Media Stereotypes

Thesis: Although media is trying to portray ethnicity non-stereotypically and have more diversity in television, it is dissatisfactory because Caucasian characters are still an overwhelming percentage of media and inaccurate stereotypes still portray the ethnic groups.

Everyday people like you or me are affected by media in ways most people are oblivious to. Media shows what they want to show moreover the public is none the wiser. This subconsciously convinces the viewer that what is shown is real and/or the norm. When racial stereotypes are brought into the equation, it can be harmful for one’s self image. With the many forms of media minorities have to face certain stereotypes depending on the circumstance.

Throughout this class I did not know what to expect or what I could gain from it, after the groups we have had I walked out of class each day more informed than when I came in. I absolutely feel that I have changed my entire outlook on the media bias and stereotypes. I felt that before this class I was unaware of how negative these stereotypes and portrayals really were. Almost if I was being selfish for being unaware, because I felt some of these stereotypes or media bias did not affect me. Now that I reflect on what I was thinking at the time, I know better, I especially know that as a woman and person of color, the media and stereotypes equally target us, maybe women more. In this paper, I will reflect on three past groups such as

As a teenager, I have spent a decent amount of my life watching television, movies, browsing the Internet and playing video games. This has shaped the way I think. These sources are wonderful ways of retaining information, but we need to be careful of how we receive it. Not all information we perceive on TV and the Internet are safe and trustworthy. I believe that the information that occurs on today’s media shapes people’s mind into thinking a certain way. The commercials and advertisements on TV offer a false impression of people. Stereotypes in all kinds of media create thoughts in our mind that may not be true. Video games, TV and movies have an influence on kids. Even though the media is the place where we get our information from, we need to learn to filter the good from the bad. The media is a contributing factor in shaping our minds through

Turn on CNN or Fox and Bias pounds you over the head. They each have their own talking heads or political correspondents to decry their “ expert opinions”. Since the advent of the 24 hour news cycle back during the Gulf War, when CNN was launched, the”news- junkie “ was born. News became less of a journalistic report of the facts about what was happening in the world and more about infotainment, it became more biased when Fox news came along and all of the other stations. Media has always been slightly biased according to the owner or publisher of the journal or the media source. The target audience of Fox news is a very conservative group, the aim is to entice them to be infuriated by the opinion of the host and guest. Occasionally a bit of truth is broadcast.. The exact same can be said for the audience of Mother Jones, MSNBC, and other forms of media. The headline grabbing story I have chosen is very important as it is a matter of National Security.

The media does portray Latinos and other underrepresented groups in ways that lead to stereotypes. These stereotypes are portrayed in the news, films, and multiple television shows. These stereotypes are often damaging to the underrepresented group because of literal meaning people will take the stereotype. Television shows like Family Guy uses stereotypes or offensive terms in a joking matter, but these joking matters are viewed by various amount of people. For example, in Family guy there is a very popular Mexican maid by the name of Consuela. Consuela does not know proper English, demands cleaning supplies, has a son in jail, and steals. Do not worry for those who are not Mexican and feel left out; Family Guy harshly portrays basically

In many aspects of society, there are often unfair and inaccurate stereotypes on full display of certain people who belong to various demographics. Media, or more specifically TV shows, are no different in this regard. For example, men are painted out to be leaders, unemotional, and sometimes aggressive individuals who should be admired. Women tend to be shown as secretive and manipulative in order to get their way in a men driven society. It is also noteworthy that several homosexual characters are depicted as attempting to hide the fact that they are homosexual, and as feeble minded, even if the person in question is a male. While many times these stereotypes are untrue of the entire demographic being portrayed, people who attract to popular

