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Thought Paper #2

The media was created as a form of entertainment and as an informant, so when did it become a platform for creating and preserving stereotypes in society? The media holds more power than most people know. Especially in today’s society, where television, social media, music, and many other forms of media are used in our everyday lives. Media has the power to influence people’s perception of reality and form new ideas. This becomes apparent in many realms of society. Platforms such as the news media, highlight the aspects of certain races in order to highlight the aspects of others or twist the truth to make it match the already preconceived notions of a group. Author bell hooks makes this apparent in one of her works The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators. These ideas cause a separation and form a very black and white perception of the world.

Media finds ways to change the way we perceive reality by withholding the truth or contorting it. Media only shows the surface story, what will catch the audiences eye. There are many things that we all look at, but never really question why they exist. For example, everyone looks at some type of screen on a daily basis, but have you ever thought about how the image on the screen is generated. It is not something that is commonly thought about. It is common, as humans to do this, because without education on how these things work, we will not understand why they do what they do. The same happens in the media. All forms of media only show the highlighted areas of a story or a person’s life without giving much of a background. Without the background, people are stuck having to believe what they see. This becomes a problem because for individuals who are not educated or do not see the story behind these images, they are stuck with a skewed understanding of reality. Many forms of media are guilty of doing this.

If someone is an avid follower of certain types of media, then these lessons soon become internalized. Internalization is the ability of someone to learn something and make it part of their daily lives. Ever since we were kids, we were taught things that become repetitive actions which eventually become habits or practices. The thing about these internalizations is that they are always changing and new ideas can always be planted. Anything in the media can have an influence on what we think. One idea proposed by a single person can make waves among many people, and even worse is when the ideas are shared by others. People start to think, “Well, if they all say it, then it must be true.”, without even thinking about the facts behind it. Ideas that are now spewed across the media, implant themselves into people’s mind and they walk around in everyday life basing their decisions on these thoughts. Now these same inequalities seen on media become a reality for some.

One prime example of the portrayal of skewed realities is the News. Most people watch some form of the news to keep them updated on what it is going on in the world. Most news today has recently been more focused on warning people of the dangers that exist or terrible events that have happened within their area or the country. This helps people to understand that they have to be safe when going outside. The issue that arises though, is that Blacks are depicted more in these violent news stories than Whites, even though Blacks and Whites commit violent crimes at similar rates. On the surface, without thinking, most would accept that this is the case, that Blacks are just more prone to committing crimes than Whites (and there are many with this mentality). What the News doesn’t tell you, are the underlying reasons to why Blacks commit these crimes. They also don’t show as many stories of Whites committing crimes as they should. They have distorted the reality of the situation and caused the creation of stereotypes in the general population. With these images being constantly flashed across the screen, it is hard not to internalize these ideas.

These inequalities are not just displayed on screen but are translated into real life. One example is the socioeconomic division in the school system. The amount of resources that are allocated to schools are dependent on the students’ performance and neighborhoods economic status. We always see the stark difference between schools that are in areas of low economic status and areas of high economic status. Schools in well-off areas always have more programs, better textbooks and sometimes even better educators. On the opposite end of the spectrum, schools in not as well-off areas are neglected and do not receive the same aid. When looking at statistics, it would seem as if students in poorer areas are not as smart as those from richer areas, when in fact the reason is the lack of resources. Since there is no change in the economic status of the area (due to other reasons) then there is no change in the school system. Also, since students are less likely to succeed then they will end up back in the same areas and the cycle continues. These differences are mostly affected by politics. Media plays a big role in that because, media influences peoples way of thinking, especially in politics. People constantly watch the news for information on candidates. Recently President Trump has released a campaign ad which targets Mexicans. This ad is targeted toward fearful republicans, who will now run to the polling places and vote to make sure more immigration laws are passed. Without the media, people wouldn’t be sure on which stance to take.

Similar to this, are the inequalities amongst genders in the workplace. When observing major companies and their owners, it can be seen that males are almost always at the top. For a while, women were seen as inferior and were told that they were not capable of performing the same duties as men. This of course is not the truth and is just used as an excuse to keep women from achieving top spots in companies. These ideas are influenced by the media’s portrayal of women. Women are often put into submissive roles and are expected to stay in their lane. Because of this, women in the workplace are seen as inferior to men. Although, this goes beyond just a hierarchal separation, there is also an economic separation. Even though men and women perform the same duties in the same positions, women are often paid less than their male counterparts. This happens time and time again and there is no valid explanation as to why this happens. With all of this negative energy in the workplace it makes it hard for a woman to climb the ranks. If a woman has a goal to reach the top spots in her company she will have to jump more hurdles and prove herself more than her male competition, and even then, she could still be denied the job simply because she is a woman. This leads to many women being stagnant in their careers.

These ideas of inequality are discussed in an excerpt from bell hooks called The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators. hooks discussed the importance of sight in our society and how it plays into our formation of ideas. She speaks mostly of the black women’s experience but it can be related to most people. She mentioned how in earlier times, black women were ashamed of how they were portrayed on screen because it was not an accurate portrayal. She also mentions how the downplay of certain groups are used to highlight certain areas of other groups. These two connecting ideas are the effects and reasons for the inequalities in the media. The media has long defamed the image of people in lower places such as minorities and the poor. Often this is done to show or highlight the lack of success in these communities and to show how successful the opposite groups are even if it is by a small amount. Those whose images are praised in the media get to walk around in society with their head held high and are treated with respect. The opposite goes for people in lower statuses, they are judged based off of what they see and not for their true character. This leaves people in these positions to feel ashamed of these images. They may even stop paying attention to these media platforms because why watch something that constantly slanders your name? These inequalities cause many problems and without a solution will cause further harm.

In bell hooks passage, she includes a quote from Stuart Hall. He states, “that identity is constituted “not outside but within representation,” And invites us to see film "not as a second- order mirror held up to reflect what already exists, but as that form of representation which is able to constitute us as new kinds of subjects, and thereby enable us to discover who we are.” (hooks, 1992, p. 131). Although Hall is speaking of film here, this can be applied to all forms of media. Representation in the media is a very vital component, for it is representation which helps people connect. More important is correct representation. Blacks are represented very often in the news media, but they are often shown in a bad light. Once media, starts to represent reality as what it is, that is when these inequalities can disappear. Once they disappear, people who are represented incorrectly can be seen as who they truly are. Sadly, the disappointing part is that media is a business just like any other one and it relies on the support of its audience. If media platforms were to begin to describe the underlying causes to some of these situations or images, then there could be dispute. People would rather see a skewed reality then to see the truth at all. Until people come to the realization that these inequalities do nothing but tear people down, this continuous cycle will cease to stop.

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