Representations of Black Women in the Media

For awhile now, I’ve wanted to write about depictions of black women in the mainstream media. I've been looking for a currently-running popular TV show I could closely analyze or use as an example and couldn’t think of any. And that’s the problem. I remember when I was growing up there were plenty of black shows on primetime television. Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single – I have fond memories of watching these shows because they were funny, well-made and more relatable to me on a personal level than the shows we see today. Long gone are the times when networks threw in a black show to cater to African-American audiences – that role is now being fulfilled by black networks like BET and TVOne. BET started airing Reed Between the Lines this past fall, while TVOne just started airing the third season of Love That Girl, staring Tatiyana Ali (of Fresh Prince fame) as the leading character Tyana Jones. The show is produced by Martin Lawrence, and includes several writers from The Jamie Foxx Show. I’ve watched season two of the series, and I have to say it’s pretty terrible. It’s not very funny, the characters are all stereotypes (the gay best friend, the cheap father), and the show never caught my attention.

But of all the clichéd characters in Love That Girl, the most bothersome is definitely Imunique. Imunique works as a secretary to Tyana’s father, and was hired through a rehabilitation program. She wears garish clothing and weaves, has long fake nails and a bad attitude to go along with her ghetto fabulous name. Her ghetto persona is accompanied by neck rolls, finger snaps and references to other shows featuring similarly ghetto women like Basketball Wives that are supposed to be funny. Really? Are we still seeing the ‘sassy black woman’ cliché after all these years? It’s sad that the most persistent images we see of black women are violent, angry women or single mothers closer to the Mammy stereotype. And to the chagrin of aspiring black actresses, some of the most famous depictions of black women have been played by men, such as Tyler Perry's Madea. Unfortunately, these images trickle down into the way people perceive blacks in real life: I’ve been told many times that I don’t ‘act black’ because I’m well spoken and don’t (usually) have an attitude. So the message people receive from the media about blacks is that they are all rude and unintelligent – and any black who doesn’t fit into these categories is an exception at best or a sellout at worst. What this means is that when we see the images of stereotypical blacks in the media like Imunique is that we aren't supposed to be laughing with them but at them.

While conditions of poverty or imprisonment may be true for a portion of the black population, the media rarely addresses the politics of the issue: why is it that more blacks are struggling with poverty or are in jail? The media are quick to offer statistics showing that more black women are single than any other group – but they don’t take any responsibility for the negative images of black women they create, or for defining and judging beauty by Eurocentric standards. Many people would argue that there are black women out there who are 'ghetto' or Mammy-types. And of course, I know that most people take these stereotypes with a grain of salt and judge people on an individual basis. But when the cultural perception of a group is so consistently negative (if that group is lucky enough to get included at all), then what does that say about us? The answer to that isn't so simple - and neither is the solution.

 

 

 

I'm Still Waiting for 'Ballerina Husbands...'

The cast of Baseball Wives (VH1).

On Wednesday Nov. 30., VH1 will premiere the reality show Baseball Wives. The series is one of many spinoffs of the successful Basketball Wives franchise, which includes series such as Basketball Wives LA and Football Wives. Upon seeing the trailer for the show, I realized how many reality shows there are about ‘wives.’ Some examples include The Real Housewives franchise, Mob Wives, and Love & Hip Hop, a series following the wives of famous rappers. National Geographic is even jumping on the trend, with the series Wild Wives of Africa, which is about female animals in wild habitats. No, really. Even though all of these series have different casts of women who presumably come from different backgrounds, all of the ‘wives’ shows have one common feature: drama. These shows exploit the women, showcasing their jealousy, pettiness and plenty of weave-pulling cat fights. VH1’s blog for Baseball Wives shows the women in skimpy outfits while they attempt their best pinup poses. What does this have to do with baseball again?

