Explain what a Stereotype is-
A fixed view or image of a person or thing. People are characterised due to certain looks e.g. race, gender, religion.

How and why do we stereotype?
People stereotype because of what they see or think they know through what is portrayed particularly through media and people around us. 

Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis

Although viewers are thoroughly entertained by music videos, they are not all good. Some music videos create and reflect typical stereotypes and representations. 

'Stupid Girls' is a song by the American Pop artist, Pink. The song and video clip is about the way media portrays women and how that portrayal influences the behaviour of teenage girls in society. In the video a small girl is being influenced by a demon and an angel as she watches women being represented on the TV. The images portrayed by the media on TV influences the small girls future.

The entire video clip represents the range of ways women are viewed in our society. Pink shows us how media can make teenage girls insecure about their appearance. The video demonstrates current trends that media and celebrities portray as right or 'beautiful'. 

The different representations of women that feature Pink are those of a girl attempting to attract the attention of a gym instructor and a girl who uses inflatable breasts to impress a boy at a bowling alley. There is also a girl in a tanning salon, a girl who vomits her food because calories are "so not sexy", a girl getting plastic surgery, a girl washing a car in sexy and minimal clothing and also a girl who buys a dog with an advertisement that says "stays younger longer". All these representations show that beauty and looks is very important to all these characters. These characters are only living for the image of being 'stereotypically beautiful'.

The video shows that these girls aren't obviously happy about their appearance so try to change by losing weight, getting a fake tan or going to the extent of buying a dog to 'stay younger looking'. This is a result from what media portrays. Women and teenage girls enhance the way they look because they believe that's all that is important. Pink is showing us that media portrays perfect beauty as skinny, tan, big boobed and young looking. 

Pink portrays these girls as "stupid girls". A "stupid girl" is represented as a girl who intentionally destroys her intelligence and morals for social recognition and beauty. "Stupid girls" have intelligence but prefer to make themselves noticed by changing their morals and appearance at any cost. This is influenced because of what media portrays as beauty and perfection.

Teenage girls are exposed to images and representations that are so unrealistic and unattainable that they become so caught up in trying to become those images portrayed by the media. This makes teenage girls self-conscious. 
Pink's video shows that media negatively influences teenage girls. Women celebrities tend to find fame or success through using their 'perfect' body shapes or features, this influences teenage girls to use their body's to become successful and not their minds. Therefore teenage girls work hard and go over the top to have a perfect body image.
Representations of perfect beauty in the media can lead teenage girls to being so obsessed with their body image that they become anorexic because they're "not as skinny as that famous girl" or depressed because they can't be happy with their appearance. Teenage girls don't realise that perfect beauty portrayed in the media is almost impossible to achieve.

Pink's music video shows how media portrays women in a negative way. The video shows how women are only good or known for their bodies, where as in reality there are women out there who will gain leadership roles and contribute to our society positively. It also negatively portrays women and teenage girls as we are simply giving into to what the media is portraying and we are going out of our way to become the stereotype of beautiful. 

Media encourages teenage girls to care hugely about their appearance and being what is considered in today's society as 'beautiful'.
Pink's message behind her lyrics and video is a positive representation of how teenage girls are influenced by media. She also shows us how media has a negative representation of teenage girls. Teenage girls can relate to Pink's video because more and more girls are suffering from being sucked in by the media to become the unrealistic image of beauty.

The impact media has on teenage girls is growing as the media is exposing more and teenage girls are becoming more vulnerable. Like shown in Pink's music video, media alters the normal and skews girls towards eating disorders and depression to achieve a perfect body image.

Another music video by Pink is called 'Perfect' where she reflects the consequences and impact media has on teenage girls. Pink is trying to show the amount of pressure there is on a teenage girl to be 'perfect' where in reality we aren't perfect.

The video is about a teenage girl growing up around media. The young girl is depressed because she is different from the typical stereotype of 'pretty'.
Throughout the music video we see the girl carve 'skinny bitches' into a bath room wall and then soon after watching two skinny, stereotypically pretty girls getting changed into 'pretty' dresses. In the next scene the young teenage girl is standing on scales with bones clearly showing indicating she had anorexia. Her anorexia tells us that she is trying to fit into the stereotype of being pretty, as stereotypical beautiful girls are always skinny. This shows how pressured she is to be 'pretty' and how trying to change herself to fit into that stereotype group is negatively affecting her.

"The only thing I should be drinking Is an ice cold beer" are lyrics in the song that indicate Pink trying to tell teenage girls to move away from stereotypes, as women stereotypically drink wine and not beer.

Just like Pink's other music video, she is sending a message to teenage girls of how negative the images are that the media portray. 

Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis 

Although we can gain information from media (e.g. magazines), it can also have a negative effect on society, especially on teenage girls, who struggle with body image issues, self esteem, and acceptance (fitting in). Their struggles with body image issues, self esteem, and acceptance is brought out the most when they look at how perfect and flawless women look in magazines and in the media.

