2. Gender is perhaps the basic category we
use for sorting human beings, and it is a
key issue when discussing representation.
Essential elements of our own identity, and
the identities we assume other people to
have, come from concepts of gender - what
does it mean to be a boy or a girl? Many
objects, not just humans, are represented
by the media as being particularly
masculine or feminine - particularly in
advertising - and we grow up with an
awareness of what constitutes 'appropriate'
characteristics
3. The Norm…
Male Female
• Muscular • Object of desire
• More authoritive • Minimal clothing
• Supports family in terms of
money
• Vulnerable (in most genres)
• Aggressive • Mother figure
• Heterosexual • Heterosexual
• Lacks emotion • Very emotional
4. …The Other
Male Female
• Geeky • Femme fatal
• Scrawny • Kills of male (but dies herself)
• Homosexual • Homosexual