             But my real problem with all of these ‘wives’ series is that the only reason these women are being featured is because they have prominent husbands. The trend of shows revolved around wives displays the double standards that are common in our society. There is still much more pressure for women to get married than there is for men, and women are often defined by whether they have a man in their lives. The pervasiveness of these shows suggest that the most women can seek is to be attached to a successful man instead of achieving such success themselves. But at the same time, even when these women do ‘achieve’ marrying a rich man, the media makes it seem as though these women deserve to be ridiculed for doing so. Many people dismiss the women on these shows as being golddiggers, and claim they don’t deserve to be on television. I’ve watched Basketball Wives as a guilty pleasure, and the women always make it a point to mention that there’s more to them than just being the wife of a famous athlete. Several of the women have their own businesses, went to college and are mothers. Basketball Wives itself is the business venture of Shaunie O'Neal, ex-wife of basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. Yet the titles of these shows undermine the importance of these women – because what matters most is that they are wives.

Would we be as quick to attack men if they were in the positions as these women, dismissing them as ‘jumpoffs’ of their more successful wives? It’s hard to imagine, since we are rarely presented with such a scenario in our society. The media only heightens the gender inequality – after all, there isn’t a chain of shows about men who are married to famous women. Most people would be hardpressed to even imagine what type of show that would be, since the most attractive, high paying jobs in our society have traditionally been coded ‘masculine,’ and the few career choices that we automatically think of as ‘feminine’ would probably make ridiculous television (‘Ballerina Husbands,’ anyone?).  But even if there were television shows following the husbands of famous women, I don’t think they would be throwing Smirnoff on one another.

Controversy over Rihanna's Video "We Found Love"

Rihanna’s latest video, “We Found Love,” has recently garnered controversy for its frank depiction of drug usage and abuse. The video stars Rihanna and Chris Brown-look-alike Calvin Harris in a chaotic, dysfunctional relationship. Eileen Kelly of the Rape Crisis Center said "Rihanna's new video is a disgrace. It sends the message that she is an object to be possessed by men, which is disturbingly what we see in real violence cases." Critics were particularly bothered by a scene where her boyfriend tattoos the word ‘Mine’ on her backside while she’s screaming in pain. The video also intercuts between scenes of the couple arguing and having sex, although they aren’t physically violent as the heated scenes between Meagan Fox and Lost star Dominic Monaghan in “Love the Way You Lie” are. But I have to say that the video doesn’t bother me much: “Love the Way You Lie” is far more disturbing to me, because the lyrics express that the abuser is lying about being sorry for hurting her, the female says she ‘likes the way it hurts,’ not to mention during the actual video we only see her being violent towards him. Even more important than the fact that there are other, far more controversial music videos, “We Found Love” is just one of the many images in our society that works to ‘normalize’ hypersexuality. Thus, we can’t blame just Rihanna, because she is simply a product of our larger, image-centered society.

As one blogger pointed out, the central problem with many of these criticisms is that they give different expectations for prominent women in the media than for men. Why is it that female celebrities, especially pop stars, have to be ‘role models’ when males are not expected to meet such high expectations? And critics seem to be forgetting that double-standards work both ways: although many feminists fight against oppressive images of women, only showcasing positive images of women won’t help us achieve equality either. And besides, I do believe Rihanna has the right to write about her own experiences. I actually appreciate Rihanna’s candid lyricism – even if the message that she wants to get back all of the bad stuff just to get back the good stuff isn’t politically correct, it reflects what many women experience in real life. And in the end, Rihanna’s character does walk out on her boyfriend, suggesting that the video may instead be trying to show how unhealthy dysfunctional relationships are. So maybe the video really isn’t sending such a controversial message – or at least not one that’s so black-and-white.

