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Stereotyping and Media. Stereotyping and Media. Anthropological approaches Psychological Approaches. Approaches to Stereotyping. Anthropological approaches to stereotyping arose out of Western studies of other cultures.
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Stereotyping and Media • Anthropological approaches • Psychological Approaches
Approaches to Stereotyping • Anthropological approaches to stereotyping arose out of Western studies of other cultures. • These studies developed in the context of 19th century colonialism and emphasized “differences” between cultures and identified non-Western cultures as “Other.”
Approaches to Stereotyping • Psychological Approaches • Early theories argued that only bigoted people used stereotypes and concentrated on studying explicit expressions of racism/sexism etc. • Later theories focus on automatic or implicit stereotyping.
Approaches to Stereotyping • Researchers argue that how progressive a person seems and think they are, bears little relation to unconscious stereotypes. • Base this finding on test taken by participants in which a series of negative and positive adjectives are paired with a characteristically “black” or “white” name.
As the name and word appear together on the screen, the person taking the test presses a key indicating whether the word is good or bad, while the computer records the speed of each response. • Researchers found that most people including African Americans respond more quickly when a positive word is paired with a white name or a negative word with a black name.
According to researchers the words are presented so quickly that the participant’s ability to make deliberate choices is diminished. • Same technique applied to analyzing stereotypes about other groups
Such studies grew out of the cognitive approach of the 1970s which emphasized that we use categories to make sense of the world around us. • In stereotypes however, categories become identified with additional negative associations.
Stereotypes emerge from what social psychologists call in group/out-group dynamics, • Psychologists also argue that people cannot seem to help themselves but they can recognize the response and check it • Danger of leakage into non verbal behavior
So where do these stealth or implicit stereotypes come from ?
From the culture around us in which media images and content play a significant role. • Media theorists typically study media content in terms of its implications for race, gender, class and sexuality and related stereotypes.
Race and Media Three main issues: Inclusion Nature of media roles Control of production
Race and Media Early stages of 19th century popular culture, little inclusion and minorities were mostly ignored. Rise of blackface and minstrel shows. When they were included, they tended to be represented stereotypically. Rise of blackface and minstrel shows and the notion of the contented slave.
Post slavery, contented slave replaced by faithful servant or entertainer. Free black men also appeared as angry and aggressive in films such as Birth of a Nation (1915). Negative stereotypes also visible in other contemporary films.
Similarly Asians were represented as a threat and Mexicans as bandits and criminals. Between the 1930s and 1940s, stereotyping continued but it was crude. Since 1960s, the presence of African Americans on screens has increased but other groups remain limited.
Changes in Racism Blatant racism has declined but according to researchers such as Robert Entman (1992), traditional racism has been replaced by modern racism. Similar findings by Wilson and Gutierrez (1995) who find that minorities are mostly represented in relation to problems. Both raise questions regarding inclusion.
Race and News Coverage Entman and Rojecki (2000) and Entman and Gross (2008) found that in news coverage: Blacks and Latinos are over-represented as perpetrators of violent crimes when news coverage is compared to arrest rates. Whites are over-represented as victims of violence and as law-enforcers
Blacks in criminal roles tend to outnumber blacks in socially positive roles and in some areas this is true of Latinos as well. Minorities more likely to be shown in mug shots. Twice as likely to be shown in perp walks and more likely to be shown under some form of physical restraint by police.
People of color more likely to subject to negative pretrial publicity and defendants who victimize whites more likely to have prejudicial information broadcast than those who victimize minorities. Minority victims of crime less likely to be covered than white victims.
Aside from crime, most frequent and disproportionate association of minorities is in contexts of poverty where they are over-represented compared to whites.
Minorities are rarely seen in news-worthy contexts outside crime and poverty and thus associated with them. According to Entman and others, this leads to greater racial resentment and impacts policy toward minorities.
Gender and Media Early representations of women as mothers/homemakers Traditional sexism replaced by modern sexism ?
Media and Class American society portrayed as wealthier and than it is. Characters typically middle class and rarely working class. Butsch (1992) found that in sit-coms from 1946-1990, on 11% featured blue-collar, service or clerical workers as heads of households.
Media and Class Also, even though professionals made up 15% of the workforce in 1990s, they were 44.5% of television sitcom families were headed by professionals. Class also affects news coverage in terms of issues.
Media and Sexuality Gay characters represented more than lesbians. Initially represented as comic or perverted. Between 1930s-1960s, negative portrayals in which homosexuality appeared as a source of misery, disease or an evil to be destroyed.
Media and Sexuality Recent portrayals: More gay men represented than lesbians Non-sexual, non threatening portrayals Focus on familial settings
