Megan Mallett
Reflection of Journal

Society today has its ups and downs. There is a lot of controversy about television, music, and overall how the media portrays information to the public. Although television forty to fifty years ago did not include many racially different people and very little empowerment towards women, it did emphasize more of the facts and fairness we lack on the news today. The Journal in which this paper is inspired by is a bit of an eye opener to one who does not think about America’s mass media.
The large majority of television and advertising is based on sex. They say that sex sells, which it does. This also tells you a lot about the majority of people who watch, read, or stare at the screen. It is degrading to me as a female when I see certain people acting obscene on television. This only creates people believing false images of women. Not that I blame only men of this, women bring it on themselves as well, but T.V. implies all women act a certain way. This is not only unfair to women but to men as well. When women are only seen as caregivers and part-time employees it says that men only care about their work and that they are not family oriented. I know a lot of men who give everything for their families and the media is not depicting this very well.
Television can have such a big impact on adults and children that in today’s society people are acting out a television show in real life. Children especially are persuaded by what they see and at a young age will believe anything they watch. This in turn creates people of bad caliber. Television, for the most part, just implies people to look at the outside beauty, not the inside. I think this is why so many times in schools you see children being cast as outsiders. They may not look or act like the people introduced to them on the screen and the kids are automatically shunned from the crowd. I think this happens a lot in the schools because you see a lot of People of Color acting a certain way. They act as they are portrayed. I agree with the Journal when it says that African Americans are only seen as good in sports. Well, why are they seen this way? It is racism over many years that make people believe this.
I was surprised to read about how much of a lack there is on minorities in television. I personally think African American people get the most air time out of all the minorities on American television, but they certainly are not portrayed to their full potentials. On most shows they are seen typically as loud and rambunctious with anger towards White people. I know this is not how all people think, but it is tempting to believe it when that is all you see. All people who are not around a certain type of person believes what they see or hear from a source. This source being primarily from a majority output. I do not understand why people are represented in this way all the time. The Journal suggested that it is out of fear and our own ignorance to make people believe the wrong ideas. From this statement I guess I can only believe White people fear a minority will take over, and no one wants to be downsized. My question is why. Why does a certain group have to be the leaders? In this day and age we should be looking towards equality towards all men and women. It has taken us a long time from the Constitution to understand this concept. We are not there yet, but hopefully some day we will be. “They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself,” we can only do this by first changing the way we perceive people.

I really enjoyed the article titled “Perpetuation of racism and sexism in the US”. I had always been aware of the media’s biased coverage of certain issues. I had not, however, put much thought into the impact that it has on people’s thinking, especially children’s. This piece provided a lengthy and adequate description of the multiple types of racism and sexism displayed in the media. The idea that popular culture contributes to racism and sexism in the United States is a terrifying notion although, since reading this article, I have viewed more and more instances where this is true. Dr. Godwyll and Mr. Collins stated that much of the population believes that they are unaffected by the media. I previously had a similar mindset. I knew that the media and popular culture influenced me in some ways but I had thought that they were minimal. I have been looking into myself and have made a shocking realization. The media greatly impacts much of the decisions that I make although I am unaware. Whether it is the clothing or groceries that I purchase or the new fancy car that I dream about, these decisions are greatly impacted by the media. Furthermore, I believe that the media has the power to subconsciously instill beliefs about certain people and cultures due to their inadequate coverage and storylines which pertain to these groups. A section in the article that really grabbed my attention was the part where the authors pointed out how the coverage in places such as Africa only shows negative images. I have seen this many times myself. Many people’s beliefs about how Africa looks, how its population behaves, and the lives that they lead is strongly misguided and inaccurate. In addition to the media coverage of places and people, the article pointed out how television, through sitcoms and so on, portray people of multiple races and men and women. As I had with the previous information, I had failed to pay attention to aspects such as these. After reading the article and the example it contained, my mind rushed with examples to reinforce this idea. The idea that African American women are usually portrayed as the strong family leader in sitcoms is accurate. Whether it be shows such as The Cosby Show (as the article mentioned), or The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, this seems to hold true. While the males play authoritative roles, the women typically make final decisions. On the other hand, while watching a majority White sitcom you will find that the women typically do not work (unless part-time) and their chief responsibility is the home and the children (if any are involved). My family members are huge fans of the sitcom The King of Queens. While this show does not display these characteristics as boldly as others, some still remain. Even children’s shows such as Zoey 101 has underlying sexism. The dean of the school is always a male as well as anyone else in a position of power or authority. It was shocking, yet refreshing for me to read this exciting article. I am excited to further search for other injustices in the media and within popular culture. I am now able to filter out some of the images and make decisions on my own (as I believed I previously was). I will use this knowledge to influence my children to search for injustices as well as informing them on the inadequacies. As a future teacher, I hope to incorporate this information into my classroom. I think the idea of culture studies in schools is an excellent one. Children need to be aware of the misleading material that constantly surrounds them. I hope to have my students search for injustices in the media and challenge them to prove them wrong. Changing the media’s bias could do a great deal of good when it comes to changing the bias of our population.

