If you have seen any war movie set before the 21st century or read historical accounts of conflicts, you'd be hard pressed to find female soldiers anywhere near the action.Female members of an armed force are a rarity in movies and other media, aside from women involved in non-combat roles such as nurses and clerks and the such.
In films depicting conflicts from before the 21st century, let's take Saving Private Ryan for example. It's a film set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War 2, we get to witness hundreds of soldiers on both sides in combat. Notice something? Not a single female combatant in sight. It wasn't just Normandy either, or even World War 2 in general, but women have not really had a role in warfare since the beginning of recorded history. Of course there are always exceptions, accounts of tribes of warrior women in ancient times, the female Soviet Snipers of the second world war, so on and so forth. But this doesn't discount the fact that it has been men who have been doing most of the fighting, why is that?
Well we must remember how women were viewed back then, they were seen as property, possessions. They were seen as weak, and frail, and not up to the same physical standards of men. While there is some truth to that, on average men are larger and stronger than women, that doesn't mean the the women who can pass the same physical requirements as their male counterparts shouldn't be able to serve. This was the case for the militaries of many countries. For many years women around the world were not allowed to serve in combat roles. It also wasn't just because of their physical make up, but it was also feared that men would not give them the same amount of trust or respect as they would fellow male soldiers, it was also feared that they would become distractions. This inequality between men and women in the military is has just started to be amended in recent years.
Nichola Goddard, first Canadian female combat soldier killed in Afghanistan
Slowly as the fight for women's rights progressed, so did their roles in world militaries, Canada, Israel, and various European countries have allowed women to serve and fight alongside men. Israel is unique in that it is the only country in the world that has mandatory conscription for women, as opposed to just men. The United States was kind of slow to the catch, with women being given the right to serve in Combat Roles just this year, in 2013. Previously, even if women met all the standards, physical and otherwise, as their male counterparts, they were still denied combat roles.
In retrospect the fight for equality between the sexes in all facets of society is noticeably progressing, it's hard to get rid of the tradition of males seen as the ones to carry all the burden of fighting for ones country when the need arises, but it's moving forward.
1. Do you think that most women would be able to handle military life?
2. How do you think the stereotypes surrounding women would change once they become more accepted in worldwide military communities?
3. What challenges could an aspiring female soldier face from her family, peers?
Departmental Budget Meeting with Bud Light Advert, Ad Super Bowl
One thing you will notice about the commercials above is that
the typical people in these ads are white men. Like a silent epidemic, negative stereotypes
are shown of European American men in the media; primarily in commercials. How
many times have you noticed in a funny commercial where a white male is portrayed
as being idiotic, lazy, and unclean? Yet, there are no picket signs or complaints
being made when commercials offend, insult and ridicule white men. Why is it acceptable
to showcase white males in such a negative way? Why does the media find it okay
to use them as for comedic purposes by using stereotypes, when with a female or
another race it is considered racist, sexist and demeaning.
We all
know that in the production of a commercial, a lot of time and money goes into
making the little details as much as the big ones attract viewers. Why is it, media
does not find it offensive to pick a white male and display him as the butt of
the joke. Evermore so, almost all commercials made with someone shown as the
joke, or there is an insulting stereotype, it is the white male who is chosen
to be shown in this negative light. Even, if someone of another race is present
in the commercial, the commercial ensures that the white male is in most cases shown
in a demeaning way that supports a stereotype. This is because, media has continued
to feed up this perception we shouldn't stereotype races, qualities and cultures;
and if it does happen, it should be addressed and stopped. This is not the same
for in the case of European American males. This perception has become so
strong that the dominant discourse is that this offensive act is not a big deal,
and it continues to go unnoticed.
