Racial And Gender Stereotypes In Popular Media

Your television and computer are controlling every choice you make. Scary thought? Everyday Americans log into their computer or turn on their TV and are fed information from our trusted media. In fact, a Marshall survey states, “By 2015, it is estimated that Americans will consume both traditional and digital media for over 1.7 trillion hours, an average of approximately 5 and a half hours per person per day.” Unknowingly at times, we are allowing our media to shape the choices we make, the ways we see others, and the way we view ourselves. With most of Americans unaware of the media's control on their choices and views, this can be an alarming realization. Media has a major impact on multiple parts of our society.

Popular culture is defined as “a composite of all the values, ideas, symbols, material goods, processes, and understandings that arise from mass media” (Atkins 131). It is well-known to the public and reinforces the way people see they world, including aspects such as race, ethnicity, and gender. According to Omi, popular culture “deals with the symbolic realm of social life, the images which it creates, represents, and disseminates contribute to the overall racial climate” (540). The individuals or groups belong to a specific race can be perceived based on their behavior portrayed by the mass media, instead of being recognized for who they truly are. Such effect created by the popular culture contributes to what is known as “racial stereotype”, which is “beliefs about differences in behavior associated with racial differences” (Jones 982).

Throughout the course, we have learned many different communication topics – most of which have struck a great interest in me. But, the one topic that I found the most interesting was Media Literacy because of not only how in depth it can be, but also how much of an impact it can actually have on everyday lives. In the article Intervening in the Media’s Influence on Stereotypes of Race and Ethnicity: The Role of Media Literacy Education by Erica Scharrer and Srividya Ramasubramanian, they review research conducted to see how media literacy in education affects individuals thought process and creates stereotypes. The two research questions Scharrer and Ramasubramanian wanted to answer was, “can media consumers’ examination of the principles and practices behind media production, media content, and media reception facilitate critical analysis of media’s treatment of underrepresented social groups and open up their views of race and ethnicity?” and, “Might media literacy education help to increase knowledge and/or shape attitude about media’s roles and practices pertaining to race and ethnicity?” (172). These topics were discussed mostly in chapters 9 and 11, as well as chapter 10.

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.

The main argument for this text is that racial stereotypes are inherent in media and electronic media through the perpetuation of racial stereotypes, which can have social implications towards the targeted users. The following related ideas support this argument:

Pop culture is a broad perspective of how society is perceived today. It plays a major role in society, especially on our youth. It paints an image of how one should look, act, and perceive the world and their surroundings; also persuading a group of individuals into accepting and pursuing a financial way of living. The pop culture is involved in our everyday life whether we are aware or not. From watching television, listening to the radio, or even surfing the internet, it’s always here. The internet is one of the most used technology to keep up with the pop culture, from finding the newest sneakers releasing out, the most popular cellular devices used, and trying to live a lavish lifestyle. We tend to minimize what really the effect of pop has on us negatively.

How often do we find ourselves laughing at an inappropriate stereotype that is promoted in the media? It seems that as we continue to move through time, stereotypes in the media become more and more prominent. Some find them as forms of ‘comic relief’ while others, including myself, see them as another way to showcase our ignorance of the people and world around us. The stereotype that revolves around Indians, also known as South Asians, tends to be the most recognizable. In order to understand this stereotype in the media, we will focus on the typical stereotypes that involve this group of people, why we stereotype against Indians, and ways it effects future generations.

The first Academy Award ever obtained by a black American occurred in 1940 during the 12th annual Academy Awards. Hattie McDaniel prevailed in the category of Best Supporting Actress through her depiction of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. This happened during the times of The Amos 'n ' Andy Show, a radio broadcast along with a television program regarding two African American fellows performed by Caucasian men. In what way can an actress accomplish the peak of achievement whilst the color of her skin is being exploited to degrade people of her ilk? The discovery for the solution lies in analyzing scholarly reviews, journals, newspapers, movies, primary actors and directors involved in the filmmaking process that depicts this racial enigma. Black Stereotypes in film have always been rooted in films since cinema’s genesis but for this research, I will be focusing on Classical Hollywood era leading into Blaxploitation movement.

A lot of things can be said about food such as they cause cancer, obesity and it can be addicting (Liebman, 2016). These kinds of claims are put in our heads almost every day, whether we realize it or not. The fact that we are exposed to claims of negative context raises a concern that the source of health information comes from is presented with adverse ideas (Nagler, 2014). The role of the media plays a major role in how an individual receives and processes health claims regarding nutrition. Previous studies have shown that, “16.4% of news coverage provides contrasting views and that coverage with conflicting viewpoints has increased in recent decades” (Chang, 2013). These conflicting viewpoints presented to individuals can cause many effects and will make the individual question the claim they are processing. This contradicting and unpredictable information regarding research increasingly means that a certain media that covers one perspective can be taken out context and will almost always be biased (Chang, 2013).

From an early age, we are presented with images from all sources that attempt to define what is gender appropriate. The media reinforces those stereotypes by the use of colors, pictures, and even fonts in published advertising. This paper will review a selection of images from websites and recent magazine displays to document the current trends and gender stereotypes promoted in the world of media today.

Not all political information the media conveys is positive. The difference in coverage from the media can generate a change within the voting behavior of the public. By examining studies that have dove deep into the relationship between the negative media content and voting behavior, one can identify different causal relationship between the two. Elenbaas and Devreese (2008) developed a study analyzing strategic news exposure, political criticisms, and the effects on young voters. Through their analysis, they generated findings of negative media content leading to a “NO Vote”. The results additionally established a relationship that generated a greater chance for younger voters’ political opinions to change, in contrasted to older generations.

Maintaining gender stereotype messages as well as the lack of knowledge concerning the effects of popular culture is a difficult approach of trying to understand gender identities especially to children's. Therefore, it is important for children's educators to understand the challenges and effects of popular cultures to help them improve their conception about gender identities. This understanding will also ensure appropriate and efficient learning resource usage in incorporating the popular culture phenomenon. The resources to be used should encourage exploration and acknowledgement of various gender identities. Example, in the environment, can be recommended that other colours be used instead only the blue for boys and pink for a girl.

Everybody is expected to fit a certain role in society just because of their appearance, race, gender, religion and many more. This is called gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are displayed everywhere. Some examples are through images, advertisements, videos, and many more. Even though the media continues portraying the stereotype that women are supposed to be skinny and have an hourglass body shape to be considered attractive, more than 60% of women naturally possess different body shapes, making this stereotype illogical.

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.

Media has been an important part of society since the beginning of published written communication. Before the 1920s, mass media were strictly relegated to newspapers, due to technical limitations. Over the last 100 years, media has expanded to include radio, television, motion pictures, and magazines. Regardless of the form, at least in the United States, the content of said media is reflective of society as a whole, while including the views of the owners and influencers of the companies that produce media. These views include stereotypes and perceptions the owners have about different people, which spans across all races. The stereotypes and perceptions expressed through the media all affect different races in different ways, some more negatively than others. The effects of media on different races can be best explained through the stereotypes and perceptions they enforce through news reports, entertainment, and print media.