Rusty Winland
4-25-08
Paper on Perpetuation of Racism
and Sexism in the U.S.
The article Perpetuation of Racism and Sexism in the U.S. has many good points that I never thought about or realized before I read this article. It made a good point at the very beginning about how we are still talking about racism and sexism and we will keep on talking about them until all the problems associated with them are eliminated and forgotten. In order to eliminate this problem the U.S. as a whole is going to have to change the way they think today and the rest of the world also.
Culture is defined as the norms, values, and the beliefs or expressive symbols of any particular group or society. This is different from Popular Culture in the fact that popular culture deals with the culture shared by a large number of people regardless of race and sex. Popular culture deals with the daily interactions, needs and desires, and everything else that makes up the everyday culture of the dominate group. This is what makes the individuals of society who they are because they are raised to be the same as the rest of the society.
The Iceberg Concept of Culture made an interesting point but a strong one. This aspect said that we judge a particular group based on just a small amount of what we actually should. In other words we judge people by what stands out to us at first glance like we would judge the size of an iceberg in the ocean at first glance instead of actually observing what is under the water or what the person has to say and who they are. There is more to a person than what you see just like there is always more to the iceberg than what you can see.
Hegemony is the power or dominance that one group of people holds over all the others. This is not just based on economic factors. This is not something that is permanent it can be gained or lost at any given time. Hegemonic will for sure fail if the forces of social resistance and change become stronger than the perfect way that they are use to.
Racism is a system of advantage based on race. This is usually associated with anyone that is not white in the U.S. This is a serious problem for the non white people because every thing from salary to income is lower than the White people in the U.S. Racism and sexism go together because they are both against a group of people that the group can do nothing about. Sexism usually involves the men getting farther ahead and the women just getting what ever they can.

A Review of “Perpetuation of Racism and Sexism in the US”
It goes without saying that these issues have been heard before, but the compilation of the facts prove with overwhelming evidence that racism and sexism continue to plague the US’ society. We have all been groomed with the knowledge that the media influences our lives in insurmountable ways. What is interesting however, is the fact that the media is pulling ahead as the primary influence above that of churches, schools, and even parents. Regardless of the fact of whether there are too many media influences in our lives is neither here nor there what is important to remember and what I have garnered from this paper is the fact that people are being influenced and as the old adage goes “You are what you eat,” or in this case you are what you see and hear.
Those who would argue that racial and sexist media are in decline or exist in only small increments would only have to view what is being put forth for our viewing and listening. I am in agreement with the authors here that whilst there is more minority representation on television programming the racism and sexism persists just in more subliminal ways. I offer an observation of my own. After the years of The Cosby Show and A Different World there was a lack of people’s of color in sitcoms. This gap existed for many years and whenever this issue was brought forth people would refer back to The Cosby Show as if to say - well there was that isn’t that good enough? Even today The Cosby Show seems to stand as testament to programming for proving diversity in television, but I digress. What I really was trying to point out were the years following The Cosby Show. It seemed as if the big three networks couldn’t see any other color than white and then came the WB network. Recognizing there was a lack of shows catering to minorities the channel put many into their scheduled line-up. It soon became a joke. Whenever there was talk about the lack of black or any minorities for that matter on network television, there was always a response – there’s the WB. Some might say at least there is that, but I have another point-of-view.
I saw the WB as the perpetuation of segregation. There were the big three networks for the whites and the little side station not even available in all areas for the blacks. So indeed I agree that the media is perpetuating racism even in subliminal methods it’s quite damaging.
So does this mean we should turn away from media – turn off the televisions and radios? No says the authors of this paper and interestingly they wish for us to embrace them so much as to use them even within our educational system. By incorporating the media within our classrooms we can effectively make students aware of the inequalities. It is evident that a well informed society will be able to recognize the injustices in the representations presented in the media and if we wish to have that well informed society we must first start by educating the youths. Then as a result of a society educated they will carry over to the problem areas i.e. the media.
Over all the authors here are making a valid point to address the issues of racism and sexism. Due to the fact that the media is the primary avenue for gaining information in America and if America wishes to be equal and just then the media must be changed to reflect equality.
-Ryan Steen