“Bringing Down the House” featuring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah is a clever comedy that creatively showcases the sociolinguistic phenomena covered in this course. The film is about a tax attorney named Peter, played by Martin, who stumbles into an online lawyer chat room and meets Charlene, played by Latifah. The two chat frequently, mostly about court cases, and eventually decide to meet in person. When the day finally comes, Peter is greeted at the door with who he thought would be a middle-aged Caucasian woman, but happened to be Charlene, a black woman who just escaped from prison. Thinking this was a mistake, Peter tries to kick out Charlene but is later convinced she is the one who he was speaking with in the chat room. Charlene

Does the media affect the way you look at the people around you, with different ethnicity, a different race and or culture? The perfect opportunity to hinder the lense of individuals is given when African Americans get murdered by police officers and individuals upload the scenes online. In today’s times, individuals have probably watched a Disney movie, especially children. As a famous quote states, “You can not teach old dogs new tricks.” Children are the easiest to persuade mainly because their brain has not fully matured. Directors understand that children are easy targets, similarly to news reporter who know how to catch the attention of an audience, persuading the way you see other people.

The mainstream media focuses on the viewers and what the viewers would like to know. Most people watch the news to obtain information about what is going on in the world. If the topic that is brought up on the news sounds interesting or sounds like it will affect the viewer will watch to see what is happening. Appealing to the emotions of the viewer will make the person want to know more and see what will happen. The consumers of the information tend to believe what they see or hear. Viewers tend to believes these sources because a news network may be based on the same political views as the viewer. Some people will not watch certain news networks because of what is put out there about the political aspect of the world. Although that is one of the reasons viewers watch the news, the views may just be watching this one news network because it may be the only network available to the person. Viewers care about can be seen with the eyes, since not everything a person

We are currently living in a time period were seeking truth became one of the toughest things you can ever get. Imagine you knew nothing about a certain culture or country, and all you knew about it were few biased opinions delivered from your local media. This is the media today. I was a lucky guy when I had the opportunity to work in that field and experience how certain ideas wanted to be carried to the people. I originally come from Kuwait, but I was born in New York. I worked in Ministry of Information when I was 17 year old and became a public figure because I was one of the youngest individuals to work in the Ministries history. One thing I learned was, media can convince the overall population with the ideas and perspectives that they desire.

The world of higher education is often the next step towards achieving the goals and dreams that we have set for ourselves. This world is, for a majority of individuals, the first time in their lives where they have near complete control of the choices they make. However, “the stereotypes written about’ and viewed ‘concerning college students tend to delineate between academic mission, student activities and abilities, and the tension between an institutions’ academic mission and students’ projected participation.” (n.a, 2014) Those stereotypes, and the perception of college life, as portrayed by movies and other popular media, can inadequately prepare students for challenging life choices which could lead to the use and potential abuse of mind-altering substances.

Racism is mostly expressed as being harsh or indifferent to one of another race or the opposite gender. Racism was supposedly resolved after the north beat the south in the Civil War. The word racism has gradually become less common as the word stereotype has become more popular. Stereotyping has the same concept of racism, but the person stereotyping is not harsh or vocal. The person that is stereotyping a group of people has a fixed image of how that group will act. Stereotyping is very common in today’s society. As more and more people gain easier access to communicate via social media this problem has been growing. As evidence by women, Muslims, and African- Americans there is a direct correlation between social media and racial stereotyping as they both continue to exceed humanistic limits.

Put differently, it illustrates how media saturated the world is, and thus how prolific the skinny paragon is. Thus, the overwhelming body ideals presented by the media translate to an equally overwhelming presence of these ideas in the real world. This universality of this notion can affect females’ physical health because when they start to lose weight to attain the “optimal” weight, it can cause health problems and problems with eating. The impact on the mental and emotional health is, when they cannot lose the weight, they acquire a lower sense of self esteem, more so than it already is. In terms of social health there is a fear that being overweight and obese can lead to less social interactions due to the negative societal stereotypes

Early research on the uses and gratifications of mass media focuses on the media consumption of audiences, to satisfy their own needs and what motivates them to select the different forms of media.