Representation: Stereotypes / Tessa Perkins (theory)
In the making of my music video i will have to do some theory into the protrayal of the character. This page will be dedicated to looking at stereotypes and the way the media labels certain groups/individuals through stereotypes. if we look at it from a theoretical perspective, it can be argued that it is not the media's use of stereotypes that is problematic but the audiences assumption that it is representated can be applied to all members of a particular group. stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be challenged.
Tessa Perkins (1979) identifies five such assumptions: stereotypes are not always negative, they are not always about minority groups or the less powerful, they can be held about ones group, they are not rigid or changing and they are not always false. stereotyping has tended to suggest that it is wrong to see people in cateogries. humans need to impose structure on events, experiences and people.
Stereotypes are an invaluable aid to understand the world and all stereotypes must have a bit of truth or they would not have such an influence in our lives. It must be remembered that stereotypes were not created by the media, they are a concept which are part of everyday life.
As humans we use our own unique storehouse of knowledge about people when we judge them. Our past experience is more important than the true features of the actual personality we are judging - traits exist more in the eye of the beholder than in reality. we have each a system of rules that tell us which characteristics go with other characteristics. we categorise into types to simplify the task of person perception. If we encounter someone in reality or in the media who seems to fit neatly into a prototype (set of linked traits which seem to us to go together, they form a pattern of connections that can be called a prototype), we feel assured. it confirms our sterotyped view - we do not need to think further. Research has shown that if we find people that do not fit into our prototypes, we will form very strong impressions of them - it is suprising to us and disconcerting - it forces us to think more deeply. All of this distrotion happens naturally in our minds before the media have had their chance to simplify and distort. We do a lot of the business of stereotyping ourselves. It is almost as if we conspire with the media to misunderstand the world.
how can the media build a stereotype? with any group of people, there be an enormous amount of things that can be used as a stereotype, but because stereotyping is a form of simplification, normally the most obvious things are used.
1) apperance - this can include physical apperance and clothes as well as the sound of the voice.
2) behaviour - typical things that people might do in a group.
3) the stereotype is constructed in ways that fit a particular medium.
4) there will always be a comparison whether real or imaginary with normal "behaviour"
The normal person will act as a representative of us in the text - at the same time reflecting what we might feel, or telling us what to feel depending on your point of view.
It seems as if the media find it difficult to adapt to change and will always use the old techniques of simplification even if they’re trying to be nice about someone. This has led some people to question whether it is ever possible to create a representation that is free of stereotypes. If you think back to implicit personality theory, it should be clear how natural the process of stereotyping is to us and how attractive we find this simplified view of the world. However, if we are aware of this tendency in our own minds, we must be able to at least try to avoid it and to recognise it in the media texts that we are presented with.
Tessa Perkins (1979) identifies five such assumptions: stereotypes are not always negative, they are not always about minority groups or the less powerful, they can be held about ones group, they are not rigid or changing and they are not always false. stereotyping has tended to suggest that it is wrong to see people in cateogries. humans need to impose structure on events, experiences and people.
Stereotypes are an invaluable aid to understand the world and all stereotypes must have a bit of truth or they would not have such an influence in our lives. It must be remembered that stereotypes were not created by the media, they are a concept which are part of everyday life.
As humans we use our own unique storehouse of knowledge about people when we judge them. Our past experience is more important than the true features of the actual personality we are judging - traits exist more in the eye of the beholder than in reality. we have each a system of rules that tell us which characteristics go with other characteristics. we categorise into types to simplify the task of person perception. If we encounter someone in reality or in the media who seems to fit neatly into a prototype (set of linked traits which seem to us to go together, they form a pattern of connections that can be called a prototype), we feel assured. it confirms our sterotyped view - we do not need to think further. Research has shown that if we find people that do not fit into our prototypes, we will form very strong impressions of them - it is suprising to us and disconcerting - it forces us to think more deeply. All of this distrotion happens naturally in our minds before the media have had their chance to simplify and distort. We do a lot of the business of stereotyping ourselves. It is almost as if we conspire with the media to misunderstand the world.
how can the media build a stereotype? with any group of people, there be an enormous amount of things that can be used as a stereotype, but because stereotyping is a form of simplification, normally the most obvious things are used.
1) apperance - this can include physical apperance and clothes as well as the sound of the voice.
2) behaviour - typical things that people might do in a group.
3) the stereotype is constructed in ways that fit a particular medium.
4) there will always be a comparison whether real or imaginary with normal "behaviour"
The normal person will act as a representative of us in the text - at the same time reflecting what we might feel, or telling us what to feel depending on your point of view.
It seems as if the media find it difficult to adapt to change and will always use the old techniques of simplification even if they’re trying to be nice about someone. This has led some people to question whether it is ever possible to create a representation that is free of stereotypes. If you think back to implicit personality theory, it should be clear how natural the process of stereotyping is to us and how attractive we find this simplified view of the world. However, if we are aware of this tendency in our own minds, we must be able to at least try to avoid it and to recognise it in the media texts that we are presented with.