Underrepresentation

Underrepresentation. 

Within our media. Within the groups that create our media. 


One story being told over and over- and it isn't even a full one. 


Our overlapping lives aren't being presented as overlapping, but rather are shown as very separate and some even shown as irrelevant. Some aren't even shown. 


We are so impressionable when it comes to media- it becomes what we identify with. For me this comes through books. I was reviewing my childhood books the other day after we had a lecture on what "readers" look like. I took a mental inventory of the books I had been raised on, but also a mental inventory of how they raised me. 


Myopically.


These stories were just that- a singular representation of how I had grown to see the world. I learned that I didn't have as wide of a scope as I had thought, and noted the danger in such a viewpoint. I found that not only is underrepresentation prevalent in my media, but also with those who had made it (graphs below). 

I saw that while I was educated, I was limited in my education. I saw a TED Talk that described the danger of this- limitations flatten your experiences. 


I would recommend educating yourself as fully as you can. Engaging yourself as much as you fully can. Diversify yourself as much as you fully can. Update your story as much as you fully can. 


A good place to start is this same TED Talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en





Images from: https://wordsrated.com/representation-childrens-literature/




Comments

  1. MaryOctober 7, 2023 at 1:34 PM

    This is a really good point. Media is really good at telling one story and leaving the rest out. Life is so complex with so many intertwining and complicated stories, but media fails to capture this most of the time. This is especially true of the media I consumed as a child. The books and movies I read/watched were about people who looked like me and had similar stories as me and were written by people who are like me. This taught me nothing about the amazing and beautiful stores of so many lives.

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