If you were to ask a
person who is non-white about a white male's favourite drink, it would
typically be beer and soda. How is a white fathers parenting? They are completely helpless without their wife's,
just as irresponsible as their kids, and lack the basic skills of parenting. If you ask what the common belief of white males'
intelligence is, the answer would be their dumb, and the only reason why any
are successful is because of the oppression of other races and females. These stereotypes are created because in
almost every funny commercial with a white male, he is shown as being dumb,
lazy, irresponsible, lacking parenting skills, cannot dance, unable to do
simple tasks successfully, sex crazed, guided by their eyes not their mind (primarily
towards females), only good at doing physical activities, terrible at anything related
to being feminine (in society), and unable to cook. Furthermore, others are, white malesare unproductive, racist, only like people of
their ethnicity, unclean, love beer and hot women, and so on. What's even worse
than these stereotypes is the fact society only brings attention to females,
and those of minorities, like Asians that are offended by stereotypes through commercials.
Like for instance, the recent Mountain Dew commercial with the black criminals
and a goat. Which as soon as it was released, people petitioned and talked
about its' offensive content until it was removed by the company. In a commercial
that shows a black person eating a bucket of chicken and watermelon or showing
a stereotype related to a minority group, the commercial is considered racists.
Additionally, if the negative stereotypes of females being weak and only good
for household duties were being made fun of in a commercial, this would cause
up roar and backlash. But the same is not done when every single day, a
commercial showing a stereotypical white male it's just deemed acceptable. So
though society strives to stop and break stereotypes and become neutral; in
truth, what's become neutral is using white males and their stereotypes in
media text.
You might say, but white males are the majority in Western
society, white privileges, white males don't face a lot of adversities, and
this is a male dominated world. Nothing should be an excuse in this day and age,
when society says it's striving for everyone to be accepted and presented in an
inoffensive civilized manner. So the typical white male should not be
overlooked when the dominant discourse media (explicitly tries) and society
feeds of race and gender is equality, and to break stereotypes.
Questions to think about:
1. Why has the offensive use of European Americans in
commercials gone unnoticed?
2. Did you even notice this silent epidemic? What do you
think about the matter?
3. What are the common stereotypes of whites?Have commercials helped to influence these stereotypes,
or produce some?
4. Should the majorities in our society (specifically white
males) be allowed to be made fun of their stereotypes? Why or why not. Why does
the medium of commercials get away with it?
Offensive isn't it! To the right of this sentence, i have provided an image of a Ku Klux Klan, also known as the Hooded Order, member. He is seen performing the "Nazi Salute" or the "Sieg Heil" in front of a burning cross, both actions for which they were well known. The "Sieg Heil" was thought to have originated in ancient Rome. The "Roman Salute" was done in the same way and it was first strongly recognized in 1784 from Jacques-Louis David's painting, The Oath of the Horatii. Adolph Hitler was thought to have "stolen" the gesture and reformed it by giving it a new name, one more suited for his purpose.
If one was to open a history textbook, they would see that the word "European" appears quite frequently and often in a negative light. While the actions committed in the past may have very well been horrid, many modern stereotypes have been born that seem to have originated from the days of the colonizing Europeans. "White Power", a common phrase used by the KKK, is horribly offensive because of it's roots in history. Furthermore, the term "white" was deemed inappropriate and was replaced by the more politically correct term, "Caucasian". This term was used to represent the physical type of some of the populations in Africa, Asia, and Europe, meaning that it had no reference to skin colour. It was first used by Christoph Meiners, a German philosopher, who used it to develop two racial divisions, Mongolian and Caucasian, based on facial beauty. Overtime, the American government decided to make the PC term for white, Caucasian, despite the problems that were presented. It was said that the term, "European" may be more PC, however, for this post i will be using the term, "Caucasian".
