Emerald Lee

Professor Mullikin
History 170
9 December 2015
Stereotypes Spread By Media
Stereotyping, making hasty generalizations, and judging others have become a
natural instinct of todays culture. Right when we meet someone we base their
personalities off of stereotypes we have learned from previous encounters and
experiences. We may not mean to stereotype or judge, but it is something that we do
without realizing. There are countless aspects that contributed to the natural judging that
occurs now within our society. Aside from the many, one of the most influential things
would be todays media and its effects on us. The media has a strong control over what
the public believes in and it is shown through the various types of media that has
stereotyped groups of people.
The television features some of the most impactful media such as the news,
movies, television shows, advertisements, and commercials, which all add onto
stereotypes that already exist. As stated by Baily in Media Audiences and Identity, In
many cases a media culture becomes one of the structuring assumptions of any attempt
to theorize social relations.1 A lot of the messages advocated throughout the media are
usually acknowledged subconsciously. The way each ethnicity is portrayed, along with
their families, economic status, friends, education, sexuality, and domestic setting all add
to stereotypes used in the real world. These forms are able to exemplify the stereotypes
1 Bailey, Steve. Media Audiences and Identity: Self-construction in the
Fan Experience. Basingstoke [U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

that are being enforced. By going along with the stereotypes and sometimes even
encouraging it, the media is able to manipulate the public opinion and create boarders
between different social groups.
We were all surrounded by stereotypes from a young age without even realizing
it. Our parents already stereotyped us before we were born. As we grew up with these
stereotypes, it also taught us whom to copy. Without having something to copy, we would
have no idea how to act; it was simply how we learned. If it were a girl, then she would
be associated with the color pink compared to the boy who would be associated with the
color blue. It is not clear how it originated, but the media has kept the tradition going.
The nostalgic television shows we watched as children also had large impacts on who
were today. There were also commercials with toys such as Polly Pocket, Barbie, Bratz,
Hot Wheelz, Thomas The Tank Engine, and more. They were advertised very well and
some were even made into television shows and movies. We all had one of those toys, but
without realizing it we already gave into the stereotype. Boys cannot play with dolls and
girls are not supposed to play with trucks or trains. In the book Social Exclusion, Power,
and Video Game Play, Embrick relates the video game, Grand Theft Auto, to the
stereotype that boys or men need to show masculinity, Players have opportunities to be
the kind of male that is presented as the hero in myriad films, television shows, and
advertisements; a male they are highly unlikely to actually be outside of the game. It
affords chance to achieve idealized masculinities and make them real, if only in a virtual
setting.2 At such a young age, the media was already influencing our behavior and

2Embrick,DavidG.SocialExclusion,Power,andVideoGamePlay:NewResearchin
DigitalMediaandTechnology.Lanham:LexingtonBooks,2012.

opinions. The shows and toys were great assets to the message that was being enforced,
which was basically how to act accordingly.
As we mature, this message begins to get more emphasized and when you are
older you also start going along with the stereotypes even more. Whether they made it for
themselves, or picked it up from an unfortunate event, many people had reputations.
Reputations are rooted from stereotypes and one of the main reasons we naturally apply
stereotypes to our daily lives is because of the media surrounding us. For example, the
line, You cant sit with us.3, comes from one of the most influential pieces that are still
used to show social injustice and stereotyping today, Mean Girls. In the movie, the
different cliques in high school and the typical stereotypes associated with them are
shown. Although that line may seem like a joke in the movie, things like that really do
happen in high school. The popular girls who believe that they are better and higher than
everybody else probably related to mean girls a lot. But this movie was simply based off
of the directors portrayal of teen stereotypes. The cliques were also shown through the
various types of people and their groups during the lunch table scene. The movie
enforced stereotypes that already existed and displayed an ideal life in high school.
The media has also had a very large negative and positive influence on women
and their gender roles. For a long time, women were supposed to be submissive, cook,
clean, and stay at home to take care of the kids. In John Eldridges International Media
Monitoring, the topic of housewives came about, Many groan and giggle at images of
the housewife, cleanser in hand, beaming about how her kitchen or toilet bowl

3 Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters. Paramount Pictures -, 2004.

