Gender, Race, Class in the Media - Research Paper Example

Gender, Race, and other differences in the media Gender, Race, and other differences in the media Social andbiological differences are defined using class, gender, race, and other differences inherent in human beings. These differences arise from the social setting and physical characteristics of people in the society. These differences are inherent in daily living and cannot be separated from any of the activities undertaken; therefore, there is a need to have a better understanding of the best way to portray these differences in light of the effects they have on the affected. The media play a very influential role in the society and have an impact on the audience when certain differences in the social setting and biological characteristics are portrayed. This study aims at analyzing the portrayal of gender, race, class and other differences in the media. Mainstream media have demonstrated a high tendency of depicting African American women negatively. The media have for long depicted black women as matriarchs, mammies, welfare mothers, jezebels, and tragic mulattoes resulting in the construction of an image in the public viewing black women as the media portrays them. The reason behind this this portrayal of black women in the media is gender, racial, and class differences and ideologies. News reporting violence against women during “Freaknik”, as analyzed by Meyers (2004) depicts women as being portrayed as stereotypical Jezebels who were attacked after provoking their assaulters from their lewd behavior. The soap opera, All my Children portrays black women as matriarch stereotype. Women are also portrayed in mass media including televisions, magazines, music, and other media as being defined by the men in their lives. Media differences portrayal is further evidenced by the portrayal of black women as matriarchal stereotypes in Frank’s Place on CBS. A study by Manatu (75) show that black women are portrayed as non-romantic sexual beings and use the example of Halle Berrry in Monster’s Ball. Music videos are the other channels that have funneled the portrayal of black women as sexual commodities through objectification of black women’s bodies in hip-hop videos and other types of music. Asian women have been portrayed in the media as sex objects for their male counterparts, passive, or as partners in crime with men. Latina’s women have been portrayed in the media as tacky, seductresses, overly emotional, and hypersexual in film, music, magazines, and other media. This is evident in Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s videos that portray sexuality and tropicalism with the main emphasis being placed on hips, buttocks, and breasts. Native Americans are portrayed as strong, powerful, exotic, beautiful, and lustful depicting the stack difference in race, gender, and class depiction of native and nonnative women in video, television, music, film, and print media (Meyers, 112). On males, the media have portrayed white masculinity as the norm while black masculinity as deviant. Black males have been portrayed in prime time television and other media as not being in a position to reach for affluence, racial harmony, and individual mobility. Men are also portrayed in the media as a threat to white women and lesser individuals through performance of childish roles. However, in Frank’s Place black males have been portrayed as sensitive and non-aggressive, has a drive and good education, showing a trend to change black males representation in the media. In the magazine, Hustler, black males have been portrayed as a spoiler of white women depicting inferiority of the black race. These instances show the coexistence between class, race, and gender in the portrayal of social and biological differences in the media. Whiteness is represented in the media as universal devoid in race and culture in the media. This has allowed Eminem to take on black masculinity in his lyrics and videos in media representation. Asians men have been portrayed by motion picture as threats to natives, laborers, martial artists, businesspersons, laundrymen, and effeminate men representing less power than whites do. These characteristics are evident in the films Showdown in Little Tokyo and The Tonight Show (Locke, 252). Male whiteness is represented as being threatened by foreigners and through violence and struggles of the masculinity and nationhood represented by white presidency is salvaged and recuperated. The other portrayal of media including magazines, film, radio, television, video, and print media have portrayed racial minority groups as being illicit drug users. This is exemplified by the portrayal of Chinese immigrants as opiate users while African Americans have been associated with cocaine use. Portrayal of the Mexicans in the 1930’s was of marijuana consumption while after the 1980’s African Americans and Hispanics have been portrayed as crack users. The main element in all these ethnic examples is low socioeconomic status associated with all these groups by the media, government, and law enforcement agencies. On the violence against women, male perpetrators have been treated as passive and invincible. Locals are positioned as troublemakers in cases of violence while students are considered good citizens and middle-class citizens reinforcing class and racial stereotypes (Brooks and Hebert, 302). This is illustrated in the 1989 beating of white female jogger in Central Park that led to the reporting of the incident as poor, minority youth in the park looking for trouble. Coercion by police and reporting to meet the demands of the public of five African American and Latino youth to plead guilty resulting in conviction and imprisonment, who were later exonerated from the crimes, exposes gender, racial, and class bias. The worth of