Ashley Madison: Fat Women are Scary

The day after Halloween, I noticed this ad on the back page of New York Metro. The ad features an obese woman posing in lingerie. While the image disturbed me, the ad’s tagline actually bothered me more, asking: “Did your wife scare you last night?” Then I noticed the bottom of the ad: it was an ad for Ashley Madison, a company that caters to married people who want to have affairs. I’ll push the moral problems I have with this homewrecking business to the side, and instead focus on the ad’s not-so subtle implication that fat women are ‘scary.’ And of course, if a woman is fat, she deserves for her husband to cheat on her. After all, it’s her fault for not realizing those marriage vows came with a weight clause.

What doesn’t make sense is that the business may be risking offending customers who are big women, which according to the company is a growing sector of their consumer base. But it’s not like Ashley Madison ever acknowledges female consumers in their advertisements – most of their ads contain half naked women to lure in potential male customers. I guess it’s not shocking that Ashley Madison’s ads reflect gender stereotypes - that only men have affairs and no man wants a heavy woman – because this is true of almost all media. Other bloggers were bothered by the ad's reinforcement of the myth that fat women don’t get laid. I can’t say the ad is doing something horrible that’s never been done before – after all, it’s nothing new to see women being valued by their physical attributes over all else. But this ad attacks so many groups and values at the same time - women, bigger people and the institution of marriage itself - that it's offensiveness is impossible to ignore. I think what’s truly scary about this ad is that it was ever allowed to run in the first place.

Women and Power: Miss Representation

This past Thursday, Jennifer Seibel Newsom’s film Miss Representation made its television debut on Oprah’s OWN network. The documentary discusses the pervasive sexism in media, and was praised at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The objectified images we see of women in magazines and on television harmfully affect the ways women see themselves in real life, as women who possess youth, beauty and passivity dominate the media landscape. As girls learn to judge themselves and other women primarily by physical attractiveness instead of their intelligence, boys are also learning to judge women by the impossible standards of beauty set by the media. Even on the news, gender inequalities are reproduced, as the reporters often look like “someone’s grandfather and his much younger second wife.” The idea that media is made for men, who are a more desirable and evasive audience, is ‘justified’ by the myth that men won’t watch stories for and about women, Twilight be damned. And what’s worse is that we’re numb to it all.

The film also addresses the critical issue of the lack of women who produce media. The documentary provides dismal statistics, which show that merely 16% of film directors and 7% of scriptwriters are women. Only 3% of positions of clout in the media industry belong to women. The lack of diversity behind the scenes is one of the main reasons we still see such stereotyped images in media; the other reason discussed at length in the film is the emergence of female political figures. The most fascinating subject discussed in the film is the realization that as women are becoming more powerful in the real world, they’ve become more hypersexualized and objectified in the media, as if to take away that power. This phenomenon ripples over into the ways media judge female politicians primarily by their looks, from saying Nancy Pelosi needs a facelift to photographs of Sarah Palin at the podium angled between her legs. The film’s tagline, “We cannot be what we cannot see,” eloquently captures why as girls become older, they stop wishing to become future presidents. In order to take back that power, Miss Representation encourages women to show their discontent – with their pockets, as women make up 86% of the consumer power in our society. In this way, the media can be used to change the ways women are shown.

Of course, Miss Representation is not without its flaws. I found Jennifer Seibel Newsom’s personal story to be unnecessary, and her narration is extremely monotonous. Several critics mentioned that the film gives too much credit to the media as the cause of sexism in our society. But what really bothered me is that the film misses a great opportunity to discuss how women from ethnic minorities are depicted in the media. Even though Miss Representation includes commentary from Condoleezza Rice, Rosario Dawson and Margaret Cho, nearly all of the images dissected in the film are of white women, and the topic about the ‘angry black woman’ stereotype is only mentioned in passing. It’s a shame that the film meant to critique the media industry’s narrow depictions of women also leaves these marginalized groups invisible.

