Collective identity

Participatorial - where people can participate in the media product. 

Spectatorial - a person who looks on (watches).

Mediation is the term that defines the media as being made up and distorted to suit the viewers. It means that everything we see on TV is mediated to alter real life and therefore the producers show us what they want too. 

Silverstone (2006) explains Mediation to be this:

'Mediation refers to what media do, and to what we do with the media. It is a term that defines the media, both the media of mass communication (radio, television, the world wide web, but also the press) ... as actively creating a symbolic and cultural space in which meanings are created and communicated beyond the constraints of the face to face ... Readers, viewers and audiences are part of this process of mediation, because they continue the work of the media in the ways they respond to, extend and further communicate what they see and hear on the world’s multitude of screens and speakers.'

Mediation is split into three parts:

Selection/Rejection
Focusing
Organisation 

Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze

The Male Gaze suggests that the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male, through the use of varied camera angles and positions. A scene may focus on the curves of a females body, putting you the viewer in the eyes of a male.

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies female human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance.

Female Objectification

Objectification is related to the gaze.
The persons gazed at are objectified, treated as an object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or possessed by the voyeur.

Examples:

Sia - Chandelier



Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke



Both of these videos feature females objectified through being in nude (coloured) outfits. In the explicit version of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, the females are walking around topless, while wearing little underwear.

As a result of these videos, several parodies have been made as other people are now able to get involved in media.




Identity - can be argued to be something unique to each of us that we assume is more or less consistent over time. Our identity is something we uniquely possess: it is what distinguishes us from others. 

David Buckingham (2008) argues identity is complicated and complex.

"A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups" 

Collective Identity: the individuals sense of belonging to a group with who share a set of traditions and values (personal identity).

Representation: any consideration of a collective identity must take into account the role that representation plays within the construction of a media text. 

Theorists

Collective Identity Gender-

Gauntlett: identity consciously constructed

Male Gaze theory- Laura Mulvey: Consumer in position of heterosexual male

Jonathon Schroeder- 1998: Phycological relationship gazed is superior to object

Female Gaze- gaylyn Strudiar

David Buckingham: Identity complicated

Giddens- structuration: Changing social structure

"The average percentage of female reporters 22.6% compared to 77.4% of male"- The Gaurdian

Patriarchy- Due to the patriarchy nature of our society- woman are less likely to be the source of leading news stories (politics, business, law and religion stories)

Hegemony- Gramsci

"Media do not just offer us a transparent; window on the world but a mediated version of the world. They don't just present reality, they represent it"- David Buckingham

Scopophilia- the pleasure of looking a voyeuristic gaze

hypodermic needle theory- Passive acceptance

Gauntlett- (negotiated acceptance of the media, influenced by the media but not overwhelmed)
"Identity is now consciously constructed, and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities. The media contains a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable lifestyles. At the same time

Male Gaze

Mulvey's theory on the Male Gaze can be applied to the image taken from the television show 'Poldark' that was aired in 1975. In the photo the lead male is shown to hold all of the power, this is because of the use of both his and the females body language. The woman shows herself as being closed off by the use of her arms being crossed, however she holds complete eye contact with the man who has his hand fixed on her face to ensure that the eye contact stays intact. The man having this control over the woman creates a sense of objectification to the woman, which is showing the viewer the scene from a males perspective.

The updated version of this show which has been aired most recently in 2015 shows a complete contrast in the characters. The image above portrays the male lead as muscularly defined and seductive to female viewers. The use of female gaze in this photo is apparent because he has his top off showing his idealistic male body, which is what would be wanted from a female perspective.

Explain what is meant by "collective identity" and the role of the media in its construction

Collective identity is described as "a set of individuals sense of belonging to a group or collective". The role of representation in the construction of a media text must be taken into consideration by the 'Collective identity' of a group. Throughout this essay I will be focusing on the representation of 'Youth' within the media and how media influences a certain view on the public.

Mediation is a term that defines media as being made up and distorted to suit the viewers, for example in 2013 the Daily Mail Newspaper's front cover showed a seventeen year old girl with the headline "Youth crime Tsar's sex and drugs rant" this headline conveys the youth as being un-responsible, drug taking criminals. What is viewed in the media is mediated to alter real life and therefore the producers show us what they want too, which is evident within the representation of youth.

The image of youth is being changed in the media, the current representation of youth is shown as violent, carefree and disrespectful towards police, parents and anyone in a position of power. This can be noted within the 2011 television serious 'Top Boy' which is a show about two young men who start selling drugs in hopes of becoming the richest boys on the block. Throughout the show there is evidence of gun crime, drugs and revenge, which all, in ways, contradict rules set out by a body of power. This representation leads the viewers to believe that all teenagers and youth behave in this manner, which can create a sense of moral panic among the public. However this was not always the way in which youth was represented in the media. In the 1999 film '10 things I hate about you' it shows teenagers doing mild drinking and misbehaving however it does not create the idea that the youth is dangerous or violent as they attend school and talk about college making the importance of education a main theme throughout the film, it shows youth as being fun while misbehaving however in a way that is safe and un-alarming to the public. The transfer between how youth has previously been represented and how they are shown now has resulted in a dramatic change of how they are acting in real life. In August 2011 thousands of people part took in the London riots and on the 7th of august 2011 the Daily Mail printed their front cover as "Yob Rule" with a photo of a young man standing by a car that has been set on fire. This headline places a large quantity of the responsibility for the riots on youth as the word yob was used, which means "what a good boy should be- rude, obnoxious, violent and stupid." and also because of the choice of image. Gauntlett's theory that "identity is now consciously constructed, and the media provides some of the tools to help us contract our identities. The media contains a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable lifestyles. At the same time the public have their own diverse set of feelings. The media and media consumers are engaged in a dialogue in which neither overpowers the other. This supports that the change within the medias representation of youth can affect the way in which todays youth believes they should behave. Also Giddens theory of structuration states that changes in social structure such as an increase of crime connected to youth would mean that the behaviour of youth would have to be restructured in society.  

