When one thinks of the transitions and changes from fifty years ago, how significant are those thoughts? Maybe those thoughts drift back to the space movement, assassinations or even the Apollo 8. Maybe what you haven’t taken into consideration is the growth and impact social media and technology has bestowed upon generations for now and to come.

Since the 1960’s, technology has played a role in protests, revolutions and riots. In the article, “Small Change” by Malcolm Gladwell, it mentions how in 1960, a sit-in protest occurred in a small restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina when a waitress refused to serve a young black boy in college. During this time period, there was no cell phones or Internet to gather people together for this protest. Word had to travel through people, not through social media or phone calls. On day one, there was only four people, but those numbers progressively increased going up to twenty-seven, eighty, three-hundred all the way up to six hundred, all within less than a week. The thought of all of this happening without technology may baffle the newer generations as they tend to be glued to their devices but back in the 1960’s, if someone wanted to get things done, they would find a way regardless of whether or not technology was in the picture. The transformations from 60 years ago up until today where technology is a part of our day-to-day lives is insane how much change has happened since then. Going from four people refusing to move to protest racial discrimination all the way up to six hundred people protesting that in under a week. In modern times, the amount of time it would take to stage and plan a protest or revolution could take weeks, perhaps months or even longer just to get plans in place. Back in those older times, the face-to-face interaction seemed to have spread faster than technology would have because everyone had time to communicate and socialize with others in a manner that helped them know everyone.

In the second article, “Beyond the Aww Factor: Human interest Profiles of Paralympians and the media navigation of physical difference and social stigma”, it discusses the stigma behind being “disabled” and the weight that word carries. The author, K. Ellis, start sit off by mentioning an interview that occurred in late June 2008 with John Maclean and how he wanted to essentially “erase” the word “disabled”. He said it had negative connotations associated with it that could impact how others view themselves and even how we view others. The term disability is a degrading term that doesn’t get enough recognition as the media usually tends to be revolved around those who are not disabled. This one simple term is enough to make or break someone’s career. The negativity that is chained alongside with it can be very belittling. In 1999, Ian Parsons made a speech saying “The women’s movement does not […] emphasise the “maleness” of women. The aboriginal movement does not […] emphasise the “whiteness” of aborigines.The gay and lesbian movement does not […] emphasise the “heterosexualness” of gay men and lesbians. But the disability movement does, it seems, very much emphasise the “ableness” of people with disabilities.” What he is saying about this word is that it carries a lot of power, and it shouldn’t be used especially when it comes to sports because that makes them look like they’re not capable of doing what others can. Another main point made is just to steer away labels as they can just drag people down and they typically are not necessary in everyday conversation.

Growing up as a child, the thought of being a superhero to some was always one of the most exciting things you could be. The idea of an eye-catching outfit, inhuman superpowers and the role of being someone for others to look up to was always an idea that sounded too good to be true. For today’s society, the young girls who want to be a superhero must face a cruel reality when they start to grow up; women can be superheroes, but they cannot be effective ones. Superman and Batman and Thor- all these men have costumes that cover them almost head to toe with effective protection. Wonder Woman or Black Widow- these women are superheroes in the media, but they fight with little to no clothes on. What good is being a hero when you can’t or won’t be able to make it to the next fight?

The objectification these characters often act, play a major role in the industry. By hypersexualizing women, it brings in profits, it gets more attention. Though, those are nice, women would like to see an accurate portrayal of women that isn’t degrading in a way that offends anyone. Let’s see a role where a woman isn’t wearing a corset or heavy makeup that draw attention to her face. The outcome of this is women’s self esteem being lowered. Often, the female character plays a damsel-in-distress who gets saved by her hero, her prince. This stereotype has slowly gone away, and women are now becoming the hero of their own stories, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t come at a price.