Tide: Cargo Shorts are the New Pink

Recently, I’ve noticed a commercial airing for Tide laundry detergent. In it, a stereotypical suburban mother comments on her young daughter’s fashion choices – she likes to wear hoodies and cargo shorts instead of pink – and when the mother uses Tide to successfully remove crayon stains from her daughter’s clothes, she laments that “it’s really too bad.” When I first saw this commercial, I was really bothered by it. If the mother’s disapproval is any indication, the message the commercial appears to be sending is that all girls should like pink and play with dolls. And even more disturbing is the implication that girls who don’t wear pink and play with building blocks might become lesbians (and that if the child was to grow up to be gay, the mother would be disappointed about this).

And yet, the more I thought about, I began to actually like the commercial. I appreciated that the commercial doesn’t reproduce the stereotypes of young girls (and really, women in general) that perpetuate the media. Instead of the typical image of a little girl dressed up in a fairy princess costume, we see a different identity for young girls, one that would normally remain invisible. The mother is at the very least kind towards her daughter and compliments her talent, even if she wishes she was more feminine. The commercial also shows that gender roles are social constructions that are learned, not part of our inherent biology. If anything, the commercial sides with the daughter, because it is the mother who looks foolish for wanting her to fit into societal norms (and for not wanting the stains to wash out of her daughter's less-than-girly clothes). If only toy companies would follow suit and open up their marketing to young girls beyond Bratz dolls.

Of course, the effectiveness of the commercial is extremely limited. As several bloggers pointed out, if the commercial is supposed to be satirizing suburban values, then it doesn’t do a good job of getting it’s message across. And the daughter doesn’t speak up for herself, so we are essentially only getting the mother’s point-of-view. So while the message of the advertisement is ultimately undermined, and the execution is poor, I can at least respect it for attempting to produce something new.

New Yorkers Gather to Celebrate the Columbus Day Parade

On a beautiful Monday morning, floats, flag-bearers and marching bands proceeded along Fifth Avenue in celebration of Columbus Day. The 67^th Columbus Day Parade started at 11:30 in the morning on October 10^th, traveling from 44^th Street to 72^nd Street in Manhattan. The event included more than 35,000 marchers and approximately 100 bands and floats, according to The Columbus Citizens Foundation, who organized the celebration. At the front of the parade were Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

            The Columbus Day Parade is the largest event in New York City celebrating those of Italian-American heritage.  Floats loaded with students from local schools such as La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi filled the streets, while people on the sidelines waved Italian flags. The grand marshal of the event, Joseph Plumeri, believes that the parade pays tribute not only to Columbus himself, but to the immigrants who founded the nation.

“We would be nothing today without those people who came here with little more than the clothes on their back," he told the Columbus Citizens Foundation.


Arianna Holland, a tourist visiting from Toronto of Italian heritage, agrees, and says that she enjoyed the entire ambience of the event.

            “I’ve noticed that Italian-Americans are so patriotic, to both America and Italy. It makes me so excited just to be around all of this,” she said.

The La Scuola d'Italia Gugliemo Marconi float (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg).

            But for others, the excitement of the day transcended ethnic and cultural affiliations. Jorge Polanco, a New Yorker who is of Ecuadorian heritage, says he enjoyed seeing people come together to watch the parade, and wants to come back next year.

“What I enjoy most is the principle of this parade. It’s a celebration of the city’s multicultural makeup,” he said.

Indeed, the Columbus Day Parade celebrated more than the historical figure it’s named after. Police officers and firefighters joined in on the event , while people clapped and cheered for them on the sidelines. Entertainment included a performance by singer Pia Toscano, a former American Idol contestant. (You can watch the video here).

The event also successfully managed to capture the spirit of the city. Several floats blasted popular American music such as Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” while the end of the event featured several people, including Joseph Plumeri, singing Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

And true to the spirit of the city, the celebration brought large crowds. Waves of people were jammed up against the barricades, while police officers monitored the flow of traffic. Several people complained that they couldn’t see the performances. Josette Veguro, who came from Long Island with her daughter and husband to watch the parade, agreed.

