Project 2

The hegemony that is portrayed in this picture can be easily misinterpreted by the viewer and can dictate that white women may receive more privileged opportunities and be seen as more desirable because of their “naturally lighter skin” which is the text that is first seen that captures the audience's attention and encompasses the advertisements unique selling point.

The naturalisation that is displayed shows how a woman of black descent can be taken out of context, it paints an ugly image of how lopsided society can be towards cultural in-differences which include skin colour and race related issues or hardships that specific cultures might endure.. The idea that having a specific skin care could better their opportunities is hard to fathom.

Although this company might not be suggesting any of these connotations, it’s hard to not relate this advert back to hegemony or naturalisation to race related issues as the woman on the front is quite clearly of a darker skin descent and the message suggests the lighter skin the better.

The myth that the media denotes in this poster comes from the ideology that in order to receive better quality of life you must have whiter skin, which may actually be the case in some parts of the world but it's not the message I think they were hoping to convey or at least we hope not.

Fair Skin = good:

• Darker skin is undesirable and this product allows for the user to gain a more “appropriate” skin tone and shows basic hegemony towards the white race.

• Strengthens the stereotype and myth that happiness, fulfilment, career advancement and other positives are directly linked to a lighter skin tone.

Hegemony - Corporate media hegemony’ refers to the global dominance and influence of powerful commercial mass media organizations and a transnational elite. ‘Western media hegemony’ refers to a perception that global news media are dominated by Eurocentric values and perspectives (media hegemony, 2021)

Naturalization - Codes which have been naturalized are those which are so widely distributed in a culture and which are learned at such an early age that they appear not to be constructed but to be 'naturally' given. Myths serve the ideological function of naturalization - making the cultural seem 'natural', 'normal', 'self-evident' 'common-sense', and thus 'taken-for-granted'. Denotation can be seen as no more of a 'natural' meaning than connotation but rather as a part of a process of naturalization (Chandler and Munday, 2011)

Myth - Myth in media analysis refers to how words and images are systematically used to communicate cultural and political meanings, in texts such as advertisements, magazines, films, or TV programs. Studying myth uses the methodology of semiotics (Bignell 2002), which proposes that our perception and understanding of reality is constructed by words and other signs. (Gray and Ouellette, 2017)

Bibliography

Hegemony - Oxford Reference. 2021. media hegemony. [online] Available at: <https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100146560> [Accessed 26 October 2021].

Semiotics - Bignall, J., 2002. Media Semiotics: An introduction. 2nd ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Naturalization - Chandler, D. and Munday, R., 2011. Media and Communication. 1st ed. United States: Oxford University Press Inc.

Myth - Gray, J. and Ouellette, L., 2017. Keywords for media studies. 5th ed. New York University Press.

Media Activism - Hartley, J. (2019). Communication, cultural, and media studies (5th ed.) [E-book]. Taylor & Francis.

Representation - Weiss, G. and Wodak, R., 2021. Critical Discourse Analysis. [ebook] Pelgrave Macmillan, p.272. Available at: <http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/18225/1/94pdf.pdf#page=285> [Accessed 31 October 2021].

This group project was well produced. I enjoyed how well myself and my teammates collaborated on ideas and information. We had several different methods of communication (Discord group chat, shared Google document, in-person zoom meetings) which greatly helped with creating a cohesive project. I believe I used our time well and reached the deliverables at an appropriate rate. There was a class I failed to join due to technical issues. But I still managed to contact my group and ask what I missed and I let them know what I would like to work on for the project. Overall this project showed me how content creators can subvert the representations that are presented in dominant ideology. It might not have to be true media activism but an effort towards alternative media is a step towards true expressionism.