Social Inequality and Media Representation

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Social Inequality and Media Representation

• The most common type of media analysis involves
  examination of media content for its messages
  about race, sex, social class, and other issues
  of social marginalization.
• The mainstream media do not reflect the social
  diversity that characterizes our society. They
  are not mirrors of ourselves.
• Rather, the mainstream media present images that
  are consistent with stereotypes and the dominant
  ideological portrayal of society. This is at the
  cost of women, people of color, the poor, and
  others who have been historically marginalized in
  our society.

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Social Inequality and Media Representation

• To the extent that the mainstream media reinforce
  traditional stereotypes, progressive movements
  for social change have sought reforms.
• Today, thanks the the civil rights movement and
  feminists, we see less overtly racist and sexist
  images than we saw before the 1960s.
• But racism, sexism, ageism, classism, and other
  biases can still be found in the mainstream media
  just as they still exist in other institutions.

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Social Inequality and Media Representation

• It is unrealistic to expect the media to
  accurately mirror the real world, because the
  media can only feature representations of that
  world, and these images involve at least some
  filtering.
• But there is great significance in how the media
  portray the world, because these portrayals
  influence our perceptions of the real world.

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Social Inequality and Media Representation

• A key issue in the analysis of media content
  involves the direction of bias.
• For example if we know that 51 of our society
  consists of women, yet men outnumber women 2 to 1
  on television, then we know that the direction of
  gender bias is against women.

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Ways of assessing media content

• There are many ways to assess the significance of
  media content
• 1. As a reflection of media producers and their
  ideologies.
• 2. As a reflection of audience preferences and
  desires.
• 3. As a reflection of society in general,
  including social norms, beliefs and values.
• 4. The way media content influences audiences and
  our society.
• 5. Content as self-enclosed text whose meaning is
  to be de-coded on its own terms, independent of
  society and audiences.

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Race and Media Content

• Race is a socially constructed category whose
  meaning varies across time. There is no
  biologically valid difference in the genetic
  makeup of different races.
• Nevertheless, perceived racial distinctions have
  powerful social meaning with profound real-world
  consequences.

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Race and Media Content

• Historically, the American media have taken
  whites to be the norm against which all other
  racial categories are compared.
• White is normalcy.
• For example, we speak of the black community
  when referring to blacks, but we do not say the
  white 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 for
  racism 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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Media Racism Motivations

• To understand how racial difference is portrayed
  in the mass media, we must examine the roots of
  racial stereotyping in American history.
• At best, the American media has paid little
  attention to racial minorities. At worst, it has
  promoted inflammatory stereotypes against racial
  minorities.
• This has been for two reasons
• 1. Media producers have been racists, just as the
  larger society has been.
• 2. Racist stereotypes are profitable to
  capitalist media.

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Racial Stereotypes

• Historically when racial minorities have been
  portrayed in the media they have been stereotyped
  into such roles as the Black mammy, the Black
  coon, the savage Indian, the Indian maiden, the
  Latin lover, the Mexican bandit, or the sinister
  Asian warlord.
• These stereotypes are the product of whites and
  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
  several phases of racist ideology.
• 1610-1640 Ethnocentrism, but with relatively
  less racism 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 were
  perhaps even likeable (as long as they were
  obedient and knew their place). In this view,
  slaves needed to be put to work in order to be
  productive, but could only do menial work.

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Historical Forms of Racism

• 1865-1920s violent racism emerged, especially in
  the South, to contain newly freed black slaves
  who now threatened whites (especially poor
  whites) with competition for jobs, land, women,
  and other resources. This is early Jim Crow.
• Violent racists stereotyped blacks as ugly,
  angry, beastlike savages who were out of control.
  This view portrayed young black males as
  instinctually inclined toward rape and other
  savage behaviors.
• The Ku Klux Klan emerged during this time and
  emphasizes violent racism even today.
• The 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, exploited
  violent racism.

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Historical Forms of Racism

• 1930s-1950s the later Jim Crow period brought a
  return to paternalistic racism in which blacks
  are seen as simple minded, ugly, happy servants.
• Corporations exploited this stereotype with the
  images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.
• World War II helped bring an end to violent
  racism and Hitler ironically forced white
  Americans to reconsider their racist ways.
• By the mid-1950s, the civil rights movement began
  making waves and change was in the air.
• By the 1960s, paternalistic racism was under
  attack by the rising ideology of social
  liberalism, which holds that all people should be
  seen as equals.

