Stereotyping in the media is very common in this day and
age, on television, on the Internet, and on video games. Many people believe
that racism, sexism and other forms of intolerance begins in the home. I have
reasons to believe otherwise. The clip above is video clip from CNN, which is about little
children being asked a series of questions about skin color. Now, no parent
that is reacting is willing to admit that they teach their children about
races. However each child is given an opinion about the color of the dolls.
Now this is what draws my reason to believe that prejudice
extends past the homes and more into the media. The first five Disney princess
were all white, not because any other race could not be princesses but because of
the times the stories where told and when the movies were made. Since then
additions have been made and Disney has opened it mind and explore different
races and ethnic backgrounds. Princess Jasmine whom is of Arabic appearance
made the sixth princess, Pocahontas whom ethic background is Native American, Milan
who is Chinese, and Tiana the first African American Disney Princess (as the
headlines reads).
Television shows and movies nowadays do a better job at
expanding the mind beyond being prejudice to race. Most television shows and
movies go above and beyond expectations in including different races, genders,
and all other groups. However, there are still more minorities being depicted
in a negative way.
"The life aspirations of minority children are also
affected by the limited media portrayals of minorities (Clark, 1972). The level of representation of minority
characters on network television now matches and even exceeds their numbers in
the general population (Glascock, 2001). But racially stereotyped portrayals
persist; for example, African Americans are still more often portrayed as lazy,
and Latinos as flashy dressers compared to whites (Mastro, 2008).”
“Media Now” Straubhaar,LaRose, Davenport
