Media Issues

From the Beauty Myth to the next top models, how do the media construct our perceptions of healthy and attractive bodies?

More often than not, we're assigned a gender identity before we're even born, and media provide a lot of the messages we get about that identity. In this section, we unpack some of the media's baggage around gender.

The media help to construct our perception of the world in which we live. But what happens when media representations omit or distort whole groups of people? In this section, we explore issues of diversity representation and showcase efforts to counter stereotyping and promote more accurate portrayals.

In this section we explore the ethics, laws, and rights that surround questions of intellectual property. Whether it’s a question of downloading music, borrowing graphics and photos, or copying text from an academic source, there are bound to be questions about what is and what is not fair use.

Young people – who have disposable income and a tremendous influence on family purchases – are the perfect target for marketers and advertisers. This section covers various issues related to marketing that targets children and youth.

How and why is violence used by media industries? How are governments responding to concerns about media violence? This section examines key arguments in the debate and how adults can address media violence issues with children and young people.