Learner response blog tasks

 1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential)

10/19 -E below atp(C)

www; some good textual analysis the first two questions about gender

ebi; less prepared/continuing on post colonialism for q3 .

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed o• ‘Othering’ or racial otherness: Paul Gilroy suggests non-white representations are constructed as a ‘racial other’ in contrast to white Western ideals it on for each question in the assessment.

q1- 4/8 

• Monochrome (black and white) – stylish, sophisticated, reinforces traditional heterosexual

meanings; consistent with aspirational branding. Low-key lighting, ‘chiaroscuro’, backlighting

visible in shot – suggests stage lights/spotlights, fashion show?

q2-5/12

• Advert does not support Gauntlett’s suggestion there has been a “decline of tradition” – this

is a very traditional representation of masculinity.

q3-1/9 

• ‘Othering’ or racial otherness: Paul Gilroy suggests non-white representations are

constructed as a ‘racial other’ in contrast to white Western ideals. 

• The advert very deliberately looks to construct an authentic representation of the black

experience. This therefore challenges Gilroy’s ideas of othering and double consciousness.

3) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 1 (Diamonds advert unseen text). List three examples of media terminology or theory that you could have included in your answer. 

• Armani ‘Diamonds’ advert constructs a traditional, hypermasculine message – fiercely

heterosexual. Suit, white shirt, tie – classic masculine mise-en-scene.

• Monochrome (black and white) – stylish, sophisticated, reinforces traditional heterosexual

meanings; consistent with aspirational branding. Low-key lighting, ‘chiaroscuro’, backlighting

visible in shot – suggests stage lights/spotlights, fashion show?

• Costume barely visible for female models – flesh on display. Heavily made-up faces –

constructed/Photoshopped image. Links to Kilbourne’s analysis of women in advertising.

4) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 2. What aspects of the cultural and historical context for the Score hair cream advert do you need to revise or develop in future?

• Hypermasculine, heterosexual image does not seem to reflect the significant social and

cultural changes of last 50 years in terms of gender roles. Reinforces hegemonic masculinity.

• Armani advert arguably reflects the ‘crisis of masculinity’ some refer to – assertively

heterosexual, perhaps reflecting the struggle men face to find their place/role in the 21st

century. Armani captures the way men wish to see the world.

• Representation of women in the Score advert reflects the changing role of women in the

1960s to some extent. This is no longer the stereotypical 1950s housewife but still a

reductive, exploitative, objectified representation of women.

5) Now look over your mark, comments and the mark scheme for Question 3 - the 9-mark question on Sephora Black Beauty Is Beauty. List any postcolonial terminology you could have added to your answer here.  

1/9

• ‘Othering’ or racial otherness: Paul Gilroy suggests non-white representations are

constructed as a ‘racial other’ in contrast to white Western ideals.

• Racial essentialism: This refers to the linking of a person’s cultural and racial heritage to a

place of national origin. It is also used to suggest that people from a certain heritage are ‘all

the same’ and therefore to make value judgements about people from certain backgrounds.

• Social and ethnic hierarchies: the belief that certain groups or races are superior to others.

• Double consciousness: Paul Gilroy used the term double consciousness to reflect the Black

experience in the UK and USA. One aspect is living in a predominantly white culture and

having an aspect of identity rooted somewhere else. He describes this as a “liquidity of

culture”. He also uses it to highlight the disconnect between black representations in the

media and actual lived experience. Often, these representations are created by white

producers.

• Cultural conviviality: This refers to the real-world multiculturalism and racial harmony that

most people experience on a day-to-day basis. It is in stark contrast to the racial disharmony

and binary view often presented by the media.