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Mass Media in Social Life

Sociology of Gender and Deviance

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Cedric Hidari
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13 views1 page

Mass Media in Social Life

Sociology of Gender and Deviance

Uploaded by

Cedric Hidari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mass Media in Social Life

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Changing Images of Women in the Mass Media
By James M. Henslin

With digital advances, video games have crossed the line


from what are usually thought of as games to something that
more closely resembles interactive motives. Costing an average
of $10 million to produce and another $10 million to market,
The mass media not
some video games have intricate subplots and use celebrity
only reflect gender
voices for the characters (Nussenbaum, 2004). Some introduce
stereotypes but
new songs by major rock groups (Levine, 2008). Sociologically,
they also play a role
what is significant is the content video games. They expose
in changing them.
gamers only to action but also to ideas and images. Just as in
Sometimes they do
other forms of the mass media, the gender images of video
both
games communicate powerful messages.
simultaneously. The
Amidst the traditional portrayals of women as passive image of Lara Croft
and subordinate, a new image has broken through. As not only reflect
exaggerated as it is, this new image reflects a fundamental women’s changing
change in gender relations. Lara Croft, an adventure-seeking role in society, but
archeologist and star of Tomb Raider and its many sequels, is the also, exaggerating
essence of the new gender image. Lara is smart, strong, the change, they
and able to utterly vanquish foes. With both guns blazing, she is mold new
the cowboy of the twenty-first century, the term cowboy being stereotypes.
purposefully chosen, as Lara breaks stereotypical gender roles
and dominates what previously was the domain of men. She was
the first female protagonist in a field of muscle-rippling, gun-
tooting macho caricatures (Taylor, 1999).
Yet the old remains powerfully encapsulated in the new. As the photos on this page make evident,
Lara is a fantasy girl for young men of the digital generation. No matter her foe, no matter her predicament,
Lara oozes sex. Her form-fitting outfits, which flatter her voluptuous figure, reflect the mental images of
the men who fashioned this digital character.
Lara has caught young men’s fantasy to such an extent that they have bombarded corporate
headquarters with questions about her personal life. Lara is the star of two movies and a comic book.
There is also a Lara Croft action figure.
For your consideration: In one to two short bond papers, answer this using 3,000 words. Provide 10
literatures to back your thoughts and ideas.
1. Why is gender change mostly one-way—Females adopting traditional male characteristics?
2. Who is moving into traditional territory of the other? Do people prefer to imitate power or
weakness?
3. How far stereotypes have actually been left behind?
4. Using the three sociological Paradigm: Structual Functionalism, Conflict, and Symbolic
Interactionism, explain the idea and concept of gender and stereotypes from the above article.

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