Julie Frechette | Worcester State University (original) (raw)

Books by Julie Frechette

New Media Technology and Motion Pictures Edited by Dan Hunt, 2024

This chapter explores gender, race, and sexuality by emphasizing the importance of equity within ... more This chapter explores gender, race, and sexuality by emphasizing the importance of equity within film production and reception for marginalized, non-dominant sectors of society. It addresses the politics of inclusion in film production, the power associated with telling the story of, by, and for others, and the cultural impact of representation on audiences. The chapter begins by identifying women’s “herstoric” contributions through a summary of the challenges that key female figures experienced in the film industry since its inception. After summarizing how women’s contributions to the film industry have been largely ignored or were embedded within power struggles, the chapter examines how women’s exclusion in film has shaped narratives of gender by creating gendered representations and ways of seeing within cinema. In order to assess whether diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have increased and improved in cinema, the chapter summarizes ongoing issues related to stereotypes, tokenism, and erasure on and behind the silver screen by documenting key findings from current reports on these DEI measures. By examining issues associated with diversity in the Hollywood film industry, the author advances the idea that inclusion and representation are basic human rights.

Critiquing the mass media, and the role those media play in our lives, requires a critical eye. M... more Critiquing the mass media, and the role those media play in our lives, requires a critical eye. Media in Society gives students in upper level media courses a unique narrative-based approach to media criticism, exploring the stories media tell—as well as the stories we tell about the media when we describe how it affects us. Organized thematically, Media in Society examines topics like narrative genre, entertainment culture, news, politics, and economics, emphasizing both the pleasures and pitfalls of the media narratives that surround us. Written by an esteemed team of media scholars, specifically for media students, this compact and affordable text makes a great backbone or addition to a media and society course.

By joining bodies of research in media theory, cultural studies, and critical pedagogy, Developin... more By joining bodies of research in media theory, cultural studies, and critical pedagogy, Developing Media Literacy in Cyberspace offers a vision of learning that values social empowerment over technical skills. An inquiry into the existence and range of models equipped to cultivate critical teaching and learning in the Internet-supported classroom, this new study argues that media literacy offers the best long-term training for today's youth to become experienced practitioners of 21st-century technology. Author Julie Frechette helps educators develop and provide concrete learning strategies that enable students to judge the validity and worth of what they see on the Internet as they strive to become critically autonomous in a technology-laden world.

Book Chapters by Julie Frechette

Without question, the Hollywood and media sex scandals have ushered in a watershed moment for wom... more Without question, the Hollywood and media sex scandals have ushered in a watershed moment for women to share their varied narratives and experiences of sexual harassment and assault. In less than a year, the sexual harassment scandals in corporate news, entertainment, athletics, politics, and beyond, emerged as front burner issues on the national and global landscape. Despite centuries of normalization of everyday abuse of common people, the issue of sexual harassment is getting more attention because of the corporate media’s infatuation with celebrity and scandal. As a result, the issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault have trickled down into the public consciousness, affecting organizational and workplace culture, social media conversations, and online consciousness raising campaigns. The #MeToo campaign affords a poignant case study for assessing how media literacy activism can mobilize the NetGeneration to challenge antiquated attitudes and behaviors that keep women marginalized in media sectors. Drawing from the sexual harassment scandals of media celebrities and data from the 2017 Report of The Status of Women in U.S. Media, this chapter analyzes the correlation between male domination of corporate media and the continued systematic marginalization and oppression of women within and outside U.S. media.

In "Literacy Practices in Late Modernity: Mastering Technological and Cultural Convergences," Edi... more In "Literacy Practices in Late Modernity: Mastering Technological and Cultural Convergences," Edited by Barbara Gentikow, Svein Osterud, and Egil G. Skogseth (2012), NY: Hampton Press, Chapter 7, pp. 119-135.

