Social Construction And Its Impact On Society Essay

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

Social class has been always been in our society since its establishment. Back then, white,

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.

Social Construction is defined by Society: the Basics as “the process by which people creatively shape reality through social

The social construction theory is based on the reality that the society has created that may seem obvious to a person who agrees to it. In other words, our life experiences and interaction towards others is the way we create our reality through social interaction. This means that we were not born with this sense of knowledge, but was taught through social interaction and our life experiences (Orem 2001a, 7). Social construction is based on the categories of difference which are race, gender, and social class (Ore, 2011a: 8).

As society continues to advance, it is evident that technology is vital to the facilitation of everyday living. In today’s media, minorities are constantly being represented in a negative light. Those who fall victim to this tend to be Latinos and African Americans. In the news, there are many aired reports of acts of violence that are portrayed as being committed either by an African American or a Latino. Entertainment media also does its part in showing minorities through negative stereotypes and are underrepresented in important leading roles. Both tend to be seen as antagonist characters or minor characters, while others, such as Anglos usually play leading protagonist roles. Mass media has an influence on how society sees Latinos and African Americans because these perceptions of minorities are constantly shown. Sociological studies on the content analysis of mass media have confirmed that negative portrayal of minorities helps to perpetuate radical prejudices and sustain their low status. Furthermore, it is important for Latinos and African Americans to be given equal opportunities to be positively portrayed.

The media has become the world’s largest oppression outlet. Whether it be through movies, TV shows, or real-life news, the media has become capable of shifting one’s view on either yourself or other groups of people. Types of oppression that can result from the media include, but are not limited to, internalized oppression and interpersonal oppression. Internalized oppression is when a member of an oppressed group believes and acts out the stereotypes created about their group. Interpersonal oppression, on the other hand, is the belief that one group of people are superior to another group of people. Essentially, the media broadcasts ideas from interpersonal oppression and causes internalized oppression through the

The macrosystem is describing the cultural world along with ethnicity and the economic status. (Hutchison, 2016) Considering how I had a very wide range of diverse friends it helped me to develop and grow within my macrosystem. In my opinion, I feel that my macrosystem really needed to have a diverse background seeing as how when in the social work field, I will be working with all types of people, from different religious views and cultural background. I also feel the social constructionist perspective can go along with this system as well. According to Hutchison, social constructionist perspective helps see human understanding as the product and the driving force of social interaction. (Hutchison, 2016) During my junior leading up to my graduation

In order to understand the current issue involving certain groups being incorrectly portrayed in media, it is important to first understand exactly what mass media is. There are a variety of technical definitions for the term “mass media.” According to Britannica, “Media is used to pass on information to many people in a society” (“Media”). Merriam-Wenster claims media is a “mean of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people” (“Mass Medium”). Recently, a spike of innovations has led to an increase of possible methods of communication that can be inducted into the field of mass media. Tomi Ahonen, an author on telecommunications and technology, popularized the term “Seventh of the Mass Media” to prove that cellphones are a new form of mass media. This has made the world more familiar with the different categories of media. The seven designated forms include print, recordings, movies, radio, television, internet, and cellphones (Duarte). If more people in the world contained this knowledge of media, it might be more easily understood the effect it can have on so many. In addition to knowing what media is in today’s age, it is also important to fully understand misrepresentation.

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

There are several theories created by many thinkers of our time that believes that societal, financial, and social arrangements and/or structures as the main cause of criminal behavior. In society, depending on where you are, there are usually some unwritten norms that are expected to be followed. It can be in a business corporation, out in the streets, at home. Usually there will be two sets of norms that is expected to be followed that causes an individual to feel torn. However, the feeling of being torn is the inner battle of doing the right thing, conscience or keeping yourself alive.

The media portrays stereotyping and prejudice on the television, radio, and newspapers. What people read and watch easily impacts their perception of the world, studies show that “regular televisions viewers reveal a strong association between their exposure to the local or national newscast and their racial attitudes and perceptions” (Parrillo, 2016). The biggest stereotype I’ve witnessed in the media is specific gender roles, for instance, males are associated with the work-oriented and masculine characters and the women are associated with the love and family-oriented roles. Not only does the media portray gender roles but they also portray race related parts. For example, African Americans play the unfortunate criminals who are always violent, and white people play rich, content, and outgoing characters. If the media didn’t portray such a negative perception of certain ethnics and races, I truly believe fewer people would act in prejudicial way and stereotype other

Media representations include the ways in which the media portrays particular groups. When gender is viewed through the lens of media representations, the disparity between male and female gender portrayal is evident. Media, technology, and social media are also used to misrepresent and to underrepresent gender identity. To understand the inequality of gender representation as examined through the media today, one must look at the history of the relationship between the forms of mass communication and their effect on gender perception. One must also recognize the current state of gender inequality in media, including patterns that demonstrate a long history of biased portrayals of gender in today’s society.

Social constructionist use the term social construction to imply that our understanding of the world in which we live is constructed from the social interactions we have on a daily basis. In reference to identity, social constructionist theory (SCT) proposes that we as social beings actively construct our identities using social tools as the means in which to construct our identities, the foremost one being language.

As a Communication major, I spend a lot of time studying the human communication process, which is the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between a receiver and sender. This communication process does not only apply to face-to-face interactions but also includes mass media, rhetorical, and technological communication. Through these various forms of communication, the sender not only expresses his/her message but also expresses power hierarchies about race, gender, and sexuality that are present in society. Mass media has a significant impact on socializing gender roles and perpetuating gender stereotypes, and to prove that, I am analyzing mass media messages, such as television shows, movies, and advertisements.