Gender & Race Stereotypes

Blog Assignment 2 & Daily Reflection 4--

02-23-09 - 10:30 am.
NAS 1013, Dr. Kim Roppolo
Classroom experience
Racial stereotypes.
Class discussion about team mascots.
http://www.aistm.org/1indexpage.htm

02-23-09 - 10 pm.
My apartment - Norman
Film
The Stepford Wives
Gender stereotypes.
The entire movie.

02-24-09 - 7:15 pm.
Television-Cable, Fox
American Idol - Grand Theft Auto IV commerical
Gender stereotype.
Objectification of women.
Camera follows woman's rear around without showing her face.

02-24-09 - 9:30 pm.
Personal Conversation with a group of male friends
Joe's Taverna
Racial stereotypes.
Assumptions of a group of people that walked in based on their skin color.

02-25-09 - 3 pm ( from DVR)
Television-Cable, Bravo
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Gender stereotypes of women.
Money obsessed, housewives.

2-25-09 - 11 pm.
Television-Cable, Fox
Family Guy
Racial stereotype.
"Asian reporter" Trisha Takinowa.

2-26-09 - 4:30 pm.
Class discussion
NAS 3453, Dr. Robert Fields
Dale Hale Tower
Racial sterotypes.
General stereotypes associated with Native Americans.

2-26-09 - 7 pm.
Internet - Website
www.glade.com
Gender stereotypes.
Every dot you click shows a different woman, no man is on the page.

2-27-09 - 10 am.
Film
Sex in the City
Gender stereotypes.
Depicting Samantha Jones as "easy."

2-27-09 - 3 pm.
Film
My apartment - Norman
Save the Last Dance
Gender and racial stereotypes.
Only white girl in a poor African American school. All African Americans are good dancers.





I had always known that stereotyping in media existed from other classes, but once I had to sit down and write down every incident I came across I was shocked. Literally, in the majority of commercials, television shows and songs there is a stereotype. I'm sure I could have written down 20 just for the ones I've encountered today. By being so exposed to these stereotypes ALL the time, it's now wonder that these stereotypes are then carried into our society and practiced. One thing, in particular, that surprised me was how many commercials are directed at women. EVERY product dealing with things around the house that I saw portrayed a woman cleaning, etc. This is extremely different than what I experienced growing up as both my mother and father had an equal part in the cleaning and cooking. This only verifies the outlook many men, and perhaps some women also, have on the "American family" and the "American dream."

It was shocking to me how many gender and racial stereotypes I encounter each day through my friends and classmates. Before this assignment, or maybe even before my indulgence into this class, I was completely unaware of how many offensive things my friends say. Now, I'm not saying that my friends are bad people, I just think we're all a little oblivious to some of the things we say in normal day-to-day conversations and social interactions. At one point while hanging out with my friends, I told them about the assignment (so they didn't think I was turning into "that" girl in the corner writing down every conversation they were having). They were shocked themselves when I showed them the list that I had compiled while watching about 2 hours of television at my apartment. They didn't have in depth discussions about these people that they saw on various programs, they just made little remarks that were offensive. These personal encounters only exposed me to more about our society and how we stereotype others based on the color of skin, sexual orientation and gender without even realizing that what we're saying is potentially offensive to other people.

I was able to understand how the cultivation of images affects representation and individual perspectives of different ethnic groups and women. I'm going to use commercials as I discuss this, only because this is where I, personally, viewed the majority of stereotypes during this assignment. As I stated above, I was surprised by just how many commercials there are devoted to targeting women. They essentially say to someone watching that the role of the woman is to cook, clean and take care of children (this can range from doing the laundry with a specific detergent to buying the most flexible and fragrant trash bags to owning that minivan with the self-opening side door.) It's no wonder why these stereotypes are still very prevalent in our society today, maybe not as much as they were 4 or 5 decades ago, but they still exist. The only thing I noticed in regards to race in commercials is that white people were generally the majority. For example, I saw a toothpaste commercial where 5 dentists were recommending or not recommending it. Four out of the 5 dentists were white, leaving one African American dentist at the end of the table. He was the last to have an opinion and he was the only dentist that didn't recommend the toothpaste. Now, this might be irrelevant but I just found it odd that the "odd man out" was the African American man that was going against the grain of the other dentists. Ironic, or intended?

The Idea of "Privilege."

Blog Assignment 1 & Personal Reflection 3

Blog Assignment 1--
Before watching the Tim Wise video it's safe to say that I had never really thought about the idea of privilege. I didn't know the term existed and I certainly wasn't aware that it was an "issue" in our society.

The idea of privilege seems so broad to me right now, my brain is still trying to digest the information. I agree, and now realize, that privilege is prevalent in our society. I don't think it's right, fair, all of the other synonyms that sum up that feeling. I think it's a perfect example of how our society still needs to be tweaked, changed, molded to treat everyone equal. But, regardless.. call me a pessimist if you must, I think there will always be people with that "ol' boy" attitude and world view.

When thinking of the question: How does the media utilize privilege in media representation, the first thing that automatically pops into my head is television shows. I can only recall one show that I've seen that depicts an "upper-class, rich, black family" and that should would be the one, the only Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And while I think of this, it makes sense in my head of privilege. We don't think anything of a television show based on an "upper-class, rich, white family." We see this as a norm, nothing special. That to me, is an example of privilege.

It's hard to know how received privileges since I've never been on the other side, so I read another classmates blog who is on the other side, so here are a few:

(Disclaimer: I am a Native American person and a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. However, I do not look native, at all. So I have never had to deal with people treating me differently because of my skin color.)

