The World Unseen Deserves to Be Seen

This is a paper that I wrote about how the mass American media needs to be better utilized to shape the lives of marginalized persons such as females, POCs, handicapped, etc.

15 April 2015

The World Unseen Deserves to Be Seen

Imagine a world where most people either deny your existence entirely or mock you based off of folktale. Unfortunately, this is how many marginalized Americans live their lives. A large reason for this is the lack of representation and the use of stereotypes in the media. Media being classified as “the main means of mass communication” according to the Oxford English Dictionary ("Media"). Examples of media would include television programs, music, art, and films as they are tools used to communicate ideas. In sociology, media is listed as being one of the most influential ‘bodies’ in a person’s life (Macionis 155). As the media is a tool that has so much power over our society, it should further be used to promote coexistence instead of reinforcing outdated ideologies. The modern media needs to be better utilized in order to positively shape the citizens of the United States of America into being more accepting of diversity. Doing so would insure that the United States would see a greater increase in work/school performance,quality of life,community interaction, and economic feedback from marginalized persons; all of which will benefit the nation as a whole as well as its individual citizens.

One way of increasing this acceptance is to further the amount of representation in the media. Examples of who this representation increase would encompass would be people of color (POC), females, and members of the LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and so on) community. The reason that representation plays such an essential part in this acceptance is that it can promote body-positivity in anyone, decrease racism, sexism, and ‘diversiphobia’- the fear of difference/the not ‘normal’. If diversiphobia were to decrease then the country of America would see a decrease in ignorance. It can also improve the overall quality of life for those who are ‘marginalized’ within the U.S.A.

Currently, the media is improving at representing more and more marginalized persons. A study conducted by GLAAD, an organization focused on promoting  LGBT+ representation, reported that “[a]mong the 813 [TV] series regulars counted this year [2014] across 115 primetime scripted television programs on the five broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC), 32 are LGBT, an increase from [2013]’s 26, while 781 are not indentified [sic] as LGBT (96%).”  This same study went on to note that out of the previously 813 participants, 40% were female, and 27% were POCs (2014 Where We Are On TV ).  While this increase shows promise, it is still extremely low and needs to be brought to higher levels.

Society has taken note of the lack of representation of minorities in the media. One example of this is the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test was created to analyze any form of media- typically film- to see if it could pass three pieces of criteria: has to have a minimal of two females, said females have to interact with each other, and the interaction cannot be centered around the topic of men/man. Supporters of the Bechdel Test were encouraged to submit their favorite movie(s) for testing, out of the 5,772 entries, 3,320 passed all three of the criteria ("Bechdel Test Movie List"). Derived from the Bechdel Test is the Russo Test, where films are evaluated by their use of LGBT+ characters. The criteria for this test are that:

The film contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay,

bisexual, and/or transgender. That character must not be solely

or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender

identity. I.E. they are made up of the same sort of unique

character traits commonly used to differentiate straight characters

from one another. The LGBT character must be tied into the plot

in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect.

Meaning they are not there to simply provide colorful commentary,

paint urban authenticity, or (perhaps most commonly) set up a punchline.

The character should “matter.” ("The Vito Russo Test")

Both the Bechdel Test and Russo Test show how society is trying to fuel the media into being more encompassing of its “not normal” audience members. A key quality of these tests is that the passing point is set extremely low and is easy to surpass. For the Bechdel test all a film has to do is show two women saying something as simple as:

“Hello.” Says woman A.

“Hello.” Says woman B.

“How are you?” Asks woman A.

“Good. Yourself?” Replies woman B.

“Good.” Woman A responds. The two women go their separate ways.

That is it, if a film wants to pass the Bechdel test, that is the minimal amount of work needed to do so. Yet, films and television shows fail so often that is almost comedic. On the other hand, the Russo test is slightly harder to pass with flying colors as it requires the character to be essential or impactful to the plot. While this is not an impractical request, it takes more screen time to implement.