women as portrayed by the media as having a very close relation with their sexuality through hyper-sexuality of women. This can also be seen in the portrayal of the self-worth of a girl in the media as relating to her chastity. Primetime has not been in a position to reflect the populations diversity in the media. The media have predominantly male characters on the media and few people of color failing to reflect the 44 percent of children of color in the audience. Fall Colors clearly depicts this reality showing the lack of diversity in the characters in the cast in the film with a predominance of whites and few blacks. Males are also more in the cast compared to the women showing a portrayal of more success for males than females in the access to film roles and duties and depicting a lack of diversity in the media. Disability is the other difference in the physical appearance and abilities among the population and has received some attention in the representation it has had in the media. The media portray disabled actors as unable to perform roles for the disabled. Able-bodied people perform roles as disabled characters, but the disabled are never provided with a chance to perform characters meant for able-bodied. Mental illness is portrayed as justification for criminal behavior in television and film, but this is not true in reality showing the manner in which the disabled are portrayed on the media. Encouragement is available for actors who are able-bodied playing in a film or television for having the courage to play as a disabled, mentally ill, or gay, but no encouragement for people playing as straight when they are disabled and this is often not the case. Generally, blacks and other minority groups of any gender are portrayed to fall into low socioeconomic class in the media and are associated with low levels o education, poverty, and ignorance. These minority groups are also portrayed as slaves and workers at low paying jobs in the films and other media compared to whites. Films and other visual media mainly give roles to blacks that include violence, drug abuse, and prostitution, theft, among other roles that are considered lower compared to well-paying white collar jobs, affluence, and success for whites. Family is the other point of difference in the portrayal of blacks and other minority groups and whites where black families are portrayed to be unstable and survive in abject poverty among other challenges. White families live in the best houses, have access to better food variety and quality, have romance, and live in harmony (Patton, 243). There is the stack difference in the portrayal of the lives of the minority groups and whites in the media as depicted by family differences. Class differences have been framed by the media in a different light according to the message they want delivered to the audience. The media mainly articles in magazines and television programs portray difference in class as the middle-class and upper-class having the entitlement to their high position in the stratification system. A depiction of this case is in the analysis by Kendall (2) of a newspaper article on the Homeless in San Francisco by the same reporter with one article making one to feel sympathy while the other provoking the reader on the menace of the homeless. The result is a formulation and framing of the programs in a manner to reflect class differences in terms of wealth, the future of the low class, and poverty resulting in the difference in feeling by the people on inequality and class. The media play a monumental role in shaping public opinion, and it is very important for the portrayal of differences in the media to reflect the desired state. Studies have depicted that currently the media portrayal is discriminative of the minority differences in the population. Gender, race, class, disability/ability, among other differences are the channels through which differences have been portrayed by the media. Women, black, Asian, Hispanic, Indian men have all been portrayed from a stereotypic, racial, and low class light in the media in form of film, magazine, videos, televisions, and print media. There is a need to change the portrayal of these minority communities in the media because of the crucial role the media plays in determining identity and personality of the audience. Gender, race, class, disability, and other differences have not been portrayed in the best light in the media owing to stereotypes and aim to appeal to the needs of the people in terms of coverage. Changes have to be made to media coverage to allow for inclusivity and diversity in media coverage. Works Cited Blaker, Barbara. Ethical issues in media portrayals of gender, race, and ethnicity. Media Ethics, 1993. Print. Brooks, Dwight and Hebert, Lisa. Gender, Race, and Media Representation. Gender and Communication in Mediated Contexts. (6/11/2006): 297- 317. Cobbina, Jennifer. Race and Class Differences in Print Media Portrayals of Crack Cocaine and Methamphetamine. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture. 15. 2 (2008): 145- 167. Kendall, Diana E. Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005. Print. Locke, Brian. Here comes the judge: The dancing Itos and the televisual construction of the enemy Asian male. In S. Torres (Ed.), Living color: Race and television in the United States. 1998: 239–253. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Manatu, Norma. African American women and sexuality in the cinema. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003. Print. Meyers, Marian. African American Women, and Violence: Gender, Race, and Class in the News. Critical Studies in Media Communication. 21. 2 (June 2004): 95–118. Patton, T. Ally McBeal and her homies: The reification of white stereotypes of the other. Journal of Black Studies. 32. 2 (2001), 229–260. Read More