Throughout the journey that is life, one can come across various Caucasian stereotypes seen in the media. Some of these stereotypes include: Caucasians cannot dance, they are all snobby and racist, they are anti-miscegenation, they are all red necks and they all receive white privilege. Some of these are mentioned in the video presented above so please take some time to watch it. While i do understand the points "TheDreadMan" is making, be advised that he is a self-proclaimed comedian and even though he states some valid stereotypes, he explains them in a comedic tone. I would like to take some time to talk about three of the stereotypes that i stated. The first stereotype of all Caucasians being racist is obviously untrue. While some of them are racist, this does not mean that internally all of them have a deep-seated hatred towards other races. Moving onto the stereotype that says all Caucasians are anti-miscegenation, this is totally untrue. While this may have been valid in the past, the belief in racial segregation on the level of interracial marriage/relationships does not apply to our current society. Finally, the stereotype of all Caucasians receiving "white privilege" does not apply to the majority of people.There may be some who still act on favouring "their own kind" but generally speaking, you don't see this on a day to day basis. That is true, unless we delve into technicalities and "under-the-table" talk (ex. conspiracies). However, that will lead us astray from the main point of this post.
In the medium of music, there is a genre called "White Power Music." It features sub-genres which include nazi punk and National Socialist black metal. These genres present music that promotes white nationalism and encourages racism against non-white races. However, "white power music" did not only resonate throughout the punk/metal/rock scene. It was also seen in the genre of Country from the racist artist Johnny Rebel (a pseudonym for Clifford Joseph Trahan). He was outright with his "white supremacy" thoughts and did not not hold them back in his songs. Two of his tracks included, "Nigger Hatin' Me" and "Kajun Ku Klux Klan".
Above this paragraph, i have provided you all with two videos that i would like you to watch. Let's take a moment a lightly deconstuct them. It is a commercial for the Toyota Sienna Minivan which is dubbed, the "Swagger Wagon", by the couple. The commercial presents the typical Caucasian family, surrounded by their Caucasian friends, perfect car and house. The attitude of the couple is very arrogant with a hint of humour. Keep in mind that i know that this is a comedic commercial used to attract people. By using the word "swagger" they are able to be seen as people who are up-to-date with urban lingo. This means that naive people might be interested in buying this vehicle because they think it will make them feel like this (alive, happy, exhilarated). Only the foolish would fall for such marketing schemes. While they are amusing, the message behind them is not the best. The target audience that Toyota holds can be said to be Caucasian families who are in their 30s-40s and who are looking to be "cool" (....looking to gain swagger). The second video consists of a rap song that is "sung" by the same couple. The main difference is that in this video they are acting like "wiggers", a group that TheDreadMan talks about in his video. They are portrayed to be the ideal family. To end off this post, i would like to state something that i found interesting. From what i have seen, the general idea of what a European is has changed since the days of colonization. Nowadays, when one says someone is "white" they are normally thought of to be from Canada, Australia or American. However, when one says they are European, the typical idea is that the person is from countries such as Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland ect. Also, keep in mind that i have only presented some of the prominent stereotypes that the dominant discourse perpetuates in the media. There are many more. I feel that it is necessary to always look through the lens of the person being stereotyped and try to empathize with them. Remember that anyone (the race and ethnicity of the person does not matter) can start to generate a stereotype. It starts with one person and from there it can build on. While one cannot rid the whole world of it's negativity and terrible stereotypes, in the very beginning, the change starts with the "man in the mirror" (MJ). I feel that it is only appropriate to end this post and bring a close to all of my posts with this quote:
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite" - Nelson Mandela
I would like to leave you all with these questions. Ponder upon them, derive an answer and spark a discussion below. Thank you all for reading. Please forgive any grammatical errors and if i need to correct/clarify anything, please tell me (comment). 1. What is your opinion on the quote shown above? 2. What other Caucasian stereotypes do you know about and that i haven't mentioned? 3. What are some other problems that you see with the Toyota commercial? 4. How do you think the past influenced present stereotypes? 5. How do you define the term "wigger"? Do you think calling someone "white" is inappropriate? 6. Why do you think some people have "white supremacy" ideals? 7. What do you think of Christoph Meiners's racial divisions? 8. What do you think about the idea of "white privilege"?
