Article Type : Review Article
Authors : Bakic S and Camo M
Keywords : Stereotypes; Prejudices; Society; Competencies; Media; New media; Media literacy
Stereotypes and prejudices are catalysts and creators of
various injustices and conflicts within societies. Their presence in media
contents are enormous and therefore their influence as well. Prejudices and
stereotypes often cause social injustice and unfairness for those who are their
sufferers and victims. When this happens, then there appear on the surface very
serious humanistic and moral questions. It never overcomes an important context
of social justice and therefore it is vital to devote a serious attention
towards their overcoming.
Alongside the presentation of several basic elements
regarding prejudices and stereotypes concept, article focuses on significant
presence of stereotypes and prejudices in various media contents. One of the
ways for overcoming prejudices and stereotypes in multicultural society is
media literacy. In contemporary developed societies, media literacy presents an
important part of wider education, which immanently strengthens intercultural
dialogue within entire society and better understanding and mutual respect
among different members of community.
“Tonight,
sheik was walking in the town, carrying the torch in his hand and screamed: I
am tired from beasts and devils; human being is my desire. “(Rumi)
Each society creates the ways of categorization each
individual and groups and defines the set of characteristics that are
considered as consistent for the members of existing categories. Defined
routine in social relations is greatly tinted by prejudices and stereotypes,
which enable people to be related towards “anticipated others”, without much
attention and thinking too much.
Prejudices and stereotypes are accredited mental
perceptions about certain groups in the society that are most often applied on
its members. In today’s complex world filled with confusion, vagueness and
obscurities, people constantly try to find the ways for simplifying their
everyday reality and their own life. Our complete knowledge about the world is
mostly subsidiary and significantly based upon information and contents
received via media. Contemporary human being attempts to place all that
knowledge into the certain ‘files’ and to adjust them into already existing
perceptions about the others. That is the beginning of the process related to
creating a prejudices and functioning of stereotypes, which are a type of
defence mechanisms for individuals to hide their lacks in order to justify
their own feelings and tendency for superiority.
Prejudices and stereotypes often cause social
injustice and unfairness for those who are their sufferers and victims. When
this happens, then there appear on the surface very serious humanistic and
moral questions. It never overcomes an important context of social justice and
therefore it is vital to devote a serious attention towards their overcoming.
Actions and influences of stereotypes and prejudices
are in most cases related to sexisms, race, religion and ethnic elements but
these types of social relations exist in almost every type of social
interaction. Global jokes on “stupid blond” use stereotypes that minimalize
intellectual abilities and capacities of a larger women’s population in
general. Similar connotation occurs in the humoristic media contents and jokes
about “stupid Bosnian” very present in the entire region in Western Balkans.
Furthermore, poor people are presented as failures and socially maladjusted
individuals while persons with mental illness often were described as violent
and dangerous. On the other side, in the reality, most of them are dangerous to
themselves and not to the others. Some nations are portrayed as peaceful,
romantic or fun, while some others are presented as cold, aggressive or even
primitive.
Media represents a vital ‘window of the word” and the
easiest way we learn about people and the world that we are not able to
directly meet and experience. They are a sort of cultural catalysator and
inevitably influence our understanding of the world. While media inform us even
while entertaining us, they powerfully transmit social values together with
stereotypes and prejudices as well. According to Walter Lippman, media and
journalists due to the lack of time or various limitations, sometimes due to
their natural insensibilities, switch the complete picture and context and pay
the significance and meanings to stenographic codes of words and pictures that
are highlighted with stereotypes” [1].
With already mentioned, and within an enormous
influence of media on culture, media have a huge responsibility to accept
responsibility for learning and understanding differences between stereotypes
and prejudices and reality itself preventing demonstration of stereotypies and
contents ‘tinted with prejudices’ that lead to various serious discriminations
in every society.
Therefore, media literacy is vital not only from the
media’s perspective but from recipients standpoints as well. Media literacy and
development of media literacy in each society can contribute towards overcoming
of prejudices and stereotypes what greatly influence on general education and
culture of every individual but also influence the future of every society
likewise.
In the most European languages basic meaning of
prejudices points out development of interaction before the “judgment”, on its
irrational nature [2]. For this purpose, independently of real verifications,
individual develops favourable or unfavourable attitude towards someone or
something, resisted towards changes without any consideration for additional
evidences. In everyday usage but also in the social and humanistic sciences as
well, this term is related to the negative attitude towards certain groups or
individual.
