Bad exemplar- Age

Extract from Candidate Script 1

I have been researching teenagers and their identity. I’ve been looking into how the media shown teenagers.

I will relate this to Misfits and Fishtank, and explain their collective identity.

Misfits is a british tv series based on a group of teens who are all facing community service.

We learn all there individual identity’s and are made to believe they have no hope. We meet 5 teenagers who are all stereotypically shown with anti-social behavior. In the group there is a party girl, sports runner, cocky one etc.

Tajfel and turner quote that ‘people tend to categorise themselves into groups which they then build their identity’s’. I disagree with this as these have been emerged together as they have all been in crime. These include drugs, drink driving, fighting etc.

Historically this can relate to Skins and grange hill, these are all school based although skins covered more controversial issues. We see petty crimes which aren’t as serious as the ones in misfits. Tajfel and turner quite is related to skins as they are all a group of friends and they build there identity together.

Fishtank a 2009 film, teenagers are portrayed differently. We get to see Mia a 15 year old girl who has no hope. She has a dream of dancing but with young single mothered mum who shouts and swears at children she has a poor family structure to help her. David Buckingham quotes that the media don’t just offer a transparent window of the world but a mediated one.

Mia smokes, binge drink and has underage sex. The audience are made to believe that all teenagers are like this. He young mother who gets a boyfriend, he wants to help Mia and find her identity. He often asks her to dance to his favourite song although when she does we see them having sex. David Buckingham quote can be related to misfits, we are made to believe that all teenagers have convicted crimes. In Bullett Boy we see a gang of boys who are all involved in drugs and crime. The media show teen culture in a very bad way. Misfits is released on TV past the water shed times as they all swear etc. It is shown on both E4 and channel 4, their website contains games, podcasts, blogs etc. On the blogs you can communicate with other fans. They have a facebook and twitter page with all individual accounts. David Gauntlett explains that identity’s are complicated however everyone thinks they have one.

In Fishtank her mothers boyfriends finds a dance event she can attend Mia then believes she made have found her identity when she gets there she is called up on stage for which she didn’t know it was pole/lap dancing.

The media then show how teenagers have no hope or luck.

Historically this could be related to Dawson’s creek as we are made to look down on the anti-social behaviour teens. It could also relate to Waterloo road which is a tv series on a school who the youngens follow the action of the olders.

We then get to see the mother having a party in her council estate flats with family and friends. Her two children aren’t invited an stay upstairs. This shows the lack of family structure at home. We meet Mia’s little sister tyler with a friend both who are swearing and smoking.

The audience are left to believe all young mums live in broken britain and teenagers have no hope at all.

Mia was kicked out of school and they receive In both misfits and fishtank the media have stereotypically shown teenagers and portrayed them very negatively. We are made to believe that all teenagers are into anti-social behaviour, drinking, drugs, smoking etc. The media will only shown the negative sides of teen culture so everyone will believe teens do this in everyday life not the positives that they do.



Terminology: 2/10
Analysis: 5/2
Examples: 5/20
-5 for grammar
=7

Actual grade= 27
E

Essay- Gender

What is Collective identity?  Respond to the statement that “Media simply represent collective identity, they don’t create it.” How far do you agree with this statement? 

Collective identity refers to the identity of a group of people who share the same views and norms this can relate to any subculture or subgroup such as gender.  The media can be influential towards gender culture however many would argue that gender is a pre known statement that cannot be defined purely by the media.  In contrast to this view however it can be argued that the population are affected by gender stereotypes through the hypodermic syringe needle from a young age and birth such as pink for "girls" and blue for "boys".

An example of the media industry influencing gender identity can be found in the way that children are presented with blatantly gendered magazines from a young age with boys being exposed to elements such as danger, monsters, aliens and action as can be seen in magazines such as "Ben 10".  Comparatively girls are presented with much more gentle magazines such as "My Little Pony" which often feature advertisements of colouring, soft colours such as pink and pastel hues as well as free hair accessories, stationary or makeup.  It is important to note this imprinting of ideals from a young age as it shapes the brain of the child from an early stage of development that they should behave a certain way depending on their sex.  After these first instalments of gender identity the child is subjected to these same ideas throughout adolescent and adult hood through the use of the hypodermic syringe model which presents the idea of injection of ideas which may not have originally belonged to an individual being implanted through media.  Example of these media formats include male and female targeted magazines.  Male magazines tent to largely focus on the Laura Mulvey's Female Gaze theory from 1975 in which she stated that women are presented in the media in a way to solely please men.  An example of this can be seen below in "GQ magazine" featuring a semi-naked Rhianna (featured below).  In opposition to this women are taught to tear each other down  through the perpetuating of the "bitchy", "hormonal" and "aggressive" women which is targeted through gossip magazines such as "Cosmopolitan".  From this brief analysis of media texts it would be easy to make the assumption that gender is a concept moulded by modern media outlets through the hypodermic syringe theory.  These magazines and the way in which they influence those who read them displays David Gauntlett's theory that "identity is socially constructed, and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities".

In opposition to this theory it can be argued through other texts that gender is not defined by media this is exhibited in the contemporary text The Danish Girl.  In this text the plot centres around the transition of the first documented transgender individual Lily.  This text is particularly significant due to the fact that there would have been no media representation for transgender people at this time and Lily would have been raised in the light of male aimed media.  This means that Lily's discovery of her true gender was not related to the hypodermic syringe theory and media influence.  

