Diversity In The Media Essay

Racism, plays a big part in the media. It is a hierarychial system that is organized to benefit white people because they are “superior” and anything other than that is seen as inferior. “black women are one of the most devalued female groups in american society and thus they have been the recipient of a male abuse and cruelty that has known no bounds or limits” (aint I am women bell hooks 108). Black women experience racism, but also go through other struggles people are not aware of. These struggles include things like: colorism and cultural appropriation.

This paper is going to look in to the role mass media plays in how women of color and adolescents see themselves. My sources will give insight to how black women are directly and indirectly affected by the media. Stereotypes of black women shape how they see themselves but also how others see and treat them. Although mass media affects black women, ethnic media is shown to play a much bigger role in determining our self- image. Ethnic media can have a negative or positive affect based off how strong your ethnic identiy is. Others tend to have their standards on what being black and beautiful means. This leads to colorism in the black community. Women of color have had stereotypical images that demonized and dehumanized them throughout history.

“Miss Representation” is a documentary film that is made by Jennifer Seibel Newsom. This film talks about many issues from the roles of females in politics, and the ways in which media negatively impacts women. The film examines how the media have contributed to the underrepresentation of women. Therefore, eventually, the film is persuading people to be open-minded, and study how media affects our perception, judgment, and behaviors. The targeted audience of this film is all people who live in America. People should be convinced to change their mind about stereotypes on women. Jennier effectively convinces the audience that the mainstream media has mainly contributed to the under-representation of women through the use of statements claimed

Have you ever noticed the recurring stereotypes of black women that is portrayed on reality television? Everyday you can look on television and tune into any network and see the madness that goes on. Whether it be Love and Hip Hop, Bad Girls Club, or The Real Housewives of Atlanta, you  can see the exaggerated confrontations and animated expressions given off by these women. Media stereotypes of the angry black women have become more persuasive in recent years than ever before. If we as a whole stop these television networks from promoting dangerous stigmas on black women, we can increase the amount of positive representation of women of color drastically in television, advertising, and social media.

Society is okay with the mistreatment of women in the media because it has been seen as an accepted form of communication within the past. Whether it is through sexualizing a female in a Karl’s Junior commercial, or calling Taylor Swift a “slut” for dating men, there is a lack of understanding of why the media is problematic. As society becomes more progressive, it should be expected that the perceptions of females should also change as well. It is completely unfair to criticize someone is such a powerful position because she may have messed up in the past, human beings are not perfect, and they are flawed. Except in this culture, we accept the flaws that males make but make a huge scene whenever a female does something that might not be inherently right. Donald Trump, another contender in the 2016 Election, is seen on multiple instances mocking women for their appearance and completely stripping all females’ attributions when he sexualizes them. If Clinton were too make such crude comments about males to the media, she would be torn apart but because Trump is a white rich male, he holds himself as if nothing can affect him. These double standards are not only problematic because they continue to objectify women, but they are problematic because the feed into the systematic oppression that the United States holds so closely. Of course, I acknowledge

In article 37, the author Marci points out an issue that women still face today. She discusses a new form of racism using media. She examines the progression of the “Jezebel” image. Popular media suggests that equality has been reached but in my opinion this is far from the truth. The problem remains at a deeper level that even some people might still not find a problem with the way that media portrays women of color. The issue is not just about an abundance of negative images that portray these women but the lack of positive ones as well.

Women are largely represented in the media through blogging, which can be one form of media that can be used specifically to target women by reinforcing patriarchal gender roles. Many blogs enforce the idea that only one kind of lifestyle - that of exercising and cleaning house - can make you happy, and that women should always be happy (Source C). This type of forced stereotypes can be damaging to women, insisting that women need to fall in line with oppression. As far as movie and show portrayals, women are often simplistic, one-sided characters cast as the potential love interest, and black male characters tend to be depicted as frightening and wild (Source D). Both of these ideas reinforce stigmas that can and do affect how people think about

In many ways, black women are often stereotyped and misrepresented especially in media. The way black women are often perceived or categorized has been nonetheless consistent. However, their misrepresentation is often the opposite of what black women are or how black women live their life daily. At the same time the media has driven the imagery of black women to the point where everyone assumes that’s their true nature. In the article “Why Can’t Ads Get Black Women Right” by Saaret E. Yoseph she explains how black women are misrepresented in TV commercials (a form of the media).

