For additional information on adopting this SNEAK title for your class, please contact us at PREVIEW 800.200.3908 x501 or [email protected] Race, Gender, and Stereotypes in the Media A Reader for Professional Communicators EDITED BY AMISO M. GEORGE AND TOMMY THOMASON SCHIEFFER SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY REVISED EDITION Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher Christopher Foster, General Vice President Michael Simpson, Vice President of Acquisitions Jessica Knott, Managing Editor Kevin Fahey, Marketing Manager Jess Busch, Senior Graphic Designer Jamie Giganti, Senior Project Editor Brian Fahey, Licensing Associate Copyright © 2013 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. First published in the United States of America in 2013 by Cognella, Inc. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62131-199-7 (pbk) / 978-1-62131-447-9 (br) Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction: Examining the Effects of Stereotyping on the Media 1 Section 1: Stereotyping and the Media Stereotyping and What It Means to Mass Communications Practitioners 5 Amiso M. George and Tommy Thomason Suspended in Stereotypes 7 Steve Stockdale The Power of the Stereotype 11 John Cloud Section 2: Stereotyping Women Toddlers and Tiaras: The Sexualization of Young Girls 17 Amiso M. George Here's for the Bitches: An Analysis of Gangsta Rap and Misogyny 25 Darren Rhym Why Do Games Still Stereotype Women? 35 Nadia Oxford Sexism and Politics: Media Still Portray Gender Differences 37 Diana B. Carlin and Kelly L. Winfrey Sexism Remains a Problem for Women Seeking Offi ce 45 David Crary Media Coverage of Women and Women’s Issues 49 Louise Armstrong Executive Women in Film: Does the Devil Really Wear Prada? 53 Kellye Jones Women Sports Journalists Overcome Prejudice to Find Success in a Typically Male-Dominated Field 59 Maggie Thomas iv | Race, Gender, and Stereotypes in the Media Section 3: Stereotyping Racial and Ethinc Groups Arabs and the Media 75 Narmeen El-Farra Blacks Not Mainstream Media Material 81 Emily Guskin, Mahvish Shahid Khan, and Amy Mitchell Mass Media and Racism 83 Stephen Balkaran Familiar Patterns of Minority Exclusion Follow Mainstream Media Online 89 Jean Marie Brown Blacks Turn to Social Media 93 Pepper Miller Coverage of Japanese Citizens' "Stoic" Response to Tragedy Both Accurate, Stereotypical 95 Tom Huang Undocumented or Illegal? 99 Karen Carmichael and Rabiah Alicia Burks Latinos in the U.S. Media 103 Jamie Pehl The Importance of Understanding the Growing U.S. Latino Market Online 109 Sandra Ordonez Films Stereotype Native Americans 113 How Movies Stereotype Native Americans 117 Joseph Riverwind Section 4: Stereotyping Other Under-Represented Minorities Social Class and Television 123 Richard Butsch Money Talks: Why Do We Never Hear from the Working Class on Op-Ed Pages? 127 Erika Fry Combating Ageism in Media and Marketing 131 The Anti-Ageism Taskforce at the International Longevity Center–USA Film Portrayals of Christians Grow More Negative Over Time 137 Peter Dans ‘Christian extremist’ is a common media stereotype 147 By Michael Wakelin Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Conservative Evangelical Culture 149 Heather Hendershot Contents | v "Fattertainment"—Obesity in the Media 151 Chelsea A. Heuer Media Do Not Focus on Poverty as an Issue 155 Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Covering Poverty and Health 159 Patricia Thomas Breaking the Spiral of Silence: Altering Media Portrayals of the Disabled 161 Bitrus Paul Gwamna and Amiso M. George How the Media Portray the Disabled 169 Media Awareness Network From Margins to Mainstream: LGBT Narratives Across Mass Media 173 Jacqueline Lambiase Section 5: Stereotypes in Advertising and Public Relations The Ideology of Attractiveness—Media Stereotypes and Self-image 181 By Timothy Sexton Eating Disorders and Body Image—is Advertising to Blame for most of the problem? 185 By Jennifer L. Derenne and Eugene V. Beresin Beauty … And the Beast of Advertising 191 Jean Kilbourne Gender Stereotypes in Advertising 195 Monica Brasted The Dangers of Using Stereotypes in Advertising and Marketing 201 Lahle Wolfe Diversity in Public Relations 203 Natalie T. J. Tindall Appendix: Theory into Practice: Avoiding Stereotyping in Producing Media Content Watch Your Words: Stereotyping and the Stylebook 213 Tommy Thomason How to Avoid Stereotyping Muslims in a Post-9/11 World 217 The Council on American-Islamic Relations Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank undergraduate research assistant Kimberly Dena and graduate research assistant Sana Syed for their help in identifying many of the articles that ultimately became a part of this book. Acknowledgments | vii Introduction: Examining the Effects of Stereotyping on the Media By Amiso M. George and Tommy Thomason hat do Hillary Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Bachmann, and Sarah Palin have in W common? They all ran for public offi ce, but most important, the media have tarred them with the “crazy woman” label. So what’s the big deal about that? From Michelle Bachmann’s crazed-eyed look on the cover of Newsweek to the incessant pillorying of Hillary Clinton in mainstream media, female political candidates have consistently fared worse than male candidates. The media set the agenda. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise when a woman, in reference to Hillary Clinton at a 2008 rally for Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain, asked him: “How do we beat the bitch?” Or when Fox News reporter Byron York asked Michelle Bachmann in a Republican primary debate in 2011: “As president, would you be submissive to your husband?” These examples aptly capture the need for this book. The idea for this book came about as a result of our dissatisfaction with texts used in courses on images of minorities in the media. While most textbooks focus on media stereotypes of race and gender, ours encompasses stereotypes of other minorities. While others are heavy on scholarly articles, ours is a combination of scholarly as well as short magazine articles. And we offer interactive leading questions that put readers in the driver’s seat to develop feasible strategies and tactics that address stereotypes—we invite readers to consider practical ways to deal with these stereotypes. The benefi t of such an approach is that our readers, be they educators, news editors, or PR counselors, can identify practical ways to educate their students or peers on the power of stereotypes and the negative impact of stereotyping racial, gender, and other minorities. Most importantly, they could develop strategies and tactics to combat media stereotypes of minority groups. The book introduces us to the power of stereotypes. This profound impact of stereotypes is evident in the four sections of the book: stereotyping women, stereotyping racial and ethnic groups, stereotyping other underrepresented minorities, and stereotypes in advertising and public relations. The articles range from stereotypical portrayals of executive women in fi lms, sexualization of young girls in a popular television series, and gender stereotypes in advertising to media portrayal of conservative evangelical culture. Introduction: Examining the Effects of Stereotyping on the Media | 1 2 | Race, Gender, and Stereotypes in the Media Of particular interest to us is how to avoid or minimize stereotypes after we have learned about them. The “something to think about” section deals with that, and an appendix that presents articles on stereotyping and the stylebook and how to avoid stereotyping Muslims speaks directly to that issue. You may have been waiting precisely for this type of book that mixes both academic and practical approaches to educate people on the dangers of stereotypes. We invite you to read on and to apply the issues discussed to your career as a media professional. Let us know what you think—who knows, we may use some of your ideas in the next edition of the book..