Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by Gilroy.
DAVID GAUNTLETT: Modern media has little time for old WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE EXAM
fashioned gender stereotypes. Gauntlett identifies that
stereotypes have changed a lot over the past 20 years and
Q1/Q2: This question may require you to compare this
that the mass media is a force for change. Instead of women
music video with an unseen text. The unseen text can be
being restricted to the traditional roles such as wives or low-
from any media form, both print and audio-visual. If the
status workers, there are now successful female power icons.
unseen text is audio-visual you will be allowed to view it 3
For men too, the media has moved away from the masculine
times, with time in between to make notes. One of the
ideals of toughness, self-reliance, and emotional silence,
questions will focus on media language and one will focus
towards representations of men as emotional beings. The
on representation, and these can come in either order.
media has created a space for diverse male and female
identities. We can really easily apply this theory to Formation The questions asked will relate to the guidance you will find
as Beyonce uses montage editing to present a range of at the top of the Weebly page. A couple of examples for
female identities, and in particular black female identities media language might be:
which have been largely ignored by the mass media in the
past. Beyonce challenges old stereotypes of black women Compare how meaning is created through media
(the mammy, the angry woman, the jezebel, the matriarch) language in both texts
and instead presents black women as multifaceted and Theorists for the media language question for Formation
diverse. The dance troupe are a collective of strong black include: Roland Barthes (semiotics) and Levi-Strauss
women, who dance in a line (or an X), like an army. Their (structuralism).
costume references the Black Panthers, creating a cultural
code which represents these women as freedom fighters, Examples of questions for representation might be:
aggressive, and tough. The antebellum women also challenge
Compare how audiences are positioned by the
the narrow stereotype of black women as ‘the sapphire’ or
representations in both texts
angry black woman. These women are refined, have high-
status, and their own money. This stereotypes even goes Compare how stereotypes are used in both texts.
back to the antebellum era where white women were Theorists for the representation question include: bell
deemed to be delicate damsels, while black women were hooks, David Gauntlett, Stuart Hall, Liesbet Van Zoonen,
hard, angry, and emasculating. In this video the black women and Paul Gilroy.
are not emasculating men through their toughness, they are
raising them up, they are supporting them, they are fighting Remember that for the unseen text you will need to select
for their sons. These black female stereotypes are rooted in a the most appropriate theorists.
history of racism and slavery – it is appropriate that they
You need to be prepared to explore media language and
should be shattered by the representations in this video. This
representations in the Formation music video and refer to
links nicely to Gauntlett’s theory as he suggests that people
theory in your response. The question itself will most likely
think about their own identity, attitudes, behaviours, and
not prompt you to bring theory in, but it is expected to
lifestyle in relation to those of media figures – some of whom
access the top bands. If it is a representation question for
may be ‘role models’ – individuals make decisions and
this video you will have the opportunity to explore a range
judgements about their own way of living (and that of
of different examples such as gender and ethnicity, as well
others) based on what they see in the media. Beyonce is
as social, historical, and political contexts, as well as how
presented a diverse and complex range of black female
different audience might respond to the video. For media
identities here, none of which promote stereotypes.
language you might discuss the use of symbolic, semantic,
Gauntlett would say that the video is an example of the
and cultural codes.
media playing an important role in creating new patterns of
being. Think about the way black female audience members
are positioned by the video. How does the video speak to
them?
MEDIA LANGUAGE: CODES AND CONVENTIONS