“It’s a beautiful day and I’m enjoying myself, but I can’t see anything!,” she said while laughing. “I definitely want to come back next year, though.”

“But we’re coming a little bit earlier,” her husband added.

           

Tough Love for VH1's "Tough Love"



The cast of Tough Love: Miami (VH1).

 A few weeks ago, the third season of the reality television program Tough Love, entitled Tough Love: Miami debuted on VH1. The series follows a group of single women, who are coached by relationship expert Steve Ward on how to become more confident and attract the right man. In each episode, the women are given a challenge (which are usually performed during dates, such as paying the bill or telling a secret), and then are given feedback from Steve during ‘bootcamps.’ I’ve watched the previous two seasons of this show and I really do like it (I’m a sucker for reality television, barring Jersey Shore). However, I’m not a huge fan of the messages behind the show, which are reflections of larger social attitudes.

The biggest problem I have with the show is that it is based upon a double standard. The women who appear on Tough Love have had bad luck in dating, and many of them desperately want to get married.  But women aren’t the only ones who have relationship problems – after all, most people want to find someone special. Yet the show only ‘fixes’ women, which sends the message that something is ‘wrong’ with a woman if she’s single. The series exploits the plight of single women, by mocking them for their faults. For example, in the first episode of Tough Love: Miami, Steve gives the girls nicknames such as ‘Miss Desperate’ and ‘Miss Drama Queen.’ In the second episode, embarrassing photos of the women were posted on a large screen when they were on dates, including one woman’s mugshot. Tough Love also revolves around heteronormative standards, as there have been no lesbians to appear on the show. This suggests that a man may be ‘complete’ without a woman, but women certainly aren’t ‘complete’ without men.

Of course, I don’t blame Tough Love for singlehandedly sending these messages. Society, friends and families pressure women to feel that they should be married by the time they reach a certain age. But instead of reinforcing these beliefs, Tough Love should be reassuring these women that it’s okay to be alone. At the very least, VH1 is attempting to fix Tough Love’s double standard by debuting a new show, Why Am I Still Single?, which will help both single women and men find love. Hey, it’s a start.

Men Eat From Mars, Women Eat From Venus

It’s always bothered me the way food is gendered on television commercials. Advertisers make it seem as though only men eat hot dogs and burgers, while only women crave all things chocolate. But the queen of gendered foods is without a doubt yogurt. This past summer, I noticed a commercial advertising Raspberry Cheesecake Yoplait Lite airing all over the place. In it, a woman opens up a refrigerator in her workplace and finds a cheesecake. She debates over whether she should take a piece: “I could have one large slice and jog in place as I eat it.” Her female coworker comes by and takes the cheesecake-flavored yogurt, saying she’s been craving it all day, which prompts the other woman to follow her choice. Immediately after watching the commercial, my first thought was: “I would have eaten the cheesecake.” (You can see the ad for yourself here):

In the world of commercials, women are always on a diet and battling over what they should and should not eat.  What’s most unfortunate about food commercials like these is that they showcase how much women are still judged primarily by looks, because food commercials that target men rarely address their appearance, or are sold as products to help them look better. Implicated in these commercials is that there is only one way for women to be beautiful (being as skinny as possible), and the way women are portrayed in these commercials makes it seem as though all women are vain. And because of commercials like these, women are criticized for what they eat more than men in the real world. When I go to a restaurant and order chicken instead of a salad, or I’m the only female in my college’s cafeteria eating a pizza, I feel as though I’m somehow being judged (even though most of my female friends would do the same thing).

The fact that primarily women are targeted by advertisers for low-calorie foods also makes them more susceptible to eating disorders. The National Eating Disorders Association believed that the Yoplait commercial contained language that was “problematic for those who have eating disorders or those who have a predisposition towards developing one.” Even more troublesome is that the woman who considers eating the cheesecake is already pretty skinny. In response, Yoplait pulled the ad from further airings. And while I’m glad that they did, there are still so many ads for food that portray women in stereotypical and harmful ways. Instead of gendering food, advertisers would probably make more sales if they stopped dividing their potential consumer base in half. Or maybe that’s just me.

