Statistics for Sociology: Media Representations

-They consist of White, middle-aged, able-bodied, heterosexual middle-class men who run the media for an elite of White male media owners.

-They establish a dominant ideology that reflects their interests and values to the exclusion of the interests and values of others.

-Their representations of other groups all maintain the power and dominance of this group.

-Groups that are not part of the hegemony are seen as this – for example, women are not represented as leaders.

-Specifically the term ‘male gaze’ is used to describe the way the media objectifies women through the eyes of men.

-It excludes certain groups – women, disabled people, old people.

Media representations often conform to these and then construct meanings and interpretations of those groups that may lead to them being treated differently.

-This includes young people, ethnic minority groups, working class.

-Despite weakened gender identities, the dominant hegemony is older men with more traditional values.