Marginalization in the Media

This past week, I was watching a show called Rules of Engagement. I'm not sure how many people know of this show but it's a comedy that follows two couples and their friend who is single. Throughout the seven seasons that it lasted, there were many negative reviews associated with it due to the underlying problems that producers of this show tried to make light of.

For example, in one of the episodes that I was watching, called The Power Couple, I came across a great example of marginalization. Marginalization is the exclusion from meaningful participation in society. It proves to be on of the most dangerous forms of oppression. In this episode, married couple Audrey and Jeff, have a disagreement. Audrey recently got a raise at work and with the increase in income, Audrey sets out to buy a new television. Jeff grows upset because that men should be the breadwinners of the household and he believes that men should also be the ones purchasing electronics for the household. Below, I embedded the episode. Fast forward to 16:56 to see what I am referring to.



To me, this episode represented a good example of marginalization because Jeff is essentially oppressing Audrey when he says that men should be the ones buying electronics and is clearly upset that Audrey is making more money than he is. Audrey states that he should support her when she is successful just like she supports him when he's successful. This sort of issue is seen in a lot of contexts. When women start becoming more successful than men, there is an issue that is brought forth. And because women being successful is seen as threatening to some men, it is a form of oppression and marginalization.

Women essentially become deprived of things that men aren't. It's seen as abnormal when women make more money than their husband. It's seen as abnormal when women buy things for their home that men are expected to buy, like electronics. Women are deprived of that realm of involvement within the material world. Women are depreciated in this sense.

Like I stated earlier, this show received a lot of bad reviews because of the actual problems that exist that producers covered up with comedy. The issues that present itself in this show are portrayed as funny and something that should be taken as a joke. And while I find this show to be comical and I don't take it too seriously, there are episodes such as this one that might go a little too far. Marginalization is so prominent in this show that it's hard to see the funny side. It's hard to look past what the real problem is that the characters are discussing. For me, I couldn't focus on the dialogue between the characters for the last few minutes of the show after this scene because I was too focused on how this episode provides a perfect example of the problem that still exists in our society today. That is, the marginalization of women not only in media, but in the real world as well. In many aspects, women are oppressed and it's not surprising to see a show like this participating in this social construction that women are of lesser value than men.

The question is, what do we do when we see marginalization in the media?

First, try not to overlook it. It's easy to do sometimes. When you see it, address it. Discuss why it's not fair or essentially progressive for society in any form. Be aware when marginalization is prevalent and think about how the scenario would differ if marginalization wasn't a part of it. Try to look at it from a different perspective than what is being portrayed to you. By doing this, you'll become a more educated and diverse consumer of media.

Color in the Media

When I was little, there were many movies that I watched. A lot of these movies had characters that were seemingly predominantly white. As I have gotten older however, I have come to realize that there actually were black characters in the movies I watched. They were, however, never the main characters and usually portrayed as unintelligent. For example, in the movie Dumbo, there are crows that are depicted as being black and it is fairly obvious in the scenes where they are shown. Below, I have embedded a scene from the movie Dumbo in which you can see what I am referring to.




In this scene, it is very clear that these black birds are depicted as poor and uneducated. It is also clear, by the way the birds are acting and talking, that Disney tried to link their mannerisms to black people. In fact, the lead bird is named Jim Crow. Jim Crow in the older days, was essentially an extremely exaggerated black character that was seen in Minstrel Shows, in which this character would dance and sing and imitate blacks in front of an audience. Jim Crow was also known as being a set of rules and laws that segregated blacks from white and oppressed black people in every way possible. It's obvious that Disney purposely characterized the crows in a way that would illustrate the idea that black people were seen as a minority race.

This clip from Dumbo provides an example of what "privilege" is. Privilege is a special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class or caste. There is an underlying privilege that white people are granted in this movie. White people are privileged to be associated with the characters that are opposite of the crows in Dumbo. They are privileged to be able to watch this movie with their families and know that the reasons that they are associated with the protagonists is because black people are "lesser" than whites. Even when I was younger and watched this movie, it was clear to me that these crows were dumb, lazy and had an undesirable life. It was also clear to me that they sounded different from the other characters. Although I never put two and two together and was able to understand that they were being portrayed as black, I did understand that I didn't talk and act the way they did. Neither did my family and friends. I associated myself with the characters who had mannerisms that closely resembled my own. This was a privilege. If I were a young black child or a black person in general watching this movie, I would feel as though it was a blatant act of discrimination against black people for no rhyme or reason.

