1 - Find and write definitions for the following terms
- Hypermasculinity
- Homoereoticism
- The new man
- Metrosexual
2 - Textual analysis of Peep Show
Divide these roles between your three group members:
- Representation of Mark
- Representation of Jeremy
- Representation of other men
- Representation of women
Make specific notes of how these characters are constructed through visual codes and technical codes. Peep Show is very dialogue heavy, so it will be useful to write down quotes as you watch.
3 - How is the representation of masculinity constructed in Peep Show? What impact does this have on the target audience?
In your groups, draft a spider diagram with the following 'legs':
- Mark
- Jeremy
- Dobby
- Male characters
- Cinematography
- Mise-en-scene
- Target audience and audience appeal
There's lots more you can talk about, but make sure you discuss the impact on the target audience!
4 - Extension
What films feature a similar representation of men to Peep Show? What texts feature a very different representation of men? In the exam, every text you look at has to be from a different industry to the last, so if you use Peep Show for the representation of gender or the representation of Britishness, you'll have to look at a film, music video, event, issue, newspaper etc for your other detailed example!
5 - Sample paragraph
While many representations of masculinity focus on metrosexual men obsessed with their hair or hypermasculine men obsessed with their bodies, Peep Show presents a very different representation of men in the media today. An excellent example is the character Jeremy. In the episode Jeremy Therapised, Jeremy is represented as immature, dishonest and a flawed male. Forced to attend therapy, Jeremy enters the therapist's office in his trademark army camouflage jacket and scruffy jeans. These aspects of mise-en-scene connote someone much younger, perhaps a teenager or a university student who has an issue with authority. This is reflected through Jeremy's reaction to his therapist. Jeremy launches in to a full scale attack, threatening to defecate in his flower pot and using obscene hand gestures before almost breaking down in tears. In short, Jeremy is a classic comedy archetype, the stupid best friend who provides the audience with the gratification of entertainment and escapism. However, Channel 4 have also constructed Jeremy as a stereotypical representation of a failure of masculinity. Jeremy is represented as being both pathetic and also funny through the fact he fails to live up to a stereotypically successful man. He is single, immature, unemployed and both balding and in his late 30's. Since the target audience for Peep Show is male, middle class students aged 20 - 35 who identify with the characters, Peep Show reinforces the stereotype that men should fulfil certain gender expectations, or risk becoming excluded from society.