Homework Flashcards
What is Barthes and semiotics.
The idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification.
The idea that signs can function at the level of denotation, and at the level of connotation.
The idea that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through a process of naturalisation.
How does the set product you have studied illustrate the limitations of Barthes’ ideas?
Attitude – content re-appropriated stereotypes of gay men (e.g. they love fashion and pop music)
what is Levi-Strauss and structuralism
The idea that texts can best be understood through an examination of their underlying structure.
The idea that meaning is dependent upon (and produced through) pairs of binary oppositions.
The idea that the way in which these binary oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological significance.
One way Levi Strauss can be applied to set texts
Zoe Sugg – she uses a combination of amateurish and professional filming and editing styles in structuring her content.
What is Baudrilliard Postmodernism
In postmodern culture the boundaries between the ‘real’ world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation.
In a postmodern age of simulacra we are immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to anything ‘real’.
Media images have come to seem more ‘real’ than the reality they supposedly represent (hyperreality).
One way we can apply Baudrillard’s theories to your set product
How in Zoellas videos not everything is perfect and she creates a sense of authenticity
What is Stuart Halls representation theory?
Representation is the production of meaning through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs
Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘Other’ (e.g. through ethnocentrism).
One way we can apply Hall’s theories to your set product
Attitude reinforces gay masculinity stereotypes through its focus on muscular physiques, hyper-sexualization, and fashion-forward or camp aesthetics. It references other homosexual male stereotypes by highlighting themes of flamboyance, promiscuity, and style-consciousness. Ethnicity is often represented through a white, Eurocentric lens, though there are attempts at inclusivity, while class is typically portrayed through a middle-to-upper-class lifestyle, emphasizing luxury and consumerism.
What Is gaunletts identity theory
The media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities.
In the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities.
The media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas.
How can Gaunletts identity theory be applied to set texts
vloggers/influencers offer a diverse range of ‘authentic’ and ‘relatable’ characters, behaviours and values for the audience to identify. The fans then pick and choose for their own identity as they aren’t obviously ‘artificial’ like other celebrities, they may be more trusted, and their influence be more powerful.
What is Judith Butler Gender Performativity
Identity is performatively constructed by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results (it is manufactured through a set of acts).
There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender.
Performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual.
How can Butler’s ideas be applied to your set products?
Zoellas videos are often about makeup and fashion which are often related with girls which are her audience
Despite gaining popularity in recent years, particularly in the LGBQTQIA+ community, there are some limitations to Butler’s ideas
Some might say Butler’s view of ‘expressions’ of gender are old-fashioned and heteronormative. Followers of Gauntlett might say there is much more diversity of gender expression in the media, and this enables people to construct their own unique (not necessarily binary) gender identity.
What is Gilroy Post colonialism
Colonial discoursesColonialism is the dominance and exploitation of people, land or resources by a foreign power. Colonial discourse refers to the way empires justified this, usually by dehumanising the people colonised. continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era.
Civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness.
How can Gilroy’s ideas be applied to your set products?
How many of the features/fashion shoots/cultural reviews feature BIPOC people?
In terms of ‘civilisationism’ – to what extent does Attitude promote the UK (or other European countries) as progressive regarding LGBQTQIA+ rights?
To what extent do they portray non-Western countries as less progressive, and even dangerous for LGBQTQIA+ people?
How does the set product you are studying illustrate the limitations of Gilroy’s theories?
In attitude there isnt any reference to race or any intersectionality
What is Livingstone and Lunt Regulation theory
Livingstone and Lunt believed that there is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need to further the interests of citizens, and the need to further the interests of consumers.
They also believed the increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk.
How can Livingstone and Lunt’s ideas be applied to your set products?
Attitude exists as both online and print magazine; the print version is governed by IPSO, an independent industry monitor. The website is governed by OFCOM.
How does the set product you are studying appeal to both the citizen and consumer in the audience?
Attitude – citizen: promotion of LGBQTQIA+ related social activism; celebration of queer cultures and identities.
Consumer: aspirational upper middle-class lifestyles are promoted (luxury dinners and holidays, high end fashion brands etc.) often linked to activism.
What is Hesmondhalghs cultural industries
Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences through vertical and horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural product Producing a range of products guaranteed to be a success. Less creative risk taking may result in bigger profits but may also result in a lack of innovations (e.g. through the use of stars, genres, and serials).
The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different cultural industries.
The radical potential of the internet has been contained to some extent by its partial incorporation into a large, profit-orientated set of cultural industries.
How can Hesmondhalgh’s ideas be applied to your set products?
Attitude shows this is the online version of a successful print magazine, the owners are a small independent publisher (who mainly produce ‘trade’ magazines). Attitude does build relationships with other media companies and brands for sponsorship, but it retains a ‘radical potential’ through its celebration of LGBQTQIA+ lives and culture, and its call to political activism.
How can you use the set product you are studying to evaluate Hesmondhalgh’s theories
vloggers/influencers have developed in a way that Hesmondhalgh would find interesting. Unlike mass media ‘cultural industries’, they innovated away from their initial formats and moved to different content. Eg zoella moving to home life
What is Gerbner Cultivation theory
Exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world around them (i.e. cultivating particular views and opinions).
Cultivation reinforces mainstream values (dominant ideologies).
How can Gerbner’s ideas be applied to your set products?
Zoella makes content which is based for girls such as makeup tutorials and shopping hauls
