Many people are under the impression that humans have progressed so much as a society, that people aren’t racist anymore and prejudice isn’t a real thing in this day and age. In Racial and Ethnic Groups Richard T. Schaefer states, “Over the last 80 years of such research, social scientists have found that people have become less willing to express such views openly, but prejudice persists” (Schaefer). Contemporary media contradicts the notion that racism and prejudice are gone. While the messages might be subtle and disguised behind entertaining dialogue, contemporary media conveys negative messages about various racial and ethnic social groups that are harmful to not just the groups but, the society as a whole.
There are plenty of stereotypical …show more content…
Sofia Vergara’s character in Modern Family is an accurate example of misrepresentation of a female Latina in the media. Vergara plays the typical sassy, spicy Latina. She is often over sexualized, seen as ditsy, and bossy. As if all these things weren’t bad enough her character has this exaggerated Spanish accent that is intentionally difficult to understand at times. On many occasions the program talks about her Colombian heritage, and often times they relate it to drugs. This is another negative stereotype that all Columbian people are drug lords, or in some way linked with drugs. Another character in Modern Family that encourages negative stereotypes is that of Sophia Vergara’s ex-husband. Javier Delgado often mispronounces words, and is highly superstitious. This character makes it seem as if all Latinos are horrible at speaking English, and ignorant for being superstitious. While these representations of Latinos may be relatable at times they are harmful to that group of people because it puts them in a …show more content…
They make people believe that, that is truly how an entire groups behaves. Stereotypes make it okay to put an entire group of people under one big umbrella. They have a negative impact on ethnic and racial groups because people are consuming these ideas about their ethnic and racial groups, and it will continue to be a cycle of the same behavior. Some social scientists consider media as one of the major social institutions. It is up there with family, religion, and peers. It has that much of an impact on people today. These negative portrayals of black and Latino people in contemporary media will affect the society as a whole, because it will assure that white people remain the dominant group. If minorities are constantly seeing negative portrayals of themselves there will not be change or progress. They will remain oppressed because they won’t have positive role models to look up
There are plenty of stereotypical …show more content…
Sofia Vergara’s character in Modern Family is an accurate example of misrepresentation of a female Latina in the media. Vergara plays the typical sassy, spicy Latina. She is often over sexualized, seen as ditsy, and bossy. As if all these things weren’t bad enough her character has this exaggerated Spanish accent that is intentionally difficult to understand at times. On many occasions the program talks about her Colombian heritage, and often times they relate it to drugs. This is another negative stereotype that all Columbian people are drug lords, or in some way linked with drugs. Another character in Modern Family that encourages negative stereotypes is that of Sophia Vergara’s ex-husband. Javier Delgado often mispronounces words, and is highly superstitious. This character makes it seem as if all Latinos are horrible at speaking English, and ignorant for being superstitious. While these representations of Latinos may be relatable at times they are harmful to that group of people because it puts them in a …show more content…
They make people believe that, that is truly how an entire groups behaves. Stereotypes make it okay to put an entire group of people under one big umbrella. They have a negative impact on ethnic and racial groups because people are consuming these ideas about their ethnic and racial groups, and it will continue to be a cycle of the same behavior. Some social scientists consider media as one of the major social institutions. It is up there with family, religion, and peers. It has that much of an impact on people today. These negative portrayals of black and Latino people in contemporary media will affect the society as a whole, because it will assure that white people remain the dominant group. If minorities are constantly seeing negative portrayals of themselves there will not be change or progress. They will remain oppressed because they won’t have positive role models to look up