Stereotypes in Today’s Society

The world evolves around technology and it is an important tool in today's society. The media is a source that is used to help a person stay connected to the world they are living in. Many issues within the media are the bad things that happened which allows opinions to be expressed and stereotypes to be formed. One thing that most individuals do not do is look at the good that some of these issues bring to the table. For instance with the continuous riot happening on the campus of the University of Chapel Hill many were brought together to express their like opinions on the issue. Diversity was well arrayed within the student population and community; which shows you the different races, ages and sex put any differences aside that may have been present and came together. Another source in media that many individuals like to watch are advertising commercials. Many of the commercials one sees today are stereotype resistant due to many commercials receiving backlash if there is any stereotyping within the commercial targeting one group. These commercials promote what one would want to see in today's society such as a women taking on a man's job. Then there are those supportive stereotypes that targets one group and associates that group with whatever it is they are being stereotyped on.

Diversity in today's news while commercials portray resistant and supportive stereotypes
When watching television, the shows being watched are broken up with brief breaks due to commercials. Many may not look into hidden messages or the stereotypes portrayed in commercials; but majority of commercials in today's society have supportive or resistant stereotypes in them. The messages presented in some commercials have become so bad that they had to be taken off of the air. While others steer away from stereotyping and try to promote the realism of what society is thought to be in today's world. The news educates persons on what is going on in the world, the state and on local matters. Sometimes you can witness where diversity is demonstrated in the news.
Diversity in the news

A popular topic in today's new is the toppling of the Silent Sam statue at the University of Chapel Hill. Due to occurrence of this event there was an enormous riot that took place on the campus between individuals who support the reasoning behind the toppling, and those who were against the toppling of the statue. It was said that the reasoning behind the destruction of the statue was because individuals believed that the statue exhibits racism on the campus. An Activist who graduated from the University of Chapel Hill has been advocating the removal of the statue since 2011. Some Individuals who are African American feel as if this statue has no history and does not represent the African American's on that campus. Those who were against the toppling of the statue expressed how the statue represented natives of the south and did not have anything to do with racism. When watching the news you can see that those who supported the toppling showed diversity on the campus. Surprisingly there were many Caucasians who protested with many minority groups for the approval of the toppling of the statue. You see many men and women between the ages of 20 and 50 years old protesting their beliefs on the issue. It was great to see individuals coming together to express their beliefs no matter their age, race or religious preference. You would see Caucasians holding signs saying Black Lives Matter and Muslim individuals holding signs saying Racism does not live on this campus. Also in the videos you see people of different races helping those who were pepper sprayed or those who were verbally being attacked by the opposing side.

Stereotype-resistant commercial

One stereo-resistant commercial that is on television now is the University of Phoenix advertisement. It demonstrates women feminism and work empowerment. In this commercial a single mom is working in a shop typically for male workers. She is soon replaced and decided to go get an education from the University of Phoenix which allows her to place a job in information technology, which is also a male dominate job. In the commercial it shows the women working hard as a mother and also pursuing her degree. Before pursuing her education she was down and out about not having a job to support her family which caused her to look at the poster she had of Rosie the Riveter. That powerful poster encouraged her to take the big step which the poster stood for women working in the male dominant industry.

Stereotype supportive commercial

Tobacco commercials are advertisements that we see a few times a day on the television. One particular commercial promotes tobacco companies advertising in low income communities mainly targeting minorities. In this commercial it shows how tobacco companies advertised cigarettes near schools in the lower income communities. Tobacco companies feel as if individuals in these communities are more vulnerable to buying cigarettes. Those who are paid less, little education and are living in poverty are believed to continue their habits and continue to be in the lower income community. This commercial is conveying that only the low income and those of the minority group are individuals who are more likely to smoke, and they are targeted based upon one's opinion.

Conclusion

We learn a lot through the news about our society which diversity was one of those concepts that was learned. Diversity was demonstrated on an issues on the University of Chapel Hill campus that was an ongoing topic spoken upon within the news. There are many stereotypes in today's society which two types that were talked about in this paper were resistant and supportive stereotypes. It was learned that there are some commercials that target and stereotype certain groups, and some commercials that steer away from stereotyping.

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