POC Representation in Entertainment and Media

I am not a woman of color. I am white, my ancestors were from Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and my dad tells me I have a smidgen of Portuguese and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American in there. You're probably not interested in my Scandinavian bloodline, but I say this because I cannot speak for the experiences of people of color and the media. I can only present facts and statistics on media representation of people of color. I'm an ally, meaning I can listen, I can sympathize but not empathize, I can support and I can help your stories be heard.

People of color are extremely under represented in entertainment and media. Often when women of color are in advertising or entertainment positions, they are white washed. In the past two decades technology has been developed that digitally lightens skin tone.

(1)

In the past, negative body image and eating disorders have been treated as issues that only effect white women and men. According to a study done at the University of Florida, the media's glorification of pale skin, straight shiny hair and other traits that are stereotypical of a woman of European descent, have an harmful effect on women of color, whether they be African American, Asian American, Native American or Latina. Often women will go to great lengths to have these "desired" beauty traits and when they are unsuccessful causes major body image problems. (2)

In an article published in National Hispanic Women Coalition, it becomes apparent about how little WOC are represented and when they are, they are often represented in a stereotype. For example Lupe Ontiveros, a well known Latina actress in the U.S. is estimated to have had the role of a maid between 150-300 times (3). The discussion on eating disorders has been so polarized racially, that studies regarding the frequency of eating disorders in WoC haven't even been conducted, but culturally we see a major increase in negative body image among young girls and women of color. 

It's very important we begin desegregating media and entertainment. PoC make up 33% of our society and yet they are hardly represented in major forms of media. A big change needs to happen quickly, to stop the impairment of self esteem. 

References I Used!

Kite, Lexie, Ph.D, and Lindsay Kite, Ph.D. "Beauty Whitewashed: How White Ideals Exclude Women of Color." BEAUTY REDEFINED. Beauty Redefined, 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://www.beautyredefined.net/beauty-whitewashed-how-white-ideals-exclude-women-of-color/>.

Martin, Carolyn L., and Eboni J. Baugh. "Minority Women, Media, and Body Image." University of Florida - IFAS Extension. Web. <http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY113500.pdf>.

Web log post. National Hispanic Media Coalition. National Hispanic Media Coalition, 24 June 2012. Web. <http://nhmc.org/blog/?p=412>.