Gender in media 15-GWM-JIK-11

This seminar is devoted to the study of the relationship between gender as a social practice and language use in the context of traditional and new media, with a particular emphasis put on the verbal and visual representation and construction of gender in advertising. In the first part of the course, students will be introduced to the field of language and gender studies with a special focus on the social constructionist perspective as well as to various visual methodologies. In the second part of the course ‒ drawing on the methods of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis ‒ we will be looking at how various femininities and masculinities are constructed, performed and resisted in the media contexts. Some of the topics include: gender stereotypes; gender as performance; methods and methodology in analyzing gender in media texts; Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis; advertising and postfeminism; advertisement in late-modern consumer culture; gender in magazines; postfeminist media culture. All in all, the seminar will explore why and how gender constitutes a relevant social category in media communication.