More specific cases where positive representation of marginalized persons is found on the television screen is in the following shows; Glee, Sirens, Modern Family, The Walking Dead, Agent Carter, and Elementary. Fox Network’s television show Glee is the most iconic one from the previous list for representation of marginalized people. The show has featured characters and plot lines dealing with gay/lesbian couples, homophobia, transgender characters figuring out their gender identity, POCs facing racism, stigmas against physically and mentally handicapped people, body positivity for various body types, and struggles that poverty-stricken families face. Some of these topics are generally covered throughout the series while others have specific episodes dedicated to them. Season six, episode seven titled “Transitioning” featured one of the main characters officially changing from a woman to a man, the character is then symbolically accepted into the transgender community when a choir of two hundred transgendered persons sings to him (Debnath). Glee is not the only show on the list to feature members of the LGBT+ community, USA Network’s show Sirens introduced an asexual character in its sixth episode, “The Finger” (Ham). The American Broadcasting Company (ABC)  is also getting in on the representation action. Its show Modern Family is centered around three couples, a straight couple, an adult gay couple, and a third one featuring a POC woman, Gloria, living with an older gentleman. Throughout the series the gay couple work on raising their adoptive daughter while Gloria faces mockery for mispronouncing english words as it is her second language. In season six, episode seven, “Queer Eyes, Full Hearts”, the mockery gets to the point where Gloria yells,  

Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in

my head before I say it? To have people laugh in my face because

I'm struggling to find the words? You should try talking in my shoes

for one mile! I think you meant -- I know what I meant to mean.

Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish? Of course you don't.

For once, it would be nice to speak to someone in my own

language in my own home. ("Modern Family S06e07 Episode Script")

The Walking Dead startled its audience with something that some viewers would describe as more horrific than the undead devouring the carcass of a dead child, that would be a gay couple kissing. LGBT+ community members are not the only ones getting an increasing amount of representation lately, television shows like Agent Carter and Elementary are focused more on being about women- Elementary even has a POC female lead. When Agent Carter’s lead protagonist, Peggy, is not fighting russian spies she is fighting the sexist streets of 1940s New York City. Elementary’s Joan Watson works alongside ace detective Sherlock Holmes while solving mind numbing mysteries. These examples show how the media is starting to improve on representing marginalized persons but it should be noted that these are only six shows out of hundreds produced each year. Another fact that should not be overlooked is that nearly every example of marginalized persons previously listed sparked nearly equal numbers of news articles talking about the ‘controversy’ of each action. An increase in representation would lead to a decrease in controversy as the topics being represented would become the new normal in American society and culture. The increase of representation will also sway these represented groups into purchasing their product, furthering economic growth within the movie/TV market.

Television is not the only place where positive representation can occur, music and films are also vital tools. Some could argue that as music is a form of self expression, it should not be counted as being a part of mass media. This paper accepts it as media only when at least one of the following conditions are met: a.) is discussed on network news stations b.) you can walk up to a random person and have a sixty percent chance that they will know what you are talking about. Examples of positive musical numbers include, All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor, and Uptown Funk by Mark Rawson (ft. Bruno Mars). All About That Bass is about embracing anyone who has a bigger body type than average as well as those who are overweight. The song Uptown Funk is about promoting self confidence and self beauty. Specific lyrics in Uptown Funk support this statement as it says, “This one, for them hood girls / Them good girls / Straight masterpieces” ("Mark Ronson Lyrics "Uptown Funk""). This bit of the song focuses primarily on female body positivity but the song is meant to make every listener feel good about themselves and their bodies.

Specific cases of kid friendly films that are good at representing marginalized persons include Big Hero 6, How To Train Your Dragon 2, and The Princess and the Frog. Both Big Hero 6 and The Princess and the Frog focus on POC characters who have experienced hardships. Big Hero 6 focuses on Hiro Hamada, young teen genius of asian descent who struggles with depression after his older brother dies. The Princess and the Frog is centered around young african-american entrepreneur, Tiana. Tiana works hard to escape poverty and build her own cooking establishment. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is about a teenager named Hiccup who is entering adulthood while adjusting to life as an amputee from events in the first movie. It is very important that these characters are in children friendly movies as young audience members need idols who look like them to look up to. Children who do not look like these characters also need them to help explain how truly diverse the world is. An increase in representation can also decrease the possibility of the children experiencing/expressing diversiphobia later in life.     

