Attitude Online - Theories (Hall & Gilroy)

Misogyny - The hatred of women.

Stereotypes and Inequality in Attitude - Stuart Hall

• Stuart Hall suggests that the media and the power of media representations play an important role in defining the ideological thinking of audiences regarding specific groups.

• Hall's argument that stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits Hall's argument that stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or 'other'.

• Hall's work focuses on the use of stereotypes by the media - arguing that stereotypes work by reducing characters to simplistic physical characteristics and behaviour traits. Hall argues that stereotypes reflect the amount of power that social groups have within society, and that negative stereotypes reflect, in Hall's view, social inequalities or the wider views of society. In other words, the construction of specific groups as 'outsiders' or 'others' by media products mirror their social exclusion from wider society.

Theories around ethnicity and post-colonial theory - Paul Gilroy

• Post-colonialism is the study of the impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies. For example, despite being a tiny island, Britain colonised and declared ownership of many countries, including India and Australia.

• These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era.

• These postcolonial attitudes have constructed racial hierarchies in our society, where, for example, white people are by and large given more positive and important roles than BME people.

• Media producers are also guilty of using binary oppositions to reinforce BME people and characters as 'others'.

Attitude provides a very stereotypical representation of gay men - six packs, stereotypically attractive males.

There are different gay communities other than attitude - the other stereotype of gay guys are referred to as looking young and being 'twigs'. Also another representation of gay males is 'bears' where they are fat hairy men etc.