Othering Through Media

Media as a whole has evolved alongside with the growth of technology, that give us new ways to interact with each other with social sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc… It also gives way for individual to get more information to get in touch with our culture. But often times, some of the information were given to us by media can be ignored and interpret it differently than the original meaning, especially the depiction of minorities in media. It is hard to watch any form of media in today's society without seeing some kind of injustice toward minorities or the representation portrayal of that particular minorities in the form of entertainment value without being analytical and invoke some kind of negative reaction toward that kind of representation.

All throughout time people have been “the other.” Pratt refers to the other as being “Someone who is perceived by the dominant culture as not belonging, as they have been

In today’s world, the exchange of information between individuals is largely based on the media alone. Conversations are held through social media sites, the news channels become the deliverers of new waves of specifically chosen stories, and the rest of the media effects the subconscious of the society. Movies, television shows, and “general” knowledge contribute to the rest of the mass media that affects the minds of people. The subconscious of the people can form the characteristics of the young and solidify ideas within the older population. The problem of the current society is that the subconscious ideas transferred to the media is particularly in the favor of Caucasians. This excludes people of African descent, Latinos, Asians, and other recognizably new minorities such as transgender. The overall effect of this subconscious problem is not very measurably but it can have disastrous consequences within each respective culture. Among all the minorities listed, African Americans and people of African descent have a tendency to be the most often misrepresented.

The essay “Being an Other” was written by Melissa Algranati. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Birmingham and has a master’s degree from Colombia University. The reason as to why she wrote this particular essay was to discuss and describe her experiences of not fitting easily into any particular identity group. Her intended audience are those individuals who seem to have difficulties feeling part of a group. The text was originally published in Thomas Dublin’s “Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic: College Students Explore Their Roots.” Algranati’s identity crisis led her to publish this essay and more importantly show what it was like to be mistaken for another ethnic background. She goes on to make the noteworthy argument,

Few people are going to openly admit to being prejudice against people of other races, gender, and religions. However that doesn’t stop many of us from having unintentional racist thoughts. In 1979, Henri Tajfel, a social psychologist, proposed that “the groups which people belonged to are an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.” This ideal of categorizing and subconsciously labeling ourselves is better known as “Social Identity Theory”. Tajfel continues by saying “In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong. For example, England is the best country in the world! We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views against the out group (the group we don’t belong to). For example, the Americans, French etc. are a bunch of losers! Therefore, we divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups). This is known as in-group (us) and out-group (them). Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image.” We all unintentionally discriminate against others that are in the “out-group”, and by doing this we are excluding ourselves from certain religions, cultures, races, and even genders. This ideal of labeling ourselves can be traced back to childhood and factors such as where we

Othering is an anthropological term referring to the practice of intrinsically classifying people consciously or otherwise as inferior and alien to the social identity of one’s self. Edward Siad (1978) characterized othering as the western construction of non-western cultures as the other, as alien, distant, and irrational. This explores the idea that othering is a creation of the west to present itself at the top of the social hierarchy, against backwards, non-compatible, non western cultures that pose a threat to its social and cultural values. This characterization correlates with the Australian news medias conclusive othering of individuals of non-Christian faith, most predominantly in recent times, Muslims. This piece explores the way

I would argue that Dana Mastro’s 2015 article titled ‘Why the Media’s Role in Issues of Race and Ethnicity Should be in the Spotlight’ makes an important contribution to our understanding of the media’s role in the construction of perceptions of racial and ethnic groups and how these perceptions effect the social position of the people that they are about .This is largely because the media plays a huge role in an individual’s daily lives and it is very difficult to avoid its influence, at least partly, due to its frequency at which it is consumed. Moreover it provides a very good overview of many of the issues regarding race and inequality which makes it very good for Its intended purpose, to encourage further research into the area as the writer sees it as important. First Mastro argues that ‘media exposure has been determined to play a meaningful role in matters ranging from the construction and maintenance of racial/ethnic cognitions (and emotions), to expectations about intergroup relations, to policy decision making, to perceptions of self and identity’ (Mastro,D.2015.pg.1/2) .

Television is regarded as a significant source of information that plays an influential role in formulating an individuals social reality. As a tool that conveys the simulations of every day life it “may become a part of our social experience and serve as a basis for social judgements such as racial attitudes and ethnic stereotypes” (Fujoka, 52). Stereotypes are explained as widely held beliefs about a particular person or group. Research shows that “television images of minority groups might affect minority members’ self-concept and racial awareness” (Fujoka, 54). The portrayal of minorities on television were deemed by minority groups as a conception of socially existing beliefs toward their racial group. As such, television may have perhaps

Many, if not most, of the people in today's generation are constantly judged by others and even themselves based on what their identity comprises of. The concept of racial injustice and inequality among ethnic minorities constantly fills the media. Women's rights issues seem to arise rapidly whenever a single female is mistreated in the slightest way. The debate on homosexuality is also an enormous topic in our social lives today, with millions of supporters for it, but also millions against it. This internal segregation within our own human population is nothing new, since it has been continuing ever since verbal and written communication with each other has existed. All these components, and many more, are a huge part of what identifies a

All throughout time people have been “the other.” Pratt refers to the other as being “Someone who is perceived by the dominant culture as not belonging, as they have been

Devroe (2004) was concerned with how minorities respond to stereotypical representations of themselves in media. A positive response would likely lead them to feeling included, make the message more personally relevant, and give credence to it. In his research he found that when minorities see negative portrayal of their culture or ethnicity they tend to feel excluded, not taken seriously, and not valuable as audience members (Devroe,

Othering is the social outcasting of those who are different then the masses. This is the justification behind such events as the holocaust, segregation and assimilation. Today many books illustrate this. The book The Things They Carried,Tim O’Brian portrayed a character named Mary in the Sweetheart Song of Tra Bong. In Muas authored by Art Spiegelman the jews are othered in the most horrific way. Cristina Henriquez in her novel The Book of Unknown Americans she depicts the character Maribel is other because of her mental disability.

The popular culture particularly visual media affects our opions and attitude towards race and racial minorities group. our assumptions about race and racial minorities are both successeded and reflected in the streotypes presented by the visual media. i strongly believe in the George Gebners scientific examintaiton of televison that how we perceive ourselves and how we view those around us are affected by what we see on television. Visual media has such a heavy impact on us that even though they present a grossly distorted picture of the real world. people tend to accept more readily than reality itslef. the popular culture deals with symbolic realm of social life, the image which it creates, represents

This paper intent to explore ideas of “Othering” from Stuart Hall and the effect that being marginalised has on the individual's possibility to successfully construct a positive cultural identity.

JL MC 477 has influenced my thoughts and perspectives of how the media represents diverse cultures, ethnicities, social classes, and even gender. This course has helped me clarify how and why the media identifies each group with their own stereotype or portrayal. Before the course, I had a general idea of what the media portrayed specific groups as, but now I am able to understand deeper because this course enhanced my thinking and analysis of each one. I have become aware that many of the portrayals of these groups from the media reflect reality.