Hypodermic Needle Theory

Stuart Hall (1950) created this audience theory - Encode + Decode.





Hall himself referred to several 'linked but distinctive moments - production, circulation, distribution/consumption, reproduction' (Hall 1980, 128) as part of the 'circuit of communication' (a term which clearly signals the legacy of Saussure). Corner adds that the moment of encoding and that of decoding 'are socially contingent practices which may be in a greater or lesser degree of alignment in relation to each other but which are certainly not to be thought of... as 'sending' and 'receiving' linked by the conveyance of a 'message' which is the exclusive vehicle of meaning'

In order to fully appreciate the part representation plays in a media text you musct consider:

• Who produced it?
• What/who us represented in the text?
• How is that thing being represented?
• Why was this particular representation (this shot, framed from this angle, this story phrased in these terms, etc) selected, and what might the alternatives have been?
• What frame of reference does the audience use when understanding the representation?

Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

• Beauty (within narrow conventions)
• Size/physique (again, whithin narrow conventions)
• Sexuality (as expressed by the above)
• Emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
• Relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Representations of Masculinity.

'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following:

• Strength - physical and intellectual
• Power
• Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above)
• Pyhsique
• Independence (of thought, action)