Diversity in the Media: Is Representation Important?
Alex Franolich
University of Iowa
Abstract
While there have been several studies on the effects of diversity in the media on various
minority groups, there have been much fewer studies done on those in the majority (white,
cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied Americans). This study’s goal is to rectify that. A survey
was sent out with questions regarding the surveyed’s ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, and
able-bodiedness as well as their stance on representation in the media. These responses were
split into two groups: the majority (white, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied) and the minority
(anything else), then their responses were evaluated accordingly. Overall, the study found everyone to
agree that diversity in the media is good. Whether or not diversity was handled well was up to debate
between a “Yes” and a “Sure” for both groups. This shows that the majority’s mindset truly has changed
within the past few decades which most likely means that more and more (properly handled) diversity
will continue to come out of the media.
minority groups, there have been much fewer studies done on those in the majority (white,
cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied Americans). This study’s goal is to rectify that. A survey
was sent out with questions regarding the surveyed’s ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, and
able-bodiedness as well as their stance on representation in the media. These responses were
split into two groups: the majority (white, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied) and the minority
(anything else), then their responses were evaluated accordingly. Overall, the study found everyone to
agree that diversity in the media is good. Whether or not diversity was handled well was up to debate
between a “Yes” and a “Sure” for both groups. This shows that the majority’s mindset truly has changed
within the past few decades which most likely means that more and more (properly handled) diversity
will continue to come out of the media.
Diversity in the Media: Is Representation Important?
Introduction
Mainstream media ― from books to movies and everything in between ― once ruled by heterosexual
white able-bodied men, has, in recent years, begun considerably increasing the representation of minority
groups such as women, people of color, queer individuals, and those with disabilities. However, a lot
remains to be desired in terms of diversity (Briley). In order for this representation to continue and
continue well, the majority group must approve of the minority presence and be more open to that
presence. The media is still very much controlled by those heterosexual white able-bodied Americans.
Many of these Americans do not believe diverse representation to be important, and several others present
diversity in an unfortunately negative and minimalistic way. “If majority and minority members'
perceptions of the incidence of minority members differ, their conclusions about the success of programs
intended to promote equality are also likely to differ” (Erigha). This difference is what I intend to explore.
I believe that diversity is an intrinsic part of popular media as well as something that should be sought out
for reasons other than fulfilling a quota that the creators do not care about anyway. Even when the media
has diversity, it is only one type of representation; for example, most hit films involving queer individuals
have white, thin, almost-heterosexual main characters played by completely straight actors because that is
the type of diversity the majority feels most comfortable with (Verbeek). The media should allow
every-day diversity, especially the natural intersectionality of them, to infiltrate its historically prejudiced
content in a way that is neither forced nor the butt of a microaggression. So many people look up to
fictional characters in film and writing, and it is so discouraging to never see someone like you in the
media but so much of one type of person that you are nothing like (Zhang). Representation in the media
should be common and natural.
white able-bodied men, has, in recent years, begun considerably increasing the representation of minority
groups such as women, people of color, queer individuals, and those with disabilities. However, a lot
remains to be desired in terms of diversity (Briley). In order for this representation to continue and
continue well, the majority group must approve of the minority presence and be more open to that
presence. The media is still very much controlled by those heterosexual white able-bodied Americans.
Many of these Americans do not believe diverse representation to be important, and several others present
diversity in an unfortunately negative and minimalistic way. “If majority and minority members'
perceptions of the incidence of minority members differ, their conclusions about the success of programs
intended to promote equality are also likely to differ” (Erigha). This difference is what I intend to explore.
I believe that diversity is an intrinsic part of popular media as well as something that should be sought out
for reasons other than fulfilling a quota that the creators do not care about anyway. Even when the media
has diversity, it is only one type of representation; for example, most hit films involving queer individuals
have white, thin, almost-heterosexual main characters played by completely straight actors because that is
the type of diversity the majority feels most comfortable with (Verbeek). The media should allow
every-day diversity, especially the natural intersectionality of them, to infiltrate its historically prejudiced
content in a way that is neither forced nor the butt of a microaggression. So many people look up to
fictional characters in film and writing, and it is so discouraging to never see someone like you in the
media but so much of one type of person that you are nothing like (Zhang). Representation in the media
should be common and natural.
Methods
Participants
Students from the University of Iowa Honors Rhetoric (RHET:1030:0049) class partook in a survey.
Procedure
Those who took the survey answered questions that determined whether they themselves were part of the majority or minority then responded to questions regarding their stance on diversity in the media.
Data Analysis
The answers of those who were part of the majority were separated from those who were part of the minority and converted into charts for easier comparisons. The essay-question answers and interviews were then compared to the charts.
Results
70.00% of those interviewed were part of the majority (white, heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied) while the remaining 30.00% were various members of the minority (66.67% were Asian, 66.67% were queer, and 33.33% were genderqueer). Between these two groups, there were only a few statistically significant differences in which types of media they preferred.
Figure 1: Levels of media consumption by minority and majority groups.
