Whiteness and Racialised Other

How are differences represented?

Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of reality such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Everyday we are subjected to numerous images from the media, suggesting what we should look and act like. for example magazines sell a particular image of what a male, female, stereotype should be or aspire to be. whether we choose infer that we should act a type of man or woman, or that we should treat/ judge others in a particular way the suggestions of media are constantly invading out thoughts! But how is it that these idealistic iconic images are formulated at such status and how are differences represented ?!

How are difference represented?

Race, ethnicity and colour, like sex, comprise sets of genetically defined, biological characteristics. However, as with gender, there are also cultural elements in those defining characteristics.

How are differences represented?

Representation of race in the media can consist of the same sort of rigid stereotypes that constitute gender portrayal. However, stereotyping of race is seen as more harmful than stereotyping of gender, as media representation may constitute the only experience of contact with a particular ethnic group that an audience (particularly an audience of children) may have.

How are differences represented?

Racial stereotypes are often based on social myth, perpetuated down the ages. Thus, the media depiction of, say, Native American Indians, might provide a child with their only experience of Native American Indian culture and characters, and may provide that child with a set of narrow prejudices which will not be challenged elsewhere within their experience. This truly defines how powerful media representations are and how reliant society is on them, as in many cases the only contact we have with ethnic minorities through the media.

How are differences represented?

The need for a more accurate portrayal of the diversity of different races is a priority for political agendas, but, as ever, it seems as though it will take a while for political thinking to filter through to TV programme and film-making. Hollywood movies seem to be particular offenders when it comes to lazy racial stereotypes.

Avatar
Avatar is a recent example of how stereotypical media portrayals of ethnic minorities haven't changed. Wether intentional or not, the film falls into the all too familiar trap of a white man moving into an indigenous people's land, using the indigenous people to their advance and ultimately taking control. It shows the indigenous as weak and powerless to stop the white men.

How is difference marked in relation to identity?

How you are perceived varies in different social construct, racial class is constructed by society and cultural matter. We have thoroughly unpacked stereotyping as a representational practice, and in many ways it has been caught up in the play of hegemonic power. Stereotyping is based on preconceptions, the interesting factor is where it develops a sense of normality when I reality in essence it is very unnatural. Stereotyping is created by people within power, and benefits only them, we don't benefit from it so why do we choose to so religiously uphold them.

How is difference marked in relation to identity?

As a society we categorize people in numerous ways, too many in fact to count. Society persists on categorizing every aspect of our lives, based on the decisions we make, and even those that are made for us (such as natural hair colour, racial identity ect). How can we sustain individual identities within these masking stereotypes forced upon us by a hegemonic, power focused society. In fact even individuality has been socially constructed.

S.Hall
There are two kinds of identity, identity as being (which offers a sense of unity and commonality) and identity as becoming (or a process of identification, which shows the discontinuity in our identity formation.) Hall uses the Caribbean identities, including his own, to explain how the first one is necessary, but the second one is truer to their/our postcolonial conditions. To explain the process of identity formation, Hall uses Derrida's theory differance as support, and Hall sees the temporary positioning of identity as "strategic" and arbitrary. He then uses the three presences--African, European, and American-in the Caribbean to illustrate the idea of "traces" in our identity. Finally, he defines the Caribbean identity as disapora identity.

Bell Hook
Bell Hook argues that the stereotypes that were set during slavery still affect black women today. She argues that slavery allowed white society to stereotype white women as the pure goddess virgin and move black women to the seductive whore stereotype formerly placed on all women. This has justified the devaluation of black femininity and rape of black women which continues to this day. The work which black women have been forced to perform, either in slavery or in a discriminatory work place, that would be non-gender conforming for white women has been used against black women as a proof of their emasculating behaviour. bell hooks argues that black nationalism was largely a patriarchical and misogynist movement, seeking to overcome racial divisions by strengthening sexist ones, and that it readily latched onto the idea of the emasculating black matriarch proposed by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose theories bell hooks often criticizes.

Conclusion
In conclusion, it is highly evident that although many progressions have developed, whiteness is generally still represented as superiority. within particular reference to the media, generalisation of race is very much so as the topic suggests, white and racialised other. more foremost suggesting that all other races can be categorised within one subject. As many people are reliant upon the medias portrayal of other races this is detrimental to social stereotyping, limiting us to media specific knowledge, un educated towards others cultures and races. all in all leading to the popular debate that we are a hegemonically dominated and controlled society, un questioningly absorbing there outputs as first nature.