Overall model of prejudice is basically in concluding
process based upon non-representative sample of characteristics and
representative sample of group members as well with a final and general
conclusion as the result. Prejudice involves apparent rational foundation,
which is consisted out of already taken partial characteristics, mostly
unrealistically exaggerated, viewed as imperative features and appearances of
personalities to be concluded about (though they are few and irrelevant).
Furthermore, some of these features are getting generalized on entire group,
although they cannot serve as the factual sample regarding the group in
question. Rudimentary psychological and sociological problem is situated in
question why this huge concluding mistake happens at all, why this mistake has
a extensive handover on entire system of beliefs, opinions and behaviours
within individuals and groups and why is it resistant to the change regardless
of obvious, serious and opposite verifications. Explanations that are mostly
present and accepted in psychology and sociology are eclectic ones. They grip
psychoanalytic assumptions about influence of irrational, as well as the
learning theory with accentuated influence of early socialization and
influences of social, usually hidden mechanisms [2]. Psychoanalysts consider
that spectrum of explanations stress out the presence of certain direction of
irrational expansion related to the certain group or individual. If it is
frustrated expansion, there is a prejudice that develops towards the source of frustration.
This is the way how prejudice becomes one aspect of aggression with various
modalities towards the source of frustration [3]. In other words, prejudice
becomes only an ‘alibi’ for hatred already existing in acceptable social
circumstances.
Within the structure of individuals’ values and
attitudes, prejudices are basis for formation of stereotypes, completely
simplified; predetermine constructions related to various aspects of social
reality. Similarly, stereotypes are configuring in the process of individual’s
socialization and they are mostly based on social groups and their members in
the context of race, ethnic, religious, political, professional, sexual and
other components.
It is important to stress out that stereotypes as well
can be negative and positive ones as well. This results in unfounded and
unjustified glorification or stigmatization of all members related to the
specific social group, regardless of their individual characteristics and
differences concerning other individuals in the certain group. What needs to be
added is that stereotypes produce sense of social solidarity and unity. In the
sociological context, stereotype is rigid and mainstream perception and opinion
about certain part of reality where people participate in. I time, this
perception and opinion becomes sightlessly perception and understanding of
reality [4]. Furthermore, sociologists use this concept for a very long time in
order to analyse and explain various forms of deviant behaviour, especially in
researching causes and variations of deviant behaviour, analyses of race
interactions and stereotypes regarding gender issues in the area of education
and professional relations as well.
Formation of stereotypes is tremendously human beings’
characteristic, but modern and scientific concept of stereotypes that is
related to the context of this article was introduced by Walter Lippman in his
book Public Opinion from 1922. Major framework of his intellectual thought is
that human’s reliance on stereotypes is necessary and even more unavoidable for
everyone to be able to cope with miscellaneous social interactions and
relations.
“Between ourselves and our real natures we interpose
that wax figure of idealizations and selections which we call our character. We
extend this into all our thinking. Between us and the realities of social life
we build up a mass of generalizations, abstract ideas, ancient glories, and
personal wishes. They simplify and soften experience. It is so much easier to
talk of poverty than to think of the poor, to argue the rights of capital than
to see its results. Pretty soon we come to think of the theories and abstract
ideas as things in themselves. We worry about their fate and forget their
original content” [1].
It is important to underline that none of prejudices
or stereotypes’ pattern are never neutral because their usage always include
our personal understanding and reality experiences as well what is in most
cases irrational and jam-packed with emotions that are related to them. As
already mentioned, it is about vital elements of our defence mechanisms whereby
which individuals feel safe and protected within the specific position they are
in. Simply discarding and superficially understanding of these phenomena,
whatsoever viewed as wrong and tasteless would be a huge mistake. Especially
bearing in mind that media represent very influential and powerful institutions
taking into consideration that various media contents such are news,
entertainment, commercials are filled with stereotypes, which strengthen
different prejudices that further lead to miscellaneous ways of discrimination
and stigmatization.
It should be more than clear that in every
multicultural society, social interactions and relations coloured with
prejudices are never righteous, decent or fair so we can conclude that if we
judge about something or someone with prejudices or some kind of stereotypes,
therefore we are in the situation to directly or indirectly influence on
other’s human rights’ violation or violating person’s being and
self-determination that are basic civilization values.
