Van Zoonen newspaper essay

Newspaper essay.

 Patriarchy can be defined as a social system in which men hold power in areas of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Van Zoonen argues that in a patriarchal society, gender is performative and we understand masculinity and femininity by what we do rather than who we are. In relation to the news, patriarchy can be applied to the ownership and control of newspapers, the political ethos and selection processes of the newspapers’ editors and the representations of gender they construct. The representations offered in both Sources A and B can be seen to mostly support Van Zoonen’s concept of patriarchy. Patriarchal power can be seen in the representations provided in both sources as the Farah’s (sir Mo and Lady Farah) great north run, finishing photo dominates the front pages. This reinforces the patriarchal assumption that the stereotypically masculine public arena of male authority and leadership is more important and interesting than the private realm of women, which is seen to be more stereotypically domesticated and nurturing. Mo Farah has a much higher news value than his wife, because he is the more famous Olympic champion, this is exemplified then the caption which reads “Sir Mo Farah and his wife” Lady Tanya would never have made the front page on her own. Which reinforce that sport is supposedly a male domain. Contrasting with the Anne Robinson on the skyline in the daily mail, “green soup which made me lose half a stone”. Which may appeal to their female readers - they would understand this reference to their gender role as some who needs to be concerned with their physical appearance.

 Although each source constructs the same Boris Johnson story in a different way, the connotations offered are the same and the way they are physically constructed further reinforces patriarchy. Both headlines use words from the semantic field of war; “triggers” “mayhem”, empathising the full extent of his power to create unrest. Anchoring the idea of masculinity and leadership. The daily mail offers up the idea to the end of Boris’s ‘attempts’ to reach number 10 by stating “12 MP’s vow to keep him out of No10”. This is referencing the idea that Johnson could make a leadership challenge. The idea that there is a male leadership is in line with the idea there is a male leadership within politics. The daily mail shows on the main image of an emotional Boris Johnson in a close up, suggesting that we understand patriarchal ideology and are able to infer meaning around gender roles and performances through the use of these simple signifiers. Further reinforcing patriarchal ideas about male authority and knowledge in response to the lead story but also the social privilege of men within the news industry itself.

The Times uses a clear symmetry on the front-page layout, which is provided by the masthead, headline and main image to offer a more ‘rational’ or balanced account than the guardian. This layout works as a signifier to reinforce patriarchal assumptions around gender with masculinity stereotypically considered logical and rational. The political context of the impact of Brexit and politics as patriarchal is also evident in the representations created in both sources. The daily mail’s use of a close up of Johnson’s ‘emotional’ reaction to the current allegations about his affair also supports patriarchal values: an image of Boris looking to the ground, with downturned mouth, connotes he has failed in his role as a husband and therefore his masculine performance.

In contrast, the image chosen of Lady Tania Farah looking happy with a smile and holding her husband’s hand, implies she appears not to notice, or care, about the media reporters taking her photo. This contradicts Van Zoonen’s ideas of male dominance in the sporting industry. Therefore highlighting a more ‘modern’ expectation of gender. However, whilst Lady Tania is represented as an equal yet caring wife, it still shows Mo as dominant and in control of his wife’s destiny as he is the one who is known as a household name. Yet the idea of ‘modern’ gender roles is supported by the appearance of androgenous model Rain Dove on The Guardian’s skyline introducing the idea of ‘gender capitalism’. The prominence of strong women in The Guardian suggests that even within a patriarchal society, gender roles and performances are subject to the time and culture in which we live and are possibly more fluid than papers such as The Daily Mail would like us to think.