Representation of Social Groups in U.S. and International Media

Kent WilkinsonRegents Professor in Hispanic and

International Communication Texas Tech University

Universidad de Navarra Lecture – Day Two, April 13, 2010

Outline for Today’s Session

Discuss concept of social representation in media Brief history of representation of African Americans,

Asians and Hispanics in U.S. media Discussion of ethnic-oriented media and the Native

American sports names issue Break Discuss select student homework submissions Focus on media representation of diverse cultures in

international news and entertainment programming. Examine representation of Arabs/Muslims in Western

media.

Key Concepts Representation - The process by which a

constructed media text stands for, symbolizes, describes or represents people, places, events or ideas that are real and have an existence outside the text. (The Language of Media Literacy: A Glossary of Terms)

Symbolic Annihilation – a concept drawing a close relationship between media representation and social power: those groups that are underrepresented or invisible in media are devalued in society.

Key Concepts: Cognition In order to make sense of a complex world, people tend

to form mental categories in which to organize information (called ‘schema’ by some cognitive psychologists).

Ethnicity, race and gender are common categories used to cognitively organize information about other people.

The media reinforce such categories by asking audiences to draw from generalized information to fill in the background on characters, social groups appearing in the news, entertainment content, etc.

When generalizations are overly simplistic or exaggerated they become stereotypes.

Stereotyping

Stereotype – a schema for people we perceive as belonging to a social group.

Stereotypes can go beyond telling us who others are, they can tell us why they are that way.

“…the cultural stereotype seems to play an important role in how we process information about people from various groups regardless of whether we endorse it.” (R.A. Lind, 2004, p. 15)

People’s attributions about others’ behaviors are biased in favor of their ingroups. Thus members of dominant social groups support their own superiority and reinforce the subordinate position of minority groups.

Representations of Non-Whites in the 19th century U.S.

Native Americans as ‘noble savages’ and impediments to Western expansion of Anglo Americans. (Manifest Destiny)

Blacks treated as property, inferior beings, and morally ‘tainted.’

Hispanics portrayed as unclean, lazy, untrustworthy.

Asian immigration caused fear of ‘Yellow Peril;’ image of Chinese shifts from positive (hardworking, thrifty, honest) to negative (immoral, deceitful).

African Americans

Often occupy comedic roles. Whites played black characters in minstrel shows

of early 20th century. (“blackface”) Black men often portrayed as shifty, lazy,

clownish. Black women often portrayed in one of two roles:

Sapphire – the ‘Mammy” figure. Overweight, dark-skinned, asexual, bossy.

Jezebel – Loose, sexually-aggressive woman who uses sex to manipulate men.

Video: “Small Steps: Big Screen”

Hispanics

Negative portrayals of Mexicans in Hollywood ‘greaser’ films of the early 20th century.

Ramirez-Berg identified these film stereotypes of Hispanic men:

El Bandido - treacherous, shifty, emotional, irrational, dishonest, violent

Buffoon - simple-minded, language-challenged, overly-emotional.

Latin Lover - dashing, magnetic male ‘Other;’ suave, sensual, sexually-dangerous

Hispanics

Ramirez-Berg identified these film stereotypes of Hispanic women:

The Halfbreed Harlot - lusty, hot-tempered, dishonest, “a slave to her passions.”

The Female Clown - the male buffoon’s female counterpart; negates the Harlot’s overt sexual threat.

The Dark Lady - mysterious, virginal, aloof, circumspect; intriguing to Anglo men.

Video: “Fools Rush In”

Asian Americans

Waves of immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries turned a largely positive image negative.

World War II and the communist revolution in China led to increased suspicion of Japanese and Chinese in 1940s. (Japanese internment camps)

Since World War II, Asian Americans have been stereotyped as a “model minority:” Hardworking Good students Thrifty

The model minority stereotype masks less successful Asian Americans as well as anti-Asian discrimination.

Ethnic-oriented Media Vehicles to:

Inform and entertain specific populations in their own languages and cultural terms

Organize a population politically Counter negative representations in mainstream media

As the “Ethnic Media in America” report indicates, ethnic media are growing quickly.

U.S. Census Bureau projections for 2050: Non-Hispanic Whites 52.8% Hispanics 24.3% Blacks 13.2% Asian/Pacific Islander 8.9% American Indian/Eskimo 8%

A Brief History of the Sports Team Mascot Issue

1969 - Native American activists pressure Dartmouth College to change "Indians" nickname to "Big Green.”

