Research Exploratory Essay
Abstract
In this essay I discuss media and how it plays a big role in our lives and how we perceive things in this modern era. How it has affected groups of people before and how it continues to do so.
How Media Representation Affects Language Roles
When it comes to language no race is exempt from stereotypes. Everyone has certain social roles they are expected to conform to, which is mostly fueled by the way the media represents a race and their way of speaking. Media is something that has always existed, now a days most people think of television and the internet, but even before all that people were represented in things like stories, drawings, plays and even historical texts, even if they were not as widely accessible they greatly affected the public view of people. Something as widely known as the internet should be just as accessible and inclusive to all languages. Humans by nature love to communicate with others, which is why the media has become such a big thing throughout this decade and now has the power to influence many people. We should always ask ourselves how this is affecting us and our views of others and what we are doing to fuel these predetermined social roles created by media.
It’s recently become very important for movies and tv shows to have some sort of racial diversity if they don’t want to get backlash from their viewers. When the bank HSBC came out with their campaign “The Worlds Local bank”, it was with the goal to gain more business by showing how much they value culture and diversity. They used the phrase “we never underestimate the importance of local knowledge” (HSBC) to showcase this and appeal to the public and their international business partners. However, one doesn’t need to go internationally to find someone who speaks differently than themselves, America is enough of a melting pot by itself. Big corporations like HSBC often overlook language diversity, more specifically different dialects, that can be found in their own country. They address the topic on the importance of languages and cultural awareness and argues how this ignorance can cause many problems in not just business but daily life too. Even just the absence of certain things or a people in media can affect others perception of them especially kids that will grow up with these stereotypes about not only others but themselves as well.
However, this diversity is not often displayed in our media, the same diverse characters shown on tv often speak the same standard English as everyone else, for the “convenience of the audience” that wouldn’t understand what they were saying. And when these different dialects are represented, they are usually portrayed in a bad light or exaggerated and made fun of. . Sociolinguist and pioneer, Walt Wolfram, in his article, “Challenging Language Prejudice in the Classroom”, addresses the topic of language diversity and how the way its portrayed affects children, and argues that the role of school is to make sure they don’t develop prejudice against them. Very early on these kids are exposed to media and develop certain views based on what they see. It was through ideas like this that the Chicano movement prospered when it did. Richard Maxwell in his journal article “The Chicano Movement, The Broadcast Reform Movement, and The Sociology of “Minorities and Media”: A Study of Cultural Hegemony in The United States”, talks about how during the Chicano Movement we would often hear Spanish on the radio and television but rarely would you hear the voices of the actual activists involved with the movement talking about what really mattered. Their lack of voice in the media posed as a big struggle for the Chicano movement. Walt Wolfram, states how “Voices in television cartoons frequently portray villains as accented speakers of English. Standard English is reserved for superheroes and winsome characters.” (Wolfram 28) These differences can greatly impact us even if we are not conscious of our change in attitude. Many people could be making baseless assumptions about someone without even knowing where their prejudice stems from. However, the truth is that a big percentage of people in the United States speak a different dialect than standard English. People should not feel like the way they speak is wrong or that they need to change it in order to be understood and acknowledged by others.
If the internet could become more widely accessible to those who speak different languages, we could progress that much faster. Being able to share information across long distances was a very important and highly desired technology when it first came out and gifted people with many more opportunities than they had before. Adding more people to this network can only add to the benefits, now that sharing information with someone who does not speak the same language has become as easy as a web search and translating, why not keep expanding the knowledge. Kristine Deveza in her blog post “Linguistic Diversity in Online Media” wishes to convey to readers the importance of language representation in order to allow the people who speak different languages to engage in technology and media. She states that the internet “mirrors discriminatory societal structures that favor certain languages over others” (Deveza 1). Languages like English and Spanish which are more common are often the focus and are not hard to find in most if not all platforms. While those who speak indigenous languages have been left out and struggle to find content for them to interact with. This connects with Wolfram because of his support for language diversity, especially in the classroom. He says “Educating students about language diversity should be an essential component of all disciplines”.
