Stereotypes are harmful. All stereotypes, all the time. –Stephanie
Greco Larson
After reading this section, I thought Larson’s main idea
could be so summarily, although perhaps too sarcastically stated. In this
section she broke down portrayals, lack of portrayal, and stereotyping of
minorities in new media, specifically. She discussed African-American, Latino,
Native American, and Asian stereotyping. I don’t know that I could say I “liked”
or “didn’t like” this week’s reading. As far as reader response, I guess my
reaction was pretty neutral. I mean, the information was not something I am
happy about, and I certainly wish there was an easy fix to the issues of stereotyping
and exclusion. I appreciated that Larson was very thorough and specific in her
analysis. I kept wanting her to offer some kind of solution, but of course, as
a I said, it is not easy.
As some of my classmates have pointed out, issues of race and
domination are complex and have many levels, from the national political to
personal identity. The past several weeks, I have found myself becoming hyper
aware of racial stereotypes. Walking down the street, in the grocery store, and
then arguing with myself about something I saw could or could not fit into
stereotypes. I notice people of different races on tv, mixed race couples being
portrayed, and who fits into gender roles.
Is this an appropriate reaction though? What good does it
do? I guess it is good that I do see these things on tv at all, so yay we are
no longer pre-civil rights, but it is still a problem that minority races
continue to fill stereotyping roles. I think I probably don’t watch enough news,
but even in the news I read, the issues discussed are probably not issues that
are central to specific minorities, because the news conglomerates do not care
about such niche reporting despite its potential importance.
When she was talking about representation of
Latinos(Hispanic? Chicano?) in the news, the first image in my mind was of a
news broadcast I saw in high school. It was a Houston news station, and I noticed
for the first time that all the reporters and both anchors had Spanish
surnames. But the majority of the news was about crime and traumatic events. I
didn’t really think too much about this beyond noticing, because this was different
from news I had seen living in areas that did not have high populations of
Latino immigrants. So wasn’t this cool? Maybe Larson should study Houston news.
I am sure Larson could have a lot to say about how the station is using Latino reporters
to reinforce beliefs about the Latinos they were reporting on.
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