This week’s instruction focuses on media and ideology. Following up on last week’s look at globalization, this week we look at a global issue in another country—LGBTQ rights in India, where recently same-sex intercourse has been legalized. As you work your way through this week’s presentation and materials, consider how media can reflect, amplify, counter, or may even subvert dominant cultural and societal ideologies.
Instructors, click on the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt, a debate question, as well as other assessment questions.
Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Media and Ideology
Video/Audio
An introduction to Gramsci’s notion of cultural hegemony and ideology in media.
Jamaican-British cultural historian Stuart Hall gives us the tools to understand how representation is always imbued with ideology – and how to subvert it.
Articles
- Section 377 verdict Updates: History owes an apology to LGBT community, Supreme Court says | India Today
- The Guardian view on gay rights: India backs freedom – others should follow | The Guardian
- India’s gay sex ban was a relic of the British Empire — but it’s still in place in dozens of ex-colonies | LA Times
- Decriminalization of gay sex sets up cultural battle in conservative India | NBC News
- Indian press lauds gay sex ruling but Modi government stays silent | Channel News Asia
Assessment
- Writing: Consider the countries of origins of the articles this week. Do you think they reflect the ideologies of the nations they are from, past or present? Do they reflect the ideologies of the news sources?
- Debate: Consider the article from The Guardian. This article is an editorial, a format of article whereby a newspaper or magazine expresses a view with the author usually anonymous. The author of an editorial, however, will be a staff member of the newspaper and they are often written by the editor of the paper, whose name is known elsewhere. Is there value in this anonymous format or not? What purpose or not do you believe the anonymity serves?
- Poll: Do you think these articles altogether reflected the political ideologies of the U.S.?
- Yes
- No
- Short Answer: What is a hegemonic ideology? Please provide a definition and example.
Current Events Quiz
The Supreme Court of India ruled that___.
- Same sex intercourse is legal.
- Same sex marriage is legal.
- You need a permit to be in a same sex relationship.
- Gay sex is legal, but only with parental permission.
The Supreme Court decision is also significant for ruling that ____.
- Trans men and women are explicitly protected by the constitution.
- Same sex polyamorous relationships receive the same rights as monogamous ones.
- Gay citizens are barred from equal protection under the constitution.
- Gay citizens enjoy all the protections of the constitution.
___ members of the Commonwealth of Nations still ban gay sex.
- All 53
- 5
- 0
- 35
The government will ___ future moves by activists for further gay rights.
- Stand behind and fully support
- Take into consideration and deliberate on
- Ignore and deny the existence of any
- Oppose all and any
Prime Minister Theresa May regrets ___ of past LGBTQ legislation.
- The weakness
- The legacy of discrimination, violence and even death
- Hiding and cowering behind the enablers
- All of the above