Representation

Representation

This weeks lecture we looked at the meaning of representation within the media and even more specifically, what discourse is.

Discourse is a form of analysis which is undertaken in order to understand the way in which a media text is represented and what it is trying to communicate towards the audience. Representation within the media is a widely spread topic. There's many areas within representation. For example, representation of sexuality, gender, stereotypes. How different people within the media or society may be represented. Representation is something which changes over time as society changes. For example, the representation of sexuality is a large topic which has drastically changed over time. Homosexuality is a key example of this. It was looked at as something new and out of the ordinary as opposed to what it is represented as in this day and age. Pornography within the media is also another topic which has slowly become more exposed and is now represented differently to what it was years ago. It's more open, it's progressed a lot more and has become a lot more common than what it used to be.

'Until the sexual offences act, passed in 1967, male homosexuality in the UK was illegal and punishable by jail sentence or mental health treatment and this made it very difficult to represent this particular range of sexuality in the media in anything like a positive light.' [Long P, Wall T, 2009;p89]

This is an example of how representation has its limitations and how in order to represent something within the media, you need to take into consideration the altercations which could occur due to the way in which society is. Nowadays, homosexuality is represented throughout the media quite positively. This is shown through representing it in television programmes, posters, films etc.

 

“Discourse analysis has now become a very diverse area of study with a variety of approaches…” [Fairclough, N, 1992;P12]

Discourse analysis would be my chosen methodology for this topic because it allows you to analyse media texts thoroughly and define the meanings behind the uses and gratifications.

Representation within Photography specifically also changes through society. The way in which women are represented on the front cover of magazines, the way children are represented and also sexuality again. These are topics which occur a lot within media photography. Focusing on women representation, images of women spread across the front cover of fashion magazines. They have this representation of looking 'perfect and flawless'. When in reality, we should be aware as an audience that these images have been alternated to look a certain way. The producers create these images in this way to give the audience something almost to aspire to and admire which then gives the audience this idea of how women should or are supposed to look.

 

Fairclough, N (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge : Polity Press. 12.

 

Paul Long and Tim Wall (2009). Media Studies Text, Production and Context. Essex, England : Pearson Education Limited. 87.