Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Media & Its Love for Stereotypes

How is that whenever you turn on the TV to watch your favorite show, you are exposed to racial stereotyping? Why is it that male characters and female characters hold only a handful of qualities and they are always the same handful? Why are we constantly hammered with discriminatory messages and no one ever raises a red flag?

You don't have to admit it to yourself. Most people don't. It's commonly accepted to laugh at a racist joke as long as no one else is around. Yet, the media you watch and love is always telling the joke and you are always laughing. Race matters, apparently. I guess my mother was wrong when she told me that I should judge people for who they are as an individual. Television said otherwise.

Take for example the show "Dexter". Does anyone else notice that the character Vince Masuka clearly portrays the old stereotype of Asian men being misogynistic? He is constantly telling a sexist joke. Always thinks about sex. Yet, he's intelligent and works in the field of science. Do all Asians work in science? No one says a word.

Even my beloved WWE is guilty of stereotyping. For a few years, they had a pair of African-American males called Cryme Tyme. Watch the video below and tell me you think there is no stereotyping to be found.


It doesn't just stop there either. Watch one episode of "Jersey Shore" and you can find out how the rest of America views Italian-Americans. If you have time, watch the video below to see some examples of stereotypes about Hispanic/Latin men and women.


But stereotyping doesn't just end with television. Can someone explain to me why Eminem is played on Rock Radio Stations? Is Rock music a "white music"? I could have sworn that Eminem was a hip-hop artist. If Rock Radio wants to play more hip-hop why don't they play some Nas or 2pac? I've heard Rap Radio stations play Hayley Williams, Justin Bieber, & Justin Timberlake before. It doesn't matter to them that they are white. They were in Hip Hop songs. But if Rock & Roll is a "white music", someone needs to tell these guys because I don't think they got the memo.
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So before you tune into your favorite radio station, watch your favorite TV show, or wherever you get your entertainment from, be aware of certain things and maybe even take note of them.

No clever exit line this time.

1 comment:

  1. I think you're absolutely right. It's silly to call rock music "white" music when Little Richard influenced the Beatles(http://www.liverpoolcityportal.co.uk/beatles/beatles_influences.html). I belive that the media uses the power they possess to break stereotypes in a twisted way and is a form of pushing social acceptance, but in most situations you're right, that is not always the case.

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