Girls wearing guy clothes, you would think that they're so COOL but if guys wearing something looks just kind of girly, you would call them GAY. Why is that? Of course you would think it's normal to see a guy drinking bear and smoking. What if it's a girl who is doing sort of things? I think male or female, they should have the freedom to choose what they want to wear to express their true self. People stereotyping others not only based on how they look but also what they do in their daily lives and their interests. As we all have discussed in the round table before on the topic "Baby Storm", I found it's so true that people have the right to choose what they want to be as well as the way they want to express themselves. It does not matter if girls are too boyish or guys are too girly, it does not matter if female want to learn martial arts and male want to learn ballet dance, it also does not matter if women are the one who making money and men stay home taking care of children because in the end, it's their lives not ours! We should not use our own knowledge or even what the society thinks is right to apply on everybody in this world.
QUESTIONS:
1. If you're not a homosexual and people think you are based on what you wear or how you act in daily lives, how would you feel?
2. Men and women, do you think we should judge them equally?
3. Do you think men have more disadvantaged than women in terms of stereotype or reverse?
Please read these stereotypes and tell me which ones you have heard before!
That all white women have flat booties.
That all Jews are greedy.
That all blacks are lazy, on welfare, and don't believe in marriage before child barring.
That all Asians are good at math.
That all Arabs are angry people that like to blow up things.
That all black men are hung like elephants.
All white men are hung like squirrels.
All blacks crave chicken and watermelon.
All blacks are hostile and will quickly bust a cap in you.
That all Mexicans like to drive around 15-17 deep in a small car.
That all white people get angry when they cannot get jobs and see others moving ahead.
That all Asians like to eat rice and drive slow.
That all Irish people are drunks and eat potatoes.
Americans are all loud, fat and obnoxious.
British people are all snobs and have bad teeth.
French people are all frog-eating, onion-lovers called Pierre.
Jews are all money-grabbing masterminds trying to take over the world.
Irish people are all alcoholics who love scoffing potatoes and beating up their peers.
Muslims are all out to kill "civilised people" by blowing themselves up by plane, bus or train.
Mothers are housewifes and take care of the house.
Special thanks to Urban Dictionary to provide me with these general stereotypes.
Let's get to the main point of this blog. The media texts that we consume daily has provided us with all sorts of stereotypes. These stereotypes range from the Whites to Blacks to Jews to Mexicans to Asians and so on. I believe that these stereotypes that exist currently are reshaping the way we think about and act around certain types of people. This includes the stereotype that all black people are dangerous and that you should always should be on alert because something dangerous might occur. Another example can be that if you ever need help in math, the Asian community is open to help you with your math problems which includes graphing functions and solving equations like this f(x)=3log5^3.
Please watch this video and get a general sense of the ridiculous stereotypes that we are being surrounded with currently. Isn't it ridiculous? This YouTube video can be deconstructed and examined even more. Take for example when the guy in the video says, "Let's get together like the unibrow of an Indian girl". Isn't that racist and rude. This video really displays the stereotypes that we are faced with currently. People think that every Indian girl is hairy and has a unibrow but that is wrong. Media texts have taken stereotypes to the extreme and it should not be like that. Another stereotype is that all Russian's drink alcoholic for breakfast. I know a few Russians and they do not drink alcohol for breakfast.
I believe that these stereotypes that are presented in this video are definitely not true. All sorts of media texts have embedded into the mind of the viewers these racial stereotypes. When you think of an England dude, what immediately comes to your mind? I bet a guy who has messed up teeth and a bad breath. Regardless if these stereotypes are not true we should not forget that people can get offended.
