With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’.

With reference to any one group of people that you have studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’

the definition of mediated can be used in two different contexts. firstly you could take the dictionary definition, (verb) Intervene in a dispute to bring about an agreement or reconciliation, or you can separate the word to create 'media' and 'ted' this could be interpreted as influencing the views of the audience and creating a false perception of a certain topic or representation. In this essay i will be explaining how british youth, especially working class  have been mediated though the dominant, alternative, redundant, absent and entropic representations. 


Around the 1970's Cohen introduced the term "moral panic" in describing the way  the media reacts to particular social groups or particularly threatening. In regards to representation of British youth, these 'panics' can be seen through newspaper articles, especially during the 2011 riots where they were presented as the main perpetrators and referred to as 'yobs', 'hoodies' and 'thugs' this could be portrayed as a form of mediation as this creates the dominant representation, which as marxist theorists would claim to be the bourgeoisie dominating the working class and creating hegemony. This also links into the theory of the hyperdermic needle, where the viewers are being 'injected' with the views of this capitalist ideology with passiveness.

However, there is other representations to british youth, that challenges the idea of a moral panic by creating a situation that's based on humour and more positive and 'realistic' portrayals of youth. One example is the inbetweeners, a program about 4 teenage boys and their daily escapades, which usually have a comical journey. This representation as opposed to the other shows youth in a way that makes them look less threatening and more of a joke to those around them such as the elderly and children. In a way this does have a beneficial effect for british youth as it weakens the stereotype of them being violent and menacing. However, certain aspects of the alternative have to be considered for example the show is based on for white boys, not the race more focused on when involved in criminal and other anti-social behaviour. Another factor is that the boys are all from working class backgrounds except one, and as he is from a more middle-class background he is both smarter and has more common sense then his working class friends, so naturally gets them out of trouble. This could also be argued to reinforce the ideology that working class males are dumber then the middle class man therefore should be submissive to the help given by him. 

When a representation is classed as 'redundant' it means the portrayal of a certain group has been shown so often the image no longer has any power over the audience. This challenges the hyperdermic needle theory as it claims that the audience aren't actually passive when they're watching programs. When discussing british youth, an example of this could be working class youths living in council estates, for example in Fish Tank the characters living in tower blocks seemed like a normal environment because usually that is the setting that is placed in. 

An absent representation refers to when a group is not represented at all or very little in society. For example most representations of british young females revolves around working class females for example Skins rarely involves upper class females however when they are portrayed it shows them as being annoying and shallow or as easy ways of getting sex, with sometimes comical voices. This representation can have a negative effect as it brings a certain image around the upper/middle class females, both connoting the superiority of the male gender and also showing how youths from a working class see people outside of their 'class' which could be a more realistic portrayal and some could argue that this goes against the marxist idea that capitalist ideology influences the portrayals of the audience and the writers. However, feminists could argue this portrayal is a example of 'symbolic annihilation' (Tuchman) and they are misrepresented in a trivialized way such as being extremely sexually active and unsophisticated. 

Finally, the entropic representation is the way a representation is challenged in a controversial way. When something is controversial it usually challenges the normal conventions of something, however this could mean it's exaggerated or a portrayal of something that isn't usually mentioned in society. One again i bring up the e4 show Skins, as it was seen as very controversial at the time it came out focusing on casual teenage sex, drug and alcohol abuse. This representation has several effects for example it can cause a moral panic as well as entertain. Parents watching Skins will be shocked at how teenagers present themselves in the show so this could have a negative effect on how they see youth. The show was rated an 18 which is ironic as the show was based around 16/17 year olds in their first year of college. This could be argued as helping aware parents of their teens sexual promiscuity and this 'mediates' or influences parents ideas of how t0 deal with such situations. But because the show was written by young people, the average age of 22, this could be exaggerated for entertainment purposes. 

In conclusion, the youth of Britain have been portrayed in mostly negative ways, including females from the upper class. This could be because of entertainment purposes as most people enjoy more negative portrayals as opposed to positive because it shocking and seemingly more 'realistic'. However this negative image has not been portrayed as much through the portrayal of middle class white males. I think that youth have been mediated in a sense that it influences our views, maybe not as much as the hyperdermic needle suggests, but because it focuses on a small subculture as opposed to a grand scale. In it's portrayals it doesn't take into account the various other groups that may not be represented. In terms of the verb it may intervene in the dispute of how youth are 'reckless' and could offer suggestions to how to help. For example, the e4 website does offer support and advice to those who may be going through similar issues as the characters in skins.