Digitizing Humanity: Ethics, Identity, and Representation in the Technological Age - Essay Example

Digitizing Humanity: Ethics, Identity, and Representation in the Technological Age The media is something that is and will remain to be part of everyday life of each and every single individual in a society. In that case, the media has the power build or shape people’s ideologies and mindsets concerning issues of all aspects in a society. All the representations form the media will definitely have a positive or negative effect on the society as whole. However, this will depend on the matter that the media is addressing in these representations. This essay argues that media representation has a negative impact on the society because it fills the society with stereotypes and makes them to believe in unrealistic images of people while covering up the actual image. According to Pozner (2010), on the Americas Next Top Model show, the representations done on televisions greatly influence the perspective of the society towards a certain issue or personality. In regards to this, representations that people see on realty televisions have a great impact compared to the ones seen on fictional televisions. For example, in the case of the black model Yaya, viewers of the show believed on the fake image that was painted on her to be arrogant pretentious and a personality that no one will want to work with. However, this is not who Yaya was the reality show of the Americas Next Model convinced viewers to have such an image and perspective of Yaya who was an educated and confident black model. These all was because the viewers had a mindset and belief that everything that they watch or see in a reality television show is a clear representation of that individual’s real-life personality. Therefore, as indication of the impact that the show had on the society’s image of Yaya, the image that the producers of Americas Next Top Model’s put on her followed her for more than five years. Getting a job especially in the film and TV job became difficult as everyone saw her as a nasty and arrogant person. Many readers hated her not because of what she was but what Americas Next Model’s producer’s portrayed her to be (Pozner 2010). Finally she was able to secure a job but this did not erase people’s perspective towards her based on the racial stereotype that was poised in the minds of many. Racial based stereotype is therefore, what the article on the Americas Next Top Model focused on most. However there are many other stereotypes in the society that the media can use to intimidate and dehumanize other members of the society. One of is these stereotypes the cultural stereotypes which portray and identify people with their cultural background. For example, foreigners have a stereotype that Americas are very rude and blunt, materialistic (Borgerson 2007). This therefore could not be the reality on the personality of individuals with America’s cultural background. According to Borgerson (2007) another example of cultural stereotype is that Indians are lazy and do not value time at all. This is a stereotype that has been experienced at many workplaces and even the media airs it but in its real context this may not be the case. There is no reality that all Indian nationals do not value time at all. This might only be a selective case that has made people to make a generalization. It time then that the society gets to understand that the media representations do nothing but taint people’s personalities based on nothing but false stereotypes. In most cases, what the media presents for the viewers in not the actual reality of what is happening but instead it is what the media wants the society to believe. The media has also considered the stereotype of portraying the female gender as sex materials or objects prevalent. In most advertisements done in televisions or other forms of media, it is common that women are used especially in advertising sex products (Pozner 2010). For example, when show casing sexy outfits, it is common that women are the ones who are hired to model in those outfits with the intention of advertising them. This the undermines the value of women in the society based on all that the media presents but in reality women are valuable people in the society just like men are considered to be an not sex objects. Considering the case of the Americas Next Top Model show, it is clear that the media presents what they went the viewers to see and not the reality of the matter. This is well illustrated in the case of the black model where Kelle went to the show which much confidence and self belief but this is not what the producers wanted the viewer to get. They instead made sure that they totally broke and brought her to the point that she was convinced that she was not beautiful at all. The model came to a point that she made bad comments about herself; “It is like I have a protruding mouth….” This is exactly what the producer wanted the model to believe and therefore, the show chose to air the bad comments that the black model made concerning her so as to taint the perspective of the society regarding black women. In that case, what the viewers watched was what the media wanted them to and not what ought to have been aired. As a matter of fact, media representations are all based on stereotypes which have no actual or solid basis at all. This is all because, it is what the producers believe it will make them popular and show their honest. When Tyra Banks said that one cannot fool people with “smoke and mirrors of makeup,” it was clear that what the producers of television shows wanted was to be seen as honest and impress the viewers. However, this was at the expense of the true image of