The Transformation Of The Role Of Media Production On Race And Ethnicity Over A Century

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

The 1987 film documentary Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs, identifies the evolution of African American cultural depictions through ethnic stereotypes and caricatures in American culture. I feel Ethnic Notions exposes the roots of false generalization from the beginning and presents a series of classifications for racial depictions that still are noticeable in today's society. These racial depictions identified with in this film begin in the mid 1800's and continue thought to the 1960's. I now after viewing Ethnic notions agree that there are generalizations and depictions that are exaggerated in American popular culture and entertainment.

All African-Americans have been portrayed in stereotypical roles since their arrival into American society for the entertainment and amusement of others. Many people find it difficult to appreciate the diversity of the African American women. So instead of trying to do this, they create identities based on negative stereotypes. There are several negative stereotypes associated with the African American woman. The Mammy archetype is the one chosen to be analyzed in this essay. Collins described the mammy as “-the faithful, obedient domestic servant. Created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves and sustained to explain Black women’s long-standing restriction to domestic service…” (72) She is commonly seen trying to soothe

Race in the media is a very sensitive issue now a days. When it comes to minorities we can still see that the media portrays us in a bad light. The image of blacks in the American media has changed over the past two decades with the civil rights movement, changes in attitudes towards minority groups, and increased sensitivity on the part of those who and project these images. An examination of the image of Blacks in the articles and advertisements to show attitudes subtly represented, and these attitudes can be linked to historical and social realities of the time.

The term Jezebel, a seductive female slave concerned only with matters of the flesh, was used as a means of excusing miscegenation, the sexual exploitation of African American women, and the mulatto population (61). The term Mammy, the premier house servant with expertise in all domestic matters and known for the loving way she raised the master’s children, was used to symbolize race and sex relations at their best. The image of Mammy justified slavery for many white Southerners, for she reflected a positive idea that slaves somehow benefited from the institution of slavery (61).

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) .

The media is indirectly behind the misrepresentation of visible minorities. TV series, blockbuster movies or reality shows are created to attract audiences and make profit. Since white-Caucasians occupy the major population of Western countries, TV shows are made mostly for them. Moreover, customers have a tendency to watch shows with white leading roles on the posters. However, the franchise Fast and Furious – whose main cast is broadly diverse – contradicts this argument. The series has grossed to almost $4 billion around the world. In addition to that, a recent study by Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles found that movies with a higher diversity can result in higher box office

Because of blacks’ marginality at the time in economics and politics, white Americans, including white businesses, believed they could malign African Americans. This helps to explain the use of derogatory advertisings using insulting black images during this period. Some white companies as a part of their regular advertising featured blacks with exaggerated physical characteristics in their

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.

Mastro, D. (2015). Why the Medias Role in Issues of Race and Ethnicity Should be in the Spotlight. Journal of Social Issues, 71(1), 1-16. doi:10.1111/josi.12093

Since the 1900’s the media has been used to deliver, throughout the nation, negative racial stereotypes about black Americans that have been shaping a distorted image of African Americans. In the 1940s, caricature such as: the mammy, the sambo, the coon, the uncle, and the pickaninny, were the most popular distorted portrayals of black Americans. This misrepresentation of black Americans have been used for the advantage of the white supremacy and politics for centuries. The media's continuing distortion of black American’s image still is a problem of the present.

Ramasubramanian and Scharrer’s key concepts were regarding the theoretical definitions and development of media literacy education (2015). Much of the existing literature these researchers examined provided young people’s reaction to media perceptions of ethnic stereotypes and stigmas. Ramasubramanian and Scharrer discuss how media literacy can provide a rationale for the role that media plays in reproducing stereotypes and ethnic misrepresentation. Kavoori’s (2007) found that while students were capable of spotting the stereotypes and racial slurs in media productions, when asked to create their own production of media, the results portrayed these same stereotypes seen in mass media. Researchers in this area of study typically use methodologies such as focus groups, interviews or discourse analysis’. I will be using a discourse analysis to determine how media portrays different ethnic groups and stereotypes. Hobbs, Cabral, Ebrahimi, Yoon, and Al-Humaidan (2010) gathered students to do interviews on them in order to look further into the potential that media literacy has to lessening stereotypes. On the other hand, Vargas (2006) dealt with Latina women to target the media representation of Hispanic women through the use of ethnographic, in-depth

Since we live in a multicultural society, meaning that we are constantly faced with ‘the other’, we often turn to media as a source to gather information about this unfamiliar other. Arguing that media have the potential to shape people’s perception of social relations and groups, this paper contains a literature review on the relation between media and the portrayal of ethnic minorities. By

The definition of race is often based on physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture and eye shape. Race is both a set of genetically defined biological characteristics and culturally defined characteristics. One influence on culture is the media and the media have a huge influence on the way different races are viewed by society. The media consists of communication devices and some media forms include television, newspapers, magazines, film and radio. Misrepresent can be defined as to give a false or misleading representation with an intent to deceive or be unfair.

Diversity in media has been a topic of concerns for years now. The diversity across all areas of media has seen significant change from that of the 50’s and 60’s. Comparatively, media representation has seen somewhat of a golden age in regards to diversity. Unfortunately, despite the progress we have made as a nation, we still have a ways to go in regards to properly diversifying our various forms of media. There are a few ways in which we can begin to diversify the how media is produced and well as how it is viewed. The media will need to get away from the status quo, media needs to portray a collective view and finally proper education and insight into the mindset of the target audience will help diversify the media.