INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE IN MIL

Media and Information Literacy

Week 4

TIME ALLOTMENT: 3 Hours

ONLINE CLASS: STEM12A F3:30 – 4:30 PM
ABM12A TH10:30 – 11:30 AM

CONTENT:
I. THE EVOLUTION OF TRADITIONAL TO NEW MEDIA
a. Portrayal of Society in Mass Media
b. Gender Roles
c. Racial and Racism

LEARNING COMPETENCIES:
At the end of the week, learners are expected to:
1. compare and contrast how one particular issue or news is presented through the different types of
media (print, broadcast, online).

LEARNING RESOURCES:
1. N. Abadiano, Ph.D., Media and Information Literacy, Cronica Bookhaus 2016
2. Teodoro F. Revano, Jr., Media and Information Literacy for Senior High School, Mindshapers co., Inc.
2016
3. Maria Jovita E. Zarate, Media and Information Literacy, Rex Book store, Inc., 2016
4. Patrick F. Campos and Ma. Socorro Q. Perez, Ph. D. From Cave to Cloud Media and Information
Literacy for Today. Phoenix Quezon City Philippines. 2016

DISCUSSION:

Portrayal of Society in Mass Media

As mass media continues to evolve in the passing time, media has developed on what society calls,
Stereotypes.

Mass media has always played a significant role in the modern world Entertainment and transmission of
information has influenced the audience to a certain point that it can manipulate people's attitude and
opinions. Using the information they receive about the world, they sort and simplify the acquired knowledge
and use them to create cognitive schemes. Cognitive schemes are representations of reality displaying its most
fundamental and typical factors and properties. The schemes is what gives the definition of our worldview
and influenced our social cognition significantly.

Stereotypes, one of the most important schemes used for orientation in the social environment.
Stereotypes represent the opinions among members of a specific group about other groups. These opinions can
be a result from one's own observations or simply be adopted from influences of others, such as family, friends
and media. Because of the many generalizations and simplifications that people produce, they create
stereotypes, present incomplete, subjective and sometimes even a false image of reality. Generalized ideas
such as stereotypes are often based on tradition and are resistant to change.

In the modern era, stereotypes are important factor of how modern people interact and socialize with
each other. Having stereotypes, people have detailed knowledge about certain type of people, making it
possible for people to easily categorize new things into more comfortable spaces already defined by
experiences.

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 Stereotypes give both positive and negative effects. An example of a positive effect would be the one
mentioned before, the fact that it gives an overview or an easier grasp of understanding that would help the
individual respond to that type of situation.

Despite the conveniences. Stereotypes also give way to creating such stereotypes based on false
information. As mentioned stereotypes are derived from observation and influences, but one would question if
these observations and influences are actually true. The new media is a gateway for information if it is possible
to share factual information through the web, then it is also possible for untrue information to be shared
through the web. False information is not the only factor that contributes to such stereotypes, but also
misinterpreted information. Misinterpreted information can be gained from communicating with people. Now
let's look more into the well-known Stereotypes.

Gender Roles

As mentioned before, mass media not

only transfers information, but also shapes
people's opinions, attitudes and beliefs. In the
case of gender roles, society had established
the dominance of men over women in the
past. Before, men had been perceived as the
head of the household and women were
mainly the housewives. In the present,
however, differences of dominance between
men and women are much smaller. Despite
the change in the times, mass media still
retains the traditional gender stereotypes. For
example, in entertainment media, in some instances television shows, such as romance and drama series,
introduce characters with stereotypical attitudes and behaviors like female characters being reliant and
submissive towards their husbands etc. Stereotypes of gender roles don't stop there. Media such as print and
broadcast media also exhibit examples of stereotypes. In print media for example: in mediums such as
magazines and newspapers, men generally advertise cars, cigarettes, and business products. On the other
hand, women generally advertise cosmetics, fashion and domestic products. Women are also most likely
portrayed in the home environment, while men are often portrayed outdoors. There are many variants of
stereotypes and women can be presented in several. Most popular is: A woman whose main problem is the
lack of ideas for dinner. Another would be the distinguishable stereotype of female vampires sexy and
seductive, the embodiment of every desire of a man. Another would be the major concern of women to
preserve their beauty. Hence they present healthy lifestyle physically active and use a wide range of cosmetics.
However, mostly very thin actresses assume this role in commercials leading to the assumption that only thin
women can be beautiful and healthy. As a result, many female receivers have gained an obsession with their
weights, which can result into something negative.