Peter Orlik in his comments related to stereotypes in
the new media in his book Electronic Media Criticism has said: „When members of
different age, professions, gender, religion or race have been shown in a
stereotype’s manner, relation towards them becomes potentially unfair. All
people from Texas, all Indians, members of Baptist Church, all policemen are
not the same. Representation of every member of certain group in a same way is
actually functionally unfair and dishonest behaviour regarding to the concept
of individual human dignity “ [5].
Serious problem in the context of media and their
usage of stereotypes is when the usage becomes so accentuated, thus it
neutralizes every critical ability of recipient ‘not to trust’ in media content
erasing every possibility of an adequate opinion regarding certain members of
society. In the multicultural society, such is society of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, media representatives together with representatives of educational
and cultural institutions should constantly take into consideration and
question the system that traditionally creates stereotype and strengthen
prejudices towards certain individuals, groups and segments within society in
general.
Furthermore, theorist Louis Alvin Day considers that
basically the problem of stereotypes in media is not only in creating
prejudices and discrimination yet that many stereotyped messages and symbols in
the media contents constantly impose questions of what should be the role of
the media in one society. According to Day, one of the important dilemmas is
whether media should be the engine of the society eager to construct more
egalitarian culture or that media should just transmit already existing social
values, firming cultural norms that are immanently including stereotyped
picture of our reality. Day illustrated this dilemma in the context of
commercials: „ Critics claim that many commercials create stereotypes that are
correlated to the huge segments of society, especially women, minorities and
older citizens. Question of stereotypes’ formation relates to discussion
whether commercials shape social values or just articulating and expressing
them. If you believe that commercials can shape our values and our perception
of the world, then you are very familiar with understanding that creators of
commercials should be deeply aware of how different groups are presented.
Contrary to this, if you believe that commercials reflect society, you will
consider creators of commercials obligated that what is presented should be
exact and representative“. In this context, overcoming prejudices and
stereotypes involves constant effort in balancing between commercial and “new
aesthetics” magnetism of specific cultural stereotypes opposite to the values
such is respect of every member of the society and accurate and fair
presentation.
One of the most serious consequences related to
prejudices and stereotypes in media contents is the hate speech. Hate speech is
presented in all levels, from political, where different representatives of
power often using abusive and insulting words and negative stereotypes, speak
negatively about other nationalities, members of national and sexual minorities
and women as well, then through entertainment media sphere until individual
private sphere. In this context for a long time of unsanctioned and frequently
permitted public hate speech as a result we have many people with wide spectrum
of prejudices especially young people.
Moreover, constant repetition of stereotypes’ and
prejudices’ mechanisms appears through humoristic speech, for recipients with
lower criticism threshold, then through entertaining reality show programs,
sport programs and similar contents. These kinds of media contents,
unfortunately often submit the spirit towards certain forms of acting,
legitimize them and adjust people on what is today desirable way to talk, think
and act. Aggression, voyeurism, narcissism, vulgarity, ignorance and stupidity
continuously invite participants to enjoy in this infantile and degrading
picture of reality without any participants’ motivation and urge to escape from
this environment and ‘choice’.
The fact that more ignorant people consciously avoid
‘serious’ media contents and enjoy more in above mentioned media and cultural
contents, according to Bauer [5], does not imply that media literacy does not
exist. It does not mean that media literacy is limited but it is a confirmation
of undeveloped ability and capacity for future and emancipation. Reinstating
and developing of media literacy when overcoming stereotypes and prejudices in
multicultural societies in question, is essentially one of the most important
competencies for future and the most important dimension of communication
abilities as one of the crucial elements for life competency at all. In this
context, Bauer claims that theoretical and empirical studies on questions
related to the influence of media today confirm existence of aimed and purposed
usage of media by recipients [5]. Specific lifestyles and personal worlds of
individual and groups, cultural and social capitals and specific life
interactions and relations as well, create an outline for media influence and
acceptance of media contents. All these elements impact on attraction and
receptiveness of stereotypes and prejudices in times when lack of immediacy and
life relations quality helps for this kind of shaped and presented reality in
comparison with reality itself become easier and more bearable. This is the way
we confirm the complexity of these phenomena we talk about. There is nothing
more cynical than an individual who carries the ethics problems of the society
he or she belong to.
Today, media literacy is one of the most increasing
areas in media and cultural studies. In the context of media reflected world in
which we are all living in, plain learning of reading the “text” is not enough.
