MY DAUGHTER SAYS TIANA'S TOO DARK
This six word card struck me the hardest because of the ideas that race is instilled in children at the earliest of ages. White faces circulate through all types of media and are the most represented. Tiana, Disney's first black princess, was created in order to add diversity and boost black faces in the Disney franchise. It's striking to me that a child recognizes this and comments in such a way because even television and the internet reinforce the "white is right" idea on a daily basis. When children turn on the t.v. and see light faces on Disney or Nickelodeon, with other races vastly underrepresented, they're fed that white is the standard and the natural way and everything else is rare.
This card reminds me of the Barbie doll project where little girls were asked which Barbie, the white or black one, was prettiest and which they would rather play with. Almost all pick the white Barbie as prettier and more fun to play with. It's unfortunate but in daily activities whites are the winners so to speak. And unfortunately, when they're not, like in the case of Miss America, problems occur and some feel as if they've been slighted.
I like what you had to say about this idea that youth is influenced so heavily by media. My question is if the media is behind this influence or if they are just sowing this stuff because the studios believe that this is what the youth wants to see. You mentioned a little bit with the barbie doll project and how kids chose the white barbie doll over the black one when asked which one was more fun to play with. This arises the same question, do you think that Mattel (company of barbie) blew up a reputation and made the white barbie superior to all other barbies? Or do you think that they knew the youth would be attracted to a white barbie.
ReplyDeleteI think it's sad that even the black kids chose to play with the white Barbie even though both were the same doll. I do think that when Barbie came out in 1959, segregation was still a huge issue, so why make a black Barbie? Blacks are inferior so why make a Barbie for them? As that implication became widespread, white Barbie was always there. Now for today, I think because Barbie is always the "Cali girl," we just choose the original Barbie to play with, even if one girl is black. Now with Bratz, they had different colored skin ones, but they always were made to look ghetto. I never played with Barbies or Bratz, but I always prefered Barbies over Bratz because Barbie was classier than a Bratz doll- from the way they were advertised and from the way they were dressed.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that we have all been brainwashed to believe that one type of skin color is the most beautiful? You presented an interesting take on the card, saying that skin colors other then white are highly underrepresented in today's media. I would say yes and no to that. When I watch TV, I notice how ads and shows are trying to be way more inclusive of all different looks and races. It stands out to me that the makers of media are attempting to be politically correct and hire every ethnicity. Do you believe, that the media and movie industries are doing a good enough job of using all different types of skin colors?
ReplyDelete