Race/gender exam 1

Feminism

A movement and perspective advocating gender equality, challenging patriarchal and discriminatory systems that marginalize women and other gendered identities.

Privilege

 Unearned advantages conferred upon individuals by virtue of membership in dominant social groups—e.g., race, gender, class—that can be invisible to the privileged themselves. For instance, Michael Kimmel likens privilege to “walking with the wind,” where progress happens with little effort

Social scientists

typically engage in empirical, quantitative, or qualitative research to observe and explain social behaviors and systems.

Critical cultural researchers

adopt a more interpretive, often normatively charged lens, using theory to deconstruct power, representation, and ideology in media.

Framing

The process by which media and communicators structure and present information—highlighting certain aspects while omitting others—to shape audience interpretation.

Symbolic annihilation

The erasure, trivialization, or condemnation of marginalized groups through their absence or misrepresentation in media. Originally coined by George Gerbner; Gaye Tuchman further broke it down into three components: omission, trivialization, and condemnation

Social constructionism

A theory positing that much of what we perceive as “reality”—norms, identities, categories like race or gender—are created through collective human interactions and cultural processes, rather than being innate or objectively determined

Society

A structured system of relationships among people who share culture, institutions, and norms. In media studies, it’s both influenced by and reflected through media practices.

Prejudice

the tendency of an individual to think about other groups in negative ways, to attach negative emotions to those groups, and to prejudge individuals on the basis of their group membership

Stereotypes

Oversimplified and widely held beliefs about a group of people based on assumptions rather than individualized knowledge—commonly used in media analysis to critique representation.

Fundamental attribution error

A cognitive bias in which people overemphasize internal, dispositional characteristics in judging others’ behaviors while underestimating external, situational influences

Implicit bias

refers to unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that influence our perceptions and actions toward others. Its limitations include reliance on indirect measurement, context variability, and debates over how strongly implicit bias predicts real-world behavior.

Uses and gratifications theory

A media theory emphasizing that audiences actively choose media to satisfy specific needs—like information, personal identity, social interaction, or entertainment—rather than being passive recipients of media’s effects

Hedonism

motivated to maximize pleasurable moods and to minimize negative moods (well-being = pleasure)

Eudaimonia

refers to gratifications and states that may not be pleasurable per se but are experienced as deeply meaningful, like self-realization, insight into life’s purpose, and personal development (well-being = human flourishing)

Self-transcendence

 shifts attention away from one’s own personal or egoistic concerns toward a recognition of other people, nature, or the universe at large 

Elevation

the feelings that arise when we witness others display exemplary acts of “moral beauty” such as kindness, generosity, or compassion 

Acts of charity vs. government programs

one is voluntary, individual acts of helping; while the other is institutional, publicly funded services. Media may frame one more favorably than the other, influencing perceptions of responsibility and social welfare.

Child Tax Credit

A government policy that provides financial support to families with children. In media, this can be depicted in narratives about social support, deservingness, or class dynamics

Erving Goffman

A sociologist known for dramaturgical analysis and the concept of “presentation of self,” emphasizing how individuals perform roles in everyday life—especially relevant in media and identity studies.

George Gerbner

A scholar who pioneered cultivation theory and introduced concepts like “symbolic annihilation” to critique how television shapes perceptions of social reality via inclusion or absence of groups

Gaye Tuchman

Media scholar who expanded on symbolic annihilation—identifying omission, trivialization, and condemnation as layers of underrepresentation of marginalized groups (notably women) in media

kama muta

refers to the feeling moved by witnessing communal sharing, like family members reuniting in an airport 

Awe

 involves feeling that the self is small compared to the vastness of nature or the universe, and needing to reframe our perspective to make sense of such vastness