It is necessary to learn how to read various media messages and this learning
process should start as earlier as possible. Media literacy and media education
should start from the elementary school. Criticism approach of media literacy
should create education for media literacy towards political what will
significantly influence on overcoming stereotypes and prejudices. But in most
cases, there are ‘referring’ on direct regulatory interventions within media
content, while at the same time, there are absences of critically analyses related
to hidden mechanisms of production, distribution and promotion of mentioned
artefacts. Therefore, real participants of media production and industry
remained unquestioned and uncritical. Media literacy should consider visual
images very seriously and responsibly. Importance of this (visual) literacy has
no only humanistic and aesthetic dimensions but political dimension as well.
Media literacy should, additionally, serve the widening of trans disciplinary
pedagogical sphere, initiating necessity and importance of intercultural
dialogue, but dialogue between cultural studies, sociology, education, media,
art, postcolonial and feminist’ studies.
Media literacy implies too (or before call) the
competence for recognizing prejudices and stereotypes, difference between media
violence and violence in the real world. In other words, it is about capability
to read “between the lines” what the truth values are, and what are for example
kitsch contents, questioning relations between music, film and sport culture and
their authentic values and images. Improvement of media literacy is (or it
should be) in the responsibility of governments, various institutions and
organizations, teachers in order to define how to prepare pupils and students
to understand media dominated contemporary world in a way that they can
competently function in such a world. This can be achieved in developing their
competencies to use new media in a way for new media to be their tool for real
participating role as future citizens within the cultures and society they
belong to. This is the way future citizens get liberated from various forms of
prejudices and stereotypes with critical relation towards stereotypes of any
kind.
Additionally, to this, if high quality development
related to social relations and individual media culture represents the goal of
media education and media literacy, then there is a need to create a space for
communicative values that impact on social and individual shaping of life.
According to opinions of Bauer, media literacy implicit an area of critical
analyses of relations and interactions between people and media, while at the
same time, it implies trying for undertaking cultural and ethical criteria in
order an adequate shaping of this specific link [5].
Media literacy is today the basic of
social sensibility today because our world is moulded by media culture. Other
knowledge’s should be upgraded as well together with social praxis that makes
democracy what democracy essentially is. Understanding of media “system and
dynamic” is the key competency in various areas of social actions and it does
not tackle only media professionals but media recipients and users as well.
Analyses of media sphere’s social character should be directed not only towards
economic, political and ideological, but on social area as well. It is related
to the spheres of human rights and freedom, minorities’ rights and movements,
right on diversity and intercultural dialogue. Due to the specific bond of
various practices related to media, necessary skills overcome their “craft”
character and even more today, they are imposed as inevitability for all media
users, whether to get information or distribute information to others.
Consequently, in order to take over responsibility for various media usages, it
is vital to gain knowledge on media competencies and skills with various
components (technical, symbolical, cultural competencies as well).
New media technology furthermore
stressed out the meaning of media literacy, at the same time directing it not
only on information and computerization that are just a part of media literacy,
which is pretty much prevailed especially among young people. Nonetheless,
communicative abilities of people today regard to interpretation of media
contents that include understanding of principles and contexts of media
together with their ability to recognize stereotypes and prejudices with all
their characteristics is still not mastered at all.
Significance of media in
pacification destructive conflicts as consequences related to stereotypes and
prejudices cannot be replaced with anything else. Media that are not freed from
authoritarian culture are remote far away from ideal of broad-mindedness,
nonviolent culture, mutual living, civic rights and humans’ freedom. That is
why media literacy gains huge importance in revival of public sphere especially
cultural and political communication. In this communication today there is a
lack of clear and prudent word, critical thinking and sincere empathy. Educated
and highly sensible and sensitive journalists who are competent to use new
knowledge and new technologies can become a force of social changes in
societies such is Bosnian and Herzegovinian [6]. They can become an influential
factor of atmosphere tinted with civilized dialogue and existence.
People and media as well are
antithesis to the indifference or passivity. Without media freedom there is no
truth about society or freedom. And when we talk about prejudices and
stereotypes in societies, we are talking about millions of people that were
terrified on purpose, attacked on their self-respect and identity, their
security. They were humiliated; they were desperate and led to even death.
The
author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with a financial
interest in or financial
with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.
There
is no conflict of interest.