Why is there so much violence portrayed in the media? What meanings are attached to representations of violence in the media? Can media violence encourage violent behaviour and desensitize audiences toreal violence? Does the ‘everydayness’ of media violence lead to the ‘normalization’ of violencein society? Violence and the Media is a lively and indispensable introduction to current thinkingabout media violence and its potential influence on audiences.Adopting a freshperspective on the ‘media effects’ debate, Carter and Weaver engage with a host ofpressing issues around violence in different media contexts - including news, film,television, pornography, advertising and cyberspace.The book offers a compellingargument that the daily repetition of media violence helps to normalize and legitimizethe acts being portrayed. Most crucially, the influence of media violence needs to beunderstood in relation to the structural inequalities of everyday life. Using a widerange of examples of media violence primarily drawn from the American and Britishmedia to illustrate these points, Violence and the Media is a distinctive and revealingexploration of one of the most important and controversial subjects in cultural andmedia studies today.

How is gender constructed in the media? To what extent do portrayals of gender influence everyday perceptions of ourselves and our actions? In what ways do the media reinforce and sometimes challenge gender inequalities? Critical Readings: Media and Gender provides a lively and engaging introduction to the field of media and gender research, drawing from a wide range of important international scholarship. A variety of conceptual and methodological approaches is used to explore subjects such as: entertainment; news; grassroots communication; new media texts; institutions; audiences. Topics include: Gender identity and television talk shows Historical portrayals of women in advertising The sexualization of the popular press The representation of lesbians on television The cult of femininity in women's magazines Images of African American women and Latinas in Hollywood cinema Sexual violence in the media Women in popular music Pornography and masculine power Women's relationship to the Internet. This book is ideal for undergraduate courses in cultural and media studies, gender studies, the sociology of the media, mass communication, journalism, communication studies and politics.

Provocative collection of essays designed to give students an understanding of media representations of women's experience of violence and to educate a new generation to recognize and critique media images of women

A campus shooting. A gang assault. A school bus ambush. With each successive event, fingers are pointed at the usual suspects: violent films, bloody video games, explicit web sites. But to what extent can—or should—the media be implicated in youth crime? And are today's sophisticated young people really that susceptible to their influence? Adolescents, Crime, and the Media critically examines perceptions of these phenomena through the lens of the ongoing relationship between generations of adults and youth. A wealth of research findings transcends the standard nature/nurture debate, analyzing media effects on young people's behavior, brain development in adolescence, ways adults can be misled about youth’s participation in criminal acts, and how science can be manipulated by prevailing attitudes toward youth. The author strikes a necessary balance between the viewpoints of media providers and those seeking to restrict media or young people's access to them. And the book brings scientific and intellectual rigor to culturally and politically charged issues as it covers: Violence in the media. Media portrayals of crime and youth. Research on violent television programs, video games, and other media as causes of crime. Effects of pornography on behavior. Public policy, censorship, and First Amendment issues. Adolescents, Crime, and the Media is an essential resource for researchers, graduate students, professionals, and clinicians across such interrelated disciplines as developmental psychology, sociology, educational policy, criminology/criminal justice, child and school psychology, and media law.

Media and Violence pays equal attention to the production, content and reception involved in any representation of violence. This book offers a framework for understanding how violence is represented and consumed. It examines the relationship of media, gender, and real-world violence; representations of violence in screen entertainment; the effects of violent media on consumers; the ethics and gender politics of the production processes of screen violence; and the discussions are illustrated with topical and well-known examples, enabling the reader to critically engage with the debates.

The Myth of Media Violence: A Critical Introduction assesses the current and historical debates over violence in film, television, and video games; extends the conversation beyond simple condemnation or support; and addresses a diverse range of issues and influences. Looks at the chronology of contemporary media violence, and explores reservations over communications medias throughout history. Examines the forces behind the encouraged anxieties about media violence. Uses examples drawn from a range of media, including disaster and horror movies, science fiction, film tie-in toys, crime shows, MTV, news, sports, and children’s television programming, books and video games. Includes a closing chapter about why media violence exists as it does in our culture, and what we can do about it.