It is amazing to see that racism is still very much so a part of our culture today. Although we want to believe that we have completely risen about slavery days of oppression and made a complete one-eighty against sexism and racism, it sadly remains that this is not the absolute truth. As the article brought out, racism and sexism are very prominent issue in society, even in the 21st century. The influence of the media is one major topic discussed.
The media has such a large impact on society as a whole. The article states that:
“With respect to popular media culture, the central message offered by advocates of a cultural studies approach to education is that popular culture does not simply provide passive entertainment or value neutral information, but contributes significantly to how people read and understand the world. Currently, popular culture is too often socially detrimental in that images of racism, sexism, classicism, violence, and hyper-individualism are rampant” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 42).

This statement is what we see today. Children are impacted by these images just as much as adults. This should make each teacher concerned. Teacher will need to be aware of these images that exist so that each one can provide the students with positive and realistic approaches to discuss them. This can lead to a better understanding of how to pull down the walls. As educators, we must take the first steps with our children.

The impact of television is so staggering. Some of the statistics presented are mind-bending. It is no wonder that it has so much control and influence over individuals’ lives, considering the amount of television watched today. I found the statement by Willis (1990) quite funny because I could so easily relate. Willis noticed that adults watching television “are far from passive in that they shout back at the screen, make sarcastic comments about people’s hair-styles and dress sense, sing along with advertising jingles and talk about the programs among others” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 44). Personally I know that the media has a strong influence on me. I often find myself so involved in the television programs I watch. The characters seem so real. I may shout at them to “watch out,” or say “don’t do that,” or other comments. I even notice myself singing countless jingles from even the commercials that annoy me. If television has become such a major part of society, what keeps it from taking over our views and thinking abilities? The article brought out that “advertisers now tell the stories that influence our children” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 44). So, it is obvious that the media has a strong hand in the issues that reach our children.

The images and stereotypes depicted by the media are imbedded in many people’s minds. The media constantly portrays women as “young, thin, sexy…, acquiescent, provocative…, and care-givers. Men characters… tend to be shown as: knowledgeable, independent, powerful, successful, tough natural leaders and breadwinners” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 45). These sexist images are what people are exposed to every day. Children likewise in turn learn to strive for such attributes.

The toys produce for children give these same ideas. Barbie Dolls and baby dolls are for girls and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Tonka trucks are for boys. These ideas are portrayed and children learn them quickly. They believe these ideas and try to “maintain” them. They know that “real boys do not play with Barbie, unless it is to deface it” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 46). I know a lot of individuals that agree with this thinking. They believe that if their sons play with dolls, they will be wimps, sissies, or turn gay. I personally do not agree with these stereotypes, because toys can be enjoyed by either sex. I think that girls can play with truck and boys can play with dolls. It could teach the child to be more sensitive. By showing him how to hold, touch, and play with a baby, a little boy could foster ideas of how to be a good father and husband in the future. Why teach him to throw and hit dolls, when you can teach him to be kind and love them? Those teaching can cause more harm for their future too. The boy could think that it is okay to hit a woman or child because he is a strong boy and that is what they do. Therefore, even those stereotypes can have a detrimental effect on children and their futures.