It is safe to say that media has come a long way from where it once started, in terms of diversity. For so long, media did not start display actual representations of minorities, and people of color until now. Television shows such as Dear White People, Blackish, Jane the Virgin, and Modern Family, and movies like Black Panther are all strong examples of inclusivity in media, something that has been absent for quite some time. While media has become more open to diversity and representation over time, the misrepresentation of African Americans in the media is still a greater issue than most may recognize. The lack of representation not only leads to the continuance of stereotypes, but induces a negative effect on black identity, and shapes

African American females are usually given the characteristics of someone who is either loudmouthed, an angry black women, tough, ghetto, a single mother/ “baby mommas” who are in the lower class society, or someone who is dirty (Shields) (The Huffington Post). When it comes to the media, black women are misinterpreted negatively and it’s time for society to change this depiction of them. But how do we do this? Instead of the media making African American women “baby mommas” and “angry black women”, they should portray them as successful beautiful women. Writer Shonda Rhimes in fact does portray African American women positively and empower them within the roles they play in television shows. Rhimes is the writer of Scandal, which is a television show with a strong African American female who’s main character is Kerry Washington but known as Olivia Pope in the show. Pope is a strong, highly-educated and successful black women who is the CEO of Pope& Associates and knows what she wants in life (The Huffington Post). Many African American females look up to her as well as other young women. They love the strong attitude she attributes to herself and how she is a business women with confidence and dresses to impress at all times. If more writers of television shows or movies gave African American women strong female roles like

In a society that’s struggling to become less controversial, the pressure to be inclusive is heavy on all forms of media. Unfortunately, there are still disparities in the ways that minority groups and women are represented in the media. When we look at the ways women are portrayed in today’s media, we see that gender roles are still very prevalent. For example, in shows such as Mad Men, we see distinct gender roles such as the housewife who cooks and takes care of the children and her husband. Granted, this show takes place in the 1960s.

“People learn more from media than any other single source of information” (Missrepresentation). This quote exemplifies how society learns and creates their standards about people, places, and things. All sources and mediums of media impact billions of lives every day. The media holds this power over society and it’s time to change that; especially when it comes to the media’s view of women. Women are constantly being misrepresented. This misrepresentation of women in the media is negatively impacting America by corrupting both the youth and adults. This is occurring because of the hyper-sexualization of women, wrongly portraying women in leadership positions, and creating stereotypes of women in movies and television.

Racial diversity in the media, a genuine look at how the media portrays different races. The loose words used to describe each culture in the media. Media has three main forms the internet, television and the news in print. Dependent on which one you use the view may can sway one way or another. Recent media has been reluctant on processing the news straight forward. The spin of information for ratings causes viewers to look past their favorite news. Viewers now take a look at all sources to get a better understanding of events happening in the media.

Diversity in media has been a topic of concerns for years now. The diversity across all areas of media has seen significant change from that of the 50’s and 60’s. Comparatively, media representation has seen somewhat of a golden age in regards to diversity. Unfortunately, despite the progress we have made as a nation, we still have a ways to go in regards to properly diversifying our various forms of media. There are a few ways in which we can begin to diversify the how media is produced and well as how it is viewed. The media will need to get away from the status quo, media needs to portray a collective view and finally proper education and insight into the mindset of the target audience will help diversify the media.

The media has always played a pivotal role in providing information regarding anything that’s happening around in the world. However, the Australian media seems to have lacked at various aspects when it comes to matters regarding the representation of the Indigenous Australia. The Australian media has always managed to focus on the amazing wilderness that surrounds Indigenous Australia but rarely has there been any detailed curiosity relating to their culture and history. Aboriginal History is being completely overshadowed by ‘the mainstream Australia’ and its landscape. Not only their history but their voices are not heard through media very often as well. Along with that, racial stereotype is another big problem resulting in poor media representation of Aborigines. With the population as low as 1%, many Australians may go through their entire life without knowing anything about Aboriginal Australians, let alone meeting one. So, their knowledge about Aboriginals completely depends upon the media representation. They still only get their information about the Indigenous Australia through the media. Therefore, it would be seemed best that the media show an honest picture of what is life for an Aboriginal Australian.