Ron P. Newman. Portraying the Difference: Race, Class, and Sexuality in Language and the Media. (71-105).

Ron Parks

September 14, 2007

WGS 220-05

Newman. Portraying the Difference: Race, Class, and Sexuality in Language and the Media. (71-105).

Description:

• Explores the media’s impact on social groups and identities as a result of accepted inequalities (73).

Analysis:

• Symbols tend to have more meaning than what is obvious (the American flag means more than just a piece of cloth/plastic) (73).
• Slurs are used as derogatory, but after awhile can be used as a sense of pride (75).
• Many English words tend to be genderized, showing priority to males, such as founding fathers, man-made, female doctor (78).
• Language tends to be unconsciously racist (white lies are small lies, black magic is dark and ominous) (79).
• Panethnic labels group several ethnicities together for simplicity, assuming they are all the same (Tanzanians, Ethiopians, Kenyans are all called ‘Africans’) (82).
• Language differences are the result of power imbalances (men interrupt more, women’s speech more emotional (84).
• Political correctness is used to give more voice to various minority groups (86).
• Media imparts racial, gender, and class ideas into our culture (white-male news anchors, men outnumber women in key behind the scene roles, working class=minorities) (89).

Vision:

• Social and gender identities are not readily accepted from the media (103).

Strategy:

· Identify ourselves without the use of labels (103).

· Do not accept “assumed” roles in gender, class, or race (104).