Antonio Gramsci expresses the idea of ‘hegemonic struggle’, which links in with the control of oppressed/ inferior groups by those who are seen as ‘the dominant ideology’ in society. For example, the binary opposition of representation between men and women. Hegemony can also be seen as a ‘social injustice’ among a certain group or class, women for example, are commonly seen as inferior to men.

In relation the the Daily Mail, Gramsci’s idea of hegemonic struggle can be applied due to the political stance the newspaper takes and how that political stance leads to the support and representation of more ‘shocking’/ ‘offensive’ stories. (Ultimately used for entertainment and profit purposes). The image below shows dominant newspapers, such as The Daily Mail, can use the likes expressed by their demographic in order to draw in viewers. Rather than focussing on the key factor of this story – Brexit – the story rather moves attention to the politicians legs, also linking in with the idea of the male guise expressed by Laura Mulvey. However, if the subjects in this image were men, it is highly unlikely that they would be sexualised and objectified like this; the story would be a lot more formal and news-based rather than a joke almost mocking the women in the image. In relation to Gramsci, hegemonic struggle is clearly evident here as although they are discussing a topic that will change the course of a nation, the newspaper manipulates this and objectifies it, which contrasts to the second front cover where the headline is used to support the politician rather than mock them.

Ultimately, I believe that the ideas coined by Gramsci are accurate as they can be applied to the daily mail in terms of the struggles between Genders and how women are negatively represented in the media where as men are generally more supported. Therefore, the newspaper can use these ideas on gender in order to gatekeep certain information and ideas and reinforce dominant ideologies that they may not want to be changed or influenced.