Media is expected to promote positive stereotypes so that the audience, especially the kids, can be inspired by the images they see on television or movies. Nevertheless, some shows tend to portray negative ideas about black women. Examples of productions that express these negative ideas are “Blank Ink Crew,” “Queen Sugar,” and “Black-ish.” In these programs, the African American women are supposed to yell or shout, ridicule, mock, threaten or use swearing words. The shows depict women of color as mostly angry, confrontational, and aggressive.
Many shows in television carry on these contrary standards about women. Freeman (1) argues that 72 percent of African American women who watch many of the fictional television shows think that these shows negatively depicted them. The percentage is higher when compared to only 46 percent of white women who find media as a source of most of their negative stereotypes in the society. Their views are based on the fact that the broadcasts continually use the same imagery reflecting women as angry, concerned and continuously aggressive towards everything. The actresses depicted as always being in fights with their neighbors, their husbands, their children, or their coworkers. Additionally, the writers may develop the particular episode to prove that these women were the ones who were unreasonable or wrong in the argument.
According to Jacobs (1), “Blank Ink Crew” contains approximately 19 verbally aggressive acts within each one-hour episode. In the show, white men are more hostile than white women. Contrary, the African American women are portrayed as considerably more verbally aggressive that the men in their society. There are instances where the actresses resort to pouring drinks on their fellow characters or even harming them physically. This misrepresentation degrades the African American women in the current contemporary community. Expressing African American women as verbally aggressive 19 times within 60 minutes impacts a wrong message to the viewers.
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The ideas the shows present may be due to various unprofessional and unethical factors in the media industry. Zimmerman argues that the leading cause of these standards is a lack of imagination by the writers (1). They prefer to present material that is already considered the truth. These shows implement such approach by converting a complex individual into a stereotypical character. By doing this, the actions of the characters become predictable which means that the shows will attract an already established, thus reliable, audience.
Some of the writers may also fear losing most of their viewers if they dare to present a controversial idea. To most people, an African American woman is under a lot of pressure from many parties in her life. In a show like “Black-ish” Rainbow Johnson is an anesthesiologist who is also as a mother of five. She is featured as being tired and angry all the time because of the many responsibilities in her life. In the show, she often argues with her mother-in-law, Ruby, who is also another African American woman. The writers might, therefore, think that if they show Rainbow as a woman who cares for her family and does well in her job, while at the same time maintains harmonious relationships with people in her life, they may contradict the conventional media laws. This act might in return lead to a reduction in the number of viewers thus incur losses to the company.
The way these shows portray African American women has adverse effects on them in society. Recently, these stereotypes have not only been observed in productions but also in real life. People have undermined powerful women, like Michelle Obama and Shonda Rhimes, because of their influence (Freeman 1). Nonetheless, African American women continue to reject these methods society uses to silence them. It is unfair that these women are not allowed to express their anger. African American women should also have a chance to get emotional because of the different experiences that shape their lives without having to face the society’s criticism (Freeman 1).
A study of the media proves that the audience is easily influenced by what the broadcasts repeatedly portray on television. African American girls might, therefore, develop low self-esteem. As a result, this will hinder them from expressing their views in the future. They might also believe that what they see is the right attitude a woman should have. They are therefore likely to grow up to be verbally aggressive, a factor that may ruin their marriages or their relationships with their family members. Even though such programs aim at entertaining their audience, they mostly end up failing to express the right message to their young audience.
These shows tend to depict black women as confrontational, short-tempered, and verbally aggressive. These traits mislead their young audience. The swear words and aggressive acts many of the characters use may encourage their young viewers to emulate them. Young girls, especially, may admire these African American women and, as a result, exhibit the same behavior when they have developed when relating with their family or friends. In the end, these girls will grow up to be disrespectful women who believe in using violence to solve all their issues.
Also, these shows may cause hostility or lack of sympathy towards many African American women (Weaver 60). Many people may fail to understand the plight of these women. This negative stereotype about black women is a significant thing that tolerates racial discrimination in the society. People may judge these women harshly without any evidence to support their conclusions. Individuals may conclude that a woman genuinely feeling angry is overreacting.
Production executives need to monitor these reality shows because what they concentrate on more negative stereotypes about African American women. As Zimmerman (1) states, ‘kids should are inspired by the images they see on movies and television.’ It is vital for the reality shows, and other television programs that are misleading their audience to focus on the sole purpose of impacting the kids and other viewers positively. Therefore, reality shows like “Black Ink Crew” need to revise their content because in the long run it misleads its audience, impacts them with vices, influences self-hatred and encourages the audience to be racially biased. Otherwise, such programs need to be banned from airing because they fail to express the actual behavior and attitude of black women and at the same time encourage unethical conduct to the young generation.
In conclusion, some television shows portray African American women negatively, and the idea ends up being solidified and shapes the mindset of people and the ways of the society. During the broadcasts, these actresses are mostly angry at their fellow characters and express these feelings by shouting, swearing, or even threatening them. Many of the African American women viewers, therefore, feel wrongly represented in these shows. These stereotypes have also caused society to undermine women in real life leading to self-esteem issues. Some may also decide to adopt the practices they see on television. Besides, other citizens may fail to emphasize with women when they express their feelings. Therefore, the contents of the shows air in television and other media outlets should positively feature African American women and promote stereotypes that positively reflect their deeds in the society.
