ReviseSociology

Category: representations

  • The Incredible Sexism of James Bond

    I’ve been watching a few of the old James Bond movies since they’ve been on ITV recently. A few weeks ago I watched ‘Live and Let Die’ which was the first outing for Roger Moore, and originally aired in 1973, my birth year! Besides being surprised that I didn’t remember most of it (I thought…

  • Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the media portray women in a stereotypical way [20 marks]

    An essay plan covering some of the knowledge and evaluation points you could use to answer this question for AQA A-level sociology paper two: the media option. You might like to review this post on how women are represented in the media before going through the plan below. The item refers to three main types…

  • Representations of Ethnicity

    Van Dijk (1991) conducted content analysis of tens of thousands of news items across the world over several decades and found that representations of black people could be categorised into three stereotypically negative types of news: Ethnic minorities as criminals Ethnic minorities as a threat Ethnic minorities as unimportant. Minority groups as criminals Wayne et…

  • Analyse two reasons why the media portray minority ethnic groups negatively. [10 marks]

    Read Item M below and answer the question that follows. Applying material from Item M, analyse two reasons why the media often portray minority ethnic groups negatively. [10 marks] Commentary on the question A non-standard question about representations, focusing on ‘why’ rather than on ‘how’ one group is represented. There are two clear hooks in…

  • Media representations of social class

    How are different social classes represented in the mainstream media?  This post looks at how the monarchy, the wealthy, the middle classes, working classes and benefits claimaints (‘the underclass’) are represented, focusing mainly on British television and newspaper coverage. Generally speaking the ‘lower’ the social class, the more negative the media representations are, arguably because…

  • Media representations of benefits claimants

    In this post I summarize some recent sociological research which suggests newspapers and ‘reality T.V. shows represent benefits claimants in a limited range of stereotypical ways, focusing on them as lazy, undeserving scroungers engaged in immoral, wreckless and criminal behaviour. A lot of the research below also reminds us that media representations in no way…

  • Representations of Disability

    Sociologists have argued that the media historically represents disabled people in a limited range of stereotypes, such as objects of pity, unable to participate fully in social life, and in need of our help. Stereotypes of disability Barnes (1992) identified a number of recurring stereotypes of disabled people including: Pitiable and pathetic – a staple…

  • Media representations of age

    This post focuses on some of the ways in which the mainstream media represent children, youth and the elderly. Media representations of children Children are often represented as vulnerable and as being in need of adult protection, which ties in with the way in which childhood is socially constructed in contemporary society. The advertising industry…

  • Representations of sexuality in the media

    Media representations of sexuality have historically been mostly heterosexual, with LGBT representations being largely invisible. Batchelor et al (2009) found that when gay representations did appear in the mainstream media, they weren’t generally ‘integrated’ into plot lines, but rather gayness was part of the plot, seen as a source of anxiety, or as a target…