Are African American females between the ages of 17 and 29

are shown by the media in a demeaning and degrading

fashion ?

By : Nellie FerreiraTabitha Julien Vivienne Cain

Mentor: Dr. Pedro Cano

Which comes up when you search Black women?

Is this perception yours or the media’s?

• Is this beauty or almost beauty?

• Are they dressing for you , themselves, or what they are stereotyped to dress like?

Key Terms

Stereotype: A conventional or formulaic conception or image

Bias: A partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation

Demographic: A statistic characterizing human populations (or segments of human populations broken down by age or sex or income etc.)

Introduction

The media is an ever present fixture in the American metropolitan lifestyle. It is no longer a luxury but a driving force behind many of the audience’s perceptions. The media could also dictate values that life experience was supposed to give, therefore replacing said experience in the lives of many viewers.

Introduction cont.

Thus it is imperative that one should know the inner workings of the media to better understand its effects. This leads to our objective.

Objective

• Our main goal is to decide whether there exists media bias towards young African American females of a certain age group and, if so, to what extent.

• Our secondary goal is to find out how their portrayal impacts the audiences’ perception of the group as a whole.

Methods

• Media Monitoring

•Questionnaire

Media Monitoring

Procedure• Watch programs and commercials• Answer questions

Use of derogatory language to refer to women or colored people:

               Expressions of prejudice against women:               Expressions of prejudice against colored people; Violence against women or colored people:

How are the former received by the audience or the other actors in the program or commercial?

• Discuss the validity of our findings• Use these findings to design the questionnaire

QuestionnaireSection I: The questions were used to find

out background information, such as whether the person we were to interview fit the desired demographics. It also served to find out whether they viewed similar programs, which is important for the next section of the questionnaire.

Questionnaire Cont.

Section II: The questions were geared to prove our hypothesis and answer our main question. The were asked questions such as ;

• Can a color divide be perceived in the programs you watch?

(Based on demeanor, use of foul language or way of dressing)

•  In particular, how are young African-American women portrayed in the programs you watch?

(Differences of attitude towards life, sex, money, school, etc in relation to other racial groups)

Questionnaire Cont.

 • In your opinion, is there any true relating to the

media’s portrayal of young African-American women? Why?

• In general, do you think that young African-American women are more prone than young women from other racial groups to be convicted of crimes or felonies? Why?

• In general, do you think that young African-American women are more prone than young women from other racial groups to have children out of wedlock? Why?

 

Demographics

Racial Group

African American

24%

Hispanic/ Latino

20%

White/ Caucasian

20%

Other

13%

Asian/ Far Eastern

23%

How often did participants talk to African American women?

Sometimes15%

Often 25%

Never, 0%

Very Often60%

Amount of TV Participants Watched

10 O R MO RE - 0%

5 TO 10 - 20%

0 TO 5 - 80%,

Preferred Time of Day to Watch TV

Evening67%

Prefered Time of Day to Watch TV,

28.8%

Prefered Time of Day to Watch TV,

0%

Prefered Time of Day to Watch TV,

5%

Type of Programs/ Channel of Preference

Entertainment27%

Movies31%

Educational14%

Reality8%

Sports17%

News3%

Portrayal of Young African American in Programs Participants Watched

Are Portrayed in a Bad Way

(Womenizers and Sex

Symbols)

73%

Are Portrayed in a Good

way (Educated)

27%

Are Young African American Women More Prone to Have Children Out of Wedlock?

Yes60%

No28%

Undecided12%

(compared to young women of a different race)

Are Young African American females more prone to be convicted to be criminals?

Yes42%

No58%

(compared to young women of a different race)

Life Experiences vs. Media Based Experiences

Did Not Want To Answ er

5%

Yes50%

No40%

Sometimes /Depends

5%

Conclusion

We have found that the representation of young African American females in the media is of a degrading and demeaning fashion. We also found that the representations have a negative impact on the perception of young African American women by the general TV-viewing audience.

References• Quinn, Naomi. Cultural Selves. THE SELF: FROM SOUL TO BRAIN. Annals of the New York

Academy of Sciences. Volume 1001 published October 2003 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1001: 145–176 (2003). doi: 10.1196/annals.1279.010

• Devos, Thierry and Banaji, Mahzarin. Implicit Self and Identity. THE SELF: FROM SOUL TO BRAIN. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Volume 1001 published October 2003 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1001: 177–211 (2003). doi: 10.1196/annals.1279.009

• Maneri, Marcello and ter Wal, Jessika. The criminalisation of Ethnic Groups: An

Issue for Media Analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research. Volume 6, Nº 3, Art 9. September

2005. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-e/inhalt3-05-e.htm

Acknowledgements• Dr. Pedro Cano• Instituto Cervantes• Harlem Children Society• Dr. Sat Bhattacharya• MSKCC

Final Thought

Get to know them before you judge

them!

THANK YOU!!!!