At a young age, we begin to get subjected to different forms of propaganda as to how we should think or feel; we are subjected to these prefabricated stories and from these stories we begin to perceive life in the way the propaganda would have us think. We begin to tie real world events to what we have just seen in one of the many screens that we are subjected too constantly. We begin to have certain pictures as to how things ‘ought to be’ because we have seen them depicted so on television or films. We have these preconceived notions on certain things such as: “lumberjacks are big hairy men” or one of the more overly used ones: “the nail salon technicians is always Asian and they always talk shit on you while you get your nails done.” One …show more content…
According to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of the speech “Dangers of a Single Story” and the recipient of many literature awards, one such way that media influences us is through the painting of a ‘single story’. According to Adichie, a single-story is a closed-minded preconceived idea or story about a specific person, place, or thing (Adichie). The closed-minded part comes from all the things that have you have experienced or learned about that certain idea or story. The main influences for these preconceived ideas would have to be the media such as: television, films, music, books, etc. The example she gives in her speech is one that can be tied to the lives of many people. She gives the account of when she was going to college for the first time and she had just met her new roommate. Her roommate assumed Adichie didn’t know how to use the stove because she was from a poor, poverty-stricken country. Here, her roommate had fallen prey to the single story of Africa and how people from Africa are usually backwards because they come from a certain part of the world. With single stories, we are usually influenced to feel or think in this way by media. With this painting of a single story for Africans, homosexuals, or any other group that they would like to target, film-makers, advertisers, and other media …show more content…
Since the first movies were silent and had no dialogue, it left little, to no room to develop any sort of plot or story. The main idea of the silent films was whatever the audience perceived from the movement of the actors. There are many examples of famous actors that grew to become extremely famous through these types of films but there were also the first depictions of homosexual men, which wasn’t very flattering and was typically very feminine. From this, audiences that saw films that depicted gay men like this would then think that all gay men were like that in real life. Now from this, they had painted a prejudice as to what a homosexual man should look like and how they should act. This is exactly how propaganda works, according to Donna Woolfolk Cross. In her essay titled, “Propaganda: How Not to be Bamboozled,” Cross states the following, “For good or evil, propaganda pervades our daily lives, helping to shape our attitudes on a thousand subjects”
The usage of media is huge in nowadays. People rely on different kinds of media to receive information in their everyday life because they are thirsty for the diverse and informative content. However, inaccurate portrayals of people from different races always appear in the media and audience will exaggerate those portrayals by their inflexible beliefs and expectations about the characteristics or behaviors of the portrayals’ cultural groups without considering individual variation (Ting-Toomey and Chung, 2012); in fact, it is also called as stereotypes. According to a study by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University (Stein, 2012), racial stereotyping continues to occur in media and the mainstream media's coverage of different cultural groups is full of biased reporting, offensive terminology and old stereotypes of American society. It specifically emphasizes that majority of the stereotyped characters in media will only bring out the dark side of their cultural groups which many of them might not be true, especially for the portrayals of black community: African American.
In the modern world, all kinds of oppressions involve a dominant cultural psychology that causes different communities to be suppressed on diverse social, racial grounds. There is usually a hierarchy of oppression in which some communities are perceived to be less valuable than others. However, stereotypes are usually utilized to rationalize this domination and to label individuals on certain type while marginalization is the social process of being demoted to the lower social standing. On the other hand, oppression is any form can be visible at the personal or social level in the media as media reaches several individuals regularly and has the power to influence at all the levels of society and contributing significantly to stereotyping, marginalization and oppression of different communities around the world. The paper aims to critically analyze that in what way media impacts psychology of people by portraying particular communities in the diverse society in such a way that the depiction leads to stereotyping, marginalization and oppression of racial groups. For this purpose, two key resources are used in this paper. One is a web article by Sarah Senghas, named “Racial Stereotypes in the Media” published in 2006, and the second one is an empirical research paper by Elizabeth Monk-Turner, Mary Heiserman, Crystle Johnson,Vanity Cotton, and Manny Jackson, “The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television: A Replication of the Mastro and Greenberg Study a Decade Later” published in 2010.
