Advertising Stereotypes & Bias

1. Advertising Stereotypes & Bias SOC 2630 e-Portfolio Project by Morgan nelson

2. Table Of Content • …..………. Page 3 • ………..…. Page 4 • …………… Page 5 • …………… Page 6 • …………… Page 7 • …………… Page 8 • …………… Page 9 • …………… Page 10 • Introduction and Reflection • Research Article - Social Justice • Table - Stereotypes & Bias • Research Article - Stereotype • Table - “Routes” • Book Summary - Everything Bad is Good For You • Final Reflection • Citations

3. Introduction and Reflection • I have always been fascinated with marketing—particularly advertising. I have studied marketing for the last four years, in-fact, I have an AAS in Marketing Management—Ironically, I do not recall any substantial or relevant information that actually pertained to this topic. I have always understood the power of persuasion and the cultural powers of mores, when it comes to advertising, but realistically, only on a narrow level. This lack of knowledge inspired me to learn more about the images surrounding racism, bias and stereotypes on a much broader spectrum; the media. It might be arguedthat the media seems driven by its own fantasy of realizing power without responsibility and although I tend to agree with this statement, I am curious how often we blame the media as a way of scapegoating the reality of consumerism, to which the consumer “buys-in” as the market constructs an entire emotional identity for its products. Aprocess of symbolic trans-ference—what Marx calls ‘‘reification’’—ensures that advertising and the products themselves, become the embodiment of happiness, contentment, freedom, and in many cases stereotypes. [4] • When it comes to stereotypes and bias do we believe everything we read and see; subconsciously; cognitively? Do we distrust stereotypes? Do media stereotypes define us?

4. Research – Social Justice • The media, it might be argued, sometimes seems driven by its own fantasy of realizing a Lear-like state of power without responsibility. It is true that we have been in a sense trained to distrust stereotypes and classify them as unfair generalizations about groups of people. However, the training we have received does not stop us from liking stereotypes, in fact we tend to enjoy using them especially in the form of humor. [1] At all levels were guilty of either an appalling lack of sensitivity or an appalling ignorance of history (or perhaps both).[3] Equally often, responses to an image such as this can potentially be affected by any number of contingent social and personal factors such as gender, race, age, or nationality. Meaning can only be generated within the cultural and historical contexts that serve as our surrounding sense- making structures. Stereotypes work similarly as the reified symbolic embodiments of a whole set of feelings that routinely target the basic elements of primal human response. That there may be instances when some of these things are true of individuals is coincidental and of no relevance.

5. Stereotypes Bias Stereotypes: thesocietypages.org. Bias; mediamatters.org (data: Nov 1st - Nov5th )

6. Research - Stereotypes • Our focus should not be on everyday practices of stereotyping. Nor is it much use to target and scapegoat the media instead of the social constellations that permit structural inequity to continue to exist.[1] In other words -- Blaming the media does not solve material social problems. The answer may lie within the development of policy and governance, empowering minority or marginal groups, whether women, gay or lesbian men and women, transgender persons, the disabled, to develop a public voice is a much better strategy. This would include research, training, develop a stronger set of end terms for journalism, film and television along with other media degrees and offer “routes” to self-empowerment and make available an array of legal measures accessible to all.[1]

7. What “routes” need to take into account Stereotypes are often more ambiguous than we Realize.[1] Stereotypes may fade, however they rarely disappear. They may be revived in the service of old myths. [1] Stereotypes are used by the media as a form of Shorthand as a means to address wide audiences. [1] Hermes, Joke. "On stereotypes, media and redressing gendered social inequality."

8. Everything Bad is Good For You • There may very well be a large amount of bias, stereotyping and racism in the media, and we as an audience have become desensitized. Media audiences have become smarter over the years, after intensive mass media use. [1]Steven Johnson calls this “The Sleeper Curve” in his book Everything Bad Is Good For You. Johnsonstates that “a ‘Flashing Arrow’ is a kind of narrative signpost purposely planted to help the audience keep track of what’s going on, but there has been an increasing lack of arrows over the years both, and this lack of arrows is used to draw on intricate plotlines and obscure references.”[2] If this is true, then it is reasonable to believe that a person may unconsciously be submitted to stereotyping on many levels. After all, Hollywood has a talent for playing stereotypes and viewer expectations against character portrayal and narrative logic. Johnson says this activates social intelligence, defining it as “our ability to monitor and recall many distinct vectors of interaction in the population around us” and, thus, watchers shall be able to better understand social networks.[2] Remember though that stereotypes are underlined through out social networks and if Johnson is right, then we as viewers are absorbing media and its bias on a cognitive level, which I agree with. This brings us full circle to the idea we are taught to distrust stereotypes, yet we relate to them, associate with and often times accept stereotypes and hold bias without even knowing it.

9. Final Reflection • Categories of ''truth'' or ''falsity'' are simply not applicable to the way stereotypes function. Stereotyping is not an analytical process of statistical assessment but a form of narrative which utilizes figures of difference in order to structure narratives about the self.[1] • Stereotypes respond to social reality because ideology and social reality are mutually constitutive, and it is the cultural, racial, and ideological construction of social reality and social relationships that is being articulated through stereotypes. [1] • We need to understand the enormous power possessed by the visual media to develop and promote stereotypes but also that the visual text can be assessed and analyzed in ways which reveal the wider politics that produces it. [1] • Marketers are constantly seeking ways to make their products more easily identifiable to specific groups of end users. Although, we do not believe everything we read and we have been taught to distrust stereotypes we all have cultural and societal bias that marketers and media capitalize on in order to appeal to their target audience – subconsciously and cognitively, therefore stereotypes are often race- or gender-based in nature when it comes to advertising. For example the domesticate female image that has not improved for over the last 30 years. In conclusion stereotypes do not define us, yet our bias recognizes and often times accepts them.

10. Citations • [1] Hermes, Joke. "On stereotypes, media and redressing gendered social inequality." Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 2.2 (2010): 181+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. • [2]Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead, 2005. Print. • [3] WALL, DAVID. "It Is And It Isn't: Stereotypes, Advertising And Narrative." Journal Of Popular Culture 41.6 (2008): 1033-1050. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.