Mass media have played and will continue to play a significant role in the way African-American women/men are portrayed. When you watch a television show that has those of color how are they viewed? They are usually the ones who are violent, using or dealing illegal substances, or just doing illegal crimes in general. The media have created a bad reputation of African-Americans by placing the “stereotypical behaviors” of blacks on television. Blacks have come a long way to gain somewhat respect in the world; and what these Reality television shows are doing to us is breaking down everything we have earned. According to the article, "Images of Black Males in Popular Media” by Darren Smith he described that black men are characterized by many terms. They are described as violent, crass, lazy, hot-tempered, abusive and “Dead beat fathers. In the talk shows “Maury and Jerry Springer” According to the article cited above, The Maury show is the perfect example of shows the depicts negative images of African-American men because it shows that black men can’t commit to just one women, can’t pay child support because they believe they are not the father of the child and portray themselves as they are some type of “gangster.” They are not only embarrassing those black men that work hard for what they got, and take care of the kids they create, but they are embarrassing themselves and proving the “stereotypes” of black men to be true on national television. Anyone who can name a show that portrays men the way they should without having to think deserves an award. It’s hard to come up with a show that is strictly about and or have black men who are well-educated, athletic, or financially stabled. Based on research, reality tele... ... middle of paper ... ...r on television playing the character of the “loud ghetto girl”. Based on recent popular television shows like “Bad girls Club, Love and Hip Hop, Mob Wives, and Basketball Wives” it’s kind of hard for people to not believe the stereotypes about African-American women or just women in general. Bad Girls Club is a popular television show that airs on Oxygen; it’s about 7 girls that sign up to live in a mansion together and all they do is fight, drink, party, and take part in sexual activities. Then you have Basketball Wives that’s about a group of girls who are married or was before married to basketball stars. On basketball wives every episode involves arguments about “home wreckers” and show fights among them all. This is not setting great examples for kids, they are making it seem like It is okay to fight, smoke, and drink and have many amount of sexual partners.
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
Most of these images are always negative; in fact, when most of us turn on the television to watch a sitcom, we will often see African- Americans acting as if they have little or no sense at all. Frequently African-Americans would be depicted as being extremely melodramatic in all that they say or do, and it tends to send the wrong message to people in the United States; as well as, people all across the world. For example, on the television sitcom ‘Good Times’ viewers observed a black family living in a Chicago housing project in poverty. Sitcoms of African Americans who did not live in poverty were uncommon until the 80’s. The Huxtables introduced me and everyone else to a new image of living as an African American. ‘‘The Cosby Show’’ enlightened me to a new sense of self-confidence and pride. Throughout its broadcasting years, the Huxtable family candidly crushed the stereotypical images of the African-American family. The show displayed the African-American family in a way that was never before seen or grasped by the American public. In fact, during that era most of the mass media programs depicted African-American television families as hard working lower class poor citizens, many of which constantly used slang or terrible grammar. Likewise, the broadcasting community endorsed the idea that African-American people were connected to
I chose this video because it raised my awareness by questioning the difference between positive role models, such as The Cosby Show, and positive images for all African-Americans. The issues discussed and comments made by the cast piqued my interest and helped change my perspective on the history of African-American representation in the media, especially in the realm of television. Color Adjustment contains more than just endless ‘talking heads’ – it has elements of fact, history, and professional opinion all blended together in an engaging format. It was extremely exciting to hear the TV producers like Hal Kanter and David Wolper talk about their own productions in retrospect. Most importantly to me, Color Adjustment changed my perspective on African-American representation in the media by challenging me to think about images...
In today’s society there are many stereotypes surrounding the black community, specifically young black males. Stereotypes are not always blatantly expressed; it tends to happen subconsciously. Being born as a black male puts a target on your back before you can even make an impact on the world. Majority of these negative stereotypes come from the media, which does not always portray black males in the best light. Around the country black males are stereotyped to be violent, mischievous, disrespectful, lazy and more. Black males are seen as a threat to people of different ethnicities whether it is in the business world, interactions with law enforcement or even being in the general public. The misperceptions of black males the make it extremely difficult for us to thrive and live in modern society. Ultimately, giving us an unfair advantage simply due to the color of our skin; something of which we have no control.
The media portrayed African American as “the angry black women”. “And who are the black women you see on the local news at night in the cities all over the country. They are usually mad about something” (Melissa v. Harris Perry 87). The media has stereotyped black women as loud, argumentative, irrationally angry and verbally abusive. These women are only standing up for their equal rights and in result they are classified as angry, because they make themselves heard or stand up for what is right. We are seen as angry because they think their actions are good and we should be fine with it. African American women weren’t having it and the media would say what they wanted good or bad. Employment for African American women was skewed because they were women and they were said to not be as strong as men. Women weren’t allowed to get an education because “it wasn’t needed or women are supposed to stay at home and cook and clean”. Black women didn’t receive the right health care they needed because of their skin tone and most of them died in result of them becoming too ill. Women fought profusely for equal rights in politics. “Black women are the leaders behind some of the most prominent racial justice movements of our time” (Black Women in
Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be detrimental to the white consumers, who base what they know about blacks by what is represented in television, but also the black consumers, who grow up with a false sense of identity.