Status: published or submitted for publication, Jan 1, 2005

Frechette (pp. 16-20), Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, Edited by Mary Kosut, 2012, Sage Publicat... more Frechette (pp. 16-20), Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, Edited by Mary Kosut, 2012, Sage Publications. Excerpt: "One of the most pervasive and profitable ideologies in mass media is the beauty myth. Feminist media scholars have used the expression 'beauty myth' to denote the media's ability to create a powerful set of unrealistic ideals that keep girls and women preoccupied with femininity and beauty standards. Predicated upon bodily stereotypes of Anglo-European whiteness, thinness, buxomness, and curviness, the beauty myth creates what is called a 'normative standard of beauty' that reduces the concept of attractiveness to a limited and exclusive set of age, race, and physical traits. Within mainstream media, Hollywood actresses and supermodels are heralded as cultural hallmarks of beauty and success, leading to a Western beauty ideology that values girls and women for their appearance over their intellect, ambitions, personality, and unique traits. Through this exaggeration and glamorization of normative beauty standards, a popular cultural myth forms around the notion of what beauty is and, subsequently, how to attain it. Ironically, few can ever attain the beauty ideals held as the standard in mainstream media and advertisements, as models and celebrities undergo extreme makeovers, surgeries, and other beauty transformations before ether are filmed and photographed. The postproduction technique of airbrushing and computer-generated modifications 'perfect' the beauty myth by removing any remaining blemishes or imperfections visible to the eye." I explore the economics and politics of the beauty myth, as well as analyze how they play out in news, reality television, beauty pageants, and the globalized world. I also examine how social media and technology play an important role in challenging and resisting this powerful hegemonic standard in society.

Frechette, 2012, pp. 127-129, Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, Edited by Mary Kosut, Sage Publica... more Frechette, 2012, pp. 127-129, Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, Edited by Mary Kosut, Sage Publications. In this chapter, I explore how motherhood as a social construct is contested in mainstream media depictions. Beginning with Betty Friedan's notion of 'the feminine mystique' in the 1960s, to the 'supermom' / 'superwoman' symbols of of the 1980s and 1990s, to Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and reality shows in 2000, I explore how the ideology of the feminine mystique pits women against each other and creates 'Mommy wars' over women's professional and personal choices. Excerpt: "For example, when Hillary Clinton was First Lady, the media turned her into a polarizing figure by sensationalizing comments she made in interviews that she followed her professional ambitions rather than stay home and bake cookies and have teas. The media seized on the comments to launch a morally charged debate between high-achieving professional women and stay-at-home moms. This pattern of pitting women against each other for their personal and professional choices exemplifies the feminine-feminist conflict at the core of media stories about women's identity and search for fulfillment in the realms of world, sex, and motherhood" (Frechette, 2012, p. 129).

Frechette, 2012, pp. 401-404, Sage Publications. Excerpt: "Written for young children between th... more Frechette, 2012, pp. 401-404, Sage Publications. Excerpt: "Written for young children between the ages of 8 and 14, "tween" magazines are produced by magazine publishers seeking to extend their marketing, advertising, and branding to children in this age bracket, part of a demographic whose size and disposable income have earned them the "tween" moniker. Representing $10.1 billion in the United States alone, this industry is the fastest-growing global market, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Korea....Debate about tween magazines centers around whether young girls are becoming empowered by their content or whether reading these magazines encourages them to act and dress older than their age, taking advantage of their developing and impressionable minds" (Frechette, 2012, pp. 401-402). I examine the impact of marketing to this age group by analyzing the stories and beauty images that are produced by Disney, Nickelodeon Magazine, Vogue Girl and Seventeen Magazine.

