Latinos in the Media

For my Multicultural Education class, we were assigned to research how another ethnicity is portrayed in the media. I choose to look at Latinos and it was pretty interesting. Here's a part of my paper:

The media tends to perpetuate racial stereotypes. For example, in popular movies and TV shows Latin males are often depicted as lazy, domineering, gangsters, drug lords, or criminals. In some films, they are portrayed as mysterious, romantic and astonishingly good at salsa dancing. Latinas are either submissive or feisty, but usually seductive and scantily clad. Unless of course they are older in which case they are cantankerous and stubborn. Sometimes Latinos are used in sidekick roles or as comic relief. Rarely are they the hero unless the majority of the cast is also Latino.
News articles about Latinos seem to focus on a few main topics. Several years ago, there was a lot of controversy about Mexicans crossing the United States border illegally. It’s possible that the news coverage on this occurrence may cause other students to view their Latino classmates as inferior because they may not be official U.S. citizens. Students may also integrate this with the criminal stereotype in films and lead majority students to be distrusting or suspicious. This prejudice may spread to any student of Latin descent regardless of their background and personal history.
The news also highlights the high dropout and pregnancy rates among Latin teens. In doing so other students may perceive their Latino peers as lazy, dumb or promiscuous. Latino students themselves may be discouraged by these findings which could perpetuate a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in the way they view their potential. Rather than have an attitude of meritocracy which encourages all students of their ability to be successful, these articles suggest the deficit theory which implies that those from a minority culture are lacking compared to those in the dominant culture. Fortunately, there are some Latinos who have risen above this notion and proved that, despite race, one can achieve great success. These people help counter negative stereotypes that Latin Americans may face.

The Church and the Media

I know a lot of people already wrote on this, but I am also fascinated by how the media can be a force for good as exhibited by General Conference. How cool is it that we can watch it in our own living rooms, or download it onto our MP3 players, or that it can reach people on the other side of the world!
In the latest Ensign and in other church publications, Church leaders encourage us to share about our church through blogs, chatting, etc.
On the other hand, think back to Elder Bednar's fireside when he spoke about reality versus virtual reality. Or how the General Authorities warn us against pornography of any kind.
The media really is a double edge sword.

Invasion of the Blog

Blogs are everywhere! I went to a friend's house last night and her mom showed me her blog. Another friend also has to keep a blog for her American Civilization class. One of my coworkers showed me her sister's very detailed, pay-by-play mission blog kept by the mission president's wife. It's pretty crazy how fast they have caught on. But to be honest, they aren't so bad. I kind of like them and think they're interesting. I may even have a real one after this class is over. I'm coming over to the dark side!

So when I'm doing paperwork and data entry at work, I like to listen to music. It makes things a lot more enjoyable. Today, however, Pandora was being really slow and I realized just how much I like having music in the background and how much more monotonous work is without it. I became pretty impatient. I'm also realizing that Pandora plays a lot of the same songs over. Or maybe I just need to create some new stations...

Last night when I came home, my roomates were watching License To Wed. I'd never seen it but it had "Jim" from the Office in it and I like him so I sat down and watched it with them. It was okay, but there were just so many references to sex. In fact the main characters are challenged to abstain from sex until they are married and they are just shocked by the notion. I guess that's just how the world sees it, that's just what you do when you're dating someone. Another thing that bothered me was how vindictive the characters are. It's just painful to watch, I ended up just going to bed after about twenty mintues, it's wasn't worth watching.

I've got to be honest, I always thought blogs were a little weird. I was actually kind of proud of myself for evading the pandemic that seems to have hit everyone from coffee shop poets to Jr. High gossip girls to soccer moms. But alas, it is required for this class and so I will, albeit grudgingly, succumb to this cultural phenomenon. If I really think about it, probably one of my main reservations is the fact that I will actually love blogging and become somewhat of an addict (which will only be reinforced by my grade in this class). Only time will tell...