The Impacts of Media on the Individuals and the Society - Essay Sample

In our consumption-oriented, umpired society, so much of what happens to pass as the imperative is based on stories created and circulated by the media institutions. In this paper, I will discuss the social concern on the impact of media on the individuals and the society in general. We will also look at how people negotiate and create their racial, gender, sexual ethnic and class identities. A Media representation is not only the mirror of the society but rather a highly discriminatory and constructed portrayal. In the capacity of this portrayal our perception of the world has been negatively altered. Identity is the discrete psychological relationship to a certain social category systems. Media takes a big part of every individuals everyday life and to some extent defines haw we both view ourselves and the world we live in to some extent. On the other hand, identity can be considered to be a collection of traits, a product of social norms, and historical idea and a pattern of thinking that congeals after some times more than body parts or the skin. In a simple way perception has been understood as someones point of view or perspective and it emerge from the communication. Therefore, perception is haw someone sees the others and in most cases influenced by the media among other factors. Psychological research on the identity has been split by dealing separately with the race, gender, ethnicity, class and sexuality so that certain marginalized groups are debarred from the considerations.

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These portrayals raging from televised programs, print media, internet, video games, print advertising, and fiction shows have different effects towards our perception and at times in a divisive way. Moreover, these depictions shape public outlooks of plus the altitude to men of color. For example, considering haw the media images have a great impact towards the viewers discernment, lack of identification with sympathy for the marginalized groups and reduced support for the structural and other big picture factor can have a devastating social effect. To start with consider the role played by a black male- conventionally in every television program, novel, film or series- they are portrayed as gangsters, social nuisance and any other negative image available. As a result members of these minor groups tend to lose other social capital thru viewing or reading such novels-i.e. they lose trust in the communities and persons around them, a factor that can eventually lead to reduced realization and other outcomes.

In the US the lives of the black community have been adversely been affected by the deleterious public perceptions. People from this minority racial background are turned away from the available jobs because they arent the right fit and at the same time they are treated on the streets by the policemen as the dangerous suspects. According to the guardian, Officer Darren Wilson who shot down a teenage black boy in Ferguson, Missouri labeled the alleged scrimmage by attesting that when he grabbed him he felt like a five year old kid holding onto Hulk Hogan although they both were of similar heights. In a study conducted by The Opportunity Agenda in 2011, on media impacts on the lives of black people, the negative mass media was portrayals was interconnected with the lower life expectancy among the black people. This study, funded by the Open Society Foundations Campaign further revealed haw the media delusion create problematic attitude in audience.

There are many explanations on the social and construction of race. The accurate definition of has brought up so much discussion regarding the true definition of race. According to the biological point of view, race does not refer to the skin color in particular but rather on their biological makeup. This theory by the early theorists in the United States of categorizing people on biological grounds stated that individuals should be classified on the basis of possessing the traits that other races lack. Contemptuously, if this were the case then it means that members of different racial groups would not be able intermix or interbreed due to barriers posed by their discordant genetic makeup. Regardless of the racial boundaries or the population to which the person is assigned, 75 percent of the genomes of all individuals are identical. Ultimately, this concept of classification does not exist.

A more precise explanation of the notion of race is that its politically and socially constructed. The racial groups were branded by the principal groups with an aim of subjugating other marginal groups so as to maintain their dominant status. Racial identity is assumed to be a shared group distinctiveness of having a common inheritance with a certain racial group. Individuals are identified to a certain racial groups by the color of their skin. These groupings were used as a way of creating social distance between persons look upon as dissimilar to the mainstream dominant society. Racial distinctiveness has a major consequence on the way certain group of people is treated in the society. Stereotypes are derived from the skin complexion and positive and negative aspects are assigned centered on the stereotypical definitions.

The overall impression of the poem The Immigrant in Our Own Land by Jimmy Santiago Baca is about the immigrants coming to America or any other country that is not theirs. These emigres leave their countries full of expectations but these prospects come to a dead end at the end of the day. The author of the poem therefore, he delivers his message by comparing this group of people with those in prison. This state has been caused by ignorant buffoons in the government and radical bills that are selfish in nature and cares less about persons of different decency. According to the poem, the legal approach of the law enforcement instruments and trial of most cases concerning the immigrants is evident that the system is racist. The first stanza of the poem begins with explaining how each one is born with a dream in hearts and looking for better days. The narrator is also an immigrant since he includes himself in his narrative together with bother people. However, the strength of the poem comes in towards the end of is narration where there is some hope to the immigrants desperate feeling. This poem along some other work depicts the real life experiences of the immigrants in the United States of America.

Additionally, media has different stereotypical portrayal on the gender. It presents men and women in stereotyped means that limits our discernment of the human possibilities. Men are typically portrayed as adventurous, active, sexually aggressive, powerful and largely tangled in human relationships. On the other hand, just as unswerving cultural views on gender, women are depicted as sex objects who are typically thin, young persuasive, dependent, beautiful and often dumb and incompetent. The female character bestows most of their time and precious energies primarily improving their appearances as well as taking care of children and homes. Therefore, since media suffuse our lives, the way in which they falsify gender may end up distorting what we distinguish as normal and appropriate for men and women and haw we see ourselves. Media insinuate their communications into our consciousness on every turn. Most forms of media communicate phantasmagorias of sexes, of which most perpetuate stereotypical, unrealistic and limiting perceptions.

There are three themes that clearly show how media misrepresents gender. To begin with, media underrepresents women thus falsely implying that men are of the cultural standards and the female counterparts are either unimportant or invincible. The media distorts the reality by underrepresenting women by ensuring that men outnumber them whether in prime time television, children programming or newscasts. This bias and constant distortion results to people believing that the number of men outnumbers that of women as well as that man is the cultural standard. Secord, the depiction of the relationships between women and men normalize the violence against women and emphasizes traditional role of a woman. And the last one is that women and men are represented in stereotypical means that sustain and reflect socially sanctioned view of gender.

In conclusion, A Media representation is not only the mirror of the society but rather a highly discriminatory and constructed portrayal. In the capacity of this portrayal our perception of the world has been negatively altered. Identity is the discrete psychological relationship to a certain social category systems. Media takes a big part of every individuals everyday life and to some extent defines haw we both view ourselves and the world we live in to some extent. Psychological research on the identity has been split by dealing separately with the race, gender, ethnicity, class and sexuality so that certain marginalized groups are debarred from the considerations. In the US the lives of the black community have been adversely been affected by the deleterious public perceptions. People from this minority racial background are turned away from the available jobs because they arent the right fit and at the same time they are treated on the streets by the policemen as the dangerous suspects. There are many explanations on the social and construction of race. The accurate definition of has brought up so much discussion regarding the true definition of race. According to the biological point of view, race does not refer to the skin color in particular but rather on their biological makeup.