Race & Gender Stereotypes Blog

2-23-09-WWLS Station- 11:35
Radio
Sports Radio guy says something about “he was just a white kid”
Stereotype that white kids aren’t as athletic as minorities
Racial Stereotype

2-21-09, 4 p.m.
Personal experience at Crossroads Mall (Journey’s)
Comments made to Asian woman from employee asking if she’s from the US.
Racial assumption/stereotype


2-26-09-TNT-Network 8:35 p.m.
Television
Charles Barkley during halftime show: “Chopsticks ain’t big in the ghetto.”
Racial stereotype
8:35 p.m.

2-25-09
Television
Family Guy-Axe Commercial
Inappropriate images of women on men
Gender Stereotype

2-20-09, 2:00 a.m.
Film
Undercover Brother
Accusation scene-Conspiracy Brother and Undercover Brother
Racial AND gender Stereotypes





2-24-09
Film
Role Models
Danny meets Ronnie
Racial Stereotype that black kids grow up in broken home (Ronnie)

2-25-09
Classroom experience Professor Chavez
Class discussion about “Chick Flicks”
Gender assumption/stereotype

2-25-09
Print Ad
ESPN the Magazine, pg. 13
Passive woman
Gender stereotype
2-27-09

Film
Talladega Nights
Carley Bobby leaves Ricky to be with Cal Naughton Jr.
Gender stereotype that women are attracted to money

2-27-09
Television
That 70’s Show-FXHD, 9 p.m.
Kitty as a homemaker
Gender Stereotype



I honestly wasn’t surprised with the outrageous amount of stereotyping that existed in media. Without constant reminders of these stereotypes, it would be too hard for them to stick around. That is how stereotypes die. What is sad is that if you see or hear a message enough, it at some point begins to sink in no matter how wrong it may be. This is why some of these preposterous stereotypes stick.

I’ve heard it many times from everyday people: “Behind every stereotype there is a grain of truth.” When I was younger, this statement really had my mind racing. Finally I started looking at this topic in a different way:

It’s always baffled me as to why individuals are defined by their race rather than by themselves. It’s something that as a minority I’ve come to realize I will never escape. I think often times a white person is evaluated more on their intellect and merits, whereas minorities are often evaluated on how much they measure up with their stereotyped race. For example, I’ve had a white girl talk to me and say, “wow, you’re really not that ghetto.” She said this as if I was on some kind of 1 to 10 ghett-o-meter grading scale (1 being Bryant Gumble and 10 being the entire Wu-Tang Clan).

One racial experience that really got to me as I was recording this was the employee at Journey’s shoe store in the mall. He was helping out an Asian customer who did have a slight accent, but nothing overbearing at all. Anyway, she asked the salesperson if she could buy the shoes and have them sent to her house. “You are from the United States, right? ….Because we only ship to the United States.” That shocked me. I thought it was quite ironic that the employee was black. You’d think that minorities would often times be more sensitive to other minorities, but this yielded no such case. You don’t get to witness such ignorance on a daily basis. The way in which the question flowed off this guy’s tongue ever-so candidly was a thing of beauty.

The cultivation of images through stereotyping is horrendous obstacle for people to overcome to truly see past color. Is it a realistic goal? Probably not, because as long as we keep telling jokes that start with, “So a Jew, a Chinese guy and a black dude walk into a bar,” or keep accepting as a form of truth what we’re being shown on TV, we will forever consciously or subconsciously begin to reinforce the stereotypes in our own way.

Extra Credit-Race Based Admission

Here's what I found online. I've always found it funny that some people have been steadfast proponents for affirmative action, yet against race-based admission. It boggles my mind.

OSU- No,
Kansas - No
Nebraska-No
Kansas State-No
Mizzou-No
Texas- ethnic background taken into consideration
Baylor- ethnic background taken into consideration
Iowa State- ethnic background taken into consideration
Colorado- gender and ethnicity both voluntary information

White Privilege

After watching the Tim Wise video in class, it pretty much reinforces what I had previously thought and experienced throughout my life. For example, I’ve always been treated differently if I go somewhere by myself then if I were to go to that same place with my mother, who is white. If I go into a nice department store by myself, all eyes will be on me. If I go with her, they leave me alone.

White privilege might be more powerful than any degree offered from an esteemed university. I say this not because it can make you more money than that respected degree from said university, but whiteness can afford you more possibilities. I truly believe that.





I also think Wise’s message is more powerful coming from a white male rather than a black or Latino man. If he was African American, he’d be labeled as having Angry Black Man Syndrome, spewing his radical opinion.

The media definitely uses privilege because it ultimately has the decision on what will run on TV or in the paper. My father always talks about how for years and years The Oklahoman never would put a black man on the cover unless it was a suspect. I’ve heard the exact same story about Jamie Foxx’s extremely small, hometown newspaper. After he won the Academy Award for Ray, his paper refused to put him on the front page even though it was a small community.

