Theorist Andy Medhurst (1998) said that; "Stereotypes are a form of magnification... the media takes a negative element then magnifies it to create an objection stereotype that allows the dominant group to feel more powerful." (Medhurst, 1998)
E.G. in the case of homosexuality the stereotype has become, "Screaming queens and butch dykes," (Medhurst, 1998) which is not a real representation of as sexuality is of course invisible.
This lets the ruling class (straight, middle class, middle aged white males) feel superior because they can think, "They are awful because they are not like us." (Medhurst, 1998)
Main Areas:
‐ Race
‐ Gender
‐ National/Regional Identity
‐ Class
‐ Sexuality
‐ Age
Representation Theory
Laura Mulvey (1975) argued women in the media are used as; "Erotic objects of desire for males on screen and in the audience." (Mulvey, 1975)
Gauntlet (2002) argues males in the media still follow traditional stereotypes as they are shown as "Alpha males who control the action with violence." (Gauntlet, 2002)
Mackillon argues something slightly different, "Males are now shown as sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image." (Mackillon, 2002)
Ethnicity
S.Hall said in 1981, blacks are stereotyped as, "The social problem," (Hall, 1981) and this is a stereotype that has been embraced by the Hip-Hop culture.
Theorist Sarita Malik points out the obvious (1981); "The word 'race' in the cultural and political terrain has almost universally been aligned with Black and Asian people. as though they are the only racial groups that 'own' an ethnicity... Whiteness has been neutralised as though it is an invisible 'norm' when it is of course an ethnic group like any other.
Malik argues: "Many feel that Black and Asian audiences are still not sufficiently catered for and that insensitivity towards issues of race and ethnicity still exist. The reality of a lived multiculturalism is not represented in the British media."
Sexuality
Medhurst argues the media stereotypes gay men as "screaming queens" (Medhurst, 1981) and gay women as "butch dykes," (Medhurst, 1981)
Medhurst argued that this is done to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the belief that their way of living is the only 'natural one'. So, stereotyping for a 'straight' viewer makes them feel safe and superior. In addition, the embedded social norm of straight sexuality is reinforced.
This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarised sexualities, gay and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable - hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.
Youth
Stanley Hall (1904):
"Adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval. before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood." Hall also argued that:
1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 and 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; "Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex. drink or drugs."
Dick Hebdige (1988) argued youths are stereotyped as mixed metaphors of; "Youth as fun," and "Youth as trouble makers."
Old Age/Disability
EVANS (1998), drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysis, states: "Disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as 'other' and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. This popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, sh**ty, dribbling - a threat to rigid ego boundaries.
Class
Richard Butsch (1992) who says working class males in the media are presented as "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others."
Keith Gandals, in 2007, said that the target audience are drawn in by the; "Sentimental rags-to-riches story,"
Regional/National Identity
Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; "Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space - this can be a particular nation or region."
