Media Messages

The new edition of this widely adopted book reveals how the popular media contribute to widespread myths and misunderstanding about cultural diversity. While focused on the impact of television, feature film, and popular music, the authors reach far beyond media to explore how our understanding, values, and beliefs about race, class, gender and sexual orientation are constructed. They analyze how personal histories, combined with the collective history of oppression and liberation, contribute to stereotypes and misinformation, as well as how personal engagement with media can impact prospects for individual and social freedom. Along with updated media examples, expanded theories and analysis, this edition explores even more deeply the coverage of race in two chapters, discusses more broadly how men and boys are depicted in the media and socialized, and how class issues have become even more visible since the Great Recession of the 21st century and the Occupy movements. Special activities and exercises are provided in the book and an online Instructor's Manual is available to adopters. <p>1. The Connections: Life, Knowledge, and Media<br>Personal Experience<br>Reconstructing Knowledge<br>The Process of Socialization<br>Entertainment Media<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Reflection, Summary, and Analysis<br>Bibliography</p><p>2. Gender: In Pink and Blue and Vivid Color<br>Personal Experience and Gender<br>Reconstructing Knowledge and Gender<br>Gender and Entertainment Media<br>The Complexity of Gender Targeting<br>Gender Diversity and Social Power<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Reflection, Summary, and Analysis<br>Bibliography</p><p>3. Is the United States a Classless Society?<br>Personal Experience and Class<br>Reconstructing Knowledge and Class<br>Early U.S. History<br>The Twentieth Century<br>The Twenty-First Century<br>Entertainment Media and Class<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Reflection, Summary, and Analysis<br>Bibliography</p><p>4. Racing in America: Fact or Fiction?<br>Linda's Story<br>Leon's Story<br>Meeting at the Crossroads: How Our Stories Converge<br>The American Racial Discourse: Then and Now<br>Reconstructing Knowledge and Race<br>Stories of Race, Racism, and Resistance in the United States<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Reflection, Summary, and Analysis<br>Bibliography</p><p>5. Stories of Race in Popular Culture<br>Entertainment Media and Race<br>American Indians in Entertainment Media<br>Asians and Pacific Islanders in Entertainment Media<br>Latinas/Latinos in Entertainment Media<br>African Americans in Entertainment Media<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Bibliography</p><p>6. Sexual Orientation and the Fabrication of "Normal"<br>Personal Experience<br>Reconstructing Knowledge and Sexual Orientation<br>Terminology and Its Evolution<br>Theories and History of Sexual Orientation in the United States<br>Sexual Orientation in U.S. History<br>Religion and Sexual Orientation<br>Summary of Reconstructing Knowledge<br>Sexual Orientation and Entertainment Media<br>Chapter Summary<br>Glossary of Key Terms<br>Reflection, Summary, and Analysis<br>Bibliography</p>