Our World, whether it be observed or not, whether we want it to be or not, the representation of race in mainstream media from music videos to television and even films depict different cultural groups. Visual imagery in television has increasingly become major outlets in reproducing views and stereotypes that influence popular culture. In this paper, I will argue that gender representations in the well-known Netflix series: Orange Is the New Black, specifically in terms of how women are represented within the series and generally females in media. I then will focus on the Latina racial group and their stereotypes. Therefore, the representation of racially marked female bodies is influenced throughout the present mainstream of media.
Orange Is the New Black is a television series created for the streaming video website called Netflix. The online television provider is known for attracting many users, not only does it include television series but also movies. However, it is a global expansion that allows this specific series to seek attention from each median as well as international audiences. This brings me to my point on how female bodies throughout this series are represented. It explores patterns in representing sexuality and how these representations influence the messages that viewers take away. The portrayal of sexuality is one of the most attention-grabbing aspects of Orange Is the New Black, as an example, at the beginning, the first scene in episode one shows
The concept of gender and race representation in media has reminded me that the representation of people of color is not visible. The push for people of color to act on certain stereotypes shows that the media wants them to be portrayed in a certain way. The media pushes white people into positive leading roles that make it difficult for people of color to gain opportunity. Media uses its power to dissociate themselves on their reasoning on why they do not cast people of color for roles. In their article, “Gender, Race, and Media Representation”, Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hebert states, “Western industrialized societies are stratified by hierarchies of race, gender, and class that structure our social experience” (Brooks & Hebert 298) This hierarchy provides the placement of where people will be casted into media. The representation of gender and race in media has clarified that the hierarchy they have created, has
In today’s entertainment industry, whether it be books, films, advertisements, or television shows, white people are depicted terribly. Likewise, in her essay, Judith Ortiz Cofer tells of her struggles of being a Puerto Rican woman. Men sing songs to her, like “La Bamba” or “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina,” just because she is Hispanic. They think she is promiscuous based on the way that she dresses, but it is really just because it is hot in Puerto Rico.
In television, and almost every other medium the media uses today, there’s a fine line between promoting and properly integrating diversity, and exploiting it. In this paper, I will be critically analyzing the hit television show, Lost, and how in leans more towards exploitation because of its incorporation of token characters from different races and genders, which hurts more than helps our society, particularly American society, in its goal of expelling racism and sexism. The racial and gender stereotypes displayed in the hit television
Television shows, the internet, books, and movies all play an integral role in setting social standards because popular culture affects such a great amount of people. This allows some forms of media, such as online series, to influence people’s thoughts, especially when looking at different stereotypes that can be positive, or negative, A clear example of this can be seen in the popular Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, which follows the story of a wealthy white women, Piper, who is sentenced to jail for drug smuggling. The show's goal is to display how life in prison really is for inmates, but the show does far more than that. Orange is the New Black delves into the racial, ethnic, and sexual constraints that these inmates face, which
Part of the article focuses on African American mothers living in Harlem where 69% are families where the head of the family is the women. These tend to work or get their income from more than one source, and many are still below the poverty line. Many of these women, sho live in low income neighbourhoods on top of these struggle to keep their children away or bring them out of the drug culture in their neighbourhood, since the a lot of the youth tend to be in these cultures. This as well afects their reproduction because some might not want to have children beause their scared of them being eveloped in this drug world. African Americans have twice the rate of infant death compared to the whole america while Central Harlem had three times the amount of death.
Images in media, television especially, are a direct projection of the people who control and project them, which often tends to be white people. “‘We face the problems of images projected by people not of us,’ she said. ‘The media is the most powerful mind-manipulating tool on the earth.’”(Ruby, 18) The perception of black women in the media today can be damaging to the self-image of the young black women of today. During the Black Arts Movement, many artists and poets spoke of how white influence in our lives has created skewed beauty ideals in the African-American community. This white influence tends to harm black women’s images of themselves. Most female images seen in mainstream media are white, thin, tall and just plain gorgeous,
This essay will seek to analyse the way in which the US social and cultural context of race is reflected in contemporary American television. Focusing on the US drama Orange Is the New Black (Netflix, 2013) as a case study, I will seek to explore how American societies’ racial ideologies are still prominent throughout American TV, although 36% of the US population consist of ethnic minority (US Census, 2010). Orange Is the New Black has been “acclaimed for its portrayal of a diverse array of Black, transgender, Latina, working-class, and immigrant characters” (Charlton, 2013). However on release, critics panned the first season when racial stereotypes were negatively performed and reinforced by characters on the show. These two contrasting
Drawing on a rhetorical critical analysis to studying technology, this paper outlines a proposal to research how Orange Is The New Black (OITNB) is affecting the women of the multiple races portrayed in the show. I will also discuss if binge watching can institute cultivation and affect a viewer’s perceptions as a result of constant content exposure. Specifically, I will conduct a rhetorical analysis of symbolic artifacts including, language, images, and gestures displayed in OITNB. To supplement the rhetorical critical analysis, I will conduct in-depth interviews with female OITNB viewers, who are from each race depicted in the show, in which I will ask them questions to solicit their perspectives of the female racial representations presented in the show.
