Representation

Representation

Disability

Regionalism

Class

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Sexuality

Stereotype = Media uses stereotypes as visual shortcuts, it is easy for the audience to understand. They are repeated so often that people often believe they are normal and a true representation of that specific group of people.

Archetypes = The 'Ultimate' stereotype.

Counter-type = Goes against traditional stereotypes.

For example:

All women are airheads that think about artificial subjects like shopping, their hair and their body. Their only purpose is to fawn over the male species. There are many forms of media that represent women this way.

Another stereotype in media is that transgender woman is a deceitful character and changes genders to deceive the straight male. Like in Ace Ventura Pet Detective the antagonist is pretending to be a woman in order to commit criminal acts.

A counter-type of this is the new series Pose, in which we see the hardships of gay men and transgender women during the aids epidemic in New York.