Stereotyping is an epidemic that occurs everywhere in the world, due to ignorance and
lack of awareness of the diversity of different and often foreign groups of people. It leaves no
stones unturned in who it affects, and while there are people who are targeted more often by
various people around the world, it impacts both males and females, straight and homosexuals,
white/black/brown people alike. The whole concept of stereotyping can be linked to a system in
which a group of people who lack knowledge categorize another group of people based on
trivial, minimal and often times one off interactions with usually a single person from victim
group. The opinions and views in the system can vary from misinformed, ignorant, prejudiced,
racist, sexist, ageist, xenophobic, and/or classist which are often created in order to portray the
victim group in a certain way to push an agenda, propaganda, or to seem superior in some way.
Often times stereotyping is used to justify acting in said ways towards particular groups of
people because it reduces them from humans to just a few (usually negative) characteristics,
making it highly dehumanizing to the targeted group.
In the past, stereotyping was done in a more localized way as techniques to reach a mass
audience was never present, and when mass communication did become an innovation it was
never as accessible as media (news, magazines, internet, social media, TV, and radio) is now
with technology becoming more mobile, cheap, and widespread. Previously face to face
interaction was mostly necessary in order for preconceived notions of different groups of people
to occur, whereas now these notions and ill informed biases have become normalized, and a
global problem that can be used against anyone. This is especially problematic because most
audience members comprise of attitudinal illiterates ;who do in fact know how to read and write
but decide to only use media as a superficial means to gratify their own desires and wants not as
an informational resource that can help enlighten them to new ways of thinking, which leads
most people to believe in the ignorant stereotypes presented in the media as they are also very
complacent and conformists who don't really care about social issues and are passive viewers.
Although there are some people who are well aware of social affairs and try/are to be active in
resolving issues such as stereotyping they only make up a small portion of audiences around the
world.
Not only does mass communication make it easy for justification of ignorant beliefs to be
normalized but it also does so in the least personal way making the target of stereotyping even
less of a human since it’s usually so detached from reality. For example, in advertisements
political correctness is not a matter of concern for a handful of companies and social
etiquette/awareness is often disregarded in order to sell whatever product or service as making
money is the ultimate and only goal. There have been multiple food product advertisements that
show women in the kitchen preparing/cooking said product while men sit around watching TV,
as they wait to be served by their wives. This blatantly shows how society decides to perceive
women in life. They solely exist to serve men and cater to them with food and it is their main job
to be a housewife whereas men continue to feel entitled to being catered to without recognizing
how problematic it truly is. This in turn helps men justify their stereotypical notion that woman's
place in life is in the kitchen and that it is simply how an “ideal” family should look like. This
stereotype is shown so often to masses who often don't watch TV to think and easily accept any
ideas presented to them whether it’s subconsciously or not, making this an easily agreed upon
stereotype to men and sometimes even women because it’s all they ever see and they aren't ready
or simply don’t know they can challenge such categorizations. This can become especially
dangerous when women are stripped of their autonomy to make their own decisions regarding
whether to pursue a career or not because of the power dynamic that men gain from this “ideal”
picture of life, where women are perceived as being lower and under control by them. The
impact of stereotyping in mass communication encroaches on the freedom to make your own
decisions of targeted groups. Another advert that has come under a lot of fire from various
organizations is the brand Fair and Lovely. They continue to stereotype “beautiful” women as
being of lighter skin while having dark skin is thought to be ugly and is still allowed to broadcast
such messages throughout the nation with little to no trouble even with the criticism they have
been faced with. Their advertisements have direct implications that have created circumstances
in which women harm themselves with skin bleaching in order to conform to the stereotype of
beauty.
Stereotyping in regards to Islamophobia is also highly apparent in media, and not just by
laymen on social media sharing their ill informed opinions, but also most news channels who
continue to depict people of the Islamic religion being probably being Terrorists. Whenever a
bombing happens somewhere in the western world and the criminal or perpetrator is found out to
be someone from the middle east his religion is automatically associated and mentioned in the
headline creating this link between middle eastern muslims and terrorists as a synonymous
entity. This notion has undoubtedly created the stereotype that all muslims are terrorists and has
created hatred for muslims as a whole especially among the alt-right/conservatives in America
and Europe. The prejudice is made even more clear when someone who is deemed to be from a
white Christian background is left off the hook with a “lone wolf” statement instead of
demonizing the whole religion as a whole by linking multiple school shootings with their
background of being a Christian as is done in cases involving Muslims. The stereotypical
covering of news stories has created multiple hostile situations where muslims have been victims
of violence and burned mosques.
Racist stereotypes much like islamophobic statements are done so in TV shows and also
in news coverage. When a white person is a part of a gang, cult like The K.K.K they aren't called
thugs or gangsters and the whole race is not deemed as delinquents or misfits who do not care for
authority figures and rules even when they do often break and defy these rules with violence and
murder. In contrast to this leniency, we have the pragmatics in which black people who have
committed crimes are put into by media articles. They are often stereotyped as delinquent
gangsters/thugs for even small things like theft. Moreover they are often subjected to harsher
punishment and treatment in school for doing the same things their white peers may also commit.
In conclusion, the lack of attention the problem of stereotyping in mass communication is
really worrisome as it does directly impact the lives of the victims in big ways. There needs to be
more focus on holding production teams and writers more accountable of the messages they are
sending out to their unaware audiences. There should be more consequences of the perpetual
stereotypes presented by mass media.
