Women and Minorities in the Television
White men mostly dominate the media industry, in particular television and radio. White men were the pioneers of, and known as the essential players in, the growth of television and radio as a medium for mass communication over the years. However, women and minorities were, and still are, involved in the growth of these communication mediums. There is not enough attention paid to these two groups. These heads have taken it upon themselves to show the American public what things should and should not be like, as well as, how we should view different people in our society. Although not according to the public, I do consider myself a minority, and therefore, feel I have a right to research and discuss this topic. I am a minority because I am a part of “a group differing ethnic background than the majority of the population.” (Webster’s, 1996) I have been subject to the stereotypical portrayals of Italians, as well as, witnessed the distorted representati!on of other minorities and females on television. The discrimination towards women and minorities occurred often in front of the camera, in view of the entertainment aspect of the industry, where stereotypical views of these two groups overtook whatever s
Although controversial, much of the American viewing public accepted these new shows and the topics they covered because they were a new way of presenting reality. These shows depicted a reality that was unknown to many people at the time. Up until that point television shows were not showing true reality, they were displaying what the television heads wanted you to believe was reality, but instead was fiction. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 1977, 1979. Window dressing on the Set: Women and Minorities in Television, 2 vols. GPO, Washington, D.C. It is as if the industry is saying that they have no choice but to include stereotypes because viewers would not be able to identify television characters otherwise. It is sad to say that the only way that we can recognize a person of a certain ethnic group on television is to characterize them through the most inaccurate misconceptions that we have about them. Stereotypes are still a very animate part of television series of all genres. In view of that, we have come a long way over the past five decades in correcting those inadequacies, as well as keeping up with the changing times. The Cosby Show portrayed two successful, Black professionals, one a doctor and the other a lawyer, as parents of intelligent, well-educated children living in a cozy, middle-class neighborhood. This was utterly shocking to American viewers, especially since up until the 1970’s when you had shows like Good Times portraying a poor, Black family living in the Projects struggling to get by. Ellen was one of the more recent groundbreakers of stereotypes for the American homosexual population by revealing that she was gay on television, as well as, having a lesbian kiss on her show. One of the shows that got the most public and political attention in the early 1990’s was Murphy Brown. Even for the nineties, the portrayal of a lead female character as an unmarried, middle-aged, professional woman becoming pregnant and deciding to be a single parent was shocking. The topic became even more talked about when the Vice President at the time, Dan Quayle, criticized the te! Head, Sydney W., Christopher H. Sterling, Lemuel B Schofield, Thomas Spann, and Michael McGregor. 1998. Broadcasting in America. Eighth Edition. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin Company. Stereo
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1574
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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