Gender influence can be targeted from a completely different aspect when looking into characters such as Vod from the British based comedy "Fresh Meat" which focuses around the antics of university students.  Vod is a particularly important character in this saga due to the fact that she dresses in a gender non-conforming way with short hair, big boots, jeans and button up shirts.  This is important to note as it shows the way that despite being influenced from a young age by the pink and gossip columns of female magazines Vod has developed a unique sense of style and which shows a lack of conformity to patriarchal hirachy and gender roles, this shows the way in which Vod has managed to evade the hypodermic syringe theory subsequently moving away from stereotypically appearance of those who fit into the collective identity of women.







A different approach to this argument is that although a person does not conform to a gender identity which fits inside that gender binary this may be because they fit into another identity such the way that some members of the LGBT+ community may be be affected in their gender expression through the way that queer fictiona; characters are often presented as the stereotypical "butch lesbian", "camp, feminine gay".  These stereotypes are formed by the media in an attempt to make homosexual relationships conform to heterosexual norms such as Vern and Bonnie Bullough's the male provider and female nurturer in 1933.  Examples of the stereotyping of sexuality can be seen through Stephen from "Bad Education" who is presented as very dramatic and feminine.  This shows Stephen rejecting societies gender stereotype but conforming to the stereotypes of sexuality.  This shows that whilst individuals may be able to avoid conforming to one collective identity they may in the process conform to another.

 

In conclusion the media can influence gender through the hypodermic syringe theory however this is not the defining feature in regards to gender as there are examples of individuals subverting the gender norms prior to the heavy influencing of a variety of gender stereotypes by the media.  

Critical perspectives- Gender

Definitions
Misogyny: dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.
Sex: either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions.
Gender: Socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

Stereotypical Magazines

Stereotypical Boys Magazine

• Dark colours such as green and blue.
• Male protagonist on covers front.
• Action presented through vocabulary "Escape!", "BIG ACTION!" and "BIGGEST ISSUE EVER!".
• Comic strips referenced.
• Danger, Aliens.

Stereotypical Girls Magazine

• Pastel colours such as pink and purple.
• Curvy and soft text.
• Soft lines in animation.
• "Colouring" and "Puzzles" no action calm.
• Reference to baking- Women belong in the kitchen.
• Focus on friendship.
• Free phone toy, pony toy and head band.

Stereotypical Mens Magazine

• Females presented for male pleasure (Laura Mulvey- Male Gaze).
• Leather jacket- bikes and racing.
• "Total Badasses"- childish language.
• Talks about tech and "gadgets".

Stereotypical Womens Magazine

• Pink coloration.
• Curvy gentle font.
• Reference to fashion.
• Reference to gossip.

Can Gender Perceptions Change?

• Cover Girl recently featured their first male cover model.
• This was a massive step forward for the magazine industry and media as a whole.

Metrosexuality 

Metrosexuality- a heterosexual urban man who enjoys shopping, fashion, and similar interests traditionally associated with women or homosexual men.  Can be exploited for sexuality in a similar way to women.

The Fool/Buffoon

Well intentioned and light hearted, range from inept to hopeless generally heterosexual married man.

Masculinity and Femininity 

• Gender is generally seen by the older generation as being tied to sex this is different in the younger generation and are far more accepting.
• More people are beginning to become accepting of those outside of the gender binary this has lead to more media coverage of those who may not conform to societies expectations of gender and leads to higher levels of education surrounding gender bases issues.

Examples of Those Outside of the Gender Binary

Gerard Way- Singer and Comic book artist

Ruby Rose- Television presenter, DJ, actress, model, VJ, recording artist

News (2015 studies)





In the film industry
Stats and discussion about industry start at 2.45





Examples of queer films
Broke Back Mountain- 2005

The Danish Girl- 2016



Tangerine- 2015




The Imitation Game- 2014




Examples of queer TV
Queer as folk- 1999



Adverts regarding gender
Contemporary

• Women are historically the house wives and were known as the dishwasher.

• Sugests that if you use this shower gel you will get sex and women.

• Buy our clothes and have sex.
• Lack of a head on figures shows objectification of sex.
• Man holding woman's legs shows dominance.

• Sexualisation of women as if they are merely to please a man.
• Innuendo of character positioning and language "blow" carries connotations of oral sex.

Historical

• Suggests that women are stupid and cannot use a computer only men can.
• High angle shot shows power over women by men.

• Suggests that women are hysterical and unable to control emotions.
• The more concerning element is that it is believed that if men buy women new cleaning appliances they will be happy.

• Promotion and normalisation of domestic violence in which if a women disobeys her husband he is allowed to hit and abuse her.

• "Show her it's a mans world".

Have things changed:
There has not been a major element of progress in adverts since historical texts however the main difference is the fact that in contemporary adds women are presented as sex objects in media opposed to idiotic and hysterical in historical texts.  

Wonder Woman
Article about Wonder Woman being a UN ambassador.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/21/wonder-woman-un-ambassador-staff-protest

• Wonder Woman is a sexualised character.
• Wonder Woman is not a real person.
• Wonder Woman was created by men.

Wonder Woman Trailer

• Presented as a fierce warrior.
• Male love interest.
• "What I do is not up to you"- breaking free from gender stereotypes.
• Sexualised character.