Cultivation Theory, pp. 46-48, Sage Publications, 2012. In this chapter, I explain the purpose ... more Cultivation Theory, pp. 46-48, Sage Publications, 2012. In this chapter, I explain the purpose and methodology of cultivation theory, and its relationship to critical cultural studies and feminist scholarship. Given television's importance in shaping attitudes and behaviors, cultivation analysis aims to analyze mass-media effects through a methodology that is different from that employed in other social scientific research. Unlike most effect research which examines short-term behavioral changes in subjects who are exposed to isolated media messages in a clinical or lab setting, cultivation analysis aims to study the attitudinal and behavioral changes that emerge from cumulative, long-term television exposure within audience members' everyday lives. Cultivation analysis seeks to analyze the cumulative consequences of television exposure in conjunction with the patterns that are representative of television content as a whole. It analyzes the most stable and recurring patterns in TV content by focusing on the themes, values, and issues that are consistently shown across media channels and genres. Specifically, I look at the utility of cultivation theory for understanding sexual stereotyping, the mean world syndrome, and mainstreaming. I also examine the scholarly contributions of Dr. George Gerbner, Dr. Michael Morgan (whom I had the pleasure of working with during my graduate studies at UMass, Amherst), and Dr. Nancy Signorielli.

2012, pp. 70-71, Sage Publications. In this chapter (which I advocated to include and write in t... more 2012, pp. 70-71, Sage Publications. In this chapter (which I advocated to include and write in this Encyclopedia), I explain the importance of media scholar and feminist cultural critic Susan Douglas, whom I had the pleasure of working with in my role as the Associate Director of the Five College Summer Institute in Media Literacy. Douglas' book, "Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media" was extremely influential in exposing the cultural biases and the double binds for women and girls in mainstream media. I summarize the impact of her scholarship in media studies and critical cultural studies by analyzing her publications and noteworthy contributions to the field.

Articles by Julie Frechette

The representation of women in the media continues to be an important subject among feminists, so... more The representation of women in the media continues to be an important subject among feminists, social researchers, and the public at large. Research on female portrayals in advertisements, television, film, books, and magazines have confirmed the importance of questioning the female position in relation to essentialist claims about gender roles, sexuality, and the body. Celebrities in particular (such as Madonna, Jodie Foster, Hillary Clinton, and Anita Hill) have been the focus of gender analysis, perhaps due to the fact that they are bestowed with a puissance which is publicly consumed. Moreover, one could argue that media representations of female celebrities usually converge on hegemonic articulations of “femininity.” Whether depicted in unison with or apart from this idealized icon, media portrayals of celebrity women hinge on issues of gender, sexuality, and the body. The argument proposed in this article is that the media depictions of skating celebrity Tonya Harding antagonize hegemonic representations of “femininity.” As a skater who deviates from traditional constructs of “femininity,” her gender, sexuality, and body are subject to media hype, castigation, and slander.

By devising critical news literacy frameworks centered on networked environments, this article wi... more By devising critical news literacy frameworks centered on networked environments, this article will evaluate the benefits and draw- backs associated with new informational sources, as well as their emerging symbiotic relationship. Studies on generational changes in news acquisition tend to dichotomise each medium (print vs. social media) along old vs. new technology and trends. Rather than create artificial dualisms between old media / traditional journalism and new media / emerging social media, the approach herein offers a more complicated and nuanced notion of critical news literacy. News literacy models must acknowledge and address the porosity of legacy news outlets and social media as they work symbiotically in the Digital Age to distribute and constitute contemporary forms of news and networks.

The goal is to widen the scope of news literacy paradigms to better ad- dress the transformational shifts that are occurring within the production and dissemination of news in society. Using a critical approach, news literacy must carefully consider the gains of local-to-global news enabled through social media and networked environments, as well as how the loss of traditional print newspapers may affect the viability of an informed and engaged citizenry as the virtual transformation of society is rapidly altering the fabric of American democracy. Similarly, news literacy re- quires a critical understanding of internet access and the digital divide in order to address how the rising prominence of information in the digital age impacts those who do not have the social and economic affordances of technology in their daily work and life.

Keywords: News literacy, civic journalism, social media, newspapers, democracy, net- worked environments, digital divide.

Journal of Media Literacy, 2014, Volume 61, Number 1 & 2

Journal of Media Literacy

Inside Higher Ed, May 16, 2008

Arguably, one of the most dynamic events affecting college communities within and outside the cla... more Arguably, one of the most dynamic events affecting college communities within and outside the classroom happens every four years during national presidential election cycles. As we have seen with the recent participatory surge during this 2008 national presidential race, today's youth are interested in engaging in the political process through participatory means that include dialogue and debate, exercising their right to vote, and making a difference in the world through the democratic process. By describing how to harness and transform such energy into the classroom, we will see how experiential learning leads to new pedagogical models that enable our students to engage in issues affecting their own generation.

