Representation: how gender is represented in the media, the codes through which masculinity and femininity are constructed, the use of and challenge to gender stereotypes, and the idea that media representations contribute to audiences' sense of identity (Gauntlett).

What this dot point is asking

Gender is one of the most examined representations in the media, so it is worth understanding in its own right. This dot point covers how the media construct masculinity and femininity through media language, the gender stereotypes products use and how they reinforce or challenge them, and the idea, associated with David Gauntlett, that the range of media representations feeds audiences' sense of identity. The skill is to analyse how a gender representation is built and judge what it does with stereotype.

How gender is constructed

Gender is built from the same media language toolkit you use everywhere else. A character's costume, posture, the way they are framed and lit, the role they play in the narrative and the words they speak all construct a gendered representation. Reading these codes, rather than describing appearance, is how you analyse gender.

Gender stereotypes and how products engage them

The media have a long history of gender stereotypes, and a strong answer judges what a product does with them.

• Traditional stereotypes. Men have often been represented as active, strong, rational and dominant; women as passive, emotional, decorative or domestic. These are encoded through narrative role, framing and costume.
• Reinforcing. A product can repeat a familiar gender stereotype, naturalising a view of masculinity or femininity.
• Challenging. A product can present a more rounded or unexpected gender representation that questions the stereotype (a capable female protagonist, a sensitive male lead).
• Subverting. A product can deliberately overturn a gender stereotype for surprise, humour or critique.

The judgement, backed by specific features, is what the longer questions reward.

Representation and identity (Gauntlett)

Gauntlett's idea is useful because it links representation to the audience's sense of self. Naming it lightly and applying it (this product offers this model of identity, which the audience may draw on) lifts an answer, provided you still analyse the construction.

Worked example

How this is examined

Gender representation is examined on both components, in set products and the unseen resource. Short questions ask how gender is represented in a product; longer questions ask you to discuss and judge representations across products. The reliable approach is to analyse how the representation is constructed through media language, identify the values, judge whether it reinforces or challenges stereotypes, and link to identity and audience using Gauntlett.

Try this

Q1. Explain how a product you have studied represents masculinity or femininity. [5 marks]

• What the marker wants. Read the media language that constructs the gender representation (casting, costume, framing, narrative role), explain the values it carries, and link to the audience (AO2).

Q2. Explain how the range of gender representations in the media might affect audiences. [5 marks]

• Cue. Use Gauntlett: audiences draw on the varied representations of gender and identity available to help construct their own identities (AO1 and AO2).