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University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol
Thursday 12th and Friday 13th July 2007
> Click here to view the detailed programme overview (online)
> Click here to download the detailed programme overview (pdf)
Conference Programme - Abstracts
Panel 13: Feminism, Gender and Identity
Chair: Dr Josie Dolan
Gender differences in supportive interaction behaviour: skill deficit or result of cultural norms?
Ira Virtanen, University of Tampere (Finland)
interpersonal communication, supportive communication behaviour, close relationships, cultural norms, gender differences
Interpersonal communication is the base form of all communication such as group, organizational, and technology-mediated communication. Human relationships are formed by interpersonal interaction, and those relationships are essential to the emotional, physical, and social well-being of individuals.
One of the key elements of every-day interaction in close relationships is social support. Lack of support affects the creation and maintenance of those relationships. Both men and women view the managing of emotions and distresses in interaction as gendered behavior, and typically, feminine activity. However, there are strong similarities between sexes and different cultures in the evaluation of most effective and desirable support. Yet, supportive interpersonal communication behavior varies across them.
Building upon existing research on supportive interpersonal communication, this theoretical paper aims to respond to the following question:
Do men and women obtain different supportive communication skills or does the answer lie in gendered behavior determined by cultural norms?
Normative motivation account of social roles, cultural norms, face threats, and the example of kin may impact the meanings given to supportive interaction behavior, and thus, affect the motivation of communicating emotional support. This paper will look into and discuss the meanings given to supportive communication and gendered support behavior. The discussion will also shed light on the benefits of qualitative research methods in scrutinizing supportive communication across national cultures. The development of supportive communication research and education can make a profound difference in enhancing the life quality of individuals.
Representation of equal rights legislation in British and American press, 1968-1982: a cross-cultural comparison of key issues during second wave feminism
Kaitlynn Mendes, Cardiff University
representation, british and american print media, women's liberation movement, 1960-1980, gender roles
This project aims to examine and compare how British and American press represented participants and key issues during the second wave feminist movement (1968-1982), using mass circulation newspapers of differing political leanings and target audiences (high, middle and low-brow).
Despite the fact that both media and women’s studies have become increasingly popular subjects for academics in past years, there has been relatively little work that examines representation of the women’s liberation movement or their aims in the news media, particularly in historical or nationally comparative research.
With methodologically employing a feminist framework, my methods will include using both qualitative (interviews and textual analysis) and quantitative analysis (content analysis).
I argue that newspaper coverage was contradictory. At times, newspapers were supportive of the women, the movement, and their aims, while at others, they were framed in a negative light, labelled deviant, and their aims ridiculed. At the same time however, regardless of whether coverage was positive or negative, the media continued to represent women in traditional female roles, and judged them against traditional standards of femininity.
I was a teenage multicultural man: language and identity in Head On
Lisa Richards, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
language, film, teenagers, textual analysis, identity
Ana Kokkinos’ 1998 film Head On (an adaptation from the novel Loaded (1995) by Christos
Tsiolkas) depicts a day in the life of a young man from a Greek family living in Melbourne, Australia. His identity is divided between his family and his own world, especially in the contrast between his role as a dutiful son and his extreme sexual desires, and also between his Greek heritage and his position as a first-generation Australian.
Throughout my study I have looked at issues on bilingualism, genre, and the conventional views of teenagers, and applied the works of Mikhail Bakhtin, Thomas Doherty, and Zygmunt Bauman amongst others. As an unconventional Teen film, Head On raises issues of multiculturalism, sexuality, and the confusion in contemporary masculinity, and does not comply with many of the conventions of the Teen genre. However, its issues of identity, as well as its use of language to either unite or divide characters are very much in keeping with themes present throughout the genre.
My overall thesis centres on the issue of language as a representation of teenage identity. In this case-study I am analysing the combined issue of contrasting languages and also contrasting cultures; with the protagonist battling the various preconceptions of who he should be, and resisting the various cultural claims on him.
Reporting gendered violence: women's criminality and the British press
Mercy Nyawanza, Coventry University
Aim
To explore the ways in which the British press reports on violent offences committed by women.
Objectives
- To identify the extent to which popular criminological theory is used in journalistic writing.
- To explore the use of labels, myths and metaphors by journalists in their reporting of violent crime perpetrated by women and men in order to identify gender-based differences.
- To investigate whether tabloid and broadsheet appears differ qualitatively in the style and content of their coverage of violent female crime.
This study intends to explore the extent to which theory and traditional beliefs about women’s criminal behaviour have leaked into journalistic imagination and hence into the way they cover acts of violence by women. It will explore how the press gives or denies criminal women agency in its coverage of crime news.
Methodology
The primary data for this project will comprise newspaper items drawn from national British newspapers which cover reports of violent crimes perpetrated by both women and men. The method of data analysis will include both semiotic and textual/discourse analysis: the semiotic analysis will be carried out on the photographs and other visual items which are included in such reports; the textual and discourse analysis will look at both the headlines and the text
Panel 1: Imperialism and Globalisation
Panel 2: Online Citizens and Democracy
Panel 3: Television Audiences
Panel 4: Mediating Identity 1
Panel 5: Reporting the Conflict
Panel 6: Journalism and Social Responsibility
Panel 7: Sexual Representations in Cinema
Panel 8: Popular Culture
Panel 9: Still Image
Panel 10: Branding, Advertising and Corporate Cultures
Panel 11: Film and Theatre
Panel 12: Alternative Film
Panel 13: Feminism, Gender and Identity
Panel 14: Fan Culture and Online Audiences
Panel 15: Public Service Broadcasting and Radio
Panel 16: Design for Screen
Panel 17: Uses of Music and Sound in Film
Panel 18: Mediating Identity 2
Panel 19: Citizens, Interaction and the Public Interest
Note: Please be aware that the programme might be subject to changes. Please refer back to this page for a final programme overview nearer the conference. The final programme will also be communicated to delegates via email.
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