Title: What Exactly is Media Representation Anyway? - Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI)
Headings: What Exactly is Media Representation Anyway?
What Exactly is Media Representation Anyway?
What does representation in the media really mean?
But I see diversity in media all the time…
What’s the importance of representation?
Well, media companies are just doing what makes them the most money…right?
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About the Author: Yasmina Tawil

Content: There are a number of groups who are underrepresented in most Western media. They include women, people of color, LBGTQA+ people, people with a range of body shapes and types, people of non-Christian religions, and differently-abled people. There has been a steady increase of diversity in media, but progress has been long and slow. Ghostbusters (2016) image – Sony Pictures
But I see diversity in media all the time…
There are a few major ways producers of media can misrepresent a community, under the guise of creating diversity. The first is tokenism. Tokenism is when the inclusion of a minority or other underrepresented group is no more than a symbolic effort to make a story or environment seem equal or diverse. This can be seen in many different aspects of life, from the “diversity hires” at work, to the gay best friend in a television show. Another way to misrepresent people is through stereotyping and typecasting, which are two concepts that are very closely related. Stereotyping can be seen in media through the assumptions of how a certain type of person is supposed to be due to their racial, ethnic, gender, sexual or religious identity. Stereotypes, even those that seem harmless or even positive, can have a profound effect on society as they create unrealistic, and often negative, expectations and assumptions.