The growth of prejudice, in general, can definitely be related to the media, especially from movies and television. If you look on the cover of the movie Lethal Weapon, you will see the white guy in front with a gun and the black guy behind in the distance. The way the media portrays images, intentionally or not, unconsciously gives of a racist mind set. I think it is safe to say that we get our ideas on how society should be by the media. I have taken a lot of communication classes and the issues of ethnic, sexist and racial differences in the media have always come up. Maybe it was because I preferred the same professor for all my classes, but I do think that the media, in part, becomes an influence on how we see the outside world. Another example I can give you relates to Disney movies, Shrek. This movie is really funny but if you look at the racist context of it, it is pretty disturbing. Why does Eddie Murphy play the Donkey’s voice? If you really think about it, this movie has a lot of sexist stereotyping. Prince Charming seems a little flamboyant and it is hilarious because our knowledge tells us, he acts “gay.” Is it really that funny, do all gay men act that way? By giving you theses examples, I would hope that you would see some logic in why I say the media plays a big role in how we see people.
Since media influences us as a society, we can say that if also affects our language use. I would say, in general, that we are a materialistic society and we look up to certain celebrities for their wealth or famousness. We want to be like them. So if that person starts a new fashion or uses a new word, won’t we be influenced by it? Music is a good example or this, songs that used words like “slut” or “ho” are degrading to women yet if a popular artist uses it in a not so insulting way, is it now acceptable? I would say there is a good case that is would be, and maybe it has already happened. I agree with Geis on this issue, if certain language is used then it should be acceptable for the use of everyone, not just specific people of race or sex. If not, it should be banned from use by everyone. Rappers, especially, have a big influence on their audience and if words are just blurted out of their mouths, does it make it acceptable? We are such an influential society that when one person or a group of people start doing one thing or saying one thing, it becomes like a chain reaction throughout society; therefore, making it somewhat tolerable overall. The question should be, should it be? Song of the rap genre speak of hate towards police and the beating of women, why do we find this tolerable if this affects the views of society as a whole?
I fully agree with you that the media shapes our feelings of prejudice. The youth of today do aspire to act and look like famous actors and causes problems when they see them portraying racial characters or playing a stereotypical oppressed individual.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that you are correct in saying that words should not be allowed to be used by one race but seem racist when used by another. This type of speech is hate speech and I fully support banning its usage.
Your example of rappers is very to the point as they seem to be the ones that use some of these words that have different meanings for different races the most and help in the growth of the racist definitions of those words.
Much of what we see in the media has racist, sexist and ethical overtones and they need to try to help improve society and not just sell movies and songs. We as a society should demand more from our media outlets as they have such a strong influence on oppression.
I couldn’t agree with you more about how influential the media is. Let’s face it…we don’t have the opportunity or time to get out to research everything ourselves so we depend on the media for our information. If that information is incorrect, then we will have a distorted view or opinion. Most of us are on very tight schedules so we usually “grab” some quick radio news on the way to work, a quick news broadcast on our way to bed, etc. so it’s easy to see how misinformed we can be if we don’t have the time to cross-reference news sources.
ReplyDeleteThe media is also very influential through movies and music especially during the younger formative years. If a child sees something on television or the movies often enough or hears certain words or ideas often enough, then children become desensitized to it and it becomes acceptable.
Unfortunately adolescents do listen to a lot of degrading music. It can be degrading an ethnic group, a gender, etc. I don’t get it either when it’s acceptable for one group to use those degrading terms about themselves but others shouldn’t use those terms about them. It seems like if it’s taken as an insult for one person to call you that name then it should be insulting for anyone to call you that name. In some cases, I think the beginning of the end of some hate language needs to start within the group that it is usually directed toward.