HOW DOES THE LACK OF DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA NEGATIVELY AFFECT YOUTH?

By Shahd Nimir 

What is your favorite show? Who is your favorite character in it? How similar are you to them? Research shows that you, as the audience, are more likely to continue watching a show or any other form of entertainment if you feel as if you share a trait with one of the characters. We find comfort and joy in characters that remind us of ourselves. Unfortunately, many have been excluded from experiencing this feeling. Lack of representation and the enforcement of stereotypes towards minorities is a complicated and pivotal issue in the media, especially in the form of television and film. This especially has a strong and lasting effect on youth and adolescents. In the long run, it can impact their self-image and mental health. Fortunately, this issue is gradually being addressed. Even then, there is still a long way to go before it is completely solved. The more awareness that we bring to this issue, the quicker it can be resolved.

The media-entertainment industry is a relatively new concept to society. But in such a short time, it has completely changed the social construct of general views. Media has changed how people understand and view themselves and others in the world (Castañeda, Mari). The lack of diversity has been an issue from the very start. A century ago, most successful actors were white men. Women were less likely to become accomplished in the industry. Dana E. Mastro at the University of California, Santa Barbara along with Bradley S. Greenberg, a professor at Michigan State University, collaborated on a research study titled “The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Television” in 2000. Through their research, they not only discovered the immense lack of representation on TV but were also able to recognize the constant stereotypes being portrayed by the few minorities. They noted that although Latinos only made up 3% of TV characters, they were portrayed by unrealistic societal standards, almost being perfect in every aspect. African Americans on the other hand experienced extremely negative stereotypes. For example, several of the characters were depicted as lazy, disrespectful, and even dressed provocatively compared to others (Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, et al). From these two examples, it is not difficult to conclude that both stereotypes can have highly negative effects on these two groups. An abundance of these unrealistic standards can shape how a person views people in their day-to-day life and even affect the treatment and level of respect that they have for others. Not only that, but it can harm the reputation of an entire group or make it hard for individuals to access things such as jobs or education. 

Ten years later, a replication of this study was done by another group of professors including Mary Heiserman and Elizabeth Monk-Turner. The experiment was conducted with the same method, with the only change being time. Even after an entire decade, there was little to no change. There was still hardly any representation with 74% of all actors being white. The remaining cast members consisted of 16% African Americans, less than 2% Asians, and less than 3% in the category of “others” (Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, et al). Unfortunately, these people were still shown as unsuccessful and alien-like through overused stereotypes. African American men were portrayed as gang members or drug dealers and African American women were either prostitutes or junkies. On the bright side, they saw an increase in female minority roles compared to a decade before. There was also a slight increase in Latino representation with now Latinos taking 5% of film roles. You’d think that this would show improvement but on the contrary, it had the complete opposite effect. There was an increase in negative stereotypes with Latinos now being depicted as unintelligent people who almost always had heavy accents with extremely low articulation skills (Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, et al). They lived in unsuccessful low-income households where they were shown to only work “low-skilled” jobs (Castañeda, Mari) It is rare for social issues to see a worsening of the problem, but that is what occurred in this case. 

There are dozens of stereotypes portrayed in film. An article titled “What Hollywood Movies Do to Perpetuate Racial Stereotypes” explains many of them and the groups that they target. African Americans, Asians, Arabs, and Latinos are the largest victims of negative stereotypes. As mentioned before, Asian actors only made up less than 2% of film characters, and yet this group was still portrayed negatively. Asian actors, specifically men, were most likely to play the roles of villains or “laughable caricatures”. If not, then they were either store owners or practiced some sort of martial art. Women on the other hand were part of the “Mighty whitey, mellow yellow” trope which was similar to the damsel in despair trope except it depicted a submissive Asian woman who needed to be saved by a white man. Even though this isn’t used as much in film as much anymore, the effect that it has on Asian women is still prevalent in society today. Latinos and African Americans were portrayed with very similar stereotypes that included characters that were drug dealers, gang members, uneducated, and oftentimes unsuccessful. African American women were also part of the “Angry Black Women” trope that portrayed them as angry individuals who overreacted to the smallest things. Additionally, they faced colorism, where hired actors were almost always lighter in complexion. African Americans and Asians also faced blackface and yellowface. (Schacht, Kira). One of the largest difficulties faced because of negative stereotypes is their ability to present cultures as homogeneous (King, Anthony, et al ). This almost forces audiences to make assumptions about these groups and as a result, face negative stigma from society. In addition to stereotypes, there is the issue of tokenism. It occurs when a person of color is casted mainly to make the environment seem more diverse. Oftentimes, these characters serve absolutely no purpose to the plot and are used instead to market shows or films to individuals from marginalized groups (Tawil, Yasmina). Some stereotypes are considered positive. Examples of these would be academically excelling Asian students and/or athletically excelling African American students. Still, the effect of these stereotypes has almost the same impact on people as more degrading stereotypes, especially on youth. 