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Historical Forms of Racism

• Post 1960s The post civil rights era. While
  overt racism declined dramatically, covert or
  institutional racism remains fairly widespread.
• Stereotypes are difficult to destroy, and most
  mainstream and especially conservative whites
  continue to subscribe to mild racist stereotypes.
• Notions like they make good athletes, but
  they struggle intellectually.
• Today Despite the mild racism, the basic trend
  recently has been toward more diversity in black
  characterizations.

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Historical Forms of Racism

• Conclusion American racism has been reinforced
  by three basic stereotypes aimed at blacks over
  the centuries
• 1. Black is ugly.
• 2. Black is savage.
• 3. Blacks are happy servants.
• Overt racism was also hostile to other
  minority groups, who were either completely
  ignored or characterized through openly racist
  portrayals until the latter half of the 20th
  century.

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Inclusion, Roles, and Control

• Croteau and Hoynes examine three dimensions of
  minority group portrayals
• 1. Inclusion. Do media producers include images,
  views and the cultures of minority groups? Are
  minorities getting media roles?
• 2. Media Roles. If minority groups are included,
  what roles are they given and how are they
  portrayed? Are they getting the choice dramatic
  roles that get the awards?
• 3. Control of Production. Do minority groups have
  control over how they are portrayed? Are they in
  positions of power backstage?

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Comparison Inclusion, Roles, and Control
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The good news for blacks

• By the late 1980s, blacks represented about 11
  of all prime-time TV characters while making up
  about 12 of the population. Therefore it can be
  argued that they were included in proper
  proportions during prime time TV by this period.
• This is a significant gain when compared to
  earlier times, when blacks were underrepresented
  in virtually all categories of media.

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The bad news for blacks and other minority groups

• However, blacks are still underrepresented in
  advertising images today.
• Broadcast TV features more blacks than ever
  today, but they are often background characters
  and are rarely shown interacting with whites.
• Other racial minorities have been made virtually
  invisible in the media.
• Dramatic roles - the choice roles - are still
  mostly given to white males, who are center
  stage in media depictions.
• This relates to control of production, and here
  it is almost exclusively wealthy white males in
  charge of the Big Decisions. The issue of control
  is largely an issue of social class.

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The intersection of race and class

• To the extent that blacks have achieved upward
  mobility into the middle class, the media has
  increasingly celebrated them.
• In The Cosby Show (1984-92), the black family was
  portrayed as a normal nuclear, upper middle
  class household.
• The Cosbys were likeable and harmless.
• However, at the same time that the Cosby Show was
  airing, TV news coverage about blacks tended to
  focus on the black underclass, showing it mired
  in drugs, crime, and violence.
• The implicit message poor blacks are to be
  feared while middle class blacks are to be
  welcomed.

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The intersection of race and class

• The Cosby show must be read in context of the
  times. The show liberated blacks from the
  traditional white portrayal as mired in poverty
  (see Sanford and Son), yet it did not directly
  challenge the classist stereotypes that are
  still common today.
• Today, unlike the past, no single overt
  stereotype dominates the portrayal of blacks.
• Increases in narrowcasting TV shows has led to
  segregated viewing audiences, with white
  audiences preferring white content and black
  audiences preferring black content.
• In 1993, none of the 10 most popular TV shows
  among blacks were rated in the top-10 shows
  overall.

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Race Class

• The biased portrayal of blacks and other racial
  minorities by the media is partly due to the
  class-based nature of the media.
• Most media owners and producers come from the
  middle and upper classes, and most subscribe to
  classist stereotypes of the poor and working
  class.
• The lower and working classes are negatively
  stereotyped in the mainstream media, just as
  racial minorities are.

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Gender and Media Content

• Generally, men outnumber women by a factor of 2
  to 1 on commercial TV.
• In the 1990s, only 1/3rd of all journalists were
  women, yet upper management was almost all white
  males.
• By the mid-1990s, women represented only 20 of
  all TV news directors, TV news reporters, and
  front page newspaper writers.
• Not only are women not found in proportion to
  their numbers, but the way they are depicted in
  the media reflects fairly stereotypical images of
  women.

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Gender and Media Content

• The medias history of portraying women parallels
  its history of portraying racial minorities.
• Women were marginalized in all types of media,
  and blatantly sexist stereotypes dominated the
  earlier years of media.
• Women have typically been stereotyped as
  submissive, passive, overly emotional,
  nurturing, and dependent.
• Conversely men have been stereotyped as dominant,
  active, rational, aggressive, and independent.
• These depictions are consistent with the dominant
  ideology of sexism, which supports the social
  system known as patriarchy.

