Exam 4: Shaping the Socio-Cultural Landscape: Language and Media

What does empirical research suggest about cultivation theory?

Serious effort has been made in the last _________ to challenge the pervasive use of gender exclusive language in everyday, scholarly and legal usage.

The theory which focuses upon the relationship between our exposure to media and its influence upon us is known as _________________.

The method by which media messages are evaluated through analysis of encoded symbols is known as __________ analysis.

The historical use of the term "man" or "he" to refer to all people, regardless of sex, an example of this.

Conduct some research into a debate that has taken place over the past 5 years over sexism in mass media (for example, in relation to music lyrics, video games, popular films, etc.). Analysis the different sides of the debate and consider the extent to which they draw upon some of the key assumptions from the different theories of mass media influence that are presented and discussed in chapter four. What do you think and what is the basis for this?

Conduct a content analysis in which you compare the representation of male and female athletes in mainstream media, focusing upon a particular sport Based upon chapter four, what are some of the major similarities and differences that you found? What conclusions would you draw from this research?

Over time, some words come to have negative connotations that may be very sexist, as in the examples of mistress vs. master, spinster vs. bachelor and witch vs. wizard. These differences in connotation illustrate the element of sexist language known as _____________.