Media Representation GapFill

Watch the following YouTube video before you attempt this exercise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EomMR-MuBgo

The following analysis of the YouTube video (linked above) is designed to demonstrate how theoretical approaches to representation can be used to inform your discussion of set products. The video has been posted by Stef Sanjati, a transgender woman who creates vlogs aimed at people in the trans community and people who wish to be educated about the trans community.

Sanjati begins her video with the regular catchphrase: 'Hello little buns! Welcome back to my home!' The use of  imperative languageexpositiondirect audience addresshyperreality is effective in establishing a sense of personal connection between Sanjati and her audience. Furthermore, it establishes a sense of  naturalismpastichefamiliarityintertextuality that her subscribers might appreciate. Sanjati establishes immediately that this is an educational video about the pressures men and women (particularly trans women) often feel to behave and present themselves in a way that society expects them to based on their gender. Sanjati talks about the  hegemonichomogeneousprogressiveliberal attitudes which exclude trans and non-binary people from these conversations. She also speaks about the way in which masculinity and femininity are often equated with  pluralismqueer heterosexualityIslamophobiaheterosexuality. Throughout the video, Sanjati describes her experiences of feeling pressured to wear dresses and jewellery and make-up in order to prove her ‘femininity’ as a Trans women. This discussion directly relates to Judith Butler’s theory of gender  expressionismperformativityfeminismidentity. Butler analysed the ways in which men and women are prescribed to behave in a certain way that fits into society’s expectations of them, e.g. 'men should be strong, athletic and aggressive'. Similarly to Sanjati, she suggested that no one has a gender identity beyond a series of gendered expressions which are manufactured and performed.

It is always important to have an understanding of sociocultural contexts when analysing representation in online media. Certain audiences will be entirely familiar with the topics Sanjati is discussing. On the other hand, it is important to remember that homosexuality is still illegal in certain parts of the world. It was not until  1974200420141964 that the Gender Recognition Act was passed in the UK, legalising transgender persons to change their sex under the law. It was not until 2015, when Caitlyn Jenner publicly came out as transgender, that positive representations of trans people began to emerge in mainstream media – this delay could be seen as an example of  implosionmediationculture jamculture lag. It is relevant to consider  Paul Gilroy’sDavid Gauntlett’sHesmondhalgh’sStuart Hall’s theory that media now offers a more diverse range of representations. The element of  mass amateurisationsurface realismverisimilitudeflexibility with online media arguably enables this. Think of an industry such as film or advertising where power is concentrated within a small number of giant  actorsconglomeratespressure groupsindividuals. Think about how rare it is to see representations of transgender people, let alone positive ones.

Sanjati’s video demonstrates the extent to which contemporary vloggers have a platform to promote nuanced discussions of the LGBTQ+ experience. She talks about the need to combat  structuralismcountertypesstereotypesfascists when she challenges people, specifically online  reformersaspirersstrugglersinfluencers, to question traditional notions of masculinity and femininity and to critique these representations through their content. Theorist George Gerbner coined the phrase  colonial exclusionsymbolic annihilationstereotypical subjugationhegemonic removal, which was later used by Larry Gross to describe the  signallingdestructionunder-representationdesaturation or undermining of gay people in media narratives. Transgender people have experienced the same kind of treatment and it is now up to media producers such as Sanjati to educate audiences and positively influence the representation of transgender people in popular culture.