New Media Technology and Motion Pictures Edited by Dan Hunt, 2024

Status: published or submitted for publication, Jan 1, 2005

Keywords: News literacy, civic journalism, social media, newspapers, democracy, net- worked environments, digital divide.

Journal of Media Literacy, 2014, Volume 61, Number 1 & 2

Journal of Media Literacy

Inside Higher Ed, May 16, 2008

Electronic Doctoral Dissertations for UMass …, Jan 1, 2000

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Encyclopedia of Gender in Media, May 21, 2014

Teachers College Record, Apr 1, 2005

Although gender discrimination in all of its manifestations is often thought to be absent from hi... more Although gender discrimination in all of its manifestations is often thought to be absent from higher education, academic institutions are hierarchical organizations that offer rewards, status and privilege, thereby rendering the status of women within these institutions politically and economically vulnerable. With each generation of female academics, the organizational

Since its inception, one of the central tenets of critical media literacy education has been inst... more Since its inception, one of the central tenets of critical media literacy education has been institutional analysis, namely understanding the political and economic power of those who own and control our media systems. While corporate and legacy media have clearly defined owners and producers, few people understand the architecture and practices of new digital media systems. Political elections and public opinion are being shaped by sophisticated means that involve data mining, algorithms, microtargeted ads, psychographics and surveillance. Today, ad buyers and political groups alike can select and target audiences based on a series of personal markers that can include a user’s geo-location, political leanings, and a series of personal interests. Ranging from as many as 1.5 billion daily users of social networks to as few as 20 people, microtargeting services can weaponize ad technology to try to influence consumer and voter behavior in any demographic area. This paper will discuss the need for critical digital media literacy education curricula and initiatives to help apprise students, parents, and educators of data mining services by big tech giants to influence democracy and commerce through microtargeting, political partisanship, and tribalism

Proceedings of ISIS Summit Vienna 2015—The Information Society at the Crossroads, 2015

Introduction As mobile technology, social media, and converged web content drive the new informat... more Introduction As mobile technology, social media, and converged web content drive the new information economy, critical media education for a digital generation has become paramount. As a critical cultural studies educator committed to fostering critical thinking and informed engagement at all levels of ICT, I have created a framework of key questions and issues to formulate a critical pedagogy of digital media literacy education. The goal of my paper is to advocate for the use of this framework to lead us forward into the 21 st century by providing meaning and purpose in our classrooms and communities for citizens and individuals to engage in transformative communication in the information age. As part of a longstanding globalized movement, critical media education for a digital citizenship is predicated upon the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media content and communication in a variety of forms. Rather than teach one-dimensional approaches for using media platforms, critical media education offers us a way to become digitally literate by providing us with the tools through which to examine the political, cultural, historical, economic and social ramifications of all media in a holistic way [1]. While many media literacy approaches overemphasize the end-goal of accessing digital media content through the acquisition of various software, apps and analytics, I argue that the goal for comprehensive and critical digital literacy requires grasping the means through which communication is created, deployed, used, and shared, regardless of which platforms or tools are used for meaning making and social interaction. Drawing upon the intersecting matrices of digital literacy, media literacy, and information literacy, I provide a framework for developing critical multi-literacies by exploring the necessary skills and competencies for engaging as citizens of the digital world. Specifically, I will present a "Top-Ten" list of questions that effectively propel our pedagogical efforts for critical digital literacy forward.

