Social and Cultural Norms: Communications & Media Essay
Social and Cultural Norms
Overview
In this assignment, you will argue a pro or con position involving minorities, women, or LGBTQ individuals given an audience with opposing views.
Presenting stereotypes of minorities/women/LGBTQ individuals affects viewers' conceptions of different groups.
How do such skewed views affect real-life interactions with members of minority groups? Is there a difference among such genres as comedies, dramas, police procedurals, children's shows, cartoons, and reality shows, in how marginalized people are portrayed? Can you cite any examples from your own experiences?
The media should be trusted to provide the means to change people's perceptions of minorities. Argue for or against this statement.
Requirements
Your paper must outline specifically the nature of the problem and demonstrate critical thinking, sound logic, valid claims, personal passion, and credible support that is cited correctly.
Write a three-page paper in which you:
In the introduction, include a quote, question or statistic from your text and an overview of the three major points you will cover.
Introduce your position with a thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph.
Provide three major points to support your thesis statement (put each major point in a separate paragraph).
Answer each of the sub-questions in at least one paragraph each.
Wrap up your assignment with a strong conclusion in which you restate the points you made and supported.
Organize arguments and support your claims effectively.
Demonstrate personal passion for your position and critical thinking with persuasive language, sound logic, valid claims, and credible support for the claims.
Provide three credible and reliable sources (in addition to the textbook) about current events, which have been published in the last five years and are cited correctly in the position paper.
Social and Cultural Norms
Name
Institution
Due Date
Social and Cultural Norms
Today, people speak of liberty and freedom like common terms. However, these terms are not common, and even in the most democratic countries, there are sections of their population that are still fighting for their rights and recognition. The LGBTQ group is one such group that is yet to enjoy the freedom that is often highly spoken about. With its reach and resources, the media is often seen as an avenue to help change people’s perceptions of minorities like the LGBTQ community. Some people believe that it can help rid its audience of any prejudice against minority groups. However, the media’s reputation has been questionable, especially because of the issue of stereotyping. Statistics from Statista reveal that in the United States, most TV shows and movies are stereotypes (Watson, 2020). Watson reveals that 31percent of respondents in her study believe that the roles for LGBTQ characters are stereotypes. Also, for a long time, the media has been propagating the gaydar myth, which seeks to drive home the message that there are certain visible and distinguishable features of members of the LGBTQ community. Aside from the above, the media has also been at the forefront in propagating the heteronormative approach, which mainly seeks to spread the message that heterosexuality is the standard orientation of sexuality. It is against this backdrop that this essay seeks to discredit the notion that the media should be trusted to help change people’s perceptions of minorities.
The media has been guilty of propagating the gaydar myth, and this has contributed to the people’s negative perception or use of stereotypes toward members of the LGBTQ community. First of all, the term gaydar is used to mean the ability to discern or tell apart people who are gay. The use of this term is quite extensive, but few know or can tell its implication on their treatment of LGBTQ individuals. Cox et al. (2016) put it plainly, noting that gaydar is simply “an alternate label for using stereotypes to inter orientation.” What the above means is that people are simply finding clever ways to stereotype. The sad bit of all this is that the media is guilty of propagating the gaydar myth. Cox et al. (2016) note that, for a long time, the media has been using “stereotypic cues to imply that a character is gay or lesbian.” This fits perfectly with the essence or idea of stereotyping. Stereotypes about physical appearances or cues mainly seek to create the notion that features of certain groups are visibly identifiable. With a media that propagates such a message, people will be more divided and not accommodative of other’s choices and orientation.
Even though the representation of the LGBTQ commu...