Pan Am takes flight

From Pan Am's pilot ep. - Maggie (Christina Ricci) and Laura (Margot Robbie). (ABC)

It’s impossible to talk about the wave of retro television this season without mentioning the ABC series Pan Am. The pilot episode debuted to good ratings, but opinions are mixed about the show’s quality. I found that Pan Am has a lot of awkward dialogue and unnatural conversations. The first scene, featuring a Pan Am flight preparing for take-off, takes entirely too long to reach a conclusion, capping in at 12 minutes. And yet, I think Pan Am is doing a much better job of showcasing the historical period of social change than The Playboy Club is. Unlike The Playboy Club, Pan Am doesn’t credit the stewardesses with revolutionizing the place of women in the workplace, but simply recognizes them as one part of a bigger whole. Of course, this doesn’t stop the show from glorifying them. The iconic last shot of the pilot episode features the backs of the four main female characters, wearing their stewardess attire and waving, as a little girl flashes them a reverent smile. The Pan Am stewardesses represented a combination of the traditional perfect woman, and a new, glamorous ideal: the career woman.

At MSNBC.com’s Overhead Bin, former real-life Pan Am flight attendants tell their stories and critique the show’s mostly accurate depiction of the airline. Helen Davey, who worked as a Pan Am stewardess from 1965 to 1986, tells Overhead Bin, “…we all thought we had lucked into the best job in the world.” Within the show itself, a male pilot even states that the women of Pan Am were ahead of their time: "They don't know they're a new breed of woman. They just had an impulse to take flight." But if the Pan Am stewardesses were the prototypes of the ‘modern woman,’ they were members of an elite club – a very tightly controlled one. As reflected on the show, the women of Pan Am had to be 5’2, single, skinny, and were regularly checked to make sure their girdles were on properly. And, of course, only white women were able to step into the revered position. Thus, like The Playboy Club, the ticket to liberation for women was a pretty face.

But what stood out to me most is that I found the female characters to be so much more endearing than the leads in The Playboy Club. I really liked Laura, the newest stewardess who ran away from a marriage her mother was pushing her into (although, what’s with the ‘new girl’ in both this show and The Playboy Club being blonde? Is it supposed to add to their naïve ‘everygirl’ appeal?). Laura’s sister, Kate, is also a stewardess, and is using her position to work with the CIA. I really hope the series explores the relationship between the sisters, because Kate is the person who helped Laura decide not to get married and to live for herself. Despite this, their relationship is already being tested by Laura choosing to become a Pan Am stewardess, putting Kate’s secret mission in jeopardy. I also found Colette, a fellow stewardess with a funny French accent who has an affair with a married man, to be a very sympathetic character. And as an ensemble cast, the women of Pan Am are convincingly interesting. At the very least, Pan Am makes a fairer case for the women of the 1960s than The Playboy Club does: they were controlled, objectified and trivialized, but they were also learning how to take their destinies into their own very capable hands.

A Review of The Playboy Club - "As Long as They're Still Sexy."

This Monday, the NBC series The Playboy Club debuted to mediocre ratings and even worse reviews. Critics complained about the series use of ridiculous plotlines and bad writing. Case-in-point, the first five minutes features Maureen (played by Amber Heard), the newest ‘bunny’ at the infamous Playboy Club, killing a mob boss with her stiletto after he tries to rape her. But even with its convoluted premise, The New York Times notes that The Playboy Club, along with several other shows debuting this season set in the Mad Men era, offers a setting that demonstrates to viewers the raging sexism of the time:  these series can help showcase how far along we’ve come. The narration, done by Hugh Hefner himself, even credits the club with the shifting political atmosphere: "The world was changing. And we were the ones doing it." Protestors and bra burning be damned – women earning the right to equal pay? That was all Playboy.

