Males - race, class, and gender in the media

Males Represented by the Media by Patrick Holmes

Males in the media can be depicted in many different ways. In the articles below there are a few different scenarios on how the mass media shows some differences the social race, class, and genders of males.

African Americans males in the media


African American males are degraded everyday in media, as we know it. “Contemporary media, particularly through extreme gangster rap music, reality crime shows and newscasts, have essentially defined crime and given it a black face, despite statistics that paint a different picture.” There are statistics that show more Caucasian males using cocaine then African American males. Yet you see reality police shows where 90 percent of the patrons are African American and you listen to extreme gangster rap music, which is often very derogatory towards black women; yet is purchased largely by white suburban males. The myth of the black rapist, for example, was used to justify lynching and to keep African Americans in a vulnerable position, in the days of slavery; Has is gone away since then, or are we still a little skeptical when we see an African American alone on the streets? Could it be primarily from the media representation? The answer is most likely YES.

-Representation of African Americans in the media is a pretty cruel ordeal. It is true that you see African Americans at their worse when you watch cops for instance, but there are all different races on these shows. I think the media goes out of its way to represent African Americans in a demeaning way. Black males are always the topic of the newscast whenever it was one of them, who committed murder. Look at O.J Simpson he was in the news for months on months, and still is to this day over that trial!

http://library.cocc.edu:2087/view/00219347/dm992968/99p05023/1?searchUrl=http%3a//www.jstor.org/search/BasicResults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26Query%3deducation%2bof%2bmales%2bin%2bmedia&frame=noframe&currentResult=00219347%2bdm992968%2b99p05023%2b0%2cFFFF&userID=8cd3188e@cocc.edu/01cc99331675910ef76bb927&dpi=3&config=jstor
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/1580.html

Gay Men on TV

In the last couple of years, there has been more representation of gays on TV then ever before. Although there are a couple gay sitcoms on television and it is becoming more politically expectable, why is there not more out there? ”When you look at primetime's dismal lack of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ) characters — combined with the continuing under-representation of people of color, gay and straight alike — it's clear that the broadcast networks have a long way to go before they accurately reflect the diversity of their audience and our society.” A breakthrough in Gay media is a show called Will and Grace, showing the lives of two gay men, living in New York. It is politically expectable for them to be openly gay. “Not only is a show like this good TV, but it can foster acceptance, dialogue and respect, that gay men deserve.” Before this show gays only had minor supporting parts, but this show took it to a whole new level and made it ok for two gay men to be the lead roll.

-Everywhere you look on TV now a days there is some sort of homosexual show. Weather it be on MTV, BRAVO, E, or even a sitcom about it; they have definitely got their voices heard and let the TV executives know that they want to show their stories. It doesn’t seem so wrong anymore, it is just something that people live with on a day to day basis.

http://library.cocc.edu:2087/view/00905917/ap010080/01a00050/0?currentResult=00905917%2bap010080%2b01a00050%2b0%2cFFFFFF7F&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26Query%3Dgay%2Bmedia
http://www.glaad.org/eye/ontv/06-07/overview.php


Wealthy Males Portrayed in Movies (enough)

A struggling waitress meets the guy of her dreams at work and after some dating they decide to get married. Five years and a daughter later, the woman finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Her husband is a very successful and has a lot of support from the town because he is in a political position. The husband ends up being a wife beater, with no remorse about it, because he knows she will not leave him. He knows no one will believe her story and who cares if they did; he had a lot of money more then likely could get out of it, no problem. The husband nearly kills her many times, before she has finally had enough. The woman tries to go to the police but no one will believe her because of her husband’s clought he holds in the town. She finally runs away with the child. The husband searchers her down with the aid of a police detective and some goons, but she escapes again. She knows there is no way to get away from him unless she takes his life. That is exactly what she did, she set it up so it looked like he was trying to kill her because she wanted custody of the child and then took his life.

-There are many movies like this, which the wealthy man beats his wife, and there is nothing she can do about it because no one will believe her. Is this how it is for all wealthy men, they feel they have all the power, most likely not, but I’m sure there is more then one of the out there who does feel this way. Who feels they can get away with anything because they have so much money. Look at Bill Clinton for instance, no only did he commit adultery, but he also lied under oath and had no remorse about it.



Fat Lower Class Sitcom Husbands

On ABCs series “According to Jim,” you have your typical beautiful trophy wife, who once was a cheerleader. Then you have your not so equally good-looking husband; definitely not the quarterback she was expected to marry, but more of a fat slob. It is a TV sitcom ritual that spouses are ill-matched look wise. In the current sitcom today, several shows pair extremely attractive women, who are often shown wearing low cut tops and tight jeans suitable for a Maxim photo spread, with TV husbands who are not only not studly, but downright fat, and a couple who are not only not ugly outside, but are ugly on the inside, too. In “the King of Queens” A hot successful woman is the wife, while you have a husband who is a big fat lazy unsuccessful guy, who likes to drink and watch football all day long.

-This demonstrates a good representation of poor men in the sitcoms media because the typical working class guy is overweight, and doesn’t have many cares in the world. Drinking beer is not only an addiction anymore it is a pastime for them; something that can be done with the buddy’s on a daily basis to have a good time.

http://www.slate.com/id/2111762/



Wealthy men in sitcoms

There are a few shows that really depict the life of the wealthy man, those shows are “Darma and Greg,” and “Gilmore Girls.” Both of the Grandfathers in these shows are very successful, yet they have no say. They both go to work everyday and make all of the hard-earned money for the family; living in nice mansion, going on numerous trips, and having many maids, yet it is the wives that take care of everything. Both of the men seem very submissive, as if they have no spines. The women in their lives have all the control and arrange everything. Wealthy men seem to just work and allow all the rest to be left up to their significant others. There was an example in Darma and Greg when the husband (bread maker) wanted to retire from his law practice and become a shoe salesman. He could definitely afford to do so but after a little pressure from his wife, they decided it wasn’t the best idea. She made him feel bad for wanted to become a shoe salesman instead of a successful lawyer, even though he was ready to retire. He had no say on what he could do with his life, his wife basically controlled him.

-In some instances I feel this is true, my grandparents are wealthy and it seems like my grandmother has all the control. She deals with all the money situations and doesn’t like it when my grandfather makes a decision without her. It is possible that most wealthy men don’t want to deal with the nagging and fighting like middle or lower class do so they just become spineless.

www.popmatters.com