How the media portrays African American women and african american families - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages Actually, the problem of women rights can not be regarded as newly appeared. All women from different parts of the planet fought for their rights that should be equal to those gained by men. Of course, there is no need to mention those people who devoted their lives to fighting for the rights of black people. It is almost unbelievable that the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson that claimed for the rights of every citizen to be observed, technically served only the white citizens’ interests. Thus, being a nation of the nations, the USA turned to be unable to provide all the citizens with equal rights. And since the very start of the US history, black people were fighting at first for their freedom and then - for their rights. The attitude and public perception of black women still deserves speaking about. Living in a civilized society, where human rights must be observed and cherished, it is hard to believe that some people still suffer from intolerant treating and have their right violated. Very few of us really pay our precious attention to the problem of stereotypical depiction of black people by contemporary mass media. Still, it does not mean that such problem doe not exist at all. It is an undeniable fact that every nation, every ethnic group are viewed through the prism of a set of social stereotypes that not always and, frankly speaking, almost never prove to be true. Black women are a special category which is very often becomes exploited by mass media in its own interests. The question of a famous journalist Jake Snow is very topical and sounds anxious, - “Think about how often you see an African-American woman being portrayed on the screen as brave, intelligent, and strong or playing a leadership role?”( Snow 2009). Maybe some of us would say we don’t have to focus our attention on such trifles and this problem is not very serious, but, nonetheless, it doesn’t become less abusive and humiliating. The very fact of arousing this issue is quite outspoken – if people talk about that, it means something is not OK here. Let’s recollect Mammy from a famous Hollywood movie “Gone by the Wind”. It is almost impossible to forget her awful manners, her constant grumbling and crudeness. Though it is hard to disagree that her character was a complete embodiment of positive and life-asserting values, the mass media has caught this stereotypic portraying immediately and proceeds exploiting it nowadays. Even when we take a look at her we see a big, overweight woman, and that does not correspond to our ideal of beauty. Mammy is an uneducated woman who is loyal to her masters, but still she is a slave. Though slavery has gone long ago, the image of Mammy remained unchanged, and such portraying of the black women, if put it mildly, lack tactfulness and respect. “The stereotypical woman being portrayed by the media is shallow, weak, unintelligent, and incapable of making decisions on her own, untrustworthy, materialistic, and promiscuous” (Snow, 2009). The black women are suppose to be narrow-minded, always unsatisfied with their own lives, they are rarely portrayed as successful business women, learned professors or simply reserved and well-educated member of society. Black big “mammies” are to provide the white people with comfort raise children and take care of them, but they are, as it was ...Download file to see next pagesRead More