For as long as I could remember plenty of races are being stereotyped, but African Americans are one of the most frequent racial groups stereotyped against. African Americans have been portrayed on television and other forms of media unfairly and unrealistically. Movies and TV shows have played a major role in stereotyping African Americans, mostly reflecting them as being less intelligent, more vulgar, poor, uneducated, and more violent than other ethnic groups. African Americans have been perceived to be someone they are not in the media, history, and in everyday life. Although some stereotype portrayals made about Africans Americans may have some truth to them many on the other hand are harmful and inaccurate. Africans Americans are mainly in the spotlight of the news, when involved in crimes. When an African American becomes successful they are glorified, and seen as the person who made it and got out the “hood”, as if all black people are poor and living in rundown neighborhoods. Television networks depict whites as the perfect family with no problems and blacks with a household with only one parent and a long list of problems. Many African Americans believed that in order to be successful in the media industry they had to portray themselves as being idiotic and lazy. African Americans are mainly portrayed in the media as a pleasing aspect. Rather than focusing on the positive and good side to African Americans, the media would rather on the negatives. One of the main reasons why it is so easy to target an African American is because; it is so much harder to point the finger at a more dominant power ethnic group, Caucasians. I think this alone tells us a lot about where our society is and that racism still does exist.
There is a lot of misrepresentation of the black society as a whole in the media. The reason that this is true is because the mostly white society accepts this and prolongs s this misrepresentation in the media. Toni Morrison and bell hooks share some of the same ideas on sexism, racism and conformity. This American society is made up of mostly whites. The whites have an extreme effect on how the stereotypes of today relate with media.
The world of television can either completely hit or miss the mark when it comes to providing its audience a diverse cast/actors. "Girls" is a new HBO show about young, prosperous, and white New Yorkers in their twenties struggling to find their footing in the post-collegiate world. It is a poor example of representation of race, but the show in itself cannot be held responsible for the whole problem of racial diversity of media and popular culture. There has been a lot of controversy about the show's diversity since the first episode, seeing how it is set in the melting pot of NYC and Brooklyn, yet it is prominently white. The shocking part is that despite its meting pot nature, it is very easy to live a segregated social life in New York City, especially if you are a rich white person. The fact that the show is so white should not come off as unusual, yet it does because this generation is more willing to see that change happen in pop culture. Not everyone sees it that way and pop culture still does not represent races equally or at times even accurately. For example, when show do add in minorities they often make them extremely stereotypical to their race. The recurrence in the lack of realistic representation in the show highlights the “whiteness” of stereotypical roles that overshadows real life representation.
“The media serve as a tool that people use to define, measure, and understand American society” (Deo et al., 149). Thinking of the media as a tool for the American people also extends into the realm of race and ethnicity. The United States has had a long and difficult history pertaining to the racial and ethnic identities of the many different people that reside within and outside of it’s borders. That history is still being created and this country still struggles with many of the same problems that have plagued this area since before the founding of the U.S. As stated above, the popular media has a large impact on the way that race and ethnicity are understood by people, especially when considering the prevalence of segregation in the U.S.
In an interview I composed with my mother, I asked her “What were some challenges you had to face being a black woman in the south” which she replied “As a black woman, it was hard because you would be considered last on the totem pole, and we were seen as stereotypes such as barefoot and pregnant.” It hard to challenge these thoughts which Collins described as “controlling images” that society puts on you because of your race or sexuality (pg.1). The author Rhoda Jeffries touches on some black women struggles in her article Editor’s Introduction: Fortitudinous Femininity: Black Women’s Resilience in the Face of Struggle when she says “Jeffries and Jeffries further explore the role of mentoring among Black women and challenge mass media to carefully craft images that positively depict African American women in the various roles they play in “Mentoring and mothering Black femininity in the academy: An exploration of body, voice and image through Black female characters.” (p.82) Media has a huge impact on society, which is because of what people see on television or read on social media, since people aren’t use to or don’t understand something they tend to place it on a certain race or
In conclusion this was a dark part in American history and a part that America would like to forget but the stereotypes are still there even today but people choose not to look or say anything about it. Today African Americans are portrayed as gang bangers and thugs who love white women. When you research into this you might be left with yourself thinking as to why do the television people put stereotypical and demeaning stuff like this on television and I guess it’s a question that will never be answered.
There are many racial stereotypes that many people are familiar with but would see it as inappropriate to address due to racial stereotypes being a controversial issue. As mentioned in the movie, Bamboozled, Dunwitty also known as the Vice President of the CNS, a large television network, states “… I want you to create something that people want to see…You know and I know "niggers" set the trend, set the styles. This is a golden opportunity now. These idiots have to be led to the water.” Which expresses how much the media cares more about the people viewing their shows instead of what the show is really about. Since many media outlets care more about receiving views from their audiences they usually don’t think about what kind of shows they are projecting to the public as long as they are getting views.
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).
The Representation of Men and Women in the Media Men and women are both represented differently in the media these days. Then the sand was sunk. Ironically it was even represented differently in the title of this essay. Men came before women! I am writing an essay to explain how men and women are represented in the media.