A2 MEDIA STUDIES G325 SECTION B CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES COLLECTIVE IDENTITY THE REPRESENTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA

KEY TERMS 1 IDENTITY

What is Identity?
o Identity is a difficult word to define and explain. It can be defined as who we are and how we see ourselves, but that often changes as we change and the society we live in evolves, so it can be a difficult thing to pin down. o The Media is seen to have an interesting relationship with our identity some people believe that it constructs identities that we see and then copy. Other people think that we use the Media to inform our identities and we take from it what we need depending on our lifestyle choices, our experiences and/or who we want people to think we are. o Before we can think about how the Media represents a collective identity for young people, we need to think about Identity in general. What is it? What characteristics or features help us to construct it? How important is it to us and why might this be?

Task 1 VOXPOPS
We are going to watch some people talking about identity. As we watch, answer the following questions: 1. What do they say identity is?

2. What characteristics or features do they think shape our identity?

A2 MEDIA STUDIES G325 SECTION B CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES COLLECTIVE IDENTITY THE REPRESENTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA

Task 2 GAUNTLETT THEORY

David Gauntlet is a Media theorist who has some interesting things to say about Identity and the Media. In his book MEDIA, GENDER & IDENTITY (2nd ed, 2008), he says the following: Identitiesare complex constructionsgender is only one part of an individuals sense of self. Ethnicity isan important aspect of identityother axes of identity include class, age, disability and sexuality. In addition, a range of factors may contribute to a sense of identity, such as education, urban or rural residency, cultural background, access to transportation and communications, criminal record, persecution or refugee status. Any aspect of the physical body can be relevant to self-identity. In the box below, explain what you think Gauntlett is saying here:

Task 3 Summary of Ideas about self-identity o We have heard what some people have said about their own identity and have considered Gauntlett s theoretical ideas about identity as complex, now answer the question: What do you think identity is? Why is it complicated?