Identity and the wider media

We've focused on how film can influence our sense of identity and who we are - but how does the wider media influence this?

Our work on Feminism concluded with how Jean Killbourne documented the influence advertising can have on women's self-esteem and as part of our identities and the media unit we need to consider media effects and the impact on audiences. This will also allow us to bring in some of our work from Year 12 that may be useful in the MEST3 exam.

Complete the following tasks using Media Factsheet 121: Identities and the Media. You'll find it in our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

Read the Factsheet in full and then complete the following tasks:

1) The Factsheet discusses how identity is a complex subject. What does it suggest defines our identity?

Our identities are constructed and influenced by mainstream media. We are an active audience an and have an increasing range of gratifications. We define ourselves based on a set of relationships and our 'self' being:

O Who we think we are

O Who we want to be 

O Who we think others thing we are

We define ourselves differently based on our individual experiences.
2) Complete the task on page 2: suggest media texts that could reinforce that someone is non-mainstream; edgy; a pleasure seeker; fashionable; witty and fun; cutting-edge.

You are..... … media use to reinforce these ideas? ....



non-mainstream-  I enjoy consuming media that isn't the typical content that is tending/being consumed. My music choices especially are not mainstream and the only time i listen to trending music is when I am in a car.

edgy- My music taste would defining be considered 'edgy' considering rock and similar genres aren't the mainstream norm. I am incredibly interested in tattoos and piercing especially when they are visible.

a pleasure seeker- I watch a small amount of TV shows. Most are for the escapism and entertainment gratification. I also use youtube a lot, particularly with travel blogs again as a form of escapism to view the world around me.

fashionable- I use media such as Instagram to view fashion trends and my own fashion likes. I also subscribe to the newsletters associated with the online shops that I like.

witty and fun- I use social media to access comedic entertainment. whether they are in the form of memes/skits e.t.c.

cutting-edge- I use the most new technology/media where applicable to access my media.

3) What examples are suggested for a case study on urban youth?

Often stereotyped as being wild, violent and unruly. Urban youth culture is stereotyped as being uneducated, unsophisticated and the clothing choices of hoodies and baseball caps have become symbolic of the whole group. 

The Jeremy Kyle Show on ITV. In 2008/9 when ‘chavs’ and ‘hoodies’ became a common moral panic (Cohen) in the media 

Youth culture was a threat to urban life and the older generation in Harry Brown and to rural peace and the middle classes in Eden Lake. 

News media’s response to the civil unrest in August 2011. Urban youths were blamed for the violence and looting 

4) What does Hebdige argue with regards to youth culture? 

Youth cultures show they resistance to the dominant culture throughout their outfit choices. The are showing themselves trough their style and adopting things that are feared an outside mainstream media.

5) What other theorists are referenced alongside Hebdige? How do they link to the issue of youth identity?

O The media continues to represent these youths as deviant in an attempt to reinforce mainstream values (Acland) 

O representations are constructed by people outside this group (Perkins) 
O Reflection of adult culture’s fear of urban youth (Giroux)

6) How can we link our Year 12 case study on Ill Manors to youth and identity? What specific examples from the case study could be used to discuss Hebdige’s theory that youth culture challenges mainstream culture and dominant ideologies?

Rap/R&B/Grime e.t.c. genres tend to use iconography that is typically used by the media to make the audience fear youth. The cast of Ill Manors define theirselves using the negative dominant/urban ideologies.


7) What does theorist David Gauntlett suggest regarding the media’s influence over the construction of identities?

He claims that the media influences identity construction. They group us into stereotypes which is how individuals see their selves and allows institutions to sell their products to an audience.


8) Do you agree that Hebdige’s view that youth culture will always seek to resist mainstream culture and challenge dominant ideologies?

I don't completely think that youth culture actively seeks to resist mainstream. I think that each age group have different ideas of mainstream culture. The youth may seem to be challenging some people's dominant ideologies however they are conforming to mainstream expectations of their own age bracket/group.