In the article “The Problem with Female Superheroes” by Cindi May, it mentions how objectified and overly sexualized women are when it comes to the media. There was a study done that made participants watch scenes from movies such as Spider- Man or X-Men that questioned participants on their body esteem, self-objectification questions based around their own personal identity and the participants attitudes towards men and women’s responsibilities at home and in the workplace. When women watched the scenes from Spider-Man, they tended to agree with statements that leaned toward misogyny than other such options. This reflects how society views women and how women view society. The options on this questionnaire were “Men and women should share housework equally” or “Men are better at taking on mental challenges than women”. This is a poor representation of the media because women should see their worth and not base it off the men in media. The representation we lack and desperately need is unfathomable and yet we all know about it, we choose not to address it.

When we put women in movies and television shows, the directors and creators do not show what a “normal” woman looks like. Women do not have small waists and big hips and tight clothing all while fighting criminals. This is unrealistic and though representation is needed, it isn’t the correct way to portray feminism. Why can’t Wonder Woman have a shield? Or simply pants? This could portray that women are not worth more than a sexual vision for the audience and that’s degrading and unnatural. We can only hope that the future has better promises for women because at this point in time, it’s not equal and it’s not progress.

When one thinks of movies and characters we see on the big screen, we visualize our favorite television shows, such as Friends, Glee, Big Bang Theory, Full House or even movies such as The Notebook or Titanic- but what do all these shows and movies have in common? The leading roles are consistently being played by predominantly white people. Maybe you’ve noticed this pattern, or maybe you haven’t, but next time you watch a movie or a show, try to pinpoint the similarities and compare to other series you may watch. It’s astonishing how often white people are cast as roles that could be played by people of color or minorities.

The movie Black Panther has been a major shift in cinematic history due to its cast, being made up almost entirely of people of color. Now, I know what you’re thinking- hasn’t this already been done before? The answer to that is yes, it has. The Cosby Show was created in the early 80’s and was a cast made entirely of black people. Contrary to popular belief, it was a very famous television show that did not portray society’s racist or degrading stereotypes. It’s interesting to think about because during that time frame, people of color had such oppression it was problematic in their day-to day lives. The Cosby Show was a television show that was for the people. It was not made as a sitcom to degrade or humiliate people of color, it was a television show that was a positive and encouraging point of view for that family and all other families watching, it was a ray of hope that despite all that happens in the world, things will always get better.

The Cosby Show was a stepping stone towards the Marvel Cinematic Universe that gave us Black Panther. This is a more modern film that represents minorities or those who were never in the spotlight previous to this movie coming out. The main character, T’Challa, or more commonly known as the Black Panther, doesn’t have to face life or death situations or sacrifice his own life for the greater good. This movie forges its own path in regards to cast, problem- solving techniques, and stereotypes- it’s all raw, original material. Black Panther is finally being recognized as a heroic role in cinematic history that pertains to our society more than say, Glee or Full House.

In today’s society, heroic power and masculinity may typically often fall hand-in-hand in the stories or movies we are told or taught from a young age. In all the stories of the heroes, more often than not, the hero tends to be a male. The role of the hero matches the description as any other hero from any other television show or book series. Picture this: you’re watching Iron Man and notice the similarities between Tony Stark and all the other heroes. There’s Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Thor, and many more. Notice the similarities? The heroic role they play is almost identical to each other; tall white men in masks and tights fighting battles just for other problems to arise almost as quickly as it showed.

In the article “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Black Panther Is Revolutionist History” by Briana Lawrence, it mentions a superhero new to the public and new to the screens, Black Panther. The significance of this story is not just another character devised to trick youngsters into paying eight dollars for a movie ticket, but instead to open the world’s eyes that not all superheroes are white men. In the storyline of this film, it follows the main character, Black Panther who comes across a problem (or several) and finds a way to diminish it without it stirring back up. This already differs from the “normal” roles that have been played because he defies the odds against him while also maintaining a character that rebels against the “social norm”.

This character was created to inspire those who may not fall into the categories as the other superheroes, the kids who have possibly never had a role model to look up to and Black Panther was it for them. The significance of Black Panther being played by a black character, with cast full of mostly colored people was to represent those who have maybe not felt represented before. The significance was to challenge the “normal” roles we have watched on television for decades and decades. It is a movie of hope and diversity to show people all over the world that superheroes or role models of any kind, do not always look the same. This movie was a stepping stone in revolutionary terms for future children who want a role model to look up to and can only start to pave the path for what is near to come.