Adolescents and youth are not only the largest consumers of media stereotyping but also the group that is most affected, both on the giving and receiving ends. Racism is not a genetic trait, but rather, it is taught. Children tend to pick up the ideologies of those around them and their environment. This environment includes what they see and hear on television. By the ages of nine and eleven children begin to form preferences based on race and color, which are sometimes only exposed to them through media stereotypes. When these morals and racial attitudes form, they continue for the child’s entire life. It is extremely difficult to change these ideologies after such exposure (Weir, Kirsten). Young children are very vulnerable to viewing racial and ethnic stereotypes as reflections of who people truly are (Castañeda, Mari). As adolescents, this affects the way they treat others their age, specifically in the school setting, and they can influence their peers as well. As they become adults, they can influence their children and how they treat others in their work environment. Negative representation creates negative perceptions.

Children who see stereotypes based on them are affected very differently compared to others. Once again, they see these stereotypes as a reflection of who people are (Castañeda, Mari). Along with the fact that their ideologies and views are based on their environments, their identities and self-worth are also determined by this (King, Anthony, et al). Many feel pressured to fit these stereotypes since they feel as if it is what is expected of them. In a sense, negative representations create negative people. Racial bias that adults in teaching environments have, has an even larger effect. For example, immigrants and children of immigrants are underestimated by their teachers. They view them as incapable and are more likely to accuse them of cheating and plagiarism if their work exceeds these low expectations. Outside of the classroom, this same group along with ethnic children are stopped and questioned by security guards and hall monitors way more often than white kids their age. In this environment, they are labeled as low achievers and troublemakers. Eventually, they turn out rebellious since that is what is expected of them. It is important to recognize that identities are formed through representation, so even if they are not treated like this by adults, they become what they feel pressured to become (King, Anthony, et al ). Positive stereotypes in the school environment are just as bad. The model minority student view puts just as much pressure if not more on adolescents. For example, African American students are expected to excel more in athletics than academics and because of this, coaches often go out of their way to recruit them to school teams. This destroys the ego of students who are not athletically gifted. Asian American students are expected to excel in STEM-based courses. However, if they are better in the humanities, teachers may suspect cheating and plagiarism (James, Carl.). 

Even outside of school, this problem continues. In the judicial system, many young African-American and Latino men fall victim to racial profiling. They are more likely to be pulled over and searched if they are in an expensive automobile. Officers assume that they must be either drug dealers or gang leaders to live in such luxury (James, Carl). Some believe those police officers can detect these things based on experience, but in most cases, this experience is based on what they see in the media, whether it be factual news or fiction. Even in everyday things such as shopping, a black teenager is more likely to be followed in a store than anyone else. 

The effect that media representation has on youth is significant. Many studies have been conducted in the past to prove this as well as to show the change that has occurred. Despite this, many continue to argue that stereotypes are fictional and do not have any effect on people. In reality, they have a wide range of effects on how people view others, the mental health of those who are being represented, and even their education and future jobs. In recent years, this problem has been improving with the increase in positive representation. This does not mean that it’s ending any time soon. Some of the stereotypes from the past are still engraved in the minds of people, affecting their views of how they see the world and those in it. To bring it to an end sooner, we must learn to call out and debunk examples of stereotypes in the media and do the same to people who seem to believe. 

Works Cited

Castañeda, Mari. “The Power of (Mis)Representation: Why Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes in the Media Matter.” Challenging Inequalities: Readings in Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration, 2018. Scholar Works UMASS, scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=communication_faculty_pubs.

James, Carl. “Stereotyping and Its Consequence for Racial Minority Youth | Ontario Human Rights Commission.” Ontario Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/race-policy-dialogue-papers/stereotyping-and-its-consequence-racial-minority-youth. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

King, Anthony, et al. Culture, Globalization and the World-System: Contemporary Conditions for the Representation of Identity. 1st ed., Minneapolis, Univ Of Minnesota Press, 1997.

Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, et al. “The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television: A Replication of the Mastro and Greenberg Study a Decade Later.” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 32, no. 2, 2001. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416158.

Schacht, Kira. “What Hollywood Movies Do to Perpetuate Racial Stereotypes.” DW.COM, Deutsche Welle, 21 Feb. 2019, www.dw.com/en/hollywood-movies-stereotypes-prejudice-data-analysis/a-47561660.

Tawil, Yasmina. “What Exactly Is Media Representation Anyway?” Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI), 3 July 2020, arabfilminstitute.org/what-exactly-is-media-representation-anyway/. 

Weir, Kirsten. “Raising Anti-Racist Children.” American Psychological Association, APA, 6 Feb. 2021, http://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/06/anti-racist-children.