Film and online streaming services had the smallest gap while television and books had the largest. Theatre had only a moderate gap. Graphic novels were not consumed by either group.
Figure 2: Levels of media consumption by both groups combined.
Combined, digital media (film, television, and streaming services) are all tied for first place.
Figure 3: Majority opinion on diversity in the media and how well that diversity is handled.
When asked if diversity in the media is good, the majority definitely agreed that it was, though some felt more strongly about it than others. This could indicate a level of pacifism towards actively encouraging diversity. However, many believed the way diversity was handled was not super great, bringing up actress Scarlett Johansson’s attempt at playing a transman for a film and Disney’s attempt at whitewashing the live-action Mulan.
Figure 4: Minority opinion on diversity in the media and how well that diversity is handled.
This group was a lot more passionate about having diversity and brought up the same issues in diversity’s handling as the other group. Still, they expressed much relief at Hollywood’s handling of diversity now compared to the past.
Discussion
While these results tend to point towards an alignment between majority and minority views on diversity in the media, this survey was sent out to a very small group in a mostly liberal town. If it had been conducted nation-wide, I imagine there would be a lot more disparity between answers. To get more accurate results, the survey would have to be sent out to as many people as possible, but this smaller survey presents a probable comparison for most liberal parts of the United States. If I had had the chance to survey everyone just at the University of Iowa, there would have likely been a much wider range of answers as well. Really, the main obstacle to a better study is sample size.
As it stands, though, these results show that there are definitely people in the majority who very much care about diversity ― proper, well-handled diversity ― in the media.
References
Briley, D., Shrum, L., & Wyer, R. (2007). Subjective Impressions of Minority Group Representation in the Media: A Comparison of Majority and Minority Viewers’ Judgments and Underlying Processes. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 17(1), 36-48. https://search.lib.uiowa.edu/permalink/f/18gddib/TN_proquest1667949108
Erigha, M. (2015). Race, Gender, Hollywood: Representation in Cultural Production and Digital Media's Potential for Change. Sociology Compass, 9(1), 78-89. https://search.lib.uiowa.edu/permalink/f/18gddib/TN_elsevier_sdoi_10_1207_s15327663jcp1701_7
Verbeek, S., & Groeneveld, S. (2012). Do "hard" diversity policies increase ethnic minority representation? Personnel Review, 41(5), 647-664. https://search.lib.uiowa.edu/permalink/f/18gddib/TN_emerald_s10.1108/00483481211249157
Zhang, D., Katsiyannis, A., Ju, S., & Roberts, E. (2014). Minority Representation in Special Education: 5-Year Trends. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23(1), 118-127. https://search.lib.uiowa.edu/permalink/f/18gddib/TN_springer_jour10.1007/s10826-012-9698-6
Overall, it's a good paper over an interesting topic. A couple of improvements could be made with your formatting (make sure to include an appendix section and headings in the discussion section). Try to illustrate the importance of your research in your abstract (You had it in the introduction, so try to pull that into the abstract with a sentence or two). Finally, try to see if there is a way to receive more responses to your survey to give more data.
ReplyDeleteThis comment will give you more specifics.
DeleteAbstract: make sure to hammer home the importance here as this is your hook. Research papers take a long time to read so you want to make sure to grab the reader from the start.
Introduction: Well done here, make sure you explore the previous research fully; however, I know very little about the research in this topic so I cannot tell if you did or not.
Methods: Try to get some more data in the next week, it'll boost your credibility for the rest of the paper. Otherwise well done.
Results: Concise, maybe try to point out whatever major information on the graphs you'll use in your implications.
Discussion: Make sure to format this with the subheadings and explore everything. This is where you can point out what you want to point out to its fullest.
References: Looked correct
Appendix: Make sure to include this and have your survey here
Graphs: they are well done and there aren't so many that it bulks up too much comparative to the rest of the paper.
Last commenets:
DeleteLanguage was good; however, look to eliminate some of the pronoun usage as it does start to loose some of the academic aspect if they are overused.
Make sure to check your citations
Overall, well done. Just try to improve and add in some places.
Overall I think that the paper flowed well and the organization made sense.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction is all one paragraph. It could be broken up into multiple sections in order to separate your ideas and have a better flow.
The language is clear, however, there were a lot of first and second person pronouns used during the introduction and discussion sections. These could be removed to maintain a more academic tone.
The only pattern error that I saw was a lack of dates in the in text citations.
The paper is missing an appendix but it does have a properly formatted references section (I'm like 90% sure it was right on the hard copy the blog post is just wack).
Yep this paper follows APA formatting guidelines with the exception of missing dates in the in text citations
The Abstract mentions the important information from each section.
The introduction does show the importance of good minority representation.
The research question is implied but not explicitly stated.
The Methods section used effective headings and sub headings but the participants section could have gone more in depth on the demographics of the honors students in terms of age
The figures are organized well but the second figure could have used a little more explanation
The discussion section could have gone more in depth on the implications and the important findings.
The survey had very few participants which is understandable with the time frame and it was addressed in the discussion section.