MEDIA STUDIES Theoretical Concepts IDENTITY DAVID GAUNTLETT IDENTITY

MEDIA STUDIES Theoretical Concepts IDENTITY DAVID GAUNTLETT

IDENTITY WJEC: SPEC §the idea that the media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities. §the idea that whilst in the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we THEORIST David Gauntlett is a British sociolo gist and media theorist. He focuses on audiences, making and

IDENTITY Gauntlett’s theory seeks to highlight that “Identities are not ‘given’ but constructed and negotiated. He believes that the media presents us with tools or resources (representations) that we use to construct our own personal identities. 1. Past (Negative): In the past, the media offered singular stereotypical representations of identity. Now there is a vast diverse range of representations from which we can pick and choose our identities. 2. Present (Positive): Gauntlett believes we can now navigate the diverse, compromised and contradictory representations the media depicts and use them to construct a ‘sense of self’ to represent. 3. Identity (Defined): ‘Identity’ can be a vague term; it encapsulates everything