• I can't recall a time I was blatantly ignored in a store. Often I become annoyed at how many times I'm asked "Can I help you look for something?"
• I don't have to wonder if someone is basing my actions on the color of my skin.
  
• I don't have people asking me "what is it like to ___" (fill in a question).
• My friends don't have to be careful about what they say around me in fear that they might offend me, thus I know them for who they really are.
• People don't have to change the way they talk to me when they approach me.
• I don't have to think about how other people are treated better than me in society.
• I don't have to defend stereotypes about my race.
  
• I am never the only person of my race in a room.
  

Hands down, I strongly believe that society believes in the one drop rule. I don't think that someone who is clearly African American could tell someone that they weren't black, that just wouldn't make sense. I don't think if you were to act black, but you were really white, that you would be presumed as black. Your character may resemble that of a "typical African American" that you have perceived in your mind, but you are still white.

Personal Reflection 3--
I think the reflection question this week totally encompasses the purpose of this class. The responsibility of knowledge is one of our greatest responsibilities as adults. As we get older we learn more about the "world" that we are all inhabitants of. Not only the geography of the world, but how it works, how society works, etc.

The Tim Wise video is a great example of one of those "aha" moments when you realize you've just experienced a grown up experience. As I wrote earlier, I had no idea about the idea of privilege before being exposed to it through the video. I was oblivious that it existed but it made me think and it became evident after I was aware of it.

Through obtaining new knowledge, we must think about how this enlightenment shapes us and the people around us. We then should change our behavior based on our awareness. To know that privilege is alive and kickin' in society makes me think about how people are treated. It then makes me want to become a better person and, although I am only one person on this Earth, I somehow feel that I am decreasing contribution to "privilege."

It is our responsibility to continue to change and mold the society we wish to live in. Without some of the great leaders of our country having this mindset, who knows what we would live in today. I believe that there are many people out there that will never have the opportunity or the desire to open up their eyes about things they don't know about, and I feel sorry for those people.

I hope that from this class I will be able to gain more knowledge of things that as of 4:42 p.m. on this Friday afternoon I am completely oblivious to.

On a side note, I found this to be entertaining. I Googled privilege, here is their definition:
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=define%3A+privilege&btnG=Google+Search

And... here is Urbandictionary's definition:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=privilege

OutKast Offends

Personal Reflection 2

The 2009 Grammys were on last night and, as a suggested topic, I was keeping my eyes open for some sort of stereotype. Well, I didn’t come across one all evening. This topic did however spark my memory back to the 2004 Grammys and the infamous OutKast performance of “Hey Ya.”

If you haven’t seen this performance already, take a look:



As a Native person, this is highly offensive. I will just point out a few things that were utterly offensive and disrespectful to me.

The attire. For one, I have never witnessed a pow-wow that would allow members to be so scantily-dressed. As you notice, the women are bearing large amounts of skin, something that would never fly with Native elders. The color, which could be referred to as “asparagus/sea foam green,” is not a traditional color for Native clothing.

The war bonnet that is worn by the drummer is especially disrespectful. War bonnets are reserved for people of courage and honor, such as warriors or chiefs. I know many Native veterans who don’t own war bonnets.

The tipi blowing smoke in the background features designs from several different tribes all culminated together on one piece of leather. And, not all tribes used the tipi as a traditional living area.

Some of the women are wearing braided, pig-tailed wigs. The typical “Indian princess” image if you’re familiar with this stereotype. Andre 3000 is wearing a long, black, silky wig portrayed the “all Native men have long hair” stereotype.

There are so many issues that could be mentioned about this performance. Ironically, an award for the best Native American album was given at the 2004 Grammys, but was edited out of the telecast. Why is that?

I certainly would suggest this book to anyone interested in learning more about Native American history, "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" by James W. Loewen.

Maybe OutKast and their producers should have educated themselves before blatantly offending MANY people across this nation.

GoDaddy.com commerical, Classy or Trashy?

Personal Reflection 1

First of all, I would like to state that yes, I am a female and yes, I do understand that sex sells. This is apparent throughout our country in every type of advertisement possible. I get it. I really do.

However, here comes the "but" part, I was slightly disgusted at the GoDaddy.com "Danica Patrick reveals enhancement" commercial that was played during the 2009 Super Bowl. Many of my girlfriends, and even my own mother, have commented on many of commercials that they have found repulsive. It takes a very special one to get me talking about it.

Take a look if you were not brutally forced to sit through it while watching the game.



At the end of the video, what else should I have really expected? A woman about to expose the "goods" and then it says that it will be continued at their website. It also mentions that unrated content is on their website.

Naturally, in order to write this blog, I had to go to their website.

I really had no idea what GoDaddy.com was to be honest, never even heard about it. As I was typing in g-o-d-a-d-d-y-.-c-o-m, I hesitated for a moment bracing myself for what could be behind this website. A domain name search provider? I certainly was not expecting that one, but relieved that I had not entered into a world of porn.

And, for those of you wondering, there is no conclusion to the commercial. They tricked you.

Next order of action, who is this elusive Danica Patrick? With a simple Google.com search i was led to www.danicaracing.com. She is in fact a race car driver.

She, however, is completely zipped up throughout the commercial. Commendable. Although, I was bothered by the woman at the end of the commercial. I guess the whole point of this blog is that, as I've already stated, I know sex sells. I certainly could go into a blog surrounding the entire issue of women being degraded in the media, but let's stick to one example due to the close timing of Super Bowl commercials.

My suggestions and comments to GoDaddy.com: If you would've stayed a tad bit classier, I would've never written a 300 word blog about your commercial. I hope that the "Super Bowl watching, perverted-minded, middle-aged man" target audience is really that large. Because I can assure you, you will have little business from the female market.