The perceptions about race in the media are deceptive as well. The media usually depicts Blacks as being “good in sports.” Also it is shown that “in historical documents and movies in America, Blacks are depicted as: lazy, happy servants, ugly, inferior.” It is interesting that “when Africa is depicted in the US, media 7 out of 10 times you can be sure the depiction will be war…, poverty, starvation, remote and under developed settlements, the wild and sometimes outmoded customs of a sect is depicted as the general way of life of an entire continent” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 45). White individuals, however, are shown as “powerful, good in: leadership, business, politics, enthusiastic about their job, innovative and industrious” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 45). The article also gave the disturbing report that “less than 10% of human appearance time [on television] includes any non-Whites, and most of these are African Americans, leaving Latinos and Asian Americans almost invisible” (Godwyll, & Annin, 2007, pg 46). These misrepresentations and biases are influencing the understanding and acceptance of racism and sexism.

There are so many issues of importance that need to be discussed. But, time is the key. Every problem will not be instantly solved by man, but steps can be taken. Teachers will need awareness and understanding about the issues that exist today. By gaining this familiarity, they can empower the students with accurate knowledge. Then the battle against racism and sexism can begin. The positive aspects of media cannot be dismissed, because pleasure and good things do come form it. However, it is important to remember that racism and sexism are issues that influence everyone today. It really is there.



References
Godwyll, F., & Annin C. (2007). Perpetuation of racism and sexism in the US. The
international journal of diversity in organizations, communities & nations. 6 (4), 41-49.

Janet Hughes
EDCS 301
Prof. Francis Godwyll
Article Reflection
Perpetuation of Racism and Sexism in the US

The media plays a large part in the shaping of popular culture. “In short, popular culture is a crucial force that helps to mold individuals and their perspectives of the world” (42). Media in the home it has a large influence on how people view each other. Media influences how we view cultures outside our own and the female gender. The media influences what we buy, where we eat and how we view ourselves. People in the United States have the keeping up with the Joneses mindset. Whatever our neighbor has, we must get the same thing bigger and better. We see what celebrities have and think if it is good enough for them then I must have it also. The media takes advantage of this by showing directing their commercials to those in the middle class showing characters of the upper class enjoying a luxury car and then adding a catchy slogan stating that you too can enjoy the good life.
The media affects the body image of most especially women. Anorexic thin models are shown in a bikini surrounded by men. Even though most women know that model has been photoshopped we still want that body for ourselves and will go to any lengths to achieve that look. The advertisers also objectify women, they will give female attributes to an inanimate object such as a car and the voice over directed at men will tell them they can enjoy the feeling of slipping behind the wheel and mastering the car through any road course. Further promoting the dominance of man over women.
What I remember as a child of Blacks on television was of Diahann Carroll in Julia. The main character Julia was a widowed woman with a child, which a stereotypical view of black women. Television portrays black women as dominant in the family structure. The father, if he is present, is shown as weak, loud and boisterous or as a buffoon. Redd Fox in Sanford and Son a comedy about a father and son. The father, Fred Sanford, was loud and a buffoon. They were owners of a junk yard. On the one side, it did show a black family owning a business, however it was not a glamorous business and many episodes showed them struggling to make a living. Their house looked as if it was decorated out of the junkyard. I think this further perpetuates the media’s view of people of color as trash or keepers of trash.
Another show I remember watching was The Jeffersons, the main characters George and Louise Jefferson had succeeded with a chain of dry cleaners and “moved to a big apartment in the sky”. They left the neighborhood into predominately-white apartment building. One researcher in the book referred to black who thought a sign of success was moving into a white neighborhood. The character of George Jefferson was of a loud obnoxious, extremely cocky man. He reminded me of a Banny rooster. This is the first show that I remember where the husband and wife were together. Most of the television shows that I remember with black characters the woman was alone raising her children. They were alone for one reason or another. The mothers were struggling, barely making ends meet and the children were raising themselves. The shows, Good Times and What’s Happening followed the same stereotypical patterns.
Though you criticize the Cosby Show for not raising cultural issues for once I saw a successful father and mother who happened to be of color. I saw that they had the same family issues as my family. Brothers and sisters arguing, children breaking rules and parents talking to their kids instead of the yelling seen on previous shows with black characters, they talked and discussed with their kids family issues. It was the first time I saw black art hanging on a wall in a home (even thought it was a television set).