Stereotypes in the American Media Essay

Female Stereotypes In The Media In the media the most common female stereotypes, are the housewife and the blonde bimbo. The Housewife.

Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

During the Cold War and the War on Terror, the United States of America used the media to depict Soviet and Middle Eastern people as foreign enemies that posed a threat to U.S. national security. The bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 changed the lives of millions of Muslims forever because they began to be targeted by U.S. media corporations. Media corporations started to depict Muslims in the Middle East as terrorists to persuade the American public to wage the War on Terror in the Middle East in order to stop the spread of terrorism and homeland threats, like 9/11, from occurring again. However, even though media corporations portrayed the War on Terror as a justification to defeat terrorism and to protect the

“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.”

Stereotypes are defined as a general idea or image towards a particular race or group of people. It is making a judgment towards the targeted group without even knowing them whether it is about their gender, race, culture, or religion. Stereotypes are harsh and people assume things based on what they hear or see, and the media is a good example at showing the viewers what they want them to see rather than showing them the truth. It affects their image and the stereotypes don't go away, rather they stick to the group like a label and people will forever associate them with the label and its always a negative idea. However focusing more on the cultural stereotypes, people generalize a country based on an action of one person or

However, living in a democratic society there is freedom of choice, independence and social equality is a right and in the age of technological innovation. This is where we get hands on information on any particular subject matter we intend to choose through any form of media. However, what we do not know is how much of the knowledge we consume through mass media is accurately representation of the reality. Stereotypes work well in political campaigns where government takes certain steps as a propagandist to exhibit information to a group of targeted audience in order for them to have a certain view or opinions towards others, which is profitable in any manner for the government itself. However, governments take these steps for various reasons including creating opinions towards other governments, religious affiliated groups, other national citizens, etc and the only reason is for its profitable means whether it is for elections, power or control. For example, 9/11 attacks supports the fact that media demonstrates a

Kimberly A. Powell in her article “Framing Islam: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of Terrorism Since 9/11” has a simple flow chart to show how the American media handlers and the incident. Frequently when faced with acts of violence classified as “terrorism” not committed by Muslims the media instead of using words like “Right wing” or “Left wing” terrorist calls the incident an act of a maligned human being and writes it off as an isolated incident Regardless of the motivations or associations the group or individual person may have. In contrast, if any Muslim commits an act of violence, it then immediately becomes to reference the “threat of Islam” to the American people. Consequently, increasing the fodder used against

Stereotypes have an overwhelming effect especially on the people they are directed towards. Studying stereotypes helps in understanding the factors leading to discrimination of certain people and not others. This is because stereotypes are depictive of opinions that are often passed from one generation to another within a particular culture. Mass media such as television and newspapers form a common source of opinions in the contemporary society (Kotter & Hess, 2012). The media presents messages in steady, repetitive, and compelling manner, making them believable to almost everybody. Stereotyping opinion and depictions from the media can thus have detrimental effects on the

The judgments we make about people, events or places are based on our own direct impressions. But for most of the knowledge, we rely on media. The media actually re-present the world to us. However, the media only shows us some aspects of the world, ignoring the rest. So basically, the media chooses what is to be shown and what is to be discarded (Andrew Pilkington and Alan Yeo (2009)). . In this essay, I will explain what stereotypes are and primarily give an example of a famous men’s magazine called ‘nuts’ and explain how these stereotypes are created by print and the digital media and what are their impacts on people.

Generally, stereotypical representations tend to be harmless images but the issue rises from the lack of apathy from the public to refine theses stereotypes and this attitude comes with a range of consequences and impacts. Stereotypes are pervasive in the world and have devastating consequences. An example is people and the media being so quick to confuse Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners as the same.

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.

We are all aware of the power that media holds to influence people as well as keep people connected to the world outside their rage. This has become the easiest and convenient way to keep public informed and up to date with what is happening in their country as well as outside their country. Although, many powerful people who use media for their public welfare also dominate media. As well as, businesses have adopted techniques for manipulating the public through the propaganda of control over the media. Therefore, with all the sources media has to inform and persuade people, it has become more about making a profit. It has become more and more privatized in many countries, giving more control to the government to get their message across the mass public. “Since September 11, the increase in international tensions and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have created turmoil and fears in immigrant communities, fanned by the media in the context of the war against terrorism”(Rousseau & Jamil, 2008). In this paper I will be talking about the negative effects media has on Americans after the September 11, As well as look at the fear it created among Americans and hate rate towards Islam and Muslims. Also, this led to hate crimes against other non-Muslim minority groups. Furthermore, this discourse has led many young children’s to become Islamophobic and racial towards Muslims.

Each individual harbors a large number of stereotypes and established tendencies; from this arsenal the propagandist must select those easiest to mobilize, those those which will give the greatest strength to the action he wants to precipitate"(Ellul)

People may question the relation between terrorism and American media; the two are more closely analogous than anyone can really comprehend. Terrorism and media have a symbiotic relationship that has a grand scale influence on millions— creating a singular image of the victims and perpetrators to a national audience, which in turn forms stereotypes and stigmas. Media today, thrives on stories of conflict and perfectly, terrorism thrives on gaining