On the cover of a New Idea magazine is the famous American Pop singer, Taylor Swift. Taylor is known for her flawless beauty. Taylor is a perfect 'cover girl' for teenager girls. Taylor sings pop songs that relate to teenage girls and every girl envy's her beauty and her sweet and innocent personality. 
On the cover of the magazine, Taylor's red lipstick goes with the red colour of the title. The red makes us think of love and relationships, it makes the magazine almost look dramatic and interesting. The colour red also relates to strength and power which emphasises the gossip in the magazine and catches the consumers attention.
The images used on the cover of the magazine are the famous people who star inside the magazine for different scandals. The celebrities starring on the front are Harry Styles, Luke Mitchell and Rebecca Breads, Prince Harry and Kelly Osborne, all stars who are well known or who are idolised by teenage girls.
In particular, Harry Styles being connected to Taylor Swift is relevant to the target audience of teenage girls because of Harry Styles being a teen-heart throb and Taylor Swift, a role model to teenage girls.                                                           

On the cover of the magazine the stories involving teenage girl role models are those scandals of "Harry's Heartbreak... Chelsy Moves On", "Luke and Rebecca's Dream Wedding", "Kelly Osbourne.. Back From the Brink with a New Body" and "Taylor's Love Curse... Why her romance with Harry Styles is really over who will she date next?". 

These story titles are dramatised and over exaggerated. All headlines on the magazine, expect for one are about relationships and love. This suggests to teenage girls that it's popular to be in a relationship and have a boyfriend, and it's so devastating and bad if you're single. The story line about Taylor Swift says "... who will she date next?" this suggests to teenage girls that they need to find someone to date immediately next. 

They story line "Harry's Heartbreak" suggests to teenage girls how bad break-ups are, it almost suggests that teenage girls shouldn't end relationships i.e. staying in relationships is more positive/popular.

The head line "Kelly Osbourne.. Back From the Brink with a New Body" suggest that it's something to celebrate when you're back with a new and better body. The article starts off with "Slimmed-down star Kelly Osbourne..." which influences teens who look up to Kelly Osbourne to also be 'slimmed down'.  

Teen girls want to be considered beautiful. When teenage girls look at photo-shopped women, they tend to feel ugly and bad about themselves. All of the perfection and beauty they see in celebrities in the media are photo-shopped, which gives teen girls a perception of what they have to look like to be categorized as being beautiful in today’s society.

The media's representation shown on the magazine is truly different than in real life. On the magazine it portrays that all teenage girls should be slim, flawless like Taylor Swift and be in relationships. This is the opposite in reality, as teenagers aren't all slim, flawless and in relationships. From the cover of New Idea, the magazines portrays teenage girls who are slim and in relationships as 'normal'. This is a huge representation on only the front cover of a magazine, which provides a negative message to teens after only reading one page. It provides the negative message of it being abnormal if you're single or not slim. This gives a negative look on what it's like to be a teenage girl today, as there is huge pressure to be perfect and you're almost an outcast if you're not like people on magazine covers.This negatively effects teenagers as they try so hard to fit in and be pretty and perfect, when there is more important things in life, like careers and education. This can lead to depression and teenage girls being totally self-conscious. Their main goal in life is to be the stereotype of beautiful. 

The images that magazines portray is typical for magazine media.

In the Australian 'madison' magazine, the exact same things are represented- beauty perfection and boys/relationships. With the title "Fake your way to great skin" implies that having perfect skin is almost a necessity so much so that you need to 'fake' it. The magazine also offers 50% of a facial for every consumer- this is sending a bad message to readers suggesting everyone needs facials, therefore buy the magazine. There is a title saying "How to escape a toxic man", like New Idea this magazine is saying you need a 'perfect' relationship and to get that you should read the article on 'how to escape the toxic man'. 



Both magazines are representing teenage girls and how they should be. This affects teenage girls negatively as they are learning from the media that women are only good and used for their looks, this makes them form their goals around looking pretty and being skinny, things that become important to teenage girls where in reality they're not very important morals or values. 
I personally think if media represented strong women on magazine covers who weren't beautiful and perfect, but were doing something that contributes to our society, teenage girls would want to be something more than just 'pretty'. 

Magazines also influence teenage boys. By seeing perfect beauty in the media, boys expect girls to look the way that media portray adding extra pressure on teenage girls to look stereotypically pretty.

Movie Analysis

Movie Analysis

'Pitch Perfect' is a movie where an a cappella female singing group called the Barden Bellas thrive while singing typical pop music with their perfect looks. Although after failing the previous year they are desperate for new members but struggle to find a stereotypical perfect member who has the 'perfect' look and the 'perfect' voice.