Although this movie racially stereotyped against black people and benefitted white people, there is one show today that does a great job of doing exact opposite. The term Color-blind Ideology comes to my mind when I heard about this show that is currently airing on the Disney Junior channel. Color-blind Ideology is the deliberate avoidance of privileging any one race over others. This show is called Doc McStuffins. It features a 6 year old black girl, Dottie, who nurtures and takes care of her stuffed animals because she wants to someday be a doctor, like her mother is. Below, is a clip from this new show. It is a lengthier clip, but just from skimming through it, you can begin to understand how this show takes on the idea of Color-blind Ideology.





This show caught my attention because it features a black character as a lead role. Not only is the lead character black, but it's also a girl. This show illustrates how far we have come today. I'm not trying to say that we are living in a post-racial society and racism is forever vanished. But when comparing this show to how black people were depicted in older shows, such as Dumbo, it is clear that race is being seen less as a threat, and more as a teaching device. This show teaches children from a young age that people come in all sizes, shapes and colors and we are equal. It teaches kids that no matter the color of your skin, you can achieve what anyone else can achieve. I love that the roles have completely reversed in this show. It has such a positive message and is vital for young children from newer generations to watch.

Overall, I found it very interesting that there are many different examples from the media that demonstrate the different sides of  how race has been portrayed. In Dumbo, it's clear that black people are associated with antagonist characters and white people are privileged in more ways than one. However, in Doc McStuffins, Dottie is seen as a protagonist and the theory of Color-blind Ideology is being brought to the surface. There have been many changes made in our society, and while we still might not be at a complete post-racial society, we have made the steps necessary to improve what our society once was.

The Truck Stereotype

Above, I have posted a commercial advertising the Ford F-150. I wanted to illustrate how this commercial is directed to specifically one audience. That audience is most always men. Often in a lot of truck commercials, men are the primary audience because of multiple factors. But I believe that a big part of how trucks became associated with men is due to our schemas.

Schemas are cognitive structures that represent knowledge about objects, people or situations. Schemas essentially guide behavior and predict behavior of others. We create schemas about different groups, genders, races, professions, etc., that surround us on a daily basis. When I first saw this commercial, it brought about many different thoughts.

The first thing I thought when I initially saw this advertisement is why are trucks, for majority of the time, aimed towards men and not women, too? In this commercial, Ford is essentially assuming that men are the only ones who hold down labor intensive jobs, who work hard, who are physically able, and therefore need to drive big, durable trucks. It clearly says in the commercial that this truck "can help load cargo and find lost tools" all while men are seen loading the truck and lifting heavy objects. There isn't one single scene in this commercial where women are incorporated. It is very interesting to me that trucks have become a symbol of manliness and strength. Even the logo for Ford, "Built Tough", is targeted toward a more masculine audience. There are many circumstances where women drive trucks and work just as hard as men, but for whatever reason Ford doesn't want to associate their trucks with femininity.

My second thought, or question, is how did this schema become relevant to our society? I understand that trucks are great vehicles for work that is labor intensive and they are necessary when it comes to hauling trailers, loading cargo, going off-roading, etc. While all of that makes perfect sense, what strikes me as odd is the mere fact that women are rarely, if at all, seen in truck commercials. We, as a society, have created a stereotype for trucks. A stereotype is a widely held fixed and oversimplified image or idea about a particular person, group of people, or thing. For example, a common stereotype is that women can't drive. While watching this commercial, it came to me that this might be another reason as to why women can't be found in truck commercials for the most part. Because society has created the stereotype that women can't drive, the stereotype that trucks belong to men has been established as well. Society has constructed the stereotype of a man to be big, strong, tough, emotionless, and hard-working. Society has, in contrary, constructed the stereotype of a woman to be small, dainty, dependent, emotional, and not as physically able. It is, to my belief, because of these stereotypes and schemas that Ford doesn't advertise to women.

