Diversity in the Media

The media is constantly changing as society changes, as there is a relationship between the two, since the media plays a central tole in shaping and influencing. Although I do feel that the media often has negative effects on our society and culture, such as body image and appearance, the media, such as television shows, are changing to include more diversity, which is beneficial to our culture.

Lately I have been noticing more shows that are displaying more diversity in their content. As standards are changing, media content is changing. Grey's Anatomy is a good example of a television show that portrays African Americans as successful, as opposed to mainly just Caucasians. The show was created by a Black woman and she wrote it so that the head of surgery is an African American male, and many of the other doctors are African American as well and all of them are highly respected on the show. One of the African American doctors is also a woman, which is sort of a "double plus." This can be very inspiring to younger generations, not just to those who aspire to be doctors, but to any who have a dream career. Grey's Anatomy shows that it does not matter what race you are or where you come from; a person can be successful without any of these factors making a difference. It also shows more diversity as it displays an African American doctor and an Asian doctor in a relationship, showing how interracial relationships are becoming more accepted and have evolved tremendously over time. You don't see these two races portrayed together much in the media and I think that it is good for popular television shows to popularize certain aspects of our culture that have not been made so public in the past. The sitcome, The Game, is another example of a show that depicts an interracial relationship as it shows a Cacausian female with an African American male. Desperate Housewives is another example of a show that promotes diversity. Eva Longoria is playing the role of a rich housewife and her husband is also very successful; both of them are of Hispanic or Latin descent. The show tries to rid the stereotype of the relationship between minorities and gardening since in this show, Eva Longoria's gardener is Caucasian. Here, the expectation that most people have about gardeners and the wealthy is reversed.

The media has also helped bring homosexuality out into the open. Before the mid 20th century, gay people were thought of as criminals. Since then, this has all changed and the media has played central role in making gays more accepted. Lately the media has been depicting more gays than in the past in television shows and other dramas. The documentary, Further off the Straight and Narrow, says "gays on T.V. makes them more real." Before it seemed that the only way for gays to be depicted on television was if it had relation to AIDS or HIV; however, now they are depicted in many different fashions. Gay people are depicted on many reality shows, such as Real World and Queer Eye For the Straight Guy and even sitcoms, such as Will and Grace. Even Ellen DeGeneres, a successful talk show host is openly gay and is widely accepted and very popular. Dawson's Creek was even one of the first shows to depict a gay teen coming out to his family and friends, which allowed many gay teens struggling with this issue to be able to relate to. One of the biggest obstacles in society is getting used to and accepting gays for who they are.

It is very important to have diveristy in the media because the media significantly has an impact on the way many Americans think and on their attitudes as well. This can ultimately shape our cutlure and hopefully with time, more diveristy in the media will give acceptance to more diverisity in the real world. Although I have given several exmaples of television shows that are trying to bring more diversity, this trend must continue because it is still not nearly enough. There are still numerous shows which lack any diveristy and have very few, if any, minorities written in their scripts; however, things do seem to be taking a turn for the better and hopefully this will continue. I hope that sometime in the near future, discrimination greatly decreases and women, gays, and minorities are able to be placed in successful positions.