Week 2-Race, Ethnic, and Cultural Stereotypes Flashcards
What may Media do regarding stereotypes?
- Activate existing stereotypes
- Creates new stereotypes
- Challenge stereotypes
What are the 4 stages of Minority Representation? (Clark, 1969)
- Non-recognition (group are excluded from the media)
- Ridicule (minority is shown in an insulting way)
- Regulation (addressed misrepresentation by putting minorities into authority roles e.g., teachers, police etc.,)
- Respect (the point in which minorities are shown fully rounded and complex, with their strengths and weaknesses)
■ Cultural Erasure - Increased positive representation of minorities but exclusion of cultural identity
■ Minority characters embody a white cultural identity (erasing issues that minorities would face e.g., racism)
-Audiences tend to be fragmented (i.e., watching different shows) therefore changing the narrative isn’t universally an effective solution
What are Common Black Stereotypes?
■ Most frequently portrayed minority
■ Proportional representation of the black minority seen on US television compared to other minorities
■ Frequent female stereotypes
■ Mammy: Subordinate, unattractive faithful, domestic (rather than having their own goals and satisfied to help others and work: undermines civil rights movement by suggesting black people are happy to work under people)
■ Jezebel: Erotic, sensual, relatively fair-skinned
■ Sapphire: Bitchy, stubborn, angry (in an attempt to minimise and stop black women from having a voice. Leads to a circle of them either saying something and people take advantage of that to prove the stereotype, OR say nothing yet they still label you in that way)
■ Increased crime portrayal (particularly seen with black men)
What are some Common Latinx Stereotypes?
■ Limited representation
Frequent stereotypes:
■ Lover / harlot: Highly sexualised, provocatively dressed
■ Criminal: Gang members, aggressive, selling drugs
■ Often featured in news highlighting illegal immigration
■ Increased availability of Latin-based programmes
What goes on behind the screen?
■ Media representation typically reflect the interests of those ‘in charge’ e.g., those controlling media companies and advertisers
■ Underrepresentation of minorities in writing, direction, production
■ In popular films (2007 to 2012) Black characters (with speaking roles) 5 times more common in movies of Black movie directors (Smith et al. 2013)
What’s the representation of race in the news? (Poindexter et al., 2003)
■ Content analysis of local newscasts (26 different stations in 12 cities during the years 1987 and 1989 through 1998)
■ 596 stories coded
■ 28% stories were delivered by a reporter. Almost three-quarters (73%) of reporters were White, 16% were Black, and 3% were Latinx
■ Ethnic minorities rarely interviewed as news sources
What’s the representation of race in sports?
■ Black brawn vs. white brains distinction
■ Black players are presented as natural athletes with superior physical skills (Billings & Halone, 2002) such as speed and strength
■ White players discussed in terms of mental skills such as hard work and intelligence (Rada & Wulfemeyer, 2005)
■ Rada (1997) commentators “having to inform and entertain…often without the time to choose words carefully may . . . dredge up comments based on subconscious beliefs, images, attitudes, and
values”
What’s the representation of race in video games?
■ Videogame characters are typically young White men (Williams et al. 2009)
■ Glaube et al. (2001) examined 70 console games (such as Playstation) and found that some minorities were never present. Children’s games included only White and non-human characters
■ Dill et al. (2005) relatively few Black and Latino men represented main characters and there were no Latino or Latina secondary characters
■ Black male characters are likely to appear as athletes (Glaubke, 2001) and criminals (Behm-Morawitz, 2008)
■ Asian characters are often portrayed as martial artists (e.g., Behm-Morawitz, 2008)
■ Example, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City portrayed Haitians and Cubans as criminals. The producer responded by removing the lines ‘‘Kill the Haitians,’’ and ‘‘Kill the Cubans’’ from the game.