1970 - Protests against the Cleveland Indians’ use of "Chief Wahoo" mascot

1972 - Petition by American Indian students at Stanford University lead the school to drop "Indian" sports team nickname and logos.

1989 - Charlene Teters, a Native American graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, initiates efforts to eliminate that school's "Chief Illiniwek" mascot.

A Brief History of the Sports Team Mascot Issue

1992 – NFL Super Bowl between Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins drew ~2,000 protesters

1995 – MLB World Series between Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians is called “World Series of Racism” by protesters and their supporters

1997 - Jay Rosenstein's documentary "In Whose Honor" is aired nationally on the Public Broadcasting System TV show "Point of View.“

1998 - National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) determines that "Indian mascots that promote Indian caricatures and mimic ceremonial rites do not comply with the NCAA's commitment to ethnic student welfare.“

How Mascot Defenders and Opponents DifferMascot Defenders

Mascots honor Native AmericansStress text (honor and intention)Isolate argument from other social/historical factorsMinimize the importance of symbols Deflect and deny the importance of race

Mascot Opponents

Mascots denigrate Native AmericansStress context (history and racism)Make connections to other social/historical factorsSee symbols as powerful cultural formsHighlight the importance of race

From: Miller, Jackson B. (1999). “Indians,” “Braves” and “Redskins”: A performative struggle for control of an image. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 85, 188-202.

Cartoonists’ Editorials

from http://aistm.org/cartoons.htm

The Third World on TV News: Western Ways of Seeing the ‘Other’

2 dimensions of “Ways of Seeing”: the world as depicted in TV news reports the negotiated relationship between a medium

and its audience Dahlgren and Chakarapani’s goals:

reveal how U.S. TV network news creates the Third World for its viewers

understand how the audience makes meaning by interpreting news reports

The Third World on TV News: Western Ways of Seeing the ‘Other’

Motifs and Sub-Motifs Major themes and sub-themes the Western TV news

uses in covering people, events and processes in the ‘Third World’

Bi-polar Opposites: concept borrowed from structural anthropology

(Claude Levi Strauss) we understand others through their difference from us

(and vice versa) Dispositional Orientation:

the Western viewers’ attitude toward the Third World as evoked by frames used in TV news reports

Dahlgren & Chakarapani’s model

• What “ways of seeing” the U.S. do people in Spain (or other nations) through viewing local/national news reports about the U.S.?

Entertainment Media

Narrative Utility of Stereotyping – fitting characters into established categories is efficient, having explain their traits is not.

Ideology, the set of beliefs that guides a culture, is often reflected in, and sometimes influenced by, media content. Ideology is often “naturalized.”

Viewers learn about society’s rules, norms and power structures (partly) through film.

Gender inequality is prevalent in film narratives.

Representation of Arabs/Muslims

In Reel Bad Arabs (2001/2009) Jack G. Shaheen identified 5 archetypes of Arabs in Western media: Villains - greasy womanizers hell-bent on destruction and violence Sheikhs - “stooges-in-sheets, slovenly, hook-nosed potentates intent on

capturing pale-faced blondes for their harem” (p. 25) Maidens - bosomy bellydancers, Beasts of Burden, shapeless bundles

of black, serpents and vampires, or bombers Egyptians – deceitful, caricatured from mummies to Pharaohs Palestinians – terrorists; never portrayed as victims or as innocents who

suffer under Israeli occupation

Shaheen reminds us that only about 12% of Muslims are Arabs. http://www.poptheology.com/2009/11/reel-bad-arabs/

Representation of Arabs/Muslims

Representation of Arabs/Muslims

Recall the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 (self-censorship v. open criticism of Islam)

Other controversies regarding Muslims in Europe: Ban on minarets in Switzerland (Nov. 2009 referendum) Rioting by Muslim youth in France in 2005 after two men’s deaths Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh killed in 2004 Islamic scarf (hijab) conflict in France (since 1989)

These incidents, others, and the War on Terror since 9/11 have intensified tensions between Islam and the West. Can media help ease tensions? If so, how?

Closing Thoughts

Avenues for positive change in international media representations: Encourage/Teach Critical Thinking – the ability to examine

issues rationally, logically and coherently by providing adequate responses to key questions.

Advocacy - active support of an idea or cause, etc.; the deliberate process of influencing those who make policy decisions. (ex: Native Amer. mascots issues)

Teach Media Literacy – the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate media messages.

Producing media that is representative of and relevant to non-dominant, non-mainstream communities, experience and goals.

Thank you for your

kind attention.

Have a great afternoon.