In comparison, Giroux youth theory- "Youth becomes an empty category in representation- reflects adult concerns. Media representation of youth does not reflect reality or youth identity" states that youth is only shown through what the public fear the most instead of what the majority of that collective identity group is acting as. This theory is saying that the illustration of youth in modern media text for example Ill Manners (2012) and Shank (2010)  is due to the fact that the older public are worried about the issues that are main themes within these examples. A theory that declares a different belief to that of Giroux's is Gerbner's cultivation theory, which inquires about the long-term effects of television. This theory says that the more time that is spent watching television the more likely they are to believe the social reality that is being portrayed. Gerbner's theory is saying that the more the media show youth as being criminal and violent the more they will act in criminal and violent demeanour. An example of Gerbners theory in real life is the Devin Moore case (2003) where a young boy who had been hugely influenced by video games, one of which was 'Grand Theft Auto', went on a killing spree shooting two police officers and a 911 dispatcher and then proceeded on to steal a car in an attempt to get away. When Moore was caught he reportedly said "life is like a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime."therefore the assumption that the spree was a result of the use of this specific game was made. 

In conclusion, the media contributes an important role in the construction of the 'collective identity of youth'. The media reflect the concerns that society has but also imply's new fears upon them trough certain texts. It can also influence how certain collective identity groups act because of how replica groups are being shown through television, film and internet. Therefore, creating a large impact on anyone who is active within the media world. 

Examples of media and historical and contemporary examples
Theories and theorists

Exam preparation- Section B

The range of collective identity we have looked at-

• How do the contemporary media represent: nations, regions and ethnic/ social/ collective groups of people in different ways?
• How does contemporary representations compare to previous time periods? 
• What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?
• To what extent is human identity increasingly 'mediated'?

Analyse the representations of collective identity of one or more groups of people. In cinema, television and magazines.

Essay guidelines-
Explanation/ analysis/ argument (16-20 marks)
show examples of collective identity, analyse the example and show how it relates to media theory relating to representation and collective identity.
Explain the effects of media representation on individuals/ or society as a whole.
Must use: historical and contemporary texts.

Use of examples (16-20 marks)
learn dates and proper names for media examples.
examples of theories, texts and industry knowledge are clearly connected together in the answer. History and the future are integrated into the discussion with conviction.

Use of terminology (8-10 marks)
You should use contemporary media theory and the command of the appropriate conceptual and theoretical language is excellent.

02/02/2016

Task:

·       copy the exemplar on collective identity into your blogger, set up a blog post tittled “exam”  

·       analyse the sample script using the attached marking structure say what grade you would give to the paper.  Analyse for Terminology, facts, and highlight corrections

·       discussion of why you gave it that grade and how you think the essay could be improved.

2013 paper

G325 QUESTION 6: EXEMPLAR 1

Whichever question you answer, you must refer to examples from at least two media areas in your answer. You should include reference to historical, contemporary and future media. Media and Collective Identity 6. Explain what is meant by ‘collective identity’ and the role of media in its construction. [50]

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 a letter which is accepting her to a place in an anti-social behaviour school. 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.

51

I would give this exam paper a Level 2 because the exam shows evidence that the candidate has offered a response to the topic but also has a limited ability to adapt to the specific requirements. There is some use of theories and historical and contextual examples, however these are sometimes lacks relevance to what they have been previously saying. Their grammar and spelling is noticeably incorrect throughout the answer.

"Has the mediation of gender changed, does this reflect change in society?"

The representation of gender within the media has historically been shown through the use of stereotypes such as the male gender being portrayed as strong and powerful compared to the female gender being represented as emotional and as an object of sex. This can be seen in the Van Heusen advert which advertises their line of ties. The man is laying in bed while the woman worships him, this can be assumed as the woman is bringing him breakfast and is physically placed lower than the man practically on her knees bending to his will. The male character is dressed smartly with eye contact above the woman, which not only shows that the male figure is above the female gender but also promotes a powerful representation for the man. The slogan used in this advertisement "show her its a mans world" also confines to the stereotypical gender representation of the man being more powerful and important than the female. This shows the use of  Patriarchy, which ultimately means a society run by men for men because the men are being perceived as the stronger sex.




















There are currently controversial advertisement texts showing gender roles in both similar to the example above where gender roles have not changed and in examples that show that genders role representation has started to change and is the mist of that transfer. The first example of this is the man holding the woman over his lap in a position that would lead the audience to think that she is being submissive to the dominant male character showing that the representation of the different sexes has not changed and the male is in charge of the woman. This links to Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory where the use of an attractive female and dominant male model draws the male audience in making them believe that behaving and becoming the same as the male character i.e. strong, dominant, physically attractive, well dressed etc. will lead to them having a beautiful woman submissing to their will. However, other modern media texts suggest that there has been change to the representation of gender through time such as the second example. This example shows a woman walking men on leads like dogs, the men also being naked. This advert shows the female as holding all of the power and being the dominant sex. The men are quite literally dehumanised due to the fact that they naked and made to act as animals, this is done to further the dominance of the woman and create the image that the males are weaker and the sexual object.


Overall, I believe that the representation of gender, especially in the media, has changed slightly meaning that the collective identity has also evolved. Mediation, which is the term that defines media as being made up and distorted to suit the viewers and that everything we see on TV is Mediated to alter real life and therefore the producers show us what they want too. This links in with how the representation of gender has only slightly changed as different media platforms have different views on how gender should be consumed, leading to mixed messages being transferred.