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African American Popular Culture

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It is the year 2016. Slaver in North America officially ended 150 years ago, yet the controlling images of African Americans in the media and overall popular culture still objectifies African Americans as slaves within American society and to the rest of the world. In particular, images of African American women have been completely stripped, due to slavery, of any authentic identity and images have been overly controlled which has left African American women with no legacy of positivity within popular culture imagery. The popular culture view of African American women continues the enslaved images reminiscent of the past 150 years of African American only inherent in American. Current controlling images adhere to none of the past truths …show more content…

What is popular culture? In short popular culture is everything US citizens consider to be mainstream. Pop culture holds a consensus on our social views, attitudes, perspectives, ideas and images within the mass of our culture and culture capital. We create the reality through popular culture. An example would be the consensus of the company Nike, its products, commercials but more importantly its logo. The white check mark or “Swoosh” which is the Nike logo seems to forever portray the image of approval globally to “Just Do It”. Whether or not you own any Nike products, because of popular culture, it is very likely that you have or will have and interaction with this company in some way. Clothes sent in care packages to third world countries sometimes have Nike products, thus making Nike a global pop culture phenomena. Throughout the world we have a view of what Nike is and how Nike is used in relation to our everyday lives. Everything is defined in popular cultures encompassing scope even if the popular cultures definition is further from truth, reality or even solid facts. So what does popular cultures controlling images of African American women say about them globally? “Because the authority to define societal values is a major instrument of power, elite groups, in …show more content…

Emphasis on pop culture ubiquity and dominance in our society, its consolidation ownership among a few multinational corporations, and its ability to manufacture desires, perpetuate stereotypes, and mold human minds, particularly those of children. (Grazian,2010). African American women are known in popular culture as being video groupies, and are normally exploited in music videos for their bodies in all generes but primarily hip hop/rap videos. This brings up the next controlling imagery of Black women as being sexual and animalistic in nature. Pop culture of music, sitcoms and even news stories constantly display African American women in a negative way. Animal print, wild hair and safari settings are inherent when casting a black women in the media. In music videos a woman’s body is the main focus. On black women the buttocks is given special attention always in an intriguing and taboo manner. Since the 18th century African women have been exploited for their assets. “Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman (before 1790 – 29 December 1815) was the most famous of at least two Khoikhoi women who, due to their large buttocks or steatopygia, were exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus. “Hottentot" was the then

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Researched Argument Essay Having accurate representation matters. Unfortunately, that is a concept that the media industry has not quite grasped. The portrayal of African Americans in the media, whether it be plays, television, news, movies, or social media has always been negative since the birth of slavery in the United States of America. Playing on the negative stereotypes of African Americans, white Americans have gone on to believe their false impressions of Africans Americans and this has hindered African Americans from gaining social change and respectability.

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THESIS Similar to many of the other selections we have read, to be Black in America is an enormous struggle. Through slavery, oppression, discrimination, and more; history has proven that this country was not built upon making individuals of African ancestry comfortable here. With the personal recollections of numerous horror stories of oppression, Assata Shakur goes on to explain how truly oppressed the Black individuals of America are.

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Stereotypes About African Americans That Were Depicted in the Media in the Early 1900s In the 1800s and early 1900s, there were a myriad of stereotypes that depicted African-Americans in a rather negative light. From the Mammy to the Jezebel, the Uncle Tom to the Sapphire, these pejorative stereotypes, which still persist in today’s society—only in a different form—reflected and reinforced systemic racism. THE MAMMY

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The media influences our minds so much that we perceive black people like animals. In the world today we still face

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This week, the readings point the spotlight at the some of the depressing hardships that the African-American population frequently experience. In “Naughty by Nature”, Ann Ferguson covers the different perceptions that society has of colored boys. David Knight’s work “Don’t tell young black males that they are endangered” seeks to explain the differents outcomes of African-American youth that arise when society constantly oppresses them. The last article by Carla O’Connor, “The Culture of Black Femininity and School Success”, focuses on the image of African-American woman that is created as a result of them attempting to preserve in a system that opposes them.

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" Journal of Black Studies 39.1 (2007): 5-21. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. The studies of this article examine the images of men and women that advertisements perpetuate. Mass media is a widely accessible resource that presents positive and negative portrayals.

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Typically, these opinions are unfavorable and highlight negative stereotypes associated with African Americans. Sadly, the overrepresentation of white characters in American culture contributes

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In a 2010 study that measured gender role belief in nearly 400 African American women, it was noted that the traditional gender role that is ascribed to white American women may not be relevant for African American women (Nguyen, et al., 2010). The cultural experience of African Americans in the United States from slavery to the civil rights era has an impact on their gender role views. The economic, political and social history of African Americans in the United States contribute to gender roles that are not clearly defined between male and female as African Americans men and women were made to perform in both gender roles at times.

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From the very beginning African-Americans have been displayed negatively in the media. African-Americans were depicted as ignorant and inferior to their white counterparts. Although the image of African Americans has changed over the years there is still a long way to go to improve and display a more positive image. Media portrayals give the depiction that African Americans are either threatening, ignorant, or they endorse stereotypes. Different forms of media include television, newspapers, social media, etc.

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Is hip-hop just a euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing. -Kanye West, Gorgeous The music genre of hip-hop serves an important role outside of pop culture; hip-hop is an influential and relevant part of American society.

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Popular culture studies are the practice of studying popular culture from the perspective of a theorist. Ranging from cereal boxes to drugs, many things influence the people of our society. In the United States, one of the most popular obsessions is with super heroes. Ever since the 1930s, superheroes have dominated American comic books and media. People believe that such characters were created solely for the purpose of entertaining those who admire such marvelous figures.

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Along with the creation of music videos, hip-hop’s popularity has soared and changed in many ways. Men and women are depicted in distinct and vivid ways in the media – particularly music videos – that may subconsciously affect our views of the norms of today’s society. That is, catchy songs and glamorous music videos that society thinks are harmless entertainment actually shape our worldview and can cause people to accept false impressions of women (Shrum & Lee, 2012). For example, as Sarnavka (2003) posits, women are victims of violence in society, as well as victims of violence in media (as cited in Bretthauer, Zimmerman, and Banning, 2007).

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1. Representation of African American stereotypes in American cinema. Continuous debates are still occurring towards the representation of African Americans in Hollywood cinema which has been happening for over a century. Black men have been addressed in the media as lazy, violent, and several other negative archetypes that ruin the black community.

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Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

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1 Popular culture is all of the ideas, memes, perspectives that have influences on everyone and all classes belongs to society. Popular culture is not only in ideas but everywhere. It is part of the corporation, and it has been affected by mass products. Popular culture cannot be separated from masses, their effects and mass media. Films, books, advertisements, actors or writers all are part of it.

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