Formal Essay

ESSAY FORMAT

MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE OF THESE GROUP (ESSAY FORMAT): THE ROLE MEDIA PLAYS IN OUR PERCEPTIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY. (SEXUAL INEQUALITY/MALE DOMINANCE)

Deviance Theory Video #1 Massey by Taylor Massey

Critically thinking about how the media informs and shapes our views about deviance, to help you develop your analytical skills, and to provide practice in formulating and conveying your ideas effectively through writing. For this activity, you are asked to select an online video-based), that describes a situation/problem/dilemma involving a member or members of a group/collectivity that is frequently subject to deviantization. You are being asked (1) to analyze how the media coverage frames the situation, the people involved, and the response(s) to it by those within and outside of the group in question, as well as (2) to apply sociological concepts and theories of deviance to understand the perspective being presented to the audience. We are interested here in the media's representation of these issues – i.e., the choices that the journalist/media outlet have made about how the issue and responses are presented to a public audience. Please incorporate both of the following parts into your analysis:

1. In considering how the media coverage frames the situation, here are some 'thinking points' you may wish to draw upon: - Does the coverage represent the person(s) or group in a stereotypical way, or in a way that challenges stereotypes? - Does the report question why and how the situation they are facing came about in the first place? To whom does it attribute blame or responsibility? Is this stated directly or implied indirectly?  - Is there any implied or explicit judgment of the person(s) concerned, in relation to the situation or their response, either positively or negatively? - When describing or representing the situation and response, are deviantized persons (individuals or members of the same group/community) themselves presenting this information to us as readers/viewers, or is a journalist or ‘expert’ speaking for them? How might this impact the way the issue is perceived by the audience? - Who is interviewed, pictured, or otherwise represented? Are certain people represented as 'experts', as 'victims', as ‘perpetrators’, as ‘problems’? Take into account factors like gender, race, class, age, disability, and so on. What is the effect of the inclusion or exclusion of particular groups from the coverage, in how the audience might perceive the situation? - How do you think the deviantized persons/group might respond to this media coverage? What might they want to be done differently, in order to “tell their story” in a way that is faithful to their own understanding of themselves and their circumstances? 

2. What sociological concepts and perspective(s) can you use to help “make sense” of the way the person(s) involved and the situation are represented? What theoretical traditions and/or historical perspectives on deviance “speak to” the representations of deviance we witness in this media piece? What concepts have we studied in the course that resonate with this portrayal, and why/how? (Again, we are interested here in the representations being put forth – in how deviance is being socially constructed.)

NOTE : Add at least one academic source beyond the video.