Representation of Issues in the Media

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  • Represen-tation of issues in the media today
    • As well as representing groups in society, the media also construct represent-tations of issues and sometimes end up creating the issue in the first place
      • Body image
        • Society has become obsessed with what constitutes beauty
    • Body Image is represented across a range of texts including
      • Gossip magazines where imperfections in the bodies of celebs are highlighted for discussion
      • Unrealistic images of perfection in magazines
        • Men's Health
        • Cosopolitan
      • Newspaper images of catwalk models that are size 0
      • Images that challenge the represent-tation tend to be tokenistic
        • when a media text includes members of a minority group (eg plus sized models) in a glamour mag. This appears to even the balance but as the group is in a minority they have no real power within the text and their difference from the norm is highlighted
      • Documentaries raising awareness for the issue
    • Body image is an issue represented across a range of texts and targeted at different audiences
      • How the image is represented depends on the type of text and the audience it is being sold to
        • In magazines women are sold an idealised version of themselves in order to aspire to attain the unattainable and continually buy for example, anti ageing products
        • In TV the issue of body image is tackled from several points of view
          • May be through consideration of weight, plastic surgery or a dissatisfac-tion with body size
        • Generally most of these texts are focussed on and targeted at women
    • Case Study #1 - Cherry's Body Dilemmas
      • Explores the issue of body image across a range of women including her own issues
      • Documentary
      • Includes voice overs, interviews and fly on the wall filming
        • Helps to give a valid look at how women feel regarding how society wants the to look
    • Case Study #2 - Heat Magazine
      • Effectively demonstrates the concept of the male gaze
        • women in film are typically objects of the gaze - women on screen are seen as the objects of desire.
        • The women are judged y men, the suggestion being that it is en who look at women and so the attention to their body image should be for men
          • women in film are typically objects of the gaze - women on screen are seen as the objects of desire.
        • What 2000 men REALLY think

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