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Social Inequality and Media
Representation
^ The most common type of media analysisinvolves examination of media content forits messages about race, sex, social class,and other issues of social marginalization. ^ The mainstream media do
not
reflect the
social diversity that characterizes oursociety. They are not mirrors of ourselves.^ ^ Rather, the mainstream media present imagesthat are consistent with
stereotypes
and the
dominant ideological portrayal of society
This is at the cost of women, people of color, thepoor, and others who have been historicallymarginalized in our society.
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Social Inequality and Media
Representation
^ To the extent that the mainstream mediareinforce traditional stereotypes,progressive movements for social changehave sought reforms.
^ Today, thanks the the civil rights movementand feminists, we see less overtly racist andsexist images than we saw before the 1960s. ^ But racism, sexism, ageism, classism, andother biases can still be found in themainstream media – just as they still exist inother institutions.
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Social Inequality and Media
Representation
^ A key issue in the analysis of mediacontent involves the direction ofbias.
^ For example if we know that 51% ofour society consists of women, yet menoutnumber women 2 to 1 on television,then we know that the direction ofgender bias is against women.
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Ways of assessing media content There are many ways to assess the significance ofmedia content 1. As a reflection of media producers and theirideologies. 2. As a reflection of audience preferences anddesires. 3. As a reflection of society in general, includingsocial norms, beliefs and values. 4. The way media content
influences
audiences
and our society. 5. Content as self-enclosed text whose meaning isto be de-coded on its own terms, independent ofsociety and audiences.
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Race and Media Content Historically, the American media have taken“whites” to be the norm against which all otherracial categories are compared.^ ^ “White” is normalcy. For example, we speak of “the black community”when referring to blacks, but we do not say “thewhite community” when referring to whites.^ ^ Using terms like “the
black
community” or “the
black
man” signifies race as an important trait to notice – it is a
racial signifier
^ Racial and gender signifiers are common
in
the media, and highlight how we
call attention
to our differences, thus providing covert fuel forracism and sexism.
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Racial Signifiers
^ The absence of a
racial signifier
in a
description typically implies “white.” The pervasiveness of the “white”perspective
in the media is perhaps its
most powerful characteristic.
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Racial Stereotypes^ ^ Historically when racial minorities havebeen portrayed in the media they havebeen stereotyped into such roles as theBlack mammy, the Black coon, thesavage Indian, the Indian maiden, theLatin lover, the Mexican bandit, or thesinister Asian warlord.
^ These stereotypes are the product of whitesand their dominant ideology of white racism. ^ They bear little resemblance to the real world.
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Historical Forms of Racism Historically, our society has gone through severalphases of racist ideology. 1610-1640: Ethnocentrism, but with relatively lessracism against blacks by early European settlers. 1640-1865: The
capitalist version of slavery
(extremely harsh) brought intense versions of paternalistic racism
to justify the complete
colonization and de-humanization of blacks. Paternalistic racists
viewed blacks as simple
minded, lazy, ugly, happy servants who wereperhaps even likeable (as long as they wereobedient and knew their place). In this view,slaves “needed” to be put to work in order to beproductive, but could only do menial work.
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Historical Forms of Racism 1930s-1950s: the later Jim Crow period brought areturn to
paternalistic racism
in which blacks
are seen as simple minded, ugly, happy servants.^ ^ Corporations exploited this stereotype with theimages of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. World War II helped bring an end to violent racismand Hitler ironically forced white Americans toreconsider their racist ways. By the mid-1950s, the civil rights movementbegan making waves and change was in the air. By the 1960s, paternalistic racism was underattack by the rising ideology of social liberalism,which holds that all people should be seen asequals.
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Historical Forms of Racism Post 1960s: The post civil rights era. While overtracism declined dramatically, covert or institutionalracism remains fairly widespread.^ ^
Stereotypes are difficult to destroy, and mostmainstream and especially conservative whitescontinue to subscribe to mild racist stereotypes.• Notions like “they” make good athletes, but“they” struggle intellectually. ^ Today: Despite the mild racism, the basic trendrecently has been toward more diversity in blackcharacterizations.
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Inclusion, Roles, and Control^ ^ Croteau and Hoynes examine threedimensions of minority group portrayals:
^ 1.
Inclusion
. Do media producers include
images, views and the cultures of minoritygroups? Are minorities getting media roles? 2.^ Media Roles
. If minority groups are
included, what roles are they given and howare they portrayed? Are they getting thechoice dramatic roles that get the awards? 3.^ Control of Production
. Do minority
groups have control over how they areportrayed? Are they in positions of powerbackstage?
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Comparison: Inclusion, Roles, and Control
Blacks
Others
White Women
White Men
EnoughRoles?
Yes,parityreached onprimetime
No^
No^
Yes,
too many
ChoiceDramaticRoles?
No,
but gettingbetter forblk males
Nostereotypefavored
Nostereotypefavored
Yes,
the very bestroles
Controlof Prod?
No^
No^
No^
Yes,
way too much
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The bad news for blacksand other minority groups
^ However, blacks are still underrepresented inadvertising images today. ^ Broadcast TV features more blacks than ever today,but they are often background characters and arerarely shown interacting with whites. ^ Other racial minorities have been made virtuallyinvisible in the media. ^ Dramatic roles - the choice roles - are still mostlygiven to white males, who are “center stage” inmedia depictions.
^ This relates to control of production, and here itis almost exclusively
wealthy
white males in
charge of the Big Decisions. The issue of controlis largely an issue of social class.
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The intersection of race and class To the extent that blacks have achieved upwardmobility into the middle class, the media hasincreasingly celebrated them.^ ^ In
The Cosby Show
(1984-92), the black family
was portrayed as a “normal” nuclear, uppermiddle class household.• The Cosby’s were likeable and “harmless.” ^ However, at the same time that the Cosby Show wasairing, TV news coverage about blacks tended tofocus on the black underclass, showing it mired indrugs, crime, and violence. ^ The implicit message: poor blacks are to be fearedwhile middle class blacks are to be welcomed.
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