Stereotypes In Media

In regards to the media, being Caucasian brings respect and authority. People are willing to hear what a Caucasian person’s opinion is. Whether it is in newspapers, magazines, films, radio, and television, Caucasians typically receive the most respect and are represented more. On the other hand, those who are not Caucasian tend to be shunned or silenced in the media. They are pushed to the background. They are barely seen and their voices aren’t heard as much. Non-whites are underrepresented in the media, especially in advertising and television. Non-white people are experiencing symbolic annihilation.
Hugh Klein and Kenneth Shiffman state symbolic annihilations definition “as the way cultural production and media representations ignore, exclude,
Taylor et al. mention that the most striking finding is a constant stereotypical portrayal of Asian Americans as the “all work, no play” group of people (619). They are see are the smartest group of minorities due to the stereotypes of them succeeding in math and science subjects in school. They are more likely to be seen in advertisements for technology- related products, business and technical magazines, and business settings and relationships (Taylor et al. 619). Stereotyping in advertisements and television happens to African Americans and Hispanic Americans also. This affects how others see these groups of minorities. This is also the case when it comes to characters on television shows. Mastro and Behm-Morawitz state, “race/ethnicity does, in fact, impact the manner in which characters are depicted on primetime television” (124). When creating advertisements or commercials, minorities are given roles that best “fit” with them. Most of the time they are left in the background of advertisements. When African Americans are used for actual product selling, they are rarely seen alone (and instead were accompanied by white models) (Zinkhan et al 549). As I previously stated, they are mostly in the background of the advertisements. The same goes for their speaking roles. Harold H. Kassarjian states that “Negroes are given .65 percent of the speaking roles in commercials and 1.39 percent of the nonspeaking roles” (29). They have been in advertisements alone, but they are for items that are mainly used by that group of people. For example, George M. Zinkhan, William J. Qualls, and Abhijit Biswas state that when blacks were present in product ads, they were more likely to advertise personal products (hair care) than non-personal (durable goods) (549). They are only being used for ads that best suit them, which is a form of racism and