[5.1] What Are Media Representations

[5.2] Representations of Gender, Race, and Class

[5.3] Representations of Different Cultures

[5.4] Studying Media Representations

[5.5] Teaching Analysis of Media Representations

[5.6] Representation and Censorship

[5.7] Representations and Idealization

[5.8] Studying Representations of Social Types or Groups

[5.8a] Representations of Femininity

[5.8b] Masculinity

[5.8c] Masculinity and Sports

[5.8d] Gays / Lesbians

[5.8e] Racial and Ethnic Groups

[5.8f] Class

[5.9] Families and Age Groups

[5.10] War

[5.11] Political Parties and Organizations

[5.12] Counter-Representations

[5.13] Additional Web Resources

[5.14] Teaching Activities

Powerpoints

[5.4.1] Media texts are not simply external ways of representing a reality “out there.” They themselves constitute the meaning of reality. The cultural meaning of “party time” is created by beer ads, which portray social practices that are valued by participants who believe that drinking beer constitutes “having a good time.” Click here to hear more on what Stuart Hall has to say about this.

[5.4.2] Dan Chandler argues that this more constructivist approach moves away from analysis of stereotyping or bias — that presupposes some fixed, objective meaning to an analysis of the institutional forces or systems that use representations to construct and maintain their own ideological agendas.