        As mentioned earlier, representation is not the only factor playing into acceptance. The use of stereotypes also plays a huge role in promoting American acceptance. Stereotypes can be defined as, “a simplified description applied to every person in some category” (Macionis 356). These stereotypes can harm a person’s emotional, physical, and psychological health both long term and short term. Issues of self-worth, stress, and et cetera may arise due to society’s belief that certain subsets of humans are better or worse at a specific area than another subset. An example of a harmful stereotype is that “boys don’t cry” This stereotype teaches boys that it’s not okay to openly express pain or sadness but to keep it bottled up instead. This can be detrimental to the boy’s psychological health and can leave him emotionally stunted.  The media should make a bigger effort to destroy these stereotypes and undo the damage they have already done. Some media outlets have already begun this process. In 2013, Guinness released a commercial showing six men in wheelchairs playing basketball, nearly a minute into the commercial the game ends and five of the men stand up from the wheelchairs. This action reveals that the sixth friend is wheelchair bound and handicapped. Afterwards, all six men go to a Guinness serving bar. The commercial was an attempt to show how disabled men are still ‘real men’ and that a man who drinks is not always mean and cold hearted- this being represented by the five men who include their disabled friend. Another, more recent commercial that broke stereotypes, was the Coca-Cola 2014 Super Bowl “It’s Beautiful” commercial. The video displays various types of people/lifestyles while the song America the Beautiful is sung in multiple languages. The goal was to show how different America is and how there are no stereotype for what makes up the ‘average American’, even language.

Advertisements are not the only thing breaking stereotypes in the mass media of America; television shows are also creating positives examples. Shows such as Glee, Adventure Time, Doctor Who, Full House, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody act as role models to children and adults alike. Glee’s reasons were already stated in the representation portion of this paper, but the others’ have not. Both Adventure Time and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody are children shows, causing their respective messages to influence a younger generation. In Adventure Time the lead character, Finn, openly cries when his feelings are hurt or when he experiences physical pain. This helps break the previously mentioned stereotype that boys do not cry. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody has two female supporting characters who break stereotypes as well. One lady, London, goes against the belief that all asians are smart as she openly makes unintelligent comments and actions. The second lady, Madie, opposes the stigma that all blondes are ‘dumb’ as she is shown to be quite smart and intelligent. The show Full House focuses on Danny Tanner, a recently widowed man who must figure out how to raise three daughters without his wife. Tanner’s actions help to stop the ideology that raising children is women’s work. Doctor Who is a british TV show that is broadcasted in America, thus counting as being a part of the U.S. media. The series as a whole works to break stereotypes but a specific scene stands apart from the others. The scene is set during Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in England and goes like this;

Eddie: There we are Rita, I told you. Get them up [England’s flag], Queen and country!

Rita: I'm sorry.

Eddie: Get it done. Do it now.

The Doctor [to Eddie]: Hold on a minute.

Eddie [to Rita]: Like the gentleman says.

The Doctor: Hold on a minute. You've got hands, Mr Connolly [Eddie]. Two big hands. So why's that your wifes job?

Eddie: Well it's housework, isn't it?

The Doctor: And that's a womans job?

Eddie: Course it is!

The Doctor: Mr Connolly, what gender is the Queen?

Eddie: She's a female.

The Doctor: And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?

Eddie: No! No, not at all.

The Doctor: Then get busy! ("Doctor Who: The Idiot's Lantern Quotes")

This scene goes against the stereotype that it is a woman’s job to tend to the house while the husbands do not have to do such things. These examples show the smaller,better, portion of media that try to destroy the social stigma that are stereotypes.

