Plan: (Specimen Question, ’00 a)

What is there to be said for or against stereotyping in the media? Answer with reference to specific examples.

Define what a stereotyping is:
Stereotyping is categorising people into group based on a few common characteristics.

For:
Create humour
Short hand for the audience as producers to not have enough time to go into details for each character
Identify with the characters
Some stereotypes are true
Some stereotypes are challenged

Examples:
Television
In “sex and the city” Samantha takes on the role of “whore” but is not punished in the end which shows how the stereotypes are developing and being challenged. Additionally, it promotes women values and suggests society is now accepting that women have sexual needs and desires as well.

“The Simpsons” show Apu as a corner shop owner which to some extent is considered a true stereotype therefore giving an accurate representation of reality.

In “goodness gracious me” the audience are laughing at the characters but are laughing at how they mocking the two different cultures as in some cases they exaggerate cultural expectations too much to generate humour.

Against:
Reinforces misogyny
Reinforces patriarchy
Supports conservative ideologies
Maintains the “status quo”

Examples:
Television
Damsel in distress- women are represented as weak and passive (Propp- princess role- reward for the hero at the end)
Blonde Bimbo- women being represented as unintelligent this is represented in Hollyoaks (a contemporary soap) that shows the character Carmel reinforcing this stereotypical role.

Asians are placed in comedy roles this conforms to stereotypical representation and supports hegemonic views as for Asians to be successful they have to conform to the role of the “brown clown” (Stuart Hall). For example mind you language- humour is created and in most cases the audiences are laughing at the misunderstandings of the character and the characters.


Adverts
Housewife- women in a domestic servant role as cleaning products such shake and vac advert 1979 is aimed at women
Mothers – Iceland slogan “that’s why mums go Iceland”

Films
Madonna - reinforces how women should be maternal and innocent. This is illustrated in “Mere Jeevan Saathi” (2006)
Vamp/Whore- women who are sexually active are negative/bad reinforced in slasher films for example women who are sexually active are punished through them being killed. For example “Halloween” all the females having sex are killed.
Femme fatale- women who are powerful are dangerous. This is reinforced in film noir where this role first became evident and became a convention of having a seductive evil woman as it would offer narrative pleasures for the audience.
Ladette- main protagonist in bend it like beckham prefers football to girly things.
Bad Hysterical careerists- women choosing work over family in “Fatal Attraction”
Teenagers- rebellious represented in “Kidulthood”(2006) shows young females prostituting themselves reinforcing the stereotype of the “whore” as these young teenage girls are doing it for money for drugs, resulting in how contemporary youths are disobedient as they are engaging in anti- social behaviour i.e. using drugs.

Children cartoon films such as Aladdin portray Muslims in a negative way. For example, they have good Arab such as Aladdin given American accents to make his threatening and the rest of the cast are given “exaggerated and ridiculous accents to support the American hegemony.


Newspapers:
Women are only there to be looked-at-ness page 3 girls conform to this
However this could be interpreted in two ways. A second wave feminist would interpret this as
And a third wave feminist would interpret this as

All Asians are terrorist or supporters of terrorism is another new negative stereotype that has developed since September 11th giving a negative and inaccurate representation of Asians as well as making Asians conform to Nandy’s theory on “the other” as they are represented as chaotically violent, barbaric and religious. As a result of these representations moral panics are created through the news especially in British tabloid papers such as “The Sun”.