• Positive Stereotypes – Positive stereotypes are traits and characteristics that are favorable.

Negative Stereotypes – Negative stereotypes are traits and characteristics that are unfavorable.

• Counter-types – When a producer tries to break stereotypes. For example changing the main signifier.

• Misrepresentation – The action or offence of giving a false or misleading account of the nature of something.

• Selective representation – When a group of people are more represented than others, this is used to push forward the idea.

• Dominant ideology – Dominant ideology denotes the attitudes, beliefs, values, and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society.

• Constructed reality – The belief that we act and behave in a certain due to the influence media has on us.

• Hegemony – Media hegemony means the dominance of certain aspects of life. The dominance a group has over other groups.

• Audience positioning – Techniques used by a text producer to get the audience to understand the ideology of the text.

Positive and negative stereotypes – stereotypes are widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. These stereotypes can either be good or bad.

Counter-types – a positive stereotype that emphasises the good qualities 

Misrepresentation – an inaccurate representation of someone or something. 

Selective representation – when groups of people are represented more in government than others. 

Dominant ideology – the attitudes, beliefs, values, and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society

Constructed reality – the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped 

Hegemony – Media hegemony is a perceived process by which certain values and ways of thought promulgated through the mass media become dominant in society.

Audience positioning – how the audience is manipulated to view something in a certain way 

Fluidity of identity – suggests that identity is dynamic and changes regularly 

Constructed identity – identity that has been constructed into a concept by society of how someone should be

Negotiated identity – the unspoken agreement in a relationship of ‘who is who’

Collective identity – the identity of a group asa a whole 

• Positive and negative stereotypes: Positive– A good evaluation of a specific group that is in someways better than another group, it can be seen as a praise or a compliment. Negative-A bad generalization on a person because they are part of a specific group. Can be seen as an insult.

• Counter-types– Goes against the stereotype of a group that they are part of.

• Misrepresentation– Wrongly interpenetrating/ understanding something.

• Selective representation– When something is more represented than another, usually biased.

• Dominant ideology– What is normal in the eyes of people and Social Media.

• Constructed reality– The way we shape ourselves because of other people and their standards.

• Hegemony– The main influencer of an ideology so it becomes the dominant ideology and other people agree because the creator of it is seen as a leader.

• Audience positioning– A way the creator of the text uses techniques to get the audience to understand the ideology of that text.

• Fluidity of identity – There’s not a fixed conception of what identity is so there’s fluidity/flexibility in how it can be presented.
• Constructed identity – When the media presents identity in a certain way that they want people to believe is the right way to be.
• Negotiated identity – When identity is negotiated into an agreement which is their ideal way to represent it.
• Collective identity – The identity of a whole group rather than an individual. And how they’re perceived to be in the modern world.

Positive and Negative Stereotypes – A stereotype is a mistaken idea or belief many people have about a thing or group that is based upon how they look on the outside, which may be untrue or only partly true

Counter-Types – A counter type is a positive stereotype and emphasises the positive features about a person. An example of a counter type is that all religious people are kind

Misrepresentation – Something that gives a false or misleading account of the nature of an idea, situation, or opinion, or the fact of a subject or person

Selective Representation – When media sources specifically present a certain type of person, place, or object to influence their opinions.

Dominant Ideology – Reactionary text meaning its classifies certain things as “normal”, and is what the majority of people in the world agree on as normal

Constructed Reality – When a media source creates their own ideal reality which isn’t the same as our own that the audience can wish to have

Hegemony – The dominance of certain aspects of life and thought by the penetration of a dominant culture and its values into social life

Audience Positioning – Audience positioning concerns the relationship between the text and the responses an audience may have to that text. The producers encode the texts with signs and messages and the audience decode these messages

Fluidity of Identity – Explains that identity isn’t fixed but dynamic and can change at any time

Constructed Identity – The dominant ideology and concept of how people should act

Negotiated Identity – An individual’s many identities of cultural, ethnic, religious, social class, gender, sexual orientation, professional, family/relational role

Collective Identity – The main identity of a group

In this essay I am going to compare and discuss the representations of gender in both Men’s Health and Tomb Raider and how the purposes behind them are strikingly different. 

Firstly, on the cover of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft is the dominant signifier. She appears multiple times on the cover to show that she is the convention with the most importance. Her clothing, physique and positioning all add to the reason why she holds a lot of attention. She has been designed wearing petite shorts, a chest almost double the size of her waist and placed on the cover looking over her shoulder – a pose sometimes associated with being provocative. She is also standing unnaturally so that both her chest and bottom are visible for the targeted viewers. This introduces the first theme of Lara’s character being heavily sexualised. Leading on from this, the target audience surrounding Tomb Raider is predominantly (and stereo-typically) male, adding to the reasons why she has been designed to appear this sexually. This is due to the fact that male stereotypes would be just as interested in her body as they would the magazine/game. In contrast to the character’s sexualisation, Lara Croft has been designed with some features to represent a sense of masculinity. Firstly her clothing is green and brown, stereo-typically not very feminine colours. She is also positioned holding a gun, connoting a sense of power and strength and linking with the idea of masculinity, as it is more common to see males carrying weapons such as guns than it is females. The colours in the background are another masculine feature, the black and red connote danger which Lara is brave enough to face due to her power implied. This also contrasts the fact that most of the time it is men that participate on a dangerous quest to save a girl but this time the girl is the one on the quest. 