Beca Mitchell is a character in the movie Pitch Perfect who attends college and wants to pursue a music career. Beca's personality would be described as reserved, reclusive and different. Beca's visual appearance can be related to her personality, as she wears simple and dark clothes. Beca is stereotyped as alternative and a girl who is 'emo'. Beca's character has a negative representation as she's being portrayed as a socially awkward person who is almost a freak and a loner with no friends. The movie makes us think that Beca will have no friends and be weird because of the way she looks and acts. A typical "popular" girl that most movies portray are the girls who will fit in and get the "cute" boy, although Beca is not popular, blonde and "perfect" visually, she still makes friends, joins accapella group and forms a relationship with a boy.


Fat Amy is also a character in the movie Pitch Perfect.

"Fat Amy" "You call yourself Fat Amy?" another character asks, and she replies "yeah, so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." This dialogue shows Amy is described by not only movie viewers but other characters in the play as "fat". Stereotypical "fat" people would be described as lazy, insecure, ugly and almost stupid. Pitch Perfect has given us a positive representation of Fat Amy, as Amy is a bold, funny and confident character. In movies the typical "fat" college student, has no friends and is often bullied by the "popular girl" but in this case Fat Amy is represented as the opposite with a bright personality who shuts down the "popular girl" and has many friends and is well liked. Viewers are mostly likely to straight away assume that Fat Amy will be insecure about her body because she's not the stereotype of pretty, but this is not the case as Fat Amy embraces her body, which is something that is not portrayed in the media today. Teenage girls believe that if you're fat it's wrong and you can't be happy because you won't be well liked and you're not 'stereotypically pretty.' 

These two representations of two completely different characters are positive as they are not predictable. The media portrays alternative or fat girls as being 'out casts' or 'losers'. In this movie we are shown something similar to reality rather than the typical stereotype. Because of the huge amount of pressure in today's society, being well-liked is a huge goal for many teenage girls. Teen girls believe they can 'achieve their goal' by being stereotypically pretty, like the characters from the Barden Bellas. 

Beca, Fat Amy and Aubrey (leader of the Bellas) are all white females. Although they experience the same race and gender, they do not experience the same stereotype or entitlements in Pitch Perfect. This is because of the way they look and therefore the way they are stereotyped. Because Amy is fat and Beca is alternative we are automatically lead to believe that they are outcasts. Aubrey is a skinny, flawless, popular university student who is the leader of the Bellas singing group, which automatically influences teenage girls to want to be skinny and popular like Aubrey who is of a high status. Due to Beca and Amy's stereotypes, the Bellas are unsure whether to let them join the a capella group. Because of their looks, the Bellas think they have no singing or performing talent, this is relevant and similar to the way the audience stereotypes the two 'out cast' girls.



At the start of the movie the Barden Bellas are costumed to give off a certain look. The girls in the a capella group are dressed in a costume that is tight fitting to show off their slim bodies, every girl has perfect skin, perfect hair and perfect teeth. This gives teenage girls the message that to be popular or pretty you must look like this 'perfect' image that is portrayed by the Bellas. 
The image that is portrayed by the Bellas is completely unattainable and unrealistic. We are exposed to the image that being 'pretty' and 'perfect' like the Bellas is the normal where in reality it's unrealistic and unattainable by teenage girls, so much so that teenage girls become vulnerable and naive. 

In the middle of the movie the Bellas start to make changes. Their major turning point is when Fat Amy and Beca are welcomed in the Bellas a capella group. By the end of the movie the Bellas have made significant changes. Their costumes have changed to more suit the individual, their dance moves aren't as 'perfect', in time and choreographed. This shows more individuality. 

Fat Amy is typically stereotyped as the 'fat, funny girl'. The viewers tend to find humour in the things Fat Amy says. The sad thing is, is that if Amy wasn't fat she wouldn't be 'funny'.
Although stereotypes in movies are usually used for comedy, in real life judging people by their stereotypes can be detrimental to society and offensive.

Just like Pitch Perfect, the movie Mean Girls also effects teenage girls. The clique in the movie called the 'Plastics', sends a harsh message to teenage girls. Just like Bellas in Pitch Perfect, the Plastics portray their beauty and popularity as being the only things that should matter when you're a teenage girl. This can result in teenage girls going to some outrageous extent to become something that is 'stereotypically' beautiful. In short term, teenage girls become anorexic or depressed because the pressure on them to full the 'perfect' shoes of people like the Plastics is too overwhelming. And in the long term, teenage girls are so caught up in becoming pretty, that they forget about what really matters, like careers and changing the world and society around their lives.

The Plastics only portray one message of what teenage girls should be and act like. Therefore this representation of teenage girls cannot truly reflect reality because it has little differentiation, where as in reality teenage girls are all different. Because media portrays images like the Plastics other aspects and talents teenage girls have, aren't acknowledged. 

Near the end of the movie, the Plastics are dispersed and become more individual, they are no longer a 'clique'. This is similar to the Bellas as they changed their a capella group to become more individual. This is portraying a message to teenage girls that actually clique's will not end up being the popular group and often people will push their boundaries and make changes. This can positively effect teenage girls as it makes them realise in the end, that being 'pretty' and 'popular' is not the most important thing in life, and teenage girls can learn from the mistakes and attitudes from the Plastics and the Bellas.