Oh. And apparently some of them are werewolves who never wear shirts.
Just kidding. But in all seriousness, there are a lot of stereotypes concerning this group and I wanted to narrow my focus specifically to Native American women. Here's how they are portrayed in popular culture:
On butter:
On beer:
In magazines:
In Disney movies:
On the runways:
And in music videos:
The single story I see here is that Native American women are sexualized in the media. This idea has early origins in the idea of exotic and mysterious "Indian princesses" that colonists came into contact with. But the concept has escalated and in today's popular culture and advertisements, Native American women are portrayed as attractive, easy, often scantily-clad objects of desire. Historically, people saw them as something to take advantage of or conquer and from what I can see of the media's portrayal of them, that still seems to be the case.
The social implications of this are upsetting. If this is how Native American women are being depicted, then there is a good chance that this is how they'll be treated. Unfortunately, when I did a little research, I learned that one in three Native American women are raped during their lifetime. Over 80 percent of these attacks come from men of other races.
In conclusion, I find the objectification of Native American women in the media to be a real problem. It's particularly disturbing to me because it's often simply white girls in headdresses running around emphasizing this stereotype. I know that many Native American women are strong, intelligent, and capable leaders. They have more than a single story and I would like to see them more accurately represented in the media.
I really liked your post. I never really thought about how degrading it is for a white girl to be running around in a headdress and bikini until I read this. We do owe Native American women more respect because this does not portray them or their culture accurately.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely only a single story portrayed about these women. I know a few native american women here at BYU, and they are seriously nothing like this. A couple of them are in living legends, and even their dress isn't like this. Interesting to see how people portray them in all forms of media.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It brought to light some things I'm guilty of going along with and not thinking twice about the real story behind these women. That's the problem, it's not that people are necessarily trying to be degrading with their stereotypes, we're just uneducated and unaware of the full story behind any individual.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It brought to light some things I'm guilty of going along with and not thinking twice about the real story behind these women. That's the problem, it's not that people are necessarily trying to be degrading with their stereotypes, we're just uneducated and unaware of the full story behind any individual.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post. I, myself, have dressed as an indian. But I never put much thought behind the people I was actually representing. I had not really noticed how prevalent it was in our society until you brought it up.
ReplyDeleteI personally love those Native Americans who turn into werewolves.. Just kidding. But you make some really good points. In a history class I'm in right now we're talking a lot about the Native Americans and all the hardships they went through being kicked off their lands. Not once have I seen a picture of a mother wearing a bikini with short shorts and feathers as their outfits. They would never be caught dead wearing what we consider "indian" costumes. It is degrading for us to dress up like them in these disrespectful ways. These Native American women were awe inspiring individuals. We should be more respectful of them and learn to represent them the correct way.
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