The question that I’m going to be researching is “how does the media affect the way we think?”
In my 1st round of research, I will be diving further into the question of “how does the media portray certain groups and how can it negatively impact the way people think of them and themselves?”
Firstly, what is representation? Representation is a set of diverse identities and experiences (4). However, there is a difference between presence and representation. This is called tokenism: when minorities are used for the appearance of seeming more inclusive (5). These groups include racial, ethnic, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disabilitity and different body types (3). When groups are represented in this way, they are often portrayed as stereotypes. Stereotypes can harm the way people perceive minorities and the way they see themselves. Especially with children, this is a period in their life where they look at others to learn how to behave and think (1). When people interact less with these groups, the stereotypes they see can create an unconscious bias towards these people (2). However, when presented with high-quality media, it offers role models for people to feel inspired by and helps break down stereotypes.
- https://www.commonsensemedia.org/kids-action/blog/why-representation-matters-in-kids-media
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/05/22/why-is-equal-representation-in-media-important/?sh=545fdc92a84e
3. https://www.racetoacure.org/post/the-importance-of-representation-in-media
4. https://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/queer-representation/queer-representation-media
5. https://arabfilminstitute.org/what-exactly-is-media-representation-anyway/
Hey Aleah, great post! I believe you brought a very important topic by mentioning tokenism. Nowadays, we see so many companies and news corporations publicly pushing for diversity and saying that they are diverse themselves. In reality, most of them simply have a quota of specific types of individuals they need to hire so that they look better to the public, instead of actually altering their company culture and working towards actual diversity. I’m looking forward to reading your future posts!
Some references you may find useful are:
https://scholars.org/contribution/how-racial-stereotypes-popular-media-affect-people-and-what-hollywood-can-do-become
https://www.opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/media-representations-impact-black-men/media-portrayals
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_avoid_picking_up_prejudice_from_media
Hello Aleah,
I think representation is very important in the media. Without the diversity in our communities, we are reduced to what we show on social media. There is so much to celebrate in the differences that we have and I really wish that when companies are worried about representation, they are worried about not being inclusive instead of not looking inclusive. You talked about this, tokenism. I’m glad you brought it up. One thing I think you could have done to add to your post would be adding an example. Can you think of any examples of companies using tokenism or the opposite (a company actually trying to represent various groups)?
Here are some hopefully helpful links
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210902-why-diverse-hires-cant-always-escape-tokenism
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/11/companies-are-making-bold-promises-about-greater-diversity-theres-a-long-way-to-go.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bonniemarcus/2020/09/29/companies-need-to-radically-rethink-diversity-and-inclusion/
Good luck!
Hi Aleah, your post is fascinating; keep up the great work. Your post is very inspirational. Come to think of it, media can change a lot; for example, my friend developed the fear of the ocean because he watched so many videos on youtube about the Kraken, so he thinks that Krakens are real. Keep up the excellent work.
Here are some websites that you might find helpful when doing researches:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9fx39q/revision/1
http://unesco.mil-for-teachers.unaoc.org/modules/module-3/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/trans-artists-representation-1.5970644
Hey Aleah!
your question and research is something that I agree with immensely! I love the incorporation of representation, especially since we live in an era where so much of our youth is influenced by social media!
while reading through your paragraph I couldn’t help going in a more philosophical route, so If you are interested in widening your research into both scientific and philosophical perceptions here is a link to critical thinking in philosophy and the whole process from what makes us think to how we reach our answers from the influence of others!
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-thinking/#ProcThinCrit
I really suggest reading point number 5 on the process of thinking critically.
Cant wait to learn more from your research!!
-Sanam. M