Identities and the media

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

More and more, modern media is thought to be part of the way modern audiences construct and communicate their identity. The identities we construct for ourselves are not always about ourselves as individuals but can also link into the way we see ourselves as part of a group. Our identification with a group can help us feel part of a collective identity. 

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.

A pleasure seeker would probably go to a magazine like NatGeo
A fashionable person would use a media text like Vogue
A person on the cutting edge would read things like Wired. 

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

The Jeremy Kyle Show is suggested as a case study. "Chavs" and "hoodies" have been portrayed as something negative and have became a common moral panic (Cohen) in the media and films such as Harry brown and Eden Lake put working class urban youth into the role of villain in their narratives. 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. The threatening youths are (eventually) punished and so the films are part of the consensus that urban youth are outsides and they reinforce mainstream values. 

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

Hebdige says that youth cultures show their resistance to the dominant culture through their style choices. Urban youth can show itself to be outside the mainstream by adopting the uniform that is feared by mainstream culture and they learn about this fear in the media representations. 

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

The media theorists referenced continues to represent these youths as deviant in an attempt to reinforce mainstream values (Acland) but of course these representations are constructed by people outside this group (Perkins) and in this case can be seen to be a reflection of adult culture’s fear of urban youth (Giroux). Those within the group though have their status as outsiders reinforced. They talk about how youths are often ostracised and unfairly given stereotypes that don't apply to them.

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?

We can link Ill Manors to youth and identity as within the film, the locations are urban and it focuses on the corrupted youths that wear "hoodies" and clothings that is deemed to be moral panic in the media.

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

David Gauntlett claims that the media have influence on identity construction and so the way the media stereotypes groups may become part of how individuals see themselves and media institutions are able to use this to sell their products. Where the idea of identity has previously been seen as something personal, the audience’s relationship with the media today in the construction of various identities is bringing the personal into the public space.

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

Personally, I disagree as we see that the current youth are conforming with mainstream ideals rather than subverting it. We've had movements such as the hippie and punk and we see that these older generations put a lot of effort into bifurcating themselves from the adult generation. However, in recent years, we haven't seen a similar movement from the millennial generation, possibly due to social media and new/digital media.