Film.

sparkles.4 Movies and television shows portrayed women in a negative light and often
as sexual objects. But our generation is slowly evolving and feminism has gotten
stronger. In Robin Thickes music video Blurred Lines, there are multiple nude women
just posing for the camera as he sings a sexual song. A spokeswoman from Rape Crisis,
Kate Russel stated, "Boththelyricsandthevideoseemtoobjectifyanddegradewomen,
usingmisogynisticlanguageandimagerythatmanypeoplewouldfindnotonly
distastefuloroffensivebutalsoreallyquiteoldfashioned.5This video created a lot of
controversy and this video enraged many people. But the fact that people spoke up about
the video and that it was seen in a negative light shows the difference between the
portrayals of women then compared to now. There was also the time where it was pretty
to be skinny. That trend is still occurring, but there have been more women who advocate
the message that thick and curvy is also beautiful. For example, Beyonce isnt the
skinniest but shes well respected for her fit body. Not only does she go against the
skinny is the new pretty trend, but she is also a strong feminist. In her article she states,
Wehavetoteachourboystherulesofequalityandrespect,sothatastheygrowup,
genderequalitybecomesanaturalwayoflife.Andwehavetoteachourgirlsthatthey

4 Nordenstreng, Kaarle. International Media Monitoring. Cresskill, N.J.:

Hampton Press, 1999.
5 Wyatt, Daisy. "Robin Thicke's Number One Single 'Blurred Lines'
Accused of Reinforcing Rape Myths." The Independent. July 21, 2013.
Accessed December 15, 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/artsentertainment/music/news/robin-thickes-number-one-single-blurredlines-accused-of-reinforcing-rape-myths-8667199.html.

canreachashighashumanlypossible.6The media has a strong influence on

everybodys views, but it can also be used in good ways.
The unspoken rules in which we are supposed to follow, what we are supposed to
believe in, and what we are supposed to value, was mainly created through the media.
There are various forms of media that influence the public opinion. The stereotyping
starts at a very young age and we dont realize it, but we grow up according to the shows
we watch, toys we play with, and other things that add onto the social conformity. As we
grow up, the stereotypes just get stronger and it is expected of us to go along with social
conventions. Although the media is known for creating all of these stereotypes and more,
there are some that advocate positive messages, which help reduce the impact of
stereotypes.

Word Count: 1365

6 Knowles-Carter, Beyonce. "Gender Equality Is a Myth!" The Shriver

Report Gender Equality Is a Myth Comments. January 11, 2014.
Accessed December 15, 2015. http://shriverreport.org/gender-equalityis-a-myth-beyonce/

Bibliography
Bailey, Steve. Media Audiences and Identity: Self-construction in the
Fan Experience.
Basingstoke [U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Embrick,DavidG.SocialExclusion,Power,andVideoGamePlay:NewResearchin
DigitalMediaandTechnology.Lanham:LexingtonBooks,2012.

Knowles-Carter, Beyonce. "Gender Equality Is a Myth!" The Shriver

Report Gender
Equality Is a Myth Comments. January 11, 2014. Accessed
December 15,
2015. http://shriverreport.org/gender-equality-is-a-myth-beyonce/

Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters. Paramount Pictures -, 2004. Film.

Nordenstreng, Kaarle. International Media Monitoring. Cresskill, N.J.:

Hampton
Press, 1999.

Wyatt, Daisy. "Robin Thicke's Number One Single 'Blurred Lines'

Accused of

Reinforcing Rape Myths." The Independent. July 21, 2013.

Accessed
December 15, 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/artsentertainment/music/news/robin-thickes-number-one-singleblurred-linesaccused-of-reinforcing-rape-myths-8667199.html.