A scene from The Playboy Club. Photo by Matt Dinerstein (NBC).

Unfortunately, even with the opportunity to portray the strong females who pioneered social and political change, The Playboy Club hasn’t quite taken that chance up. Lingering camera shots display the bunnies’ best assets, while the script doesn’t miss the opportunity to show the girls at a party in their pajamas. But this is to be expected – after all, female objectification is the standard for Playboy. What really bothers me is that for every displayed bunny tail, the series never stops to show the strengths these women supposedly posses.  For example, when lawyer Nick Dalton says that Maureen is “smart,” the audience hasn’t really seen Maureen showcase her intelligence – the only reason we know this is because someone (and more importantly, a man) thinks she is. Kate, a fellow bunny, also mentions how “nice” Maureen is, even though she hasn’t done anything beyond flash a pretty smile.  If Maureen is supposed to be a stronger alternative to the stereotypical ‘blonde bombshell,’ she’s failing miserably – she just feels undeveloped and flat. At least we know she can do the bunny hop.

After finishing the first episode, I have to question the whether this ‘wave’ of retro-era television series is really a good thing. Sure, these shows could teach younger generations about the inequalities of 1960s America. They allow us to collectively cringe at our transgressions of the past. But when a series does nothing but adhere to traditional gender roles, without offering anything new, isn’t that just glorifying those ‘good old days?’ If Hef’s narration is any indicator, then perhaps The Playboy Club is doing just that: “It was the 1960s, and the bunnies were some of the only women in the world who could be anyone they wanted to be.” But really, this quote needs to be modified to be closer to the sad truth. Within the world of The Playboy Club, the bunnies can be anyone they want to be – as long as they’re still sexy.

The All-American Girl

From a young age, I became interested in gender roles and how women are represented in media. When I was in the 8^th grade, I remember watching an episode of the MTV show Made. The premise of the episode was that a girly cheerleader, with blonde hair and blue eyes, wanted to be transformed into a skateboarder. When the show’s crew interviewed the girl’s mother, she said her daughter was ‘the all-American teenage girl.’ During this time, I had been learning about genetics in my science class. I had learned that having blonde hair and blue eyes were both recessive genes. As soon as I heard that comment, I thought ‘Then I guess there aren’t too many all-American girls.’ As someone who is both African-American and Hispanic, it was almost biologically impossible for me to be the ‘all-American’ girl. I thought about my female friends, who are all different ethnicities, and realized that though several had blonde hair and a few had blue eyes, none had both. I began to feel as though the girls on television and in magazines not only didn't represent me, they didn't represent anyone.

Celebrities Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon both appeal to the public as the 'girls next door.'

From that point onward I started to pay more attention to the casts of television shows, and I became increasingly disheartened to find that the majority of the leading female roles on television shows and in movies were blonde, even going all the way back to the 1960s (The Brady Bunch, anyone?). Of course, I've always known that blondes are considered a sex symbol in American culture, and seeing a blonde female, whether in real life or on-screen doesn't bother me at all. It's the disproportion of blondes in media in comparison to every other hair color that bothers me, since it's not reflective of real life.

It's funny that this is such a bothersome issue for me. There's obviously an underrepresentation of minorities in media; usually television shows and magazines will throw in a 'token black' to appeal to multicultural audiences (such as the inclusion of a black angel in the new Charlie's Angels). And I've never exactly been skinny, yet only seeing females who weigh far less than me on-screen doesn't bother me. But I think this issue of the 'all-American' female bothers me because it doesn't just offend me personally, it offends me as a female. It makes me think about all of the women out there who have come to believe they are not 'normal.' I think of all the young women who run out to buy the best hair dye and eye contacts they can afford, just so they can finally be 'regular.' I get angry at the media machine for creating an illusion that traps females. And I always hope that I'll never be one of those girls.