List of Privileges I notice:

1) I don’t know if this is a true privilege or not, but today the bus from Lloyd Noble started to take off while a white woman was far in the distance walking toward it. The bus driver waited. I’ve been in the exact same situation about a hundred times, and the bus driver left me.
2) I went out to eat and saw a waitress bring a couple of guys a check. They left the money in the little “foldy thing,” and as they passed her on the way out they said the money is on the table. I can’t say if they were minorities the waitress wouldn’t have said something like “hold on a second while I make your change” a.k.a. make sure there’s actually cash there.
3) “Michael Phelps just made ONE bad decision. Get off his back.”
4) I have a white friend who is mortgaging a house at the age of 22 IN THIS HORRENDOUS ECONOMIC TIME. I’m not even sure if at my age I’d even be shown houses for sale. Again, I’m not sure if this is white privilege, but I know it probably doesn’t hurt…
5) I can walk in Target today and see 100 white Barbie’s and 2 black Barbie’s.
6) White privilege=not getting followed around in stores
7) White privilege=not being a representation for your entire race
8) White privilege=being able to say something AND then not have the person you were talking to say: “Wow, you’re very articulate.”

I do think society believes in the one-drop rule. There have been numerous times when my brother or I had tried to date a white girl when their family would have none of it……and we’re only half black! It obviously still matters, but I also think image counts for a lot, too. Especially when you first meet someone, you are what you look. I know some more biracial people who are very fair skinned. Some really don’t look black at all.

It’s harder for us to bear the responsibility of changing our actions based on this new awareness/information because as adults we have been taught about race since we were little kids. Habits are hard to break. But, this also provides us with one of the greater opportunities. We cannot only change our own behavior, but we can shape the behavior of our own kids. I’m glad that if one day I do have kids, they will grow up with a wide variety of races to encounter family-wise. Half of understanding races and what divides them is interaction. The other half is tolerance.

The Prettiest People do the Ugliest Things...

As I sit here watching the Grammy’s, it’s pretty face after pretty face that pops up on the screen. I know much of it has to do with the hundreds of thousands of dollars these multi-million dollar music artists put into maintaining their image, but is it all worth it? Probably so. It’s an age-old cliché throughout the entertainment “biz,” but sex does seem to sell, and it probably isn’t just limited to the entertainment field.

One major facet that seems to get overlooked when people talk about discrimination is gender. Since this is a race AND gender class, hopefully the latter doesn’t get overlooked too much. Unlike the race debate, there are two numerically equal parties to this gender discussion. Since that’s the case, you’d think that there would be little disparity between the two as far as an equality standpoint. Wrong. There is some disparity, along with some other underlying discriminatory elements within each gender.

One of the most interesting topics to me is that along with discrimination between males and females, there’s undoubtedly discrimination between pretty and ugly. I think this happens more amongst women than men, but it does happen to guys, too. I call it “pretty people’s privilege.” We’ve all seen it before. Girl gets job because she dresses sexy, yet girl is dumber than a box of hammers. This privilege isn’t just getting the big things in life, i.e. jobs and raises. It can be something as small as getting the door held for you or any other kind gesture.




What D.L. Hughley talks about in that clip is obviously an exaggeration, but I think the thoughts behind it ring 100% true. There absolutely is a “pretty people’s privilege,” and knowingly or not, we all take part in it. I can’t say that I haven’t done this before, either. I think if injected with a truth serum, we’d all admit to have given someone who is physically gifted better treatment than if he/she was below average looking.

In this image-is-everything society, talents and personality seem to get overshadowed by perfect, sparkling-white teeth and frosted hair tips. That’s a concern, or should I say, that should be a huge concern. It’s disappointing to see so many unintelligent people get by on their looks alone, especially when many of these gorgeous people are, in all actuality, ugly-acting people.

Ready to go!

After having our first class meeting, I’m really excited about this Race, Gender and the Media course. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a class like this, so I’m ready to get things going, and I am especially excited to hear what other students have to say. I’m sure somewhere down the line someone will push someone else’s buttons or just make you have to shake your head. It’s natural. Because “race” is a word that carries so much weight behind it, when someone says how he or she really feels about it (which is SO important in a class like this), someone else may take exception to it. It has happened in every one of the race-related classes I have ever taken, so I’m bracing myself for it.

I’ve always loved talking about race relations. I’ve loved it not only because I am a minority, but also because I’m bi-racial. My dad is black and my mom is white. It’s something that I embrace, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m lucky enough to have a black side of the family and white side of the family who had no problems with my parents being together at all! It’s amazing to me that my family thought that way that long ago, especially in Oklahoma. It’s also pretty amazing/funny to see them get along so well with each other. Thanksgiving is a trip at my house.

Outside of my family, it was always a different story. Growing up, I was called every name in the book: halfrican, zebra, beige, point-five and a personal favorite, cookies and cream. I never really understood what the big deal was. Do I sit at the lunch table with the black kids or at the table with the white kids? Ahhhh….thank you, Jesus, for the empty seat at the Asian table. At times it was hard finding an identity, but as I got older, my anxiety went away.

I think being bi-racial gives me a very unique outlook on race relations because I can see where both parties are coming from. It’s an outlook that I think is invaluable in today’s world, especially in the mass communication field.