If we take a step outside the Provo "bubble" and see what the world thinks of Mormons, you can see that there is certainly a common theme about who "we" are. From these social media depictions of Mormons, the single story is that they are crazy, baby-making, gay-hating, racist, polygamists. In other words, Mormons do not have a positive reputation in the media. From the first image, Mormons appear to be overly happy baby lovers. The missionary has a huge, almost fake, looking grin, which gives off this ora of extreme joy. This makes it seem as if all Mormons are supposed to be happy and in your face about it. This image then says "so let's make babies," which is saying that Mormons only care about having kids and having them fast! In the second image, which was hard for me to even put up, Thomas S. Monson is representing Mormons as a whole, since he is the church's president. This picture is trying making it seem as if Mormons do not like women, blacks or gays, since they are often scrutinized on these issues. The third image, a Newsweek magazine cover, depicts Mormons as being centralized around polygamy and a latter-day prophet. The fourth image presents a variety of views on Mormons, but the main message is that Mormons are pervasive polygamists who are also very spiritual and hard-working. The Proposition 8 sign holders, the missionaries, and the man with many wives present the pervasive polygamist image. Then the temple, scripture reader, and church chairs show Mormons take on themselves, so it's a more positive image presented. Lastly, the fifth image, again, presents Mormons as polygamists. Therefore, the single story about Mormons is mainly that they are polygamists, but also that they are not accepting of other types and cultures, and that they only care about having babies. These messages being sent affect Mormons because their reputation will be ruined, making people not want to join their congregation and also causing people to not like them overall.
The single story being presented is definitely negative for Mormons. This is limiting because the outside public will form a pre-judgement on Mormons, based off of the way social media presents them. Mormons will then have to try and escape this box that they are being thrown into and try and change peoples' thoughts on them, which is not easy. Particularly the racist and gay-hating stereotypes for Mormons will hurt them, during these times where gays are more accepted and race is no longer an issue.
The modern media certainly does not go easy on Mormons. Since most people do not understand the LDS religion or care to understand it, there is a very negative portrayal of them on social media. People often take the most common misconceptions about Mormons and turn them into what they think are truths, creating the single story about Mormons.
All of those memes help me understand why the General Authorities want us to use social media to show that we really are normal people. This post also makes me think about the "Mormon moment" while Mitt Romney was running for president and when the First Presidency put an ad in the program for The Book of Mormon Musical. Hopefully we counteracted some of these stereotypes during that time, and hopefully we can continue to do that today!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the media has a mostly negative view of the church but I feel much of it is being sarcastic and to lampoon the beliefs. It does have damaging effects but perception of the church has improved significantly comparing misconceptions from not too long ago.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the memes and pictures you presented are more sarcastic than negative. I think the kind of people who make the memes are fully aware of what the church represents, but that won't stop them from making fun of it. It's like the people who write the Onion: they know what the actual news is, they just choose to twist it to make it entertaining. While I disagree with the people who make these memes, and I think they're making light of sacred truths, they are just trying to get attention and a laugh.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the memes and pictures you presented are more sarcastic than negative. I think the kind of people who make the memes are fully aware of what the church represents, but that won't stop them from making fun of it. It's like the people who write the Onion: they know what the actual news is, they just choose to twist it to make it entertaining. While I disagree with the people who make these memes, and I think they're making light of sacred truths, they are just trying to get attention and a laugh.
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