What’s the representation of race in video games? (Burgess et al., 2011) STUDY 1
■ Study 1 - content analysis of video game magazines
■ One issue from each magazine selected, the largest male and female image on each page from each issue were included
■ 482 images (362 male images and 120 female images)
■ White males (76.4%) featured in gaming magazines more frequently than in the U.S. population and their representation among U.S. gamers
■ Minority characters were not even quite as frequent in gaming magazines as humanoids (i.e., aliens)
■ Similar pattern was observed for the representation of women
■ White males (66.4%) less likely than minority males (76.8%) to be portrayed as aggressive
■ Of the aggressive males, Whites (8.1%) more likely than minorities (0%) to be in a war setting
What’s the representation of race in video games? (Burgess et al., 2011) STUDY 2
■ Study 2 – content analysis of video game covers
■ White characters (64.8%) more likely than Asian (37.5%), Black (50%), or other characters (36.7%) to be positioned in the foreground
■ Relative to both the U.S. Census and gamer demographics, White (79.2%) and Asian (5.9%) avatars were significantly more likely to be primary characters than Black (9.6%) and other (5.2%) avatars
■ Different patterns for Whites and minorities for socially sanctioned and illicit violence
What’s the link between Crime and Race? (Collins, 2014)
■ Content analysis, four Canadian local newspapers
■ Sampled 1190 articles
■ Articles describe crimes against White victims with significantly more fearful language
■ Minority victims were blamed for their own victimization
What’s the link between Crime and Race? (Dixon et al., 2013)
■ Content analysis of television network news
■ White people overrepresented while Black people were underrepresented as victims of violent crime
■ White people were overrepresented and Black people were underrepresented as police officers
What’s the link between Crime and Race? (Entman and Rojecki, 2000)
■ Local television news
■ Greater number of White victims than Black victims included
■ News stories on White victims were three times longer than news stories on Black victims
■ Black perpetrators more likely than White perpetrators to be shown in a mug shot
■ Black perpetrators more likely than White perpetrators to be shown in jail clothing or handcuffed, grasped, or restrained by an officer
■ Dixon and Linz (2002) statements containing prejudicial information about suspects (e.g. prior arrests) more likely to be associated with Black (as opposed to White) defendants, particularly in cases involving White victims
How was Race represented during Hurricane Katrina? (Sommers et al., 2006)
■ Initial reports used the term “refugees” to describe displaced survivors, a term rarely used to describe American citizens within U.S. borders
■ Photograph captions
■ Different publications but similar photographs
■ Stories often focused on violent crime particularly amongst those a “violent crime wave” at the Superdome and Convention Center (Loney, 2005)
Examples:
■ Widely reported (e.g. CNN) that gunfire directed at helicopters halted a hospital rescue mission
■ “National Guard officials on the ground at the time now say that no helicopters came under attack and that evacuations were never stopped because of gunfire” (Pierre & Gerhart, 2005)
■ New Orleans Times-Picayune stated that 40 murder victims had been found in a freezer at the Convention Center. One month later it was revealed that there were four bodies, only one was a homicide
■ Stories can impact on perceptions of the victims and support provided e.g., government checks on relocating victims
What did people say about Hurricane Katrina through blogs and emails (“Utah evacuees”, 2005)
■ One example, ‘Let me tell you a few things about the wonderful group of evacuees we received here in Utah…the National Guard removed from their person; 43 handguns …20 knives, one man had 100000 dollars in cash, 20 pounds of Marijuana, 10 pounds of Crack, 15 pounds of Methamphetamines, 10 pounds of various other controlled substances including Heroin. Upon their
arrival here in Salt Lake City, two people immediately deplaned and lit up a joint….It was discovered that parents were using their kids to carry loads of looted jewelry (price tag still on), and other items….By the second night in the shelter, there was one attempted rape of a relief worker, sales of
drugs on going and a gang had begun to rebuild…. This past Saturday, workforce services held a job fair. 85 of the 582 evacuees attended. 44 were hired on the spot. 24 were asked back for a second
interview. Guess the others had no desire to work’. (“Utah evacuees”, 2005)
■ Public safety officials and the Governor of Utah immediately deny that this occurred
