With a television and film industry that is dominated by straight white males, there is an overwhelming lack of accurate representation in our society. By analyzing the underlying factors of this issue, we can seek to provide more realistic representation of minorities within the film industry. The major minority groups in hollywood are categorized according to race, lgbtq, and female representation.
Female Representation in American Television & Film
Despite making up over 50% of the Population, there is a startling lack of female representation within the film industry. In the diversity study conducted by the University of Southern California, the research team released data on the amount of female characters in movies released in 2014 and 2015. Across the 11,306 speaking characters evaluated, 66.5% were male and 33.5% were female (Smith, Stacey L., et al.). This calculated into a sample wide gender ratio of seeing 2 males to every 1 female on screen, which
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Television can discourage young women from becoming socially, academically, and professionally ambitious. In a study published by the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, gender-stereotypic television commercials were employed in three studies to evoke the female stereotype among both men and women (Davies). Study 1 revealed that only women for whom the activated stereotype was self-relevant underperformed on a subsequent math test (Davies). Exposure to the stereotypic commercials led women taking an aptitude test in Study 2 to avoid math items in favor of verbal items (Davies). In Study 3, women who viewed the stereotypic commercials indicated less interest in educational/vocational options in which they were susceptible to stereotype threat (i.e., quantitative domains) and more interest in fields in which they were immune to stereotype threat (i.e., verbal domains)
The media, through its many outlets, has a lasting effect on the values and social structure evident in modern day society. Television, in particular, has the ability to influence the social structure of society with its subjective content. As Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert write in their article, “GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION”, the basis of our accepted social identities is heavily controlled by the media we consume. One of the social identities that is heavily influenced is gender: Brooks and Hébert conclude, “While sex differences are rooted in biology, how we come to understand and perform gender is based on culture” (Brooks, Hébert 297). With gender being shaped so profusely by our culture, it is important to be aware of how social identities, such as gender, are being constructed in the media.
Smith, Jeff, and Chloe Beighley. "Normalizing Male Dominance: Gender Representation in 2012 Films." Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy. N.p., 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
When it comes to movies, you are less likely to see a woman with a starring role. In fact, women are underrepresented in all media. Studies on prime time television programs show an alarmingly low number of women on television. Thirty-Eight percent of women play doctor or heath care roles. That means a whopping sixty-two percent are played by male actors. “In music videos drawn form five music-oriented television networks, male characters outnumber females by a ration of 3 to 1,”(Collins, 2011). In video games, the odds are the worst. Only
It’s September, the kids are back in school, and it’s time for another new season of television. Another round of must see Felicity, Friends, and Frasier, with a side of ER and some Nash Bridges for dessert. Loads and loads of Caucasian males and females making us laugh, and cry. What you do not see are Black, Hispanic, or other minorities making us laugh, and cry. In this day and age, where everyone gets a fair shot at doing what they really love, the same can not be said for minorities in the film industry. More and more minorities are being turn away in favor of Caucasian actors. It’s not only actors that are feeling the pinch, its also writers, directors, producers, and network execs.
Diversity has always been one of Hollywood’s greatest weaknesses. For the most part, the industry absolutely strives with its rich narratives, beautiful cinematography, and moving performances but it fails when it comes to diversity. The representation of both women and people of colour have been lacklustre, often with poor characterisations and distasteful stereotypes and character tropes.
There has been a pressing issue of the lack of diversity in mainstream media in front and behind the camera. For many years the face of Hollywood was white, occupying roles as actors, directors, screenwriters and other prominent positions in the industry.
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
"PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN THE FILM, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES." PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN THE FILM, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
Hollywood’s diversity problem is well-known; however, the extent might be surprising to most Americans. According to a 2014 report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media, found that females comprised only 30% of all speaking characters among the top grossing films of 2013. (Lauzen, 2014) However, minority women faired far worse than their Caucasian counterparts. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the numbers even female characters from other world’s were as better represented in film than some minority women; the numbers are as follow for women: Caucasian (73%), African American (14%), Latina (5%), Asian and other world tied (3%). (Lauzen, 2014) If the lack of representation were not enough consider a 2009 study which found that when minority groups are portrayed on television the portrayal tends to be negative. (Alexandrin, 2009) A study by Busselle and Crandall (2009) found that the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed, often as unemployed criminals, tends to have an influence on the way the public perceives African-American’s lack of economic success. Furthermore, the news media does an equally poor job in the ways that African-American’s are presented; according to the same study while 27% of Americans were considered “poor” in 1996 the images of America’s “poor” being presented by news media was heavily Black (63%). (Busselle & Crandall, 2002) Today, this can be seen in the way that African-American victims of police brutality are depicted in the media. Even when African-Americans are murdered at the hands of police for minor and non-violent offenses (e.g. Mike Brown, Eric Gardner, and Tamir Rice) they are often portrayed as thugs, criminals, and vandals. What’s more, seve...
Girls are supposed to play with dolls, wear pink, and grow up to become princesses. Boys are suppose to play with cars, wear blue, and become firefighters and policemen. These are just some of the common gender stereotypes that children grow up to hear. Interactions with toys are one of the entryway to different aspects of cognitive development and socialism in early childhood. As children move through development they begin to develop different gender roles and gender stereotypes that are influenced by their peers and caregivers. (Chick, Heilman-Houser, & Hunter, 2002; Freeman, 2007; Leaper, 2000)
Hit shows such as ABC’s Blackish, Fresh Off the Boat, and Scandal, the CW’s Jane the Virgin, and FOX 40’s The Mindy Project feature well-written multi-dimensional characters worthy of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and awards. However, according to Tamra Winfrey-Harris, while there is more diversity of female characters, there’s “nowhere near the diversity that our white counterparts have” (Cheung). In 2014, 73.1% of film actors were white, and only seventeen of the top-ranking films in 2014 starred “non-white or co-lead actors” (Santhanam, Hickey). Lack of representation is proven to have an effect on society. An English primary school teacher found that his students of color would write narratives featuring English-speaking white characters because they believe that “stories have to be about White people” (Chetty). However, how can one be surprised when they observe the amount of whiteness children are exposed to throughout their youth? The myriad of white Disney princesses, Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna, and Elsa serve as the white child’s role models. Only four princesses of color exist in the Disney universe: Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, and Tiana. The omnipresence of white characters and actors in the media dramatically impact a child of color’s development; to them, the normal,
Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is
According to statistics diversity shows in Hollywood is at the worst it could be. Studies show that Hollywood does a bad job of representing gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual cultures in many of their productions. " Just 28.3 percent of characters with dialogue were from non-white racial/ethnic groups, though such groups are nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population" (Deggans). These statistics show that many of the characters in movies and TV shows are people who make up half the U.S. that only a quarter of them are used.
Girl Power Did you know that only 12% of the one hundred most popular films of 2014 had a female protagonist? According to a study done by Indiewire.com in 2014, men really dominate every part of the entertainment industry. Statistics show that only 10% of film writers are women and only 6% of film directors are women. For centuries Hollywood has been deemed as a “Man’s World”, and it still is!
Another major factor that influences millions of impressionable females and males is television. Not only does the television teach each sex how to act, it also shows how one sex should expect the other sex to act. In the current television broadcasting, stereotypical behavior goes from programming for the very small to adult audiences. In this broadcasting range, females are portrayed as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked completely or seen as unimportant entities. Stereotyping women is not only rampant in the adult world; it also flourishes in the kiddie universe as well.