Historical, temporal and contemporary trends on gender and media

Abstract

Núria araüNa rovira i Virgili universityFrederik dheaNeNs aNd soFie VaN Bauwel Ghent university historical, temporal and contemporary trends on gender and mediaResearch on media and gender has proliferated during the last decades, both quantitatively and geographically across different regions of the world. This generous development has come either from feminist approaches that have focused on the reproduction of inequality between men and women in media products and in production structures, or from sociocultural and critical approaches within academia that consider gender a category that transcends binary divides and encompasses sexualities and sexual identities, with an increased attention to LGBTQI people. The proliferation has resulted in more intensified debates and the questioning and/or fortifying of concepts to better study issues within the broad field of gender and media. The field has particularly witnessed an increase in an intersectional approach, demonstrating how people have multiple identities that interact with one another and therefore gender identities and roles should not be studied in isolation but rather in relation to other axes such as class, race, and ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability or nationality.It has been acknowledged that broader ideological contexts do have an extraordinary impact on shaping the ideas that we share about ourselves as 01_CJCS_9.2_Introduction_177-184.indd 177

Contemporary Research on Gender and Media: It’s All Political

“…Most research deals with feminism or post-feminism, the potential for social change or its incorporation and backlash. In comparison with previous special issues on gender and media over the years (Araüna, Dhaenens, & Van Bauwel, 2017;Krijnen, Van Bauwel, & Alvares, 2010;Tortajada & Van Bauwel, 2012), we can say that some concepts that have been introduced are here to stay. For example, the idea of post-feminist sensibilities (Gill, 2007;McRobbie, 2004) made room for post-feminism without the polarised debate on the existence of a new wave of feminism.…”

How Sexualised Images in Advertisements Influence the Attention and Preference of Consumers with a Modern View

“…Notably, social scientists have been interested in using detailed advertisements in their studies to analyse gender stereotypes (Milner & Collins, 2000). Some scholars argue that it is the outcome of the "feminist movement" that focuses on bringing equality between women and men in media or critical approaches towards traditional gender categories (male and female), where LGBTQ+ people are omitted (Araüna et al, 2017).…”

Gender, Voice and Online Space: Expressions of Feminism on Social Media in Spain

“…Some of the new representational strategies regarding gender and sexuality are in line with how the media have appropriated the very concept of 'empowerment' and connected it to women's sexual agency, a culture of confidence, or 'feminist' demands in the representation of women, without involving any kind of political or social criticism (Gill, 2016b). This postfeminist framework and its liberal optimism have thus contributed to rendering the structures of inequality invisible and holding individuals accountable for their own failures and successes while promoting mechanisms of self-surveillance and self-demand in performing standard and marketable identities in terms of 'appropriate femininity' (Araüna, Dhaenens, & Van Bauwel, 2017).…”