One of the most popular and most damaging representation of African American women is in rap music videos. While many studies have been done on how media effects white women, or American women as a whole, this study looks particularly at African American women. "Rap Music Videos and African American Women's Body Image: The Moderating Role of Ethnic Identity" evaluates colored women's reactions to representation in music videos. They found that women who had an identity solidly grounded in their ethnicity were less prone to desire the thin body type, less likely to be bulimic, and overall more satisfied than black women with weake ethnic identity. This surprised me, since I figured that all women would be equally effected by such objectifying and limiting stereotypes. It was great to see that some women were defying these cultural norms and turning to other sources of identity outside of the dangerous ones presented by the media. The link below is to the documentary "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Videos" gives more corroborative evidence to this harmful but familiar stereotype.
http://youtu.be/JDMo5cIJN3A
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Why is it an 'issue'?
How has the media shaped portrayals of African American women as compared to white women featured in U.S. TV lead roles, movie lead roles in the last decade? Televsion has been called the 'storyteller' of our culture. Television and other media tell culture what to think about, and often how to think about it. But what happens when the media does not portray everyone equally, or even fairly? Why are some groups given a limiting, negative stereotype? Women have been involved in an uphill battle for equality and fair repr
esentation for the past century, and some women are finally getting diverse and fair media representations. However, African American women are still often confined to negative stereotypes such as the Welfare Queen and the 'sassy black woman', which are untrue and potentially harmful. The conducted research aims to show how media representations of white and black women have differed in the past decade to shed light on the disparities and stereotypes which still exist in our post-feminist, post-racist society.
esentation for the past century, and some women are finally getting diverse and fair media representations. However, African American women are still often confined to negative stereotypes such as the Welfare Queen and the 'sassy black woman', which are untrue and potentially harmful. The conducted research aims to show how media representations of white and black women have differed in the past decade to shed light on the disparities and stereotypes which still exist in our post-feminist, post-racist society.
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