Ideologies are  present in almost everything. It is not something we choose to adapt or dismiss. Ideologies are something that exist predetermined when we are born. This is something Stuart Hall touches on in his writing titled, The Whites of Their Eyes. We use ideologies to understand and have others make sense of us. Hall explains that ideologies can change over time. This process is done collectively rather than individually. This also means this process is an unconscious intent rather than conscious. Where do these ideologies come from? Many come from our media. Media is a major factor in the construction of ideologies as well as the articulation of these ideologies.  Its in every media piece we consume. If its intentional  or not is another question. Like I said before, ideologies are typically unconscious intentions.

This ideology that media spits out at us, can directly affect our prejudices. Edward Schiappa, a media studies researcher at MIT, decided to put this to the test. He studied how shows that show prominently gay men might lower prejudices towards LGBTQ people. The results supported this claim. People who watched these shows showed to have lowered prejudices. This is obviously a great thing and can be used in a positive manner. Despite this, it can also work the opposite way. And in our current state of media, it is often hidden in between the lines. Take a scroll through a news outlet home page and view the titles and the thumbnail used. I did this on a few websites and though I did not see any overtly prejudice titles I did see a recurring theme with the thumbnails connected. When a story is covering a general story regarding homelessness, unemployment, poverty, and other similar topics, the people in the thumbnail are typically black or Hispanic. When stories cover the new apple watch the thumbnail used is a white mans are with an apple watch on it. I also saw several “how to “ articles such as, “how to file your taxes”  or even “how to listen to the right audio book”. All these thumbnails including people of color. This was all found on CNN’s website. To the youth this may appear as, people of color don’t know how to do these things white people may know how to do. Or even that poverty is specific to race.

Media like this just furthers these ideologies. This can consequently lead to inferential racism continuing on as well as other prejudices. But, as mentioned before media ideology can be used for positive impact. Such as encouraging all media consumption regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, and so on. This is how the  ideology can change long term.

What is a hero? It could be a comic book superhero, a parent, or even yourself. How do we determine who is a hero and who is not? Most people would argue superman is definitely a hero. He fits the stereotype and the archetype of what society considers a hero to look like and behave. Superman actions are selfless, and he typically is successful at doing good deeds. He wears a costume that allows him to fit the role in which he is expected to fit.

In Stereotyping written by Richard Dyer discusses four forms used in sociology to explain how we organize and make sense of others. These four forms are, role, individual, type, and member. Role refers to the set of actions a person performs. this can include dress, speech, and gesture. An example of this could be how a professor stands at the front of the class and the students sit in the seats facing the professor. This is an example of the individuals taking a role. Individual is reference to the sum of all of their roles. One may take on several roles and the sum of this is what makes the individual. Type is the assumption that certain type of person performs a certain role. For example, a common thought of a professor may look like an older white male with gray hair wearing a sweater vest and a tie. Finally, member is the given class or social group of a person. Dyer goes on and pulls reference from Klapp’s book titled, Heroes, Villains, and Fools. Klapp distinguishes the differences between stereotypes and social types. Klapp states that stereotypes are outside one’s social world and social types refer to things in which one is familiar. Say Superman decides to save a town from destruction via comet. He is fulfilling this role society placed him in. If Superman decided “oh, that is way too dangerous I cannot and will not try to stop this comet.” Society would most likely not consider him a hero because he is not fulfilling those stereotypes and archetypes. This is also an example of ideology.

Something else to consider is, is a hero a hero if they do not succeed at the task at hand? What if superman did try to stop the comet from destroying an entire town and failed? This would result in many lives being lost. I would argue that even though Superman performed a heroic act he would not be considered a hero. I believe the stereotypes and archetypes around hero’s relies heavily on the success of the hero. I challenge you to put this to the test. Ask someone who a hero and what act specifically makes them a hero. I would bet these answers would be based off the success of their good deed. It is just another prime example of the stereotypes and archetypes society creates. Something else Dyer hits on is that the acknowledgement of these is not enough. Yes, it is great to recognize and dismiss stereotypes as truth. This does not eliminate them though. Stereotypes are greatly consumed and established through media and need to be eliminated the same way.