Living in 21st century United States, being a much more liberal and inclusive environment than prior decades, gender “roles” and their normalities are being severely questioned and challenged. Americans have defined and established gender stereotypes that have become a critical part of how we look at gender roles and create biases about each gender. Stereotypes assume people who 'belong ' to a group will appear, behave, look, speak or sound like others from that group. The values, norms, practices, behaviors and traditions associated with the group are shared by all members of the group. For example, gay men are promiscuous, women are maternal and men don 't show emotions. Stereotypes are often dismissive, negative, and they are sometimes
Women are deemed as a “minority” yet make up 51% of the world population and in 2014 made up only 12% of protagonists in films. And that is just on-screen, the percentage decreases as you go farther and farther into behind-the-scenes positions such as directors, cinematographers, and writers. Add race and ethnicity and those characters' percentages decline even more (Lauzen, 2015.) Women in film and television are often portrayed with emphasis based on their body type and in advertisement are largely objectified. The large objectification and misrepresentation of women in the media has led to an offset psychological view of women from growing up to adulthood.
In today’s society, there are intricate and subtle racial patterns in the mass media that show how powerful images play a significant role in shaping the attitudes of Whites toward Blacks. White Americans, they show, learn about African Americans not through personal relationships, but through the images shown by the media. . In short, they conclude that although there are more images of African-Americans on television now than ever, these images are often harmful to the prospect of unity between the races. With the advancement of technology such as advertisement, there has always been a stereotypical view of how women are portrayed in the media. For hundreds of years, women have been viewed as sexual objects in the eyesight of many
For thousands of years, established gender roles have been a part of our society. Women are commonly known as sensitive, emotional, or passive. On the contrary, men are described as rational, competitive, independent, or aggressive. Believing women are more emotional than men is stereotyping. However, the stereotype is not entirely untrue. Development of gender roles is often conditioned more by environmental or cultural factors than by hereditary or biological factors. The development of gender roles between men and women involves the inference of peer community of each gender, the communication style of male and female and the intimacy or connection level of men and women.
Since the invention of television, the media and film industry has contributed to sexually exploit, and oppress woman of color, not only in America but also around the world. There is a great focus on women of color as sexual targets. This is deleterious to society because the media are creating social stereotypes for women of color that can occur in unhealthy social and physical habits. For example, Women of color are sexualized in particular forms perceived as animalistic and sexual with a firm focus on body appearance mainly the posterior. Sexualization has given women an ideal version of who they are supposed to be.
Orange Is the New Black has started to redefine various gender and sexuality expectations that have been concreted in to media for many years. Women are not always portrayed genuinely in mainstream media, many television shows place women on a sexualized pedestal, where they are subject to male gaze due to hegemonic femininity representation. Diane Ponterotto (2016) describes how male gaze can affect media, and social notions, “Through the male gaze, the female body becomes territory, a valuable resource to be acquired,” (p. 147.) Ponterotto continues, mentioning that many women have
How women are perceived by others, and how women perceive themselves, impacts their leadership roles in the work place. Stereotypes and gender biases are themes women have been dealing with for centuries. How women are perceived by social medial and television have been influencing how they are treated by men, and how they view themselves when it comes to taking a leadership role in their organization. According to Omega Institute (2012), “The rapidly shifting landscape of new media and technology, including reality television and celebrity culture, continue to reinforce gender stereotypes” (p. 1). This leads to men still growing up viewing women as home makers versus bread winner. With more women entering leadership roles in the work place they lack the respect from men due to how these men have grown up to know the typical role of a man and woman. Men tend to feel belittled due to the gender stereotypes seen on television, and this leads to women struggling to succeed as a leader with the lack of support from their male counterparts. Lack of confidence with women in the workplace is also influenced and effected by how women are perceived in social media and television. According to Steele (2005), “Exposure to stereotypic commercials persuade women to avoid leadership roles” (p. 276). As young women grow up seeing the typical gender stereotypes they lack ambitions to break the mold and