This lesson allows you to recap on previous learning and considers the notion of gender ideology. To develop your work on this you will consider the use of socially / culturally constructed stereotypes. To begin with you will complete a couple of short quizzes to consolidate your knowledge of key definitions within this topic area. You will then conclude by writing up your thoughts on a newspaper article.
In this lesson you will consider the representation of women in mainstream lifestyle magazines. You will follow a series of questions which involve a detailed textual analysis for the front cover of ‘New Woman’ magazine to assess prominent ideologies and stereotypes. You will then be able to check your answers at the end of this quiz to see how well you scored.
This lesson continues from the previous lesson in its theme of mainstream lifestyle magazines. The focus is ‘lads’ mags’ and involves the reading of an article published in the ‘Daily Mail’ titled ‘Disturbing World of the Lads’ mags.’ As the title suggests, this article focuses on the content of popular lifestyle magazines for young men and will encourage to voice your own opinions on what has been written, the ideologies and beliefs reinforced here and how this affects perceptions of the opposite sex.
This lesson encourages an exploration of representation in mainstream cinema and also brings in a theoretical dimension. It follows on well from the work undertaken in your AS Textual Analysis unit on Action/Adventure though this is slightly different as the main protagonists in the case text here are women. The purpose of this session is to introduce you to feminist film theory which is also encountered in the A2 year and indeed at undergraduate level if you pursue a course in a Media/Film related subject. There is a short reading by Laura Mulvey who is famously known for her work on the role of women in film. You will then undertake an analysis of key scenes within Ridley Scott’s ‘Thelma and Louise’(1991) by following a series of directed questions. The Mulvey reading will hopefully inform your responses to the extracts and you will feedback to the group.
This is the final lesson in the programme and is an opportunity for you to reflect on your journey through representations of gender in mass media texts. You will identify a range of media texts from your own experience and consider the representation of gender in these; providing evidence for positive and negative representations and focusing on ideologies promoted. As mentioned, this part of the programme will allow you to use your own – perhaps more up to date – examples. Remember, we have only touched on a limited number of media texts and so it is important that you consider others such as TV programmes, music TV, web sites, video games and so on.
