Representations of Women of Color through Modern Media and Culture

1. Representations of Women of Color through Modern Media and Culture Research Presentation By Kayla Menes

2. Focus • Misrepresentations of women of color in society • Exoticization of women of color • Media’s treatment of women of color

3. Pocahontas – The Disney Version • Pocahontas is one of the best Disney animated movies but it’s also a lie. In this version Pocahontas fell in love with the Englishmen John Smith. She stops the hostilities between the Native Americans and Englishmen but unfortunately John Smith is shot trying to save her father Chief Powhatan’s life. He’s sent to England for medical treatment and they’re still together.

4. “I’m John Smith”

5. True Life – My name’s really Matoaka • Matoaka was Pocahontas’s real name and she met John Smith when she was 10. Supposedly she saved Smith from being killed by her father, however, John Smith didn’t tell this story for 17 years so many believe it never happened. When Pocahontas was 17 she was held hostage by the English in Jamestown. While she was a prisoner she married the 28 year old John Rolfe in exchange for her freedom. She later died at 21.

6. Historical Sources • In the book ‘Women, Ethnics and Exotics: Images of Power in Mid- Nineteenth Century American Fiction’ the author, Kristin Herzog discusses how ethnic women were perceived to be ‘savages’ by their conquerors. • Herzog talks about how female slaves were sexually victimized

7. I’m Not Your Spicy Latina – by Shantyana C. Lledin • “Women of color are exoticized and sexualized, but they aren’t valued. Don’t believe me? Consider the eugenics movement and sterilization abuse that happened in the early twentieth century.” • “I am not trying to tell people they can’t identify in any way they want. If people wish to fetishize their own race, ethnicity, or culture, that is totally fine. What I have a problem with is others doing it to me, and the dangers of generalization. “ • The first quote from the article overlaps my previous source. Although the brutality of slavery has left America centuries ago, many people still feel the repercussions of it, especially women of color. • The generalization of women of color is also very common because how often do you turn on the tv and see a stereotype?

8. Counterargument • Are We Living in a Post-Racial America? By Erika Rydberg • “…since racist attitudes are not socially accepted and discriminatory practices have been banned, the general public believes that we have made substantial progress issues of racial inequality as a society.” • I agree that racist attitudes are increasingly socially unaccepted but at the same time we’re not living in a post racial society yet. The definition of a post-racial society is where there’s no racism, discrimination or prejudice and realistically speaking a lot of that still exists in America.

9. Population Statistics in America

10. Last Point • “The…media are potentially powerful agents of socialization and social change – presenting models, conferring status, suggesting appropriate behaviors, encouraging stereotypes” - Margaret Gallagher

11. Sources Crazy Horse, Chief Roy. "The Pocahontas Myth - Powhatan Renape Nation - the Real Story, Not Disney's Distortion." Http://www.powhatan.org. Powhatan Renape Nation, 1995-2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. http://www.powhatan.org/pocc.html Herzog, Kristin. Women, Ethnics, and Exotics: Images of Power in Mid-nineteenth-century American Fiction. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1983. Print. Lledin, Shantyana C. "I’m Not Your Spicy Latina." Http://thefeministwire.com. The Feminist Wire, 28 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Byerly, Carolyn M., and Karen Ross. "Women In/as Entertainment." Women and Media: A Critical Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. N. pag. Print Wile, Rob. "AMERICA 2050: Here's How The Country Will Look Three Decades From Now." Business Insider. N.p., 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. http://www.businessinsider.com/demographics-in-america-in-2050-2012-10?op=1 Rydberg, Erika. "Are We Living in a Post-Racial America?" Http://www.frameworksinstitute.org. N.p., 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. <http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/blogs/alumni/2011/12/are-we-living-in-america-in-a-post-racial-era/>.

12. Questions?