Although much has been written on the theoretical foundations of critical media and information l... more Although much has been written on the theoretical foundations of critical media and information literacy, there is a dearth in terms of the practical ways to incorporate it into the college classroom. This quick fire panel seeks to address this and will provide attendees with varied ways to incorporate critical media literacy and critical information literacy into their classes, address issues of student resistance as well as delineate their own critical media and information literacy influences. Notable writers in the field including Julie Frechette and Jeff Share have agreed to be part of this panel. Spencer Brayton and Natasha Casey will bring perspectives from their critical media and information literacy collaboration. We anticipate an additional two participants

The presentation, with visuals, is based on a course conducted in the spring of 2012 involving re... more The presentation, with visuals, is based on a course conducted in the spring of 2012 involving research on US media coverage of the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam and a trip to Vietnam with US college and high school students to examine those effects firsthand. Conceptually, the purpose of the course was to deepen understanding of the role of omission in shaping common wisdom, or common ignorance. It is standard practice in media literacy education to pose a media clip in front of a class and ask for deconstruction of the messages embedded in that media sample. But what if the media sample is thin air, a void, an absence? How is our learning shaped by what doesn\\u27t appear before us? Or, as one of my students put it, Our country committed one of the worse war crimes of the last century. How can nobody know about it? The absence of information in the mainstream media (and very little in alternative media) presents a special challenge for those teaching media literacy. It is not hard to list numerous other omissions from popular media, such as other US exploits abroad, or the development of mass incarceration during the decades that prison populations exploded. There are no easy solutions to this challenge, but I argue that grappling with the challenge is critical to interrogating the hegemonic worldview of neoliberalism and fostering critical consumers of media. The case of the ongoing effects of Agent Orange, both for US vets and for Vietnamese, is one startling example of what I refer to as mediamnesia - intentional forgetting driven by both commercial and ideological factors that frame news coverage in the mainstream media. There are plenty of other examples, and I would hope that a discussion with participants in this session would generate both case studies and ideas for how to incorporate the notion of omission into critical media literacy pedagogy

Lifelong civic engagement for social change includes feminist approaches to media literacy that e... more Lifelong civic engagement for social change includes feminist approaches to media literacy that encourage critical analysis of corporate media practices that perpetuate gender inequities and injustices. The #MeToo campaign affords a poignant case study for assessing how media literacy activism can unify and mobilize the NetGeneration to challenge antiquated attitudes and behaviors that keep women marginalized in media sectors, public life, and business careers. Along with the slew of celebrity revelations of sexual harassment brought on by the Harvey Weinstein exposé, women -- and some men -- have used hashtag campaigns to share personal stories of sexual harassment and assault. Drawing from what the sexual harassment scandals of U.S. Media Celebrities Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein, and data provided by the 2017 Report of The Status of Women in the U.S. Media, I will analyze the correlation between male domination of corporate media and the continued systematic marginalization and oppression of women within and outside U.S. media enterprises. The goal is to connect media literacy education with feminist scholarship and pedagogy as a catalyst for lifelong civic engagement and social justice activism

Encyclopedia of Gender in Media

Choice Reviews Online, 2016

Electronic Doctoral Dissertations for UMass …, 2000

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Developing Media Literacy in Cyberspace: Pedagogy and Critical Learning for the Twenty-First-Cent... more Developing Media Literacy in Cyberspace: Pedagogy and Critical Learning for the Twenty-First-Century Classroom Book by Julie D. Frechette; 2002. Read Developing Media Literacy in Cyberspace: Pedagogy and Critical Learning for the Twenty-First-Century Classroom ...

The International Journal of Critical Media Literacy

As citizens demand more media literacy education in schools, the criticality of media literacy mu... more As citizens demand more media literacy education in schools, the criticality of media literacy must be advanced in meaningful and comprehensive ways that enable students to successfully access, analyze, evaluate and produce media ethically and effectively across diverse platforms and channels. Institutional analysis in the digital age means understanding who controls the architecture(s) of digital technology, and how they use it. Big data, high tech, and rich transnational global media all need to be carefully studied and held accountable. “Panopticonic” practices such as surveillance, geolocation, data mining, and niche microtargeting need to be studied as information brokers reap huge profits by amalgamating and selling off the data that internet and social media users unwittingly but willingly provide to companies. In light of the growing evidence that online-only networks create filter bubbles and polarization, people will need to interact and mobilize in offline real world spac...

Forum on Public Policy Online, 2009