As for men there are also many various types of stereotypes. One of which being the typical "real
man", athletic successful professional, seductive with a gorgeous woman by his side. The other type being less
popular and presents men devoted to their loved ones and family who can save enough time for them. Men
are rarely presented in housecleaning commercials, and it they are they often appear as the experts who know
how to do the housecleaning properly.

If men and women appear together they are often presented as a couple or a married couple. In a
competitive scenario, however, women appear to be weaker than men.

Racial and Racism

Before delving into this topic one must understand that Racial and Racism are two different things.
Racial, meaning of or relating to race," refers to the differences of a race. Racism, however, meaning prejudice
and discrimination directed against an individual of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is
superior, is clearly different from the word "racial".

Stereotyping has it downsides and advantages for example racial stereotyping gives us a view of
ethnicity of the races their culture, religion nationality etc. However, negative stereotyping arises out of an

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ethnocentric view of the world; one's own
group is the center of everything while all
the other groups are rated in reference to it
Negative stereotypes are merely
prejudicial judgment, assigning negative
qualities to other groups, which we would
call Racism People who are subjected to
being stereotyped can slowly be
internalized by it causing low self-esteem,
low expectations, low motivations etc. For
example, Nigerian people were
discriminated for their color in the earlier
ages and the constant discrimination led
them to believe that they are of lower species from the whites.

Despite all of these, repetition tends to normalize stereotypes, because constant repetition of
stereotypes only validates and perpetuates them Stereotypes aren't just created on a whim, they are often
created from a certain "kernel of truth". The kernel of truth is a characteristic of a certain group that is widely
accepted as the truth. Such specific tendencies however, should never be applied to every member of a group.
Stereotypes generalize individuals within a group, clearly emphasizing sameness and ignoring individual
variety. For example, saying that Asians are intelligent and highly capable in the area of mathematics is a
generalization that all Asians are capable of math.

In short, the media uses stereotypes as a shorthand method of defining characters in a way that would
make it easy for people to identify and categorize. Present media is more sensitive to issues of culture and
gender than it once was, and oversimplified and inaccurate portrayals have affected how we perceive one
another, how we relate to one another and how we value ourselves.

General Instructions:
1. Read the module intended for Week 4.

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2. Answer the Written Work/Performance Task given by the teacher.
3. Names in the outputs to be submitted shall have this format (placed at the upper most right corner of the
papers/pages).
<Last Name, First Name Middle Initial> <Strand & Section>
<Subject Code> <Teacher’s First Name Initials and Last Name>
<Week Number> <WW/PT Number>

e.g.
Dela Cruz, Juan N. ABM 11A
PDV A. Marrero
Week1 WW1

4. Write your answers on a clean sheet of bond paper.

5. Send a CLEAR IMAGE or file of your answer/output thru assignment-turn-in in Microsoft Teams week 4
Channel. (Unless it was done in MS Forms)
6. File names of the outputs to be submitted shall be named as follows:
<FIRST NAME INITIALS, LAST NAME> <SUBJECT CODE> <WEEK NUMBER> <WW/PT NUMBER>
e.g. J.DELACRUZ-PDV-WEEK1-WW1

MIL (Media and Information Technology)

WEEK 4
WRITTEN WORK 2

Specific Instructions: Answer the question and further explain your answer with additional information and
examples. 15 sentences only. (NO COPY PASTE)

What are your views on the Portrayal of Society in Media? Do you think having stereotypes affect the
younger generation in a positive way? How and Why? Explain your answer.

Criteria:
Content – 15
Organization - 13
Clarity – 12
Total: 30

Deadline of Submission: September 27, 2021 for MWF classes and September 28, 2021 for TTHS classes until
3pm.

Prepared by: Approved by:

BENJIE B. SISALVO, LPT AISEN FAITH C. MARRERO, LPT, MPA

Teacher Principal, Senior High School

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