We can also examine this from a different perspective. For example, it rarely happens where men are seen in cleaning product advertisements or commercials. It is common for cleaning supplies to be targeted toward women more so than men. This is because, like I stated earlier, we have created very specific stereotypes for women. We see women as being the "woman of the house", the mom, the one who takes care of everyone, the one who makes a house a home, etc. In many cleaning product commercials, you'll see a woman going around the house cleaning with the specific product being advertised. You wouldn't see a man at home, taking care of the house and cleaning and doing tasks that have been cut out for women to do for as long as we've lived. You're more likely to see them working, getting dirty, doing heavy-labor activities, like depicted in the Ford advertisement.

Below, I have posted an example of what these cleaning commercials look like:





Overall, this commercial demonstrates that the schemas and stereotypes that belong to our society today, even the ones formed from older generations, still influence how our society operates as a whole today. The way we think as individuals, what we associate different objects with, and what we all hold as merely a "belief" instead of a fact, controls how we live. Stereotypes and schemas govern what we wear, what we drive, what kind of music we listen to, what we eat, what we think, and most importantly, who we are.

Controversial Teen Parenting Ad

Teen parenting is often a very controversial topic to be discussed. There are facts and statistics that have been found to back up the negative connotations that teen parenting is commonly coupled with. However, one of the main reasons that teen parenting is looked down upon by many people is due to their beliefs and values, or the culture they were raised on or associate with. According to Hofstede, a social psychologist, culture is essentially a collective mental programming of people in an environment. Going off of this, many people frown upon teen parenting merely because they were raised to agree with the beliefs and morals of those who surround them and belong to the same culture as theirs. 

Teen parenting is something that happens more often than not, especially in this generation and the ones to come. There are many cases in which teen parenting isn't successful, but there are also many times in which teen parenting can be just as successful as adult parenting. This advertisement is criticizing those who become pregnant at a young age and raise children on their own. I do understand that teen parenting is ten times harder than normal and isn't necessarily ideal for the child. And while I understand that this advertisement might be trying to prevent teen pregnancy and recruit more teen girls and teen boys to use contraceptives and practice being safe, I believe that they could have communicated the message in a different manner than they did in these ads. For instance, they could have refrained from using such negativity while still getting the same message across. By saying "Honestly mom...chances are he won't stay with you", they're not only discriminating against the father, but simultaneously, and possibly unconsciously, discriminating against the mother. They're implying that all teens who experience accidental pregnancies do so because they are incompetent and aware of the consequences of unsafe sex but do not take the initiative to prevent it. 

Like I stated earlier however, these negative implications have been set in place because of people's culture/the beliefs and morals people have been surrounded with all their lives. Hofstede states that culture is a number of people conditioned by the same education/and or life experience. This definition of culture also supports my claim that one of the biggest reasons teen pregnancy and teen parenting is looked down upon is merely because of how certain groups of people have been raised, educated or conditioned. A lot of times, people have no personal/life experience with teen pregnancy, however, they discriminate against it and associate it with adverse thoughts. Culture is something that influences a lot of the ideas we have as humans and majority of the decisions we make. 

Overall, these ads, in my opinion, make the message of teen pregnancy extremely negative instead of informative. There could have been different facts and statistics informing teens of the consequences of not using contraceptives. Although teen pregnancy does indeed have it's downfalls and unfavorable perceptions, there are plenty of great and beautiful experiences that can result from pregnancies no matter the age of the parents. Regardless of the hard times that arise from teen pregnancies, these advertisements should have aimed to inform the audience instead of essentially scare them and place their beliefs and morals upon their audience. I believe that if the message was communicated in a different way, it would thus be received in a different way. To me, marketing is all about thinking about the audience and what they'll respond positively to. It shouldn't be about condemning those who do experience accidental or surprising pregnancies. It should inform teens that when accidents happen, there are things that can be done to take proactive action. Advertisements should refrain from incorporating personal beliefs into their message. It should remain informational and revealing of consequences or benefits instead of being merely astute about a certain idea or topic.