Representation is not only important for others to understand different group of people, but also for those being represented to feel accepted and acknowledged in society. In the excerpt “How to Tame a Wild Tongue “author Gloria Anzaldua, asserts that her language is a part of her and suggests it’s never good to judge or make people feel ashamed of how they speak. She also talks about her experience with Chicano representation when she was little. She wrote “Even before I read books by Chicanos or Mexicans, it was the Mexican movies I saw at the drive-in . . . that gave me a sense of belonging” (Anzaldua 40). Having this feeling is important for someone to prosper. It was seeing these works of literature by Chicanos that encouraged Anzaldua to become a writer herself and that it was an achievable dream to have. And by sharing these works with the Chicano students she thought, she was doing the same to them. Richard Maxell also discusses the importance of language to cultural identity, in the journal ““The Chicano Movement, The Broadcast Reform Movement, and The Sociology of “Minorities and Media”: A Study of Cultural Hegemony in The United States”, he talks about the effect media had on the Chicano Movement. He talks about how “Hispanic” media is full of “muted confrontations, fragmentary challenges and symbolic victories” (Maxwell 95). Rarely do you see anything about their culture, but their struggles are easy to find. Having proper representation was important for the movement to stay alive. but eventually any outlet they had was also taken away. It was during this time in the 1960’s that Anzaldua was a kid, first discovering about Chicano literature, but was faced with many obstacles in the 70’s when she tried to teach it to her students.
Language diversity, though just as if not more diverse than racial diversity is often overlooked. And when minority groups are acknowledged, they are mostly portrayed in a bad light or made fun of as the dialect of a villain. This happens even though most people living in the United States speak a dialect that is not standard English. When seeing their dialect represented in the media one should not feel shame or alienation but belonging and home-coming. It’s important to make these platforms available to everyone, for them to feel this and be encouraged to do many things. Some, like Anzaldua, would even go against everything else in order to fight for their culture, and we must do the same for our language and dialect. Especially with media being the big platform that it is, and such a convenient way to communicate with others. It enforces societal views and roles onto us unknowingly, Maxwell talks about how during the Chicano Movement we would often hear Spanish on the radio and television but rarely would you hear the voices of the actual activists involved with the movement talking about what really mattered. While during that time Anzaldua, asserts that her language is a part of her and shows how Chicano representation in media has helped and encouraged her. Similarly, in her blog post Deveza explains how the lack of language diversity in media has discouraged many people from using it by addressing how a big percentage of non-internet users come from lack of understanding or interest and explaining how it stems from language content. The bank HSBC, in their promotional videos addresses this topic on the importance of languages and cultural awareness and Wolfram also addresses the topic of language diversity and how the way its portrayed affects children and argues that the role of school is to make sure they don’t develop prejudice against them.
Works Cited
DEVEZA, KRISTINE. “LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN ONLINE MEDIA.” Center for International Media Assistance, 5 Dec. 2014, www.cima.ned.org/blog/diversity-online-media/.
Bank, HSBC, director. Worlds Local Bank Campaign . Youtube, 2002, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUCODUvKbzE&list=PL27E01FF1BD50D762.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Borderlands/La Frontera, 1987, pp. 357–365., doi:10.2307/j.ctt5hjqnj.57.
Wolfram, Walt. “Challenging Language Prejudice in the Classroom.” Teaching Tolerance , 2013, www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2013/sound-effects.
Maxwell, Richard. “THE CHICANO MOVEMENT, THE BROADCAST REFORM MOVEMENT, AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF ‘MINORITIES AND MEDIA’: A STUDY OF CULTURAL HEGEMONY IN THE UNITED STATES.” JSTOR, 1988, www-jstor-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/stable/27921788?seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents.