        Despite these positive examples of the media breaking stereotypes, there continues to be depictions of demeaning or derogatory portrayals of women and POCs. Certain parts of the music industry are one example. In 2013, Robin Thicke released Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams), a music video featuring Thicke and Pharrell singing to naked women. The controversy over the song is not in the nudity itself, as it is slightly not overtly sexist given that the women gave their consent; the true focus is in the lyrics. Including lines such as, “I know you want it” and “But you’re an animal, baby it’s in your nature / just let me liberate you” is what deems this song sexist/inappropriate ("Robin Thicke Lyrics "Blurred Lines""). The song portrays the negative side of the media when it comes to equal representation and breaking stereotypes due to its content. Although several news stations produced video segments over the controversy, the song was played repeatedly across radio stations, has sixty seven million views on the worldwide media player website of  YouTube, and was rated number one on a variety of music charts, including iTunes and Billboard (Mcgrath; Trust). This type of behavior in the media is not a new phenomenon, since the early years of printed advertisements, readers and viewers alike have been subjected to racist and/or sexist attitudes of businesses. In 1940, an advertisement for Fairy Soap (see Fig 1.) showed two children, one of color, one white, talking. The white child asks the child of color, “Why doesn’t your mamma wash you with Fairy Soap?” hinting that the child is dirty because of their skin color.  Another advertisement during the early twentieth century showed a woman lying down on the ground, with a tiger pelt/rug draped over her and a man’s foot on top of her head (see Fig. 2). The caption reads, “It’s nice to have a girl around the house.” The latter advertisement shows how the media was used to diminish women, and give men the idea that they are superior. This further proves the point that the media is an effective tool when it comes to shaping society’s views and beliefs. If the media was used in a more accepting way, as some are trying to do, then it is very practical that America would become more open to diversity.

Fig 1. Two young children discuss soap usage; the child on the right asks the child on the left why their mamma doesn’t use Fairy Soap. This is implying that the child on the left is dirty because of their skin color. Edwards

Fig 2. Shows a woman lying in a demeaning position, with a man controlling her. "'Mad Men' Premiere: Sexist Ads from the Era of Don Draper."

In conclusion, the mass media of America should work harder to represent marginalized persons as well as break stereotypes that exist within society. This effort is slowly being done by various networks and producers but has yet to reach its full potential. While there are quite a bit of positive examples of representation and stereotype breaking, it is not enough to make the change is needs to make. It is possible that the future holds a more accepting, and less diversiphobic society for the United States of America. Hopefully, this change will be brought on by the media that influences the mindset of this country.

Works Cited

"Bechdel Test Movie List." Bechdeltest.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

Debnath, Neela. "Glee 'Transitioning': 200-strong Transgender Choir Cheers on Coach Beiste's Return." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

"Doctor Who: The Idiot's Lantern Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

Edwards, Jim. "20 Ads That Changed How We Think About Race In America." BusinessInsider.com. Business Insider, Inc, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

Ham, Robert. "Sirens Review: "The Finger"" Pastemagazine.com. N.p., 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

Macionis, John J. Pearson Custom Sociology: SOCI1170 Introduction to Sociology Southern State Community College. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. Print.

"'Mad Men' Premiere: Sexist Ads from the Era of Don Draper." NYDailyNews.com. N.p., 5 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

"Mark Ronson Lyrics "Uptown Funk"" Azlyrics.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

Mcgrath, Rachel. "Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' Named As ITunes' Best-Selling Song Of 2013." EntertainmentWise.com. N.p., 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

"Media." Oxford English Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

"Modern Family S06e07 Episode Script." SpringfieldSpringfield.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

"Robin Thicke Lyrics "Blurred Lines"" Azlyrics.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

Trust, Gary. "Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' Hits No. 1 on Hot 100." Billboard.com. N.p., 12 June 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

2014 Where We Are On TV 2014: n. pag. GLAAD. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

"The Vito Russo Test." GLAAD. N.p., 18 July 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

Author's Note

feel free to reference my paper in any paper you are writing as long as you give me the credit for my portion. Also, if you do use it please tell me- I am quite curious.