Sociologists: Stereotypes and Representations

Tuchman:

• Women are mainly presented in two roles: domestic and sexual
• Men outnumbered women 3 to 1 on TV
• Women are symbolically annihilated by the media via "absence, condemnation and trivialization"
• Games shows, quizzes and discussions invaraibly hosted by men

Bulter and Paisley:

• 90% voiceovers on adverts are male
• 70% of women were shown doing domestic chores on adverts.
• 60% of women shown in family roles

Abrercrombie:

• Soaps are driven by strong female characters
• Women now feature in police dramas as main characters as well as in sitcoms. Previously, they were only peripheral.

Kibly:

• Popular shows in the 1980s, such as The A Team, represented masculinity as being related to power and authority.
  
• Police dramas have now blurred gender differences presenting a more feminised representation of men.

Crechen:

• Sport is a refuge for men as a large number of people view women's sport as inferior to men's. 
  
• 80-90% of media coverage is dedicated to men's sport.

Lewisham:

• Men Behaving Badly has leading characters who reject the feminisation of male characters.
  
• Instead they are self-centred, boorish and rude whilst the female characters are more sophisticated and intelligent

Gauntlet:

• Lads magazines concentrate on male interests such as gadgets and sports.
• The sexism expressed is light-hearted and ironic

Dyer:

• Representation of male homosexuals are often camp, effeminate characters
  
• They make fun of the serious and respectable
• They have a slightly subversive role but don't challenge the typical male stereotype.

Gross:

• There are no 'just plain gay folks' in the media.
• Homosexuality is shown as a problem, although portrayals have become more sympathetic (eg: Friends and Eastenders)

Whelehan:

• Lesbian films have achieved box office success
  
• But, they have little to do with real life lesbian relationships and more to do with male, heterosexual fantasies.

Karpf:

• The media has two main approaches to disability.
  
• An  obsession with miricle cures via medical intervention and treating those with disabilities as victims.
• We are encouraged to pity them and very rarely are they shown leading 'normal' lives.

Cumberbatch and Negrine:

• There were no disabled people on quizzes or current affairs shows.
  
• They also only make up 0.5% of characters on fictional programmes
• Telethons do raise money but also maintain negative stereotypes and may seem patronising or humiliating

O'Sulliavan and Jewkes:

• There are now far more disabled people on TV.
• They are presented in a far more rounded way in films such as: My Left Foot, Rainman and The Piano.
  

Ehrenreich:

• TV rarely represents the interests of the working classes.
• News and current affairs are dominated by middle-class experts.
• Working class men are shown as dumb, inarticulate and old fashioned
• But since the 1960s portrayals have aimed to adopt a more sympathetic and realistic approach.

Geraghty:

• Soaps are the most popular TV programmes
• As working class communities have declined, fictional ones have multiplied
• People interact with soaps because they compensate for the loss of community
• People become attached to the chacacters, Marxists argue this is another form of false concsiousness.
• Many of the characters are stereotypical representations

Lasch:

• From a Marxist viewpoint, the elderly are economically useless to Capitalism
• Emphasis in the media is on the elderly as a soical and economic problem.
• Old age is to be feared and delayed

US Survey:

• Only 3% of prime time characters are over 70.
• 33% of male prime time characters were over 40 compared to 19% of female characters
• Male stars are often given leading ladies who are half their age.

Blakie:

• The old cliche "mutton dressed as lamb" is no longer applicable
• The over 50s now have a far more positive image, for examples, Cher and Judi Dench

Daily Express:

• 'Clockwork Orange Society'
• Many reports refering to brutal murders commited by youth who were high or drunk
• Continuous moral panics about youths: teen pregnancy, binge drinking, hoodies, gun crimes, knife crime, addiction

Mazzarella and Pecara:

• Half of the articles about teenage girls were concerned with the intervention and prevention of problems such as teenage pregnancy and binge drinking
• 20% of the stories had quotes from teenage girls as opposed to 'experts' giving their views and offering solutions.