smart and elegant black women who would then be reduced to a broken image with low self esteem. At the end of it all the television show will become popular and the producers will stand to be the most admired personalities like in the case of Tyra Banks while the reality of it all is the domination of stereotypes and renderings which are shallow from other people filled with untrue arguments (Pozner 2010 ). One can also argue that the reason why television shows depend on stereotypes is to enhance the psychology in the marketing advertisements. Advertisements are usually meant to persuade audience or viewers to get to believe something about a certain product or brand. Therefore, many will opt to use media representations based on stereotypes to convince people that the actual reality is what is in the television while it is clear to them that it is not the case. People will then get into their heads that what is being aired in the televisions is true because they believe that the image in media representation is not far from the actual image. With such great domination of stereotypes in the media then, it is very difficult to get the society into seeing and believing the reality instead of fallacious ideas which are far from the truth. The images and representations from the media have proven to be more powerful than the real or actual people in the society. People who are very smart, humbled and intelligent will always be brought down by nothing but media representation which many people believe in. Pozner (2010), clearly illustrates how people admired Tyra Banks and consider her a role model while in reality she was nothing but a racist who intimidated black women and discriminated against them. The real images and persons in Yaya, Kelle and others were not seen by the society under any circumstance. The media instead brought images of arrogant, naïve and uncivilized women in the black women. Therefore, the society was made to believe what they saw because it is what the media wanted them to. The educated and confident reality in the black models was all overridden by the stereotypes held in the media representation. The power of the stereotype based images and representation in the media stands out in the society today making it hard for people to see the real image of the actual person. Given these then, televisions shows like Americas Next Top Model will continue feeding the society with false ideologies while holding on to racial stereotypes among other stereotypes. The unrealistic and false ideals of beauty will continue to dominate among them and this will result in a large number of personalities being broken down and intimidate by such racial discrimination. There will be no slight chance for black women models to bring out the real person in then in such shows. All they will achieve is being brought to believe that they are worthless and the beauty they believed in is not there. In Pozner (2010), the only thing that shows such the one hosted by Tyra Banks will eventually gain will be breeding a society filled with racial stereotypes and full of hate for certain personalities just because the representation of them in the media was not good. Such shows will also create a large pool of people downed in low self esteem and self spite just because the producers in the shows made them believe they are ugly. For example, Pozner says, “A black teenager thinks she’s hot until ANTM’s judges convince her she’s an ugly ape.” This then clearly shows what show like Americas Next Top model turned confident and beautiful women into. They were broken done, made to believe they were not what they thought they were and this left such women completely intimidated. These shows even go to the extent of ruining one’s career job by tainting the name of that person and making them appear unlikable by other people. This is explained by the case of Yaya who was a model in the Americas Next Top model show. Being a black woman, the show producers made her image to that of a person that no professional would want to work with in any workplace. This then affected her for more than five years because many hated her. All that television shows care about is to make money and not to build the image of a model.(Pozner (2010), explains that by using the models in the shows they are hosting, the producers get to advertise and entertain many viewers so as to earn money. In that case then, the producers will have to make sure that what they present to viewers earns them a lot of money. Therefore, televisions shows will have content that the producers believe it will impress the viewers. They present what will make them look good and gain more reputation. However, it is unfortunate that this all this is unrealistic and many models are intimidated by show producers only to make money. In conclusion, one can say that television shows like Americas Next Top model negatively influences the society. All it does is to fill the society with stereotypes and making them believe in unrealistic images of people while covering up the actual image. Therefore, media representations like those based on racial stereotypes end up intimidating people of a certain race and lowering their self esteem. On the other hand, the media show producers know very well that what they are feeding the society with is not the reality. All they are interested in is only making sure that they air what they want the society to believe in. Works cited Pozner, Jennifer L. Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure Tv. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2010. Print. Borgerson, Janet L. "On the harmony of feminist ethics and business ethics." Business and Society Review 112.4 (2007): 477-509. Read More