After
creating my gender identity video it was apparent I could chose several aspects
of gender identity to focus on for my cultural reporter blogs. I highlighted several areas including my religion,
sexual orientation, family, and racial identity in the video I created. From these aspects covered I was able to
determine untouched areas of interest which I could further research. After much consideration I chose gender and
media identity portrayal as my area to study.
In
saying gender and media identity portrayal I mean the way an individual is
shaped in the mass media in relation to their gender. There are vast differences in the way men or
women are portrayed to society members in terms of sexuality and
acceptability. This is an area in which
I have limited knowledge and influence in since I am not a journalism student,
and am not looking to go into reporting of any kind.
The
issue is both verbal and nonverbal.
There are numerous television programs which focus on entertainment news
which pick apart personal lives and such of celebrities. These programs give voice to the images
constantly presented through various mediums constantly. Whether seeing images on covers of magazine
while checking out at the grocery store, or having ads pop up on the side of
social networking sites to promote swimsuits or clothing, media is always
subconsciously dictating our societal concept of gender/identity. I found it interesting that women were frequently on covers of magazines in bikinis while men such as Taylor Lautner were portrayed as sexual while still wearing a t-shirt.
On E! News online they have a segment titled Fashion Police. After browsing the first page it is evident that there are no males being critiqued in this section. This seems to be a familiar theme within all media and is something I would like to further study.
It appears the media has a large amount over power over the general public. Power over can be defined as “coercive misuses of power: (Defrancisco & Palczewski, 2007, p. 24). I found a text which could be valuable in my research on the relations between the media and gender/sex identity. Gail Dines and Jean McMahon Humez’s Gender, race, and class in media examines “issues of power related to gender, race, and class [which] are integrated into a wide range of articles examining the economic and cultural implications of mass media as institutions, including the political economy of media production, textual analysis, and media consumption” (Dines & McMahon Humez, 2003).
In order to further research how gender and identity is reflected by the media I would like to interview journalism students, local newspaper columnists, and professors of related subjects. I believe that these reflected gender/sex identity constructs displayed in the media are not just socially or familiar constructs, but instead reside in instructions of the discipline of mass media. I am excited to further delve into this topic for it seems to be a very large issue for our society as a multidisciplinary problem.
It appears the media has a large amount over power over the general public. Power over can be defined as “coercive misuses of power: (Defrancisco & Palczewski, 2007, p. 24). I found a text which could be valuable in my research on the relations between the media and gender/sex identity. Gail Dines and Jean McMahon Humez’s Gender, race, and class in media examines “issues of power related to gender, race, and class [which] are integrated into a wide range of articles examining the economic and cultural implications of mass media as institutions, including the political economy of media production, textual analysis, and media consumption” (Dines & McMahon Humez, 2003).
In order to further research how gender and identity is reflected by the media I would like to interview journalism students, local newspaper columnists, and professors of related subjects. I believe that these reflected gender/sex identity constructs displayed in the media are not just socially or familiar constructs, but instead reside in instructions of the discipline of mass media. I am excited to further delve into this topic for it seems to be a very large issue for our society as a multidisciplinary problem.
