is a convention (gender)
E.g. men
 facial hair is a matter of sex
facial grooming is a matter of gender
NB this distinction not entirely
straightforward (cf. Judith Butler)
Gender and the Media
 media representations mostly concern
gender (not sex)
representations of gender have
tended to perpetuate sexism &
stereotypes
 we’ll be focusing on women
(representations of men in Case Study?)
Washes Whiter
Representations of Women
Feminist Critiques
(1) women are under-represented in
strong roles or positions of authority:
e.g. lead characters in films and TV
(2) women are stereotyped:
e.g. housewife + mother: Whiter, Oracle
e.g. victim: Bella in Twilight
e.g. sex object: woman in red
e.g. girlfriend: Trinity?
“Post-Feminist” Responses
(1) things have improved
more positive, strong representations:
e.g. Trinity, Sex and the City,
Desperate Housewives, Buffy, True Blood,
Kill Bill, The Hunger Games, Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo, True Grit, The Black Widow
(The Avengers)…
“Post-Feminist” Responses
(2) sexy isn’t subordinate:
woman can be sexy and modern
professionals
e.g. Sex and the City
Post-Feminism Responses
(3) the representations are often ironic
gap between expectation and actuality
juxtaposition of ‘girly’ and ‘powerful’
e.g. Black Widow, Trinity, Buffy
makes the film fun
 we shouldn’t take these representations
too seriously
Sex and the City
Criticisms of Post-Feminism
(1) these aren’t positive images at all
 we’ve simply reverted to traditional
stereotypes:
e.g. Sex and the City: winging gossips,
obsessed with shoes, make-up and men
e.g. Desperate Housewives:
needy, manipulative etc.
Criticisms of Post-Feminism
(2) powerful, proactive women still have
to be sexually attractive:
e.g. Buffy, Trinity, Beatrix, Black Widow
(And why does “strong” so often mean
violent?)
Criticisms of Post-Feminism
(3) irony disarms critical reflection:
‘its only a joke, chill out, its ironic’
 ‘irony’ stops us thinking
The Representation Project
The Representation Project is a movement that
uses film and media content to expose injustices
created by gender stereotypes and to shift people’s
consciousness towards change. Interactive
campaigns, strategic partnerships and education
initiatives inspire individuals and communities to
challenge the status quo and ultimately transform
culture so everyone, regardless of gender, race,
class, age, sexual orientation or circumstance can
fulfill their potential.
Apply the representation test to The Matrix…
http://therepresentationproject.org
Summary
 Representations re-present
 Particular and partial
 Stereotypes = negative generalisations/ can be
dangerous
 Gender example. Feminist criticisms: women are
under-represented and stereotyped
 Post-feminist criticisms: women are wellrepresented, ironic
Environment Strand
Virtual Identities
and Discarnate Man
“The discovery of the alphabet will create
forgetfulness in the learners’ souls,
because they will not use their memories;
they will trust to the external written
characters and not remember of
themselves… You give your disciples not
truth but only the semblance of truth; they
will be heroes of many things, and will
have learned nothing; they will appear to
be omniscient and will generally know
nothing.”
Socrates, Phaedrus,
in McLuhan and Fiore, 1967, p. 113
Discarnate Man
 discarnate man (and woman)
 ‘carnate’ derives from carnatus
(fleshy) = having a physical body
 ‘discarnate’ = without physical body
 with electronic media (television, radio,
telephone, etc.) the “sender is sent”
 you are represented elsewhere
(everywhere) instantly
 we become discarnate online
Discarnate Man
“Discarnate man, deprived of his physical
body, is also deprived of his relationship to
Natural Law and physical law. As a
discarnate intelligence, he is as weightless
as an astronaut, but able to move very
much faster. Minus the mesh of Natural
Laws, the user of electronic services is
largely deprived of his private identity …
The discarnate TV user lives in a world
between fantasy and dream”
McLuhan, 1978
Online Discarnation
 email
 forums
 blogs
 social networks
 chat rooms
 online games
 Second Life, Active Worlds…
 “Moral panic”? (see Stanley Cohen,
Folk Devils and Moral Panics)
Second Life:
Be Yourself, Free Yourself (from your body?)
Discarnate Effects
 discarnate man “has a very weak
awareness of private identity … and
has been relieved of all commitments
to law and morals” (McLuhan)
losing body = loss of personal identity
 we become distanced from acceptable
conventions of behaviour
Virtual Identities
 McLuhan is pessimistic about
discarnate man
Daniel Chandler more positive:
‘Personal Home Pages and the
Construction of Identities on the Web’
 homepages are used positively for
identity construction
 Today: FaceBook, Twitter, blogs etc.
Writing and Identity
 process of writing = thinking
 through writing you work out
your thoughts and self
e.g. diary, letter, essay
‘How the devil do I know what
I think till I see what I’ve
written?’
E. M. Forster, novelist (1879-1970)
Dynamic Text Online
 websites are dynamic, changing:
(1) nonlinear: hypertext
you can link wherever you like
(2) unfixed: open to revision
editable and fluid
ideal for revising your thoughts and ideas
 all about identity construction
Public and Private
 blogs, social networks etc.
= online publishing
 you publish a ‘virtual self’
 audience = potentially global
 personal becomes public
 you let the world into your home
(page)
 part of today’s ‘confessional
society’
Inauthentic Identities?
are online identities thus less authentic?
(as McLuhan might suggest)
 even if you don’t lie, you can hide the bits
you don’t like
 the medium allows you to wear a mask
Benefits of Online Identities
•
Unaware of rejection/
indifference of ‘audience’
•
Marginalised groups can
escape prejudice
But…
•
Privacy a topical issue in media and
communication studies
e.g. GCHQ; snappening; celebrity nude
photos…
•
Trolling vs. free speech?
•
Everybody talks, but who listens?
•
Inauthenticity and lack of validity
e.g. Catfish
Fear of the New
 the end of face-to-face interaction?
 the end of identity and ethics?
Socrates feared the move to writing
 new technologies = new environments
= old fears:
For every enhancement an
obsolescence
Loss of authentic speech,
knowledge, identity
Potential Identities
 online communication allows
participants to experiment with
identities
 empowering and liberating
 see Sherry Turkle’s Life on Screen
Summary
 online communication changes how we
relate to one another
 changes our experience of ourselves
 McLuhan: discarnate and unethical?
 Chandler: active shaping of identity?
For next week:
Read Branston and Stafford:
chapter 14, on Audiences
Forum Assessment Deadline!
1.00pm Friday 31st October