Gender Stereotypes In Life Under Suspicion

1a) Life Under Suspicion captures the social constructs of young, lower class, males of color living in New York City within the perspective of the police force as well as individuals who do not live in an urban setting. Evidently, this demographic of people is perceived to not have and in reality lacks many privileges as a result of their lower positionality in society relative to Caucasian Americans. This reminds me of the video clip we viewed in class with people of different identities all aligned on a single line and move to the front or the back of the room when asked a particular question. This qualitative exercise generally captures and reflects the positionality of the participants, as we discussed in class. The types of privileges that come to play in Life Under Suspicion are race privilege, socioeconomic privilege, and gender privilege. The individuals who are stopped-and-frisked in the film are depicted to be primarily young African-American males. This specific demographic of people has throughout history been subjected to discrimination. This was described by Linda Holtzman’s Media Messages: What Film, Television, and Popular Music Teach Us about Race, Class,
This is a sad reality that unfortunately exists in society; that is, the act of racial profiling which is an inherent form of discrimination. In spite of this negative life trajectory, many of the interviewees used the film as an opportunity to have their voices heard regarding what really happens in the inner city—not all African-Americans amongst other minorities possess illegal firearms or drugs and are out to cause crime and