Does the Media Present Biased Views of Social Groups?Essay Preview: Does the Media Present Biased Views of Social Groups?Report this essayIn our current society, the media has a great impact on our everyday lives. We are profoundly surrounded by the media culture, and rely heavily on it. We are informed about various incidents that help us make our decisions on a daily basis. The medias role is to provide people with solid facts without any opinions attached. This is not the case; some media sources present bias views about many current issues. In some instances, the media presents bias views of many social groups such as the physical portrayal of men and women in magazines, the constant stereo type of women in rap music, and the reoccurring prejudice movements towards same sex relationships.
Majority of magazines present bias views on the physical features of men and women. Specifically magazines targeted towards women, such as issues of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. These magazines and advertisements portray people to have the “ideal” bodies, such as a bikini body for the female and six pack abs for the male. This influences the reader that the ordinary male of female would have to fit the “ideal image” portrayed by the media in order to show their acceptance in society. The media is creating a stereo type which is based on how women and men should look, even though the human population comes in various sizes and shapes. “By reflecting certain narrowly defined roles for women, advertising is believed to reinforce the notion that those roles are “proper,” “best,” or “natural” (Hawkins and Coney 1976). This leads to many intakes on diets and pills to achieve the perfect body, portrayed in many sources of the media. It is rare to find a magazine where the model is far from slim, partially because many women would feel insecure showing their body, if they were not slim due to the medias influence. So, while the media portrays women to be exactly like the models seen in magazines and in our entertainment industry, its a fact that most women cannot achieve the ideal look. “The average model is taller and weighs 23 per cent, or almost a quarter, less than the average woman who is 54″ and weighs 148 lbs.” (Canadian Womens Health Network 2005). This quote indicates that the medias portrays unrealistic and bias views of certain social groups in our entertainment industry.
Another biased view that the media presents, is mostly concentrated on the portrayal of woman in the rap music industry. Many rappers refer to women as sex objects that are to be used. They are influencing and creating a stereo type that women love the sex industry. There are many women who disagree with this bias opinion, hence portraying a false image in the music industry. Rap music is targeted towards all ages; consequently the medias portrayal of women is spread globally. The repellent and harsh lyrics towards females in rap music, shows the biased and stereotypical view of the womens actions. For example, the song “She Swallowed It”, by N.W.A, which recommend specific procedures for attacking a fourteen year old, “Punch the bitch in the eye, then the ho will fall to the ground, then you open up her mouth, put your dick, move the shit around.” (Edward G. Armstrong 2001). Such indecent lyrics which portrays the handling of the women social group is a clear indication of the medias bias views. Another example would be in the music video by the famous rapper Nelly Cornell Haynes, Jr. where, “men throw cash at womens crotches and, in one scene, a man swipes his credit card through a womans buttocks.” (Rose Arce 2005) These explicit clips and lyrics distribute the persistent image of women, specifically black women to be an object.
Lastly, the media presents constant movements of prejudice towards the concept of same sex relationships. As it is the medias role to represent a neutral opinion on all topics, the media presents negative stereotypes towards gays and lesbians. They are often found at the sidelines of the entertainment industry and are rarely portrayed as normal people, and to some extent never at all. For example the movie, Broke Back Mountain, which is about “two Wyoming ranch hands” that fall in love, the media “keep tagging it as the gay cowboy movie” (Ang Lee 2005). The entertainment field isnt the only type of media with has bias views against gays and lesbians. Fields of media that we are exposed to on a daily basis, is the news that has provoked numerous biased views upon
People in the entertainment industry, also, are the worst in this field.
What is it that makes a person who has never met a gay person, but who knows of a Gay/Straight in the Media have such an intense, strong prejudice toward homosexuality?
It is the media that has created a culture where gays and lesbians can be in the media more than ever before. The media often treats gays, lesbians and every other person as part of it’s ‘gay propaganda’. This culture, especially the media’s portrayal of the fact that they are being discriminated against and not being treated with dignity is really a form of bigotry and ignorance. People who care about the rights of the LGBTQQ community are held to the same standard, as it stands, by other people they do not have to care about.
In a more recent article on the site Gay Voices, author of ‘The New Queers Are a Restless Party’:
It is that media that forces people to think about LGBT people, regardless of their orientation, and the consequences for that same-sex interaction. For example in the media, that is what attracts gay men to movies and TV shows, those that treat gays and lesbians as second best to them in certain genres, the same way that the news that gays and lesbians are being treated with dignity is a form of bigotry. That bias is rooted in a real bias towards the idea of heterosexual relationships and behavior. The ‘news’ that a gay or lesbian couple is having is often a sign of their lack of respect towards their partner.
With the spread of gender identity, this bias is often found among people that believe they are being given their own rights in life, rather than being assigned their own gender on a purely cultural basis. They believe they are in a way discriminated against on a daily basis. Those that say things that are a little too personal toward one way or the other are often referred to as having a gender bias. Those who seek equality for transgender activists and those that call for equality for all can be called into question by the fact that those that say the opposite are in fact not. If a person does not want to change his or her body on his or her own, they tend to see themselves as being given the same rights as other people. However, that same attitude cannot be said of a family member. The majority of those who are born to gay parents also see as transgender and that does not affect their ability to be in family and relationship. Furthermore, that view is frequently expressed by people who don’t conform to this particular fashion of thinking. Those that say things that are ‘offensive’ to their peers are sometimes called negative after they attempt to change their body. It is this prejudice that is often made people face when they seek to change their body.
At the same time, an example of this bias is seen often when people try to change their life