Images in media, television especially, are a direct projection of the people who control and project them, which often tends to be white people. “‘We face the problems of images projected by people not of us,’ she said. ‘The media is the most powerful mind-manipulating tool on the earth.’”(Ruby, 18) The perception of black women in the media today can be damaging to the self-image of the young black women of today. During the Black Arts Movement, many artists and poets spoke of how white influence in our lives has created skewed beauty ideals in the African-American community. This white influence tends to harm black women’s images of themselves. Most female images seen in mainstream media are white, thin, tall and just plain gorgeous, making it hard for the average African American woman to relate to. Black television has done well with having different shapes and sizes for women of color to relate to, but that only includes one or two channels on all of television. For example, even though BET was founded by Robert Johnson, a black man, BET is now predominantly owned by white people. “"Day after day, in all forms of media -- print, radio, and television -- we see, hear, and read the perspectives of non-Black women and women of color who are not actively involved in the struggles of Black women -- especially on so-called 'women's issues'.”(Women’s Health Weekly, 546) Large television networks must choose to show things that will not only keep ratings up but also keep people interested in watching their shows. Unfortunately in today’s age and day drama and negativity is what most Americans look to watch. Even though many people feel that these negative things are wrong, we still find ourselves watching and reading about it. The...
Media acts a mirror towards the society and owns such a strong influence over it. Jim Morrison, an American singer, says that, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” With the white hero dominating most of America, what message does this send out? Does the minority have to rely on a white person to act as a savoir? Can they simply not become the hero themselves? Based on the media today, society says no. This ideal has become rooted into the American culture; it has implanted itself generation after generation. The racism created from years of slavery still exists today. According to the media, only white people can attain success. Only they can be the heroes. Sadly, this leads to self-hate, a lower self-esteem, or a desire to change one’s self. American media has and will always favor white people. The lack of diversity amongst the media harms the minority’s confidence and can be remedied through the creation of more diverse characters in media.
Media plays a huge role regarding race relations because there are always racist comments on social media, television, etc. and that teaches people – especially children – that it is okay to discriminate against either different races, cultures, or ethnicities. Discrimination through media is even discusses in the textbook: “during World War II American films often showed negative stereotypes of Japanese and German People.”
In conclusion, media produces certain stereotypes both in behaviour and in style; it isolates audience from the true reality, the problem needs attention.
The media’s portrayal of gays was a picture of perversion. Homosexuals were looked upon in disgust, uneasiness and fear. Schools taught children that being homosexual was one of the greatest offenses one could commit. Many books, newspaper articles, and other documents were published to convey homosexuals as disturbed individuals.
From when a child is born, to adulthood, everything done because of them, to them, or in front of them leaves a “puzzle piece” in their brain. By the time they have reached the age of 16 and up, they most likely have already decided or already have become the kind of person they want to be. What they have witnessed and experienced throughout the years of their upbringing has left enough puzzle pieces for them to piece together the type of person they will be. If the child witnesses abuse, they will remember that. If the child witnesses prejudice and racism, they will remember that. If the child witnesses the complete opposite of that, such as acceptance, fairness, and acts of love; they will remember that. From the ages of ten to fifteen, research shows that “early adolescent brain goes through a growth...
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
Currently there is a long-standing debate dealing with the effects of media. Some believe that the media is just something to indulge or watch and that it has no significant affect on people while others say that has a powerful pull on society as a whole. Research indicates that bias in media articles leads to minorities and women being portrayed in a stereotypical or harsh manner (Hazell and Clarke 3). This leads to African Americans being seen as individuals fit for “lower status occupations,” (Hazel and Clark 7). Black men were also seen as hostile, intimidating figures mainly working as athletes or musicians while women were portrayed as domineering, overly expressive people (Hazel and Clark 9).
To what extent can literature have an affect on the way we judge society? Humans are naturally able to make a first impression on countries, religions, and people based upon their own beliefs. Writers are grown up in different societies and express their own beliefs on countries, religion and people through their own life experiences. Writers have enough power to change the reader’s preconceived ideas by the writers sharing of their own perspective on their beliefs. Through analyzing different forms of literature such as White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Joseph Brodsky’s “A commencement Address,” and watching Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” I have realized that reading literature has the ability to change our thinking which in return affects the we judge different society. There have been controversies that media is a huge factor in altering the mind of humans. Literature can be also viewed as a type of media because literature helps the readers understand the conditions of certain societies.
When we are young, most of us are somewhat naive. We are inherently taught that
Children between the ages four and twelve are most prone to impressionability and changes in cognitive ability. If a person like their parents were to do something, the child would be quick to mimic the parent, in an attempt to be something like them. “During the years between the ages two and twelve, children gradually develop modes of reasoning that are essentially identical to those of adults” (Psychology: Being Human, Rubin et. all). Between the ages of two and seven, children are in the preoperational period of Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stages, which involves egocentrism and forming beliefs. After the Sensorimotor stage (Newborn – Two Years old), the child begins to understand more language and see things only from their perspective; w...
The media presents "one minded" views that have the ability to reflect societies moods and influence the balance of power.
When we have been exposed to media it begins to affect to way we think, and act, sometimes in the negative ways. We as individuals have a natural tendency to imitate with our behavior to outside