Positive or Negative?
We must also consider that representations change over time.
Take a group in society such as the police force. Look at the two slides below and think about how the newer colour photographs in the first slide are a very different representation from the older black & white images.
Then compare all four of these photos with the two representations in the second slide - the single framed cartoon strip and the front cover of satirical magazine Private Eye...
The two black and white images represent the police as:
The colour images demonstrate a significant shift in representations of the police. In these colour images we see the police force represented as multicultural, mixed sex, approachable and friendly. They are represented as working in teams but still as part of the local community.
The representations may make them seem less respected or even vulnerable as we see that in one of the images they are wearing stab proof vests - but this could also represent them as always ready for action.
The two images on the second slide are quite different - these negative representations depict the police as:
- Authoritative
- Respected
- Helpful
- Part of the community
- Working alone
- Dominant
- Male
- Serious
The colour images demonstrate a significant shift in representations of the police. In these colour images we see the police force represented as multicultural, mixed sex, approachable and friendly. They are represented as working in teams but still as part of the local community.
The representations may make them seem less respected or even vulnerable as we see that in one of the images they are wearing stab proof vests - but this could also represent them as always ready for action.
The two images on the second slide are quite different - these negative representations depict the police as:
- Deceitful
- Corrupt
- Incapable
- Needlessly violent
- Racist
- Prejudice
This is quite a damaging representation of the police, people may mistake the representation of a few incompetent or untrustworthy police to represent the whole of the police force - and in some cases this may even be the intention!
Stereotypes are not constructed by the media - they are used and they are reinforced by the media. However stereotypes themselves are constructions. And as such they can be analysed and deconstructed.
If you think about the list of school stereotypes - your list may have included:
- The Jock
- The Bully
- The Geek
- The Goth
- The 'In' crowd
- The Smelly old teacher
- The 'try hard' teacher
Amongst many others... You also need to think about where you have seen these stereotypes and you'll probably find that they come across a range of different types of media...
- High School teen comedy movies
- Soap operas
- Sit-coms
- The News
- Newspapers
- Adverts
- Comic books
Regardless of where they come from we will probably all have a shared or similar image in our head of what they look like and what they do.
For example if we think of the school swot most of us will have an image like this in our head...
Even if you have never seen The Simpsons you would still understand from looking at Martin's smart hair and starched collar that he strictly plays by the rules, his wide eyes connote an optimism and innocence that makes him oblivious to the opinions of others in his class that despair of him and the spare pens in his top pocket and his hand in the air ready to answer a question, show his overwhelming enthusiasm to please the teacher and show off his knowledge.
We have seen this stereotype again and again - not just in animated TV shows or Sitcoms like The Simpsons but in films, in adverts and in comic books.
If we have a shared expectation of Stereotypes then we must be able to deconstruct them.
Here are the four ways in which stereotypes are constructed for the media...
To deconstruct or analyse a stereotype we would mostly look at Appearance and Behaviour - however the third and forth parts of the Stereotype will still be relevant - to put this into practice, watch the following video on Stereotyping Scousers...
Whilst these virals poke fun at a Scouse stereotype, they are pretty harmless - they are intended as gentle humour and whilst Stereotypes may be based on seeds of truth - for example the moustache and permed hair comes from an era in the 1970s and 1980s when many of the Liverpool Football Club team had a similar 'look' - there is no sense that all Scousers look or behave in this way - the comic nature of the viral means that the audience knows not to take them too seriously.
But what happens when other types of media use stereotypes. Can they be negative, can they even be considered damaging?
Consider how similar ideas from the virals are used to reinforce a Scouse stereotype in extremely derogatory ways. Firstly in a single cell comic strip and secondly on the front page of the Sun newspaper after the Hillsborough disaster...