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Sexism

• The media has historically depicted women in a
  narrow range of social roles love interest,
  housewife, mother, virgin, and whore.
• Since the 1920s and especially the 1970s,
  capitalists have exploited sexual themes to
  emphasize the image of young women as sex
  objects.
• Today if a woman is applying for a TV or
  Hollywood role, the single most important
  consideration, given the capitalist media
  obsession with sex and violence formulas, is her
  physical appearance.

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Media Images of Women

• Males have historically controlled the creation
  and production of media images of women.
• This is still the case even today.
• In Hollywood, it is still fairly rare to find a
  female director, producer, or owner.
• Whether she is on or off screen, women are likely
  to be in positions where they are not in control
  of events.
• This is the legacy of sexism and continued
  patriarchy.

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Media Images of Women

• With the exception of women portrayed as sex
  objects, overt sexism has declined since the
  1960s.
• The 60s brought a rise in feminism, and American
  values have shifted toward gender and racial
  equality thanks to the 60s movements.
• Yet the obsession with women as sex objects has
  become a major concern since the 1970s.
• When the TV camera shows a man, they depict him
  in close-ups of his face. His character matters.
• When the camera shows a woman, if often pans down
  or zooms back to reveal her entire body. The
  message her looks are more important than her
  character.

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What explains the current media obsession with
young women as sex objects?

• During the 1960s the sexual revolution overlapped
  with the feminist movement.
• Both were fairly successful liberation movements.
  By the mid-60s, the sex taboo was broken,
  allowing for more honest and open human
  sexuality.
• But control over the media production of womens
  sexuality remained in (1) capitalist and (2) male
  hands.
• The result was that the sexual liberation
  movement was partially co-opted by the capitalist
  media, dominated by males. It remains this way
  even now.
• Today, images of young women are graphically
  sexualized and geared toward male fantasies of
  the ideal woman as a sex object.

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Covert sexism

• Today, in addition to sexual objectification,
  women are still victimized by covert sexism. Most
  of this takes the form of sexist stereotypes and
  gender markers.
• In media coverage of sports, it is fairly common
  to find the announcers speaking about her as a
  woman athlete note the gender marking. We are
  watching womans tennis or womans
  basketball.
• American sports, like other institutions, remain
  patriarchal.
• Female athletes still have to overcome the stigma
  of not being pink or dainty enough to be
  considered sexually attractive.

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Social Class and Media

• Most advertisers (sponsors) aim for the middle
  class consumer, ignoring the poor and working
  class.
• They want to reach people with spending money.
• Consequently they push the idea that media
  content emphasize the middle or upper middle
  class lifestyle as normalcy.
• Result the poor and working class are largely
  ignored by the capitalist media.

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Social Class and Media

• When the poor and working class are found in the
  media, they are typically stereotyped in negative
  ways.
• It is important to remember that media producers
  and owners rarely come from the poor and working
  classes. They tend to subscribe to mainstream
  stereotypes about the lower and working classes,
  just as other Americans do.
• Thus when they depict them, they portray them as
  less civilized, uglier, somewhat incompetent, and
  dumber than average.

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Social Class and Media

• It is not uncommon to see a working class male
  depicted on commercial TV as an incompetent yet
  loveable doofus Homer Simpson, Archie Bunker,
  Ralph Kramden, Fred Flintstone, Al Bundy, etc.
• In each of these cases, their wives are portrayed
  as more level-headed, and even the kids may be
  smarter than the working class dad.
• Commercial media are much friendlier to middle
  class depictions of men and women. If the
  characters are in the middle class, it is likely
  they are favorably portrayed.
• The hidden message If they are middle class,
  they are normal. If they are poor, they are
  abnormal.

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Conclusion

• The 1960s brought declines in overt racism and
  sexism, and these declines did bring changes in
  media depictions of racial minorities and women.
• However, covert racism and sexism continue to
  show up in the media, and the sexual
  objectification of women is a special version of
  modern sexism that is overtly sexist.
• With regard to social class, there was never a
  strong poor peoples movement to call attention
  to classism. Consequently there is still a lot of
  overt classism in media portrayals.
• Indeed, the commercial media generally favors
  classist ideology, because they favor consumers
  over non-consumers.

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Conclusion

• While Andy of Mayberry, the Beverly Hillbillies,
  Green Acres, and other well-written 1960s TV
  shows depicted working class small town folk as
  good people, they also confirmed classist
  stereotypes in the form of Barney Fife, Jethro
  Bodine, and Hank Kimball.
• These working class doofuses were loveable fools,
  but they were still fools.
• Media content, roles, and production continues to
  be overwhelmingly favorable to whites, males, and
  the upper middle and upper classes.

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End