Both the overly sexualised and masculine ideas suggest that the cover can be viewed in a reactionary and radical manner. Tomb Raider can be seen as a reactionary text as Lara has been presented significantly sexually to satisfy the male target audience. Nevertheless, the cover can also be understood from a radical perspective as she is presented as a strong, powerful fighter due to her weaponry, which opposes stereotypical ideology.

On the other hand, gender is represented in a strikingly opposite way in Men’s Health. Vin Diesel is the dominant signifier, centre of the page and grabs the most attention. Vin Diesel’s body has been edited to portray the idea that he has more physical strength. A good example of this is shown through his heavily muscular arms. This differentiates from the idea that Lara had to be designed holding weaponry to even connote the idea of strength. Vin Diesel’s physicality needed only to be presented for that objective to be thought of, as evidently he holds different guns to Lara (and not the weapons.) This leads on to the target audience. For the cover of Men’s Health, Vin Diesel has not been created in a sexual manner. Again, the cover has been designed for male receivers, although this time it is for men to perceive in an aspirational sight instead of a sexual one. I don’t view Men’s Health in both reactionary and radical texts like I did Tomb Raider. This time round, I only invision it reactionary as the conventions included connote the idea that men hold all strength, which is still a heavy attitude supported by society today. As Tomb Raider has overly sexualised women for men and Men’s Health has not done the same, this relates to the point that males still maintain more control and dominance than females.

To conclude, I think the whole concept of Lara Croft’s gender representation on the cover of Tomb Raider is overshadowed by negative connotations. Although she included some positive aspects regarding her strength and masculinity, it was suppressed by her being excessively sexualised for the satisfaction of men. Whereas the gender representation portrayed on Men’s Health beams with positive connotations due to it being a man encouraging other males. Both these outcomes connect with how the two genders still remain today. 

Definitions:

• Positive and negative stereotypes: a positive stereotype refers to a subjectively favourable belief held about a social group. Whereas negative stereotype are traits and characteristics, negatively valence and attributed to a social group and to its individual members.

• Counter-types:  countertype is a positive stereotype and emphasizes the positive features about a person.

• Misrepresentation: is the action or offence of giving a false or misleading account of the nature of something. For example when an animal is misrepresented as being vicious.

• Selective representation:  is when some groups of people are represented more in government than others.In this way, one form of selectiverepresentation is used to try to combat another.

• Dominant ideology: a dominant attitude values or beliefs in society

• Constructed reality: refers to the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.

• Hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.

• Audience positioning:  refers to the techniques used by the creator of a text to try to get the audience to understand the ideology of the text.

• Fluidity of identity: the idea in which your identity changes

• Constructed identity: is the identity that one self builds for example on social media.

• Negotiated identity: agreeing that certain people have certain roles in a relationship and that these roles cannot change.

• Collective identity: the identity of a group.

• Positive and negative stereotypes- A stereotype is a mistaken idea or belief many people have about a thing or group that is based upon how they look on the outside, which may be untrue or only partly true. Stereotyping people is a type of prejudice because what is on the outside is a small part of who a person is.

• Counter-types-The definition of a counter type is a positive stereotype and emphasizes the positive features about a person. An example of a counter type is that all religious people are kind.

• Misrepresentation-Something that misrepresents an idea, situation, or opinion, or the fact of a subject or person.

• Selective representation-Selective representation is when media sources specifically present a certain type of person, place, or object to influence and proclaim there opinions.

• Dominant ideology-Dominant ideology is reactionary text meaning its classifies certain things as “normal”, and is what the majority of people in the world agree on as normal.

• Constructed reality-When a media source creates there on ideal reality which isn’t the same as our own that the audience can crave.

• Hegemony-media hegemony means the dominance of certain aspects of life and thought by the penetration of a dominant culture and its values into social life.

• Audience positioning-Audience positioning concerns the relationship between the text and the responses an audience may have to that text. The producers encode the texts with signs and messages and the audience decode these messages.

• Fluidity of identity-Explains that identity isn’t fixed but dynamic and can change at any time.

• Constructed identity-Is the dominant ideology and concept of how people should act.

• Negotiated identity-Refers to an individual’s multifaceted identities of cultural, ethnic, religious, social class, gender, sexual orientation, professional, family/relational role

• Collective identity– the identity of a group

fluidity of identity: the idea that identity in the digital age is highly fluid and can be picked up or discarded relatively easily.

constructed identity: the identities that humans construct based on social interaction, often defined in opposition to another identity.

negotiated identity: the unsaid negotiated agreements about ‘who is who’ in a relationship regarding their identities.

collective identity: the identity of a group.