Kimberly Smith April 27, 2012 University of Phoenix ETH/125 Instructor: Michael Seller

Advantages and Challenges
Advantages and Challenges Advantages and Challenges
Learning about the social, cultural and economical conditions that affect racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States has helped me better understand the characterizations of minority groups. Being considered a minority myself, I was able to relate and understand to most of the topics that were brought up. What I learned more about my ethnicity (African American) were the different people involved during the civil right movement.
I was able to learn who made long lasting impressions during that time. The minority group that I found the most interesting, and enjoyed learning the most about was the Native Americans. I never knew there were all these different organizations that catered specifically to Native Americans. I learned a lot about their culture and views of the world and things they went through and still go through to this very day. It was very eye opening for me.

Trends will definitely continue to shape the face of the future of United States. United States is basically considered a melting pot. There is so many minorities stepping out of their culture and dating other ethnic groups and continue to mix together. Minorities will soon overtake the white population. To prepare for this cultural shift, I believe there will have to be more tolerance and awareness of different cultures. I believe educating people of the cultural differences can help prevent racism and discrimination. I can’t really say that I learned too much about my culture than I already knew such as how they were slaves and their fight to be free. Bondage from slavery was made possible by Harriet Tubman due the Underground Railroad.

I believe that America’s population will be mostly immigrants, and that America will be economically thriving, and that Immigrants will dominate the government positions. For as long as the United States has been in existence, whites have been a clear majority. But according to Census Bureau projections, that's a story that is changing: by the year 2050, minority groups are expected to account for 49.9 percent of the population.

Asians and Hispanics will see the most dramatic increases between now and mid-century, when the U.S. population will have grown by almost 50 percent to reach 420 million. Advantages and Challenges

America will get older, too. Nearly 21 percent of its residents will be age 65 or older, compared with 12 percent now.

Racial and ethnic changes are taking shape faster than expected, due in large part to higher-than-forecast immigration rates for Asians and Hispanics. Whites now represent 69 percent of the population, but their growth is slowing because of low rates of birth and immigration. Their total will grow 7 percent to 210 million, or 50.1 percent of the population, in 2050.

The Census Bureau counts "Hispanic" or "Latino" as an ethnicity rather than a race, so they can be of any race, including white. Between 2040 and 2050, the Census Bureau expects the non-Hispanic white population actually will decline slightly because of a large number of expected deaths of baby boomers, who by 2040 will be at least 76. Meantime, the Hispanic and Asian populations are expected to continue their explosive growth.

The Asian population is expected to more than triple to 33 million by 2050. Hispanics will increase their ranks by 188 percent to 102.6 million, or roughly one-quarter of the population. "Historically, we've been a black-and-white country. That's not true any longer and even less true in the future," (quoted by Roderick Harrison a demographer with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington), which studies issues of concern to minorities.

The projections - the first released by the bureau since the 2000 head count - also show a burgeoning older population as healthier lifestyles and better medical treatment increase longevity. By 2050, 5 percent of the country will be 85 or older, compared with 1.5 percent now. Prior census data show that most Hispanics choose white as their race. This could be a sign that future generations of U.S.-born Latinos would select white and rather than Hispanic as their background as they move further from the generation that first immigrated to the United States.

The bureau expects the black population will rise 71 percent to over 61 million, or about 15 percent of the population, compared with nearly 13 percent now. Blacks would remain the second-largest minority. Asians would comprise 8 percent of the population in 2050, compared with 4 percent now. This means more of a mix of cultures and ethnic backgrounds; my hope is that this will be a colorful and bright future.

Advantages and Challenges

We all know the stereotypes—the femme fatale, the supermom, the sex kitten, the nasty corporate climber. Whatever the role, television, film and popular magazines are full of images of women and girls who are typically white, desperately thin, and made up to the hilt—even after slaying a gang of vampires or dressing down a Greek phalanx. Many would agree that some strides have been made in how the media portray women in film, television and magazines, and that the last 20 years has also seen a growth in the presence and influence of women in media behind the scenes. Nevertheless, female stereotypes continue to thrive in the media we consume every day. Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.
But stereotypes can be problematic. They can: * reduce a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations * transform assumptions about particular groups of people into "realities" * be used to justify the position of those in power * perpetuate social prejudice and inequality
More often than not, the groups being stereotyped have little to say about how they are represented. Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women—and their body parts—sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Women’s magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they’ll have it all—the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career.
Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women, the majority of whom are naturally larger and more mature than any of the models? The roots, some analysts say, are economic. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. And it’s no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty. If not all women need to lose weight, for sure they’re all aging, says the Quebec Action Network for Women’s Health in its 2001 report Changements sociaux en faveur de la diversité des images corporelles. And, according to the industry, age is a disaster that needs to be dealt with. Advantages and Challenges

The stakes are huge. On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet aids. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year selling temporary weight loss (90 to 95% of dieters regain the lost weight).1 On the other hand, research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.
The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control—including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting. The pressure to be thin is also affecting young girls: the Canadian Women's Health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as 5 and 6. American statistics are similar. Several studies, such as one conducted by (Marika Tiggemann and Levina Clark in 2006 titled “Appearance Culture in Nine- to 12-Year-Old Girls: Media and Peer Influences on Body Dissatisfaction),” indicate that nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner, and as a result have engaged in a diet or are aware of the concept of dieting. In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. Overall research indicates that 90% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance in some way.
Media activist (Jean Kilbourne) concludes that, "Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight." Here are just a few things that I found that would contribute to the media and how women are affected.
Unattainable Beauty
Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very small number of women. Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions, for example, found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea and eventually die from malnutrition. Jill Barad president of Mattel (which manufactures

Barbie) estimated that 99% of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll.

