Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls And Cha Divas By Jennifer Pozner

Media has an influence on society like no other. In the world today media basically controls everything and informs people of all that is going on. Media does, however, create stereotypes in society in many different ways which makes people believe and think about cultures or a certain groups of people and how they act differently. Jennifer Pozner the author of “Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls and Cha Cha Divas” talks about the harmful ways of stereotyping in reality television. In Pozner’s essay she focuses on how badly the society is taking its course. The course in the show being that changing a person to look a certain way against their will is good but in reality to viewers it seems like a horrible thing to do. Media has been most of the the

This show uses stereotypes against Penny by making it seem as though she is not as smart as the rest of the cast in the television show. The quote by Sheldon, "Women who are scientists are sorta ugly and wear glasses and are not blond and are socially maladjusted and don’t care about their appearance and – if they do have sex – they are kinda slutty about it and sleep around.” This quote demonstrates the stereotype that a girl technically can either be smart or pretty, never both. Due to Penny being attractive and blonde, this gives her the look of not being that well educated and not as intelligent as the other characters of the show; therefore, she is often doubted when it comes to her bringing up any ideas or points she is trying to make. The other people in the cast are viewed as some of the smartest people on earth. The writers thought otherwise when creating Penny for the show because that is what the viewers expect of a “dumb blonde.” She is ditz, out of it, and very gullible; for example, she does not pay her bills and has her electricity turned off, and she tries to emulate Sheldon and Leonard sometimes, but alway gets the meaning of the words wrong. According to Pozner, “ Most of the rest of us learn to navigate the everyday struggles of adolescence--body image insecurities, emerging sexuality, interpersonal relationships, and personal identity--from our friends, family, and community…” (Pozner 406). The sexy, dumb blonde stereotype is everything that Penny is because she really has never outgrown her self-image since adolescence, and in the show the writer does a very good job of reinforcing this stereotype. For example, Penny is depicted as a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory because she has only attended community college and never finished to