Beauty and the Beast: Gendered and Raced Discourse in the News

This article explores the implications of the extent to which the mythic intrudes on the everyday in newspaper reporting, taking as a case study the drive-by shooting of two young, black women in Birmingham in 2003. An analysis of news headlines and texts demonstrates the use of mythical language an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social & legal studies 2005-12, Vol.14 (4), p.515-532
Main Author: Wilcox, Paula
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Black American people
Black politics
Blacks
Case studies
Criminology
Femininity
Gender
Gender differentiation
Guilt
Homicide
Journalism
Language use
Masculinity
Media coverage
News
News media
Race
Racial bias
Racism
Violence
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Summary:This article explores the implications of the extent to which the mythic intrudes on the everyday in newspaper reporting, taking as a case study the drive-by shooting of two young, black women in Birmingham in 2003. An analysis of news headlines and texts demonstrates the use of mythical language and imagery in this case (as in other high-profile cases) as compared with the usual reporting of homicides in the press. Notions of innocence and guilt are explored through the construction of gendered and raced bodies in the case study. The article finds that this media discourse relies for its impact on the simultaneous and mutually dependent construction of fabular gendered and raced ideas; of exceptional innocence and purity (unusually) attached to black femininity (beauty) and of exceptional and volatile violence (usually) attached to black masculinity (the beast). Moreover, the discourse is constructed such that guilt for the gun crime extends beyond the individual perpetrators to the black community as a whole. While media coverage reflects a realistic fear of gun crime, the article concludes that media discourse in this case directs fear towards the black community/male as the dangerous 'other', and that this is crucially underpinned by polarized gendered discourse.
ISSN:0964-6639
1461-7390
DOI:10.1177/0964663905057593