Advantages and Challenges
Still, the number of real life women and girls who seek a similarly underweight body is epidemic, and they can suffer equally devastating health consequences. In 2006 it was estimated that up to 450, 000 Canadian women were affected by an eating disorder.
The Culture of Thinness
Researchers report that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance—by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery.
Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a woman’s worth. Canadian researcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight, and only one in twenty are above average in size. Heavier actresses tend to receive negative comments from male characters about their bodies ("How about wearing a sack?"), and 80 per cent of these negative comments are followed by canned audience laughter.
There have been efforts in the magazine industry to buck the trend. For several years the Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce has consistently included full-sized women in their fashion pages and Châtelaine has pledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25 years of age. In Madrid, one of the world’s biggest fashion capitals, ultra-thin models were banned from the runway in 2006. Furthermore Spain has recently undergone a project with the aim to standardize clothing sizes through using a unique process in which a laser beam is used to measure real life women’s bodies in order to find the most true to life measurement.5
However, advertising rules the marketplace and in advertising thin is "in." Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman—but today’s models weigh 23 per cent less. Advertisers believe that thin models sell products. When the Australian magazine New Woman recently included a picture of a heavy-set model on its cover, it received a truckload of letters from grateful readers praising the move. But its advertisers complained and the magazine returned to featuring bone-thin models. Advertising Age Internationalconcluded that the incident "made clear the influence wielded by advertisers who remain convinced that only thin models spur the sales of beauty products."

Advantages and Challenges
Another issue is the representation of ethnically diverse women in the media. A 2008 study conducted by Juanita Covert and Travis Dixon titled "A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Women's Magazines” found that although there was an increase in the representation of women of colour, overall white women were overrepresented in mainstream women’s magazines from 1999 to 2004.
Self-Improvement or Self-Destruction?
The barrage of messages about thinness, dieting and beauty tells "ordinary" women that they are always in need of adjustment—and that the female body is an object to be perfected.
Jean Kilbourne argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that real women’s bodies have become invisible in the mass media. The real tragedy, Kilbourne concludes, is that many women internalize these stereotypes, and judge themselves by the beauty industry's standards. Women learn to compare themselves to other women, and to compete with them for male attention. This focus on beauty and desirability "effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate.
If anything, I think media first encourages tolerance of diversity by introducing us to types of people we may not normally encounter and then we are later led to a greater appreciation of said diversity. Also, by learning about diverse cultures (i.e. their cuisine, land, customs, etc) we may find a common ground or a point which we may find fascinating, leading to our appreciation of that culture. Only through an acknowledgment of the prejudicial learning’s can the misinformation be openly discussed and dealt with in a way which is likely to bring about change. It is clear that if we can’t talk about it, we surely can’t change it. Reducing prejudices needs to be more than an organizational goal; it needs to be a personal goal for each of us. I believe there are some things that we can do to help us with our prejudice thoughts and feelings such as: Acknowledge that you have learned prejudicial information about other people. Without this acknowledgment nothing can change. Only through an acknowledgment of the prejudicial learning’s can the misinformation be openly discussed and dealt with in a way which is likely to bring about change. It is clear that if we can’t talk about it, we surely can’t change it.

Confront without guilt or blame the stereotypes that you have learned.
Guilt for having learned information is not really appropriate. It would have been difficult or nearly impossible to avoid learning this information. You probably learned it before you were able to think about the information critically.

To focus on either blame or guilt distracts one from the need for change. It also Advantages and Challenges

focuses one's attention from the present into the past and leaves one feeling helpless or powerless to make any changes. Enter a supportive group or a supportive relationship for making the needed changes. We tend to change our interpersonal behaviors and beliefs most effectively in an interpersonal context. Another person or other people can help us to test new learning’s, gain new information, and hold us to our insights and our commitments. They can do all this while providing us with support as we try new ideas, behaviors and beliefs. To be more inclusive and pluralistic, you could make a point of always thinking things through from other viewpoints before speaking or acting. In particular, try seeing things through the eyes of people from very different backgrounds to your own.

References
1. The diet business: Banking on failure. (BBC News World Edition, Feb 5 2003).http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2725943.stm 2. The Canadian Women’s Health Network (Body Image and the Media). http://www.cwhn.ca/node/40776 3. Barbie boots up. (Time, Nov 11 1996).http://www.time.com 4. A Report on Mental Illness in Canada. (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2002). 5. Women lazerized to standardize dress sizes. (CNN.com, Feb 11 2008).

References
Alport, Gordon (1954), The Nature of Prejudice, Addison Wesley Publishing Company.

Alperson, Myra (1991), The Better World Investment Guide, Council on Economic Priorities, Prentice Hall Press.

Combs, Arthur (1971), Helping Relationships: Basic Concepts for the Helping Professions, Allyn and Bacon, Inc. gan,Gerard (1977), You and Me: The Skills of Communicating and Relating to Others, Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Gazda, George (1973), Human Relations Development: A Manual for Educators, Allyn and Bacon, Inc.

Rosenthal, Robert (1968), Pygmalion in The Classroom