The only people to blame for this is the media producers. These producers have really inputted their beliefs and values into their ads. This can be seen in commercials, films, ads, websites and on the television. Likewise, I believe that the dominant discourse too has influenced the stereotypes that currently exist in our society. The socializing influences have shaped our ideas, perceptions and behaviours around certain race and ethnicity groups. Stereotypes can be funny to some people but in the end of the day someone that is being stereotyped will get offended. Some of these stereotypes in the video are kind of funny but seriously these stereotypes have to stop and it will begin with you!
Okay let's take a step back and let's focus on how mothers are stereotyped too. The media has stereotyped mothers that they are housewifes, cookers, cleaners and soccer moms. These stereotypes might be true but not every mother falls into those categories because some mothers are the complete opposite. Likewise, you have fathers that are categorized into those stereotypes. Once again media texts and its ability to reshape the mind of many has done its job successfully. I believe that these stereotypes will be part of our lives for a long time. Stereotypes have had many purposes. One of which is to advertise certain consumer goods and services. An example portraying this is a model from H&M. The models are stereotyped to look caucasian, tall, handsome and really fit. Though stereotypes are not just used for business purposes they are also used for entertainment. We have seen in many films, ads, television programs and comedians use stereotypes to their advantage. I believe that comedians have returned to the stereotypical jokes because quite frankly they are funny. The ordinary life is boring and by making stereotypical jokes it just entertains many people. Obviously there are the negative effects of stereotypical jokes but if you were to look at it through a neutral-ethnicity/gender/sexuality/religion lens then it will be okay.
Discussion questions:
Do you think that the dominant discourse has taken a huge toll on stereotypes?
Why would the media that we consume present all these types of stereotypes?
How would you feel if you were stereotyped?
How would these stereotypes disappear once in for all? Why are some stereotypes used for business purposes?
The media today portrays the ideal woman everywhere. Big bust and slim bodies seem to be the ideal physique in many eyes. From models, celebrities, daily advertisements and even down to video games, women are being molded and shaped to the way people would prefer them to be. Women in turn, are constantly compared to other women and/or fictional characters.
Chun Li (top) and Cammy (bottom) are Street Fighter characters)
Female protagonists in many games are barely dressed for marketing purposes. For example in the game Street Fighter, most of the female fighters have a large bust and are slim. Indeed this does attract many male gamers of today. Female gamers are looked down upon and even shunned. Male gamers make many female gamers feel incompetent. Women who genuinely like video games get bashed because they’re “noobs” (players that are new and inexperienced), they “should be in the kitchen”, or they “shouldn't be playing games at all”. Most of the time, female gamers are even considered fake because in some eyes, they are just searching for attention. While that may be true in some cases, many people quickly agree that all women are like that. Many pictures online show that true female gamers are sweaty, overweight nerds and the women who wear makeup, are much more physically fit are just playing games for attention. According to the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), 45% of gamers are female. That’s almost half, yet females are still being discriminated because what they enjoy is considered masculine. AD 1 throughout this video, you can see all the favorite videogame characters of Sony explaining tragic and successful stories of their battles. The only prominent female is Athena and the rest were males.
Man upset over housework
In our day -to-day advertisements, women are often seen cleaning, taking care of kids and doing house chores, generally being a housewife. Some of you might even agree that this is true, but there are men who do what women “should” be doing, even better. The media today suggests that women are sex objects, dependent on men, incompetent and even stupid. This portrayal of women by the media is not entirely false but it certainly is not true for all women. See AD 2 for further understanding. In the ad, you can see that the men are complaining about just what every woman would complain about. The men were complaining about what a female did. Shortly after, they contradict themselves by licking a plate instead of cleaning it to show how “real men” do housework. This raises the question, is housework so terrible and tedious that people will reuse a plate that has been licked instead of cleaned with soap and water?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
1.Do you think it’s fair for women to be objected to stereotypes because of how the media portrays women?
2.How can gamers and video game companies prevent future acts of discrimination amongst women
3. Have you've ever been objected to stereotypes because something you like to do wasn't "girly" or "manly" for you?
