Title: How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People — and What Hollywood Can Do to Become More Inclusive | Scholars Strategy Network
Headings: How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People — and What Hollywood Can Do to Become More Inclusive
How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People — and What Hollywood Can Do to Become More Inclusive
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Nancy Wang Yuen
Harms from Portrayals of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Media
How Hollywood Can Take Strong Corrective Actions

Content: How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People — and What Hollywood Can Do to Become More Inclusive | Scholars Strategy Network
SSN Key Findings
How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People — and What Hollywood Can Do to Become More Inclusive
June 4, 2019
Policy field
Race & Ethnicity
Media & Public Opinion
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Nancy Wang Yuen
Biola University
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In 2015, the average U.S. resident consumed traditional and digital media for about 15.5 hours each day. In the same year, eight- to twelve-year-old children consumed an average of six hours of media a day and teens consumed nine hours. This mind-boggling amount of media consumption shapes how U.S. residents see the world, and racial imagery in the media has cumulative effects on society. Often biased media portrayals of racial groups cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment, especially not if their impact on youth are taken seriously. Harms from Portrayals of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Media
Researchers have found that prolonged television exposure predicts a decrease in self-esteem for all girls and for black boys, but an increase in self-esteem for white boys. These differences correlate with the racial and gender practices in Hollywood, which predominantly casts white men as heroes, while erasing or subordinating other groups as villains, sidekicks, and sexual objects. Studies also show how media images of Native American mascots lower the self-esteem and affect the moods of Native American adolescents and young adults (who suffer from high suicide rates). Beyond specific effects on particular groups of viewers, racial images packaged as entertainment can skew the way all viewers understand and categorize people. Popular media can have a negative impact on whites’ perceptions of people of color and racial stereotypes in film and television can exacerbate preexisting racist fears. One study finds that popular media depictions of nonverbal features of people of color, including facial expressions and body language, influence racial biases for white viewers.