WGST 210: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Media introduces students to the important field of critical media studies with a focus on how gendered and sexual identities are represented in advertising, comics, popular film and television, social media, and transmedia franchises. It also considers engagement with media by viewers and fans.
Unit 1 starts by challenging the dominant paradigm of mass communication that is founded on a model of transmission of messages by the media, which in turn are understood to have direct effects on consumers. We then shift to focus on the critical paradigm, which takes account of how readers make meaning out of media texts (reception).
Units 2, 3, and 4 use a critical/cultural approach to the study of media, which understands identity as socially constructed. We will critically examine how female, male, and queer bodies are represented in popular media texts and also pay attention to how those representations are taken up by viewers and fans.
The second half of the course is organized around four contemporary digital media cultures: consumer, celebrity, participatory, and “selfie” (social media). Each unit discusses representations of gender and sexuality as well as audience engagement and forms of fan participation and activism.
Outline
PART I: GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE MEDIA
Unit 1: Media Representation, Identity, and Reception
1.1 Shifting Paradigms in Media Studies
1.2 Studying Gender and Sexuality in the Media: An Overview
1.3 Media and Its Affects
Unit 2: Miss Representation—Women in the Media
2.1 Dramatic Women
2.2 Real Women
2.3 Transmedia Women
Unit 3: Eye on the Guy—Masculinity in the Media
3.1 Hard Bodies
3.2 Soft Bodies, Failed Masculinities?
3.3 Stories for Girls?
Unit 4: Queering the Media
4.1 Here but How Queer?
4.2 Queer Resistances
PART II: DIGITAL MEDIA CULTURES
Unit 5: Consumer Cultures
5.1 Gender and Advertising
5.2 Sexuality and Consumption
Unit 6: Celebrity Cultures
6.1 From Star to Celebrity
6.2 Celebrity Engagement
Unit 7: Participatory Cultures
7.1 Bad Fans
7.2 Resistance and Community
Unit 8: Social Media and Selfie Culture
8.1 Resistance and the Selfie
8.2 Intimate and Pornographic Self-Representation
Learning outcomes
When you have completed WGST 210, you should be able to
distinguish between the dominant and critical paradigms that inform the study of media;
demonstrate an understanding of and explain central concepts from gender and sexuality studies in relation to media studies;
recognize that gender and sexuality are not stand-alone identities and intersect with race, ethnicity, ability, and other social identities;
provide and explain examples of findings from research studies that critically analyze representations of gender and sexuality in a variety of popular media genres;
provide and explain examples of engagement by audiences and fans with popular media texts; and
apply the critical/cultural approach to conduct a discourse analysis of media representation of gender and sexuality.
Evaluation
To receive credit for WGST 210, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1: Unit 1 Review
10%
Assignment 2: Midterm Review
25%
Assignment 3: Case Study Proposal
15%
Assignment 4: Reflections on Digital Media Culture
10%
Assignment 5: Case Study Paper
40%
Total
100%
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Hilton-Morrow, W., & Battles, K. (2015). Sexual identities and the media: An introduction. Routledge. (Print)
Richardson, N., & Wearing, S. (2014). Gender in the media. Palgrave Macmillan. (Print)
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.