American Television Creating Stereotypes

This past week it was interesting for me to truly think about the stereotypes that certain shows such as The O.C., The Hills, Gossip Girl, The City, and many others create regarding teenage and young adult lives in America. Although I was born and raised in the United States, I still find myself being sucked into the belief that certain demographic areas of the United States are the way they are based on these fictional shows or even "reality" shows. Perhaps one of the most interesting real life situations that displayed the power of these stereotypes was shown through an exchange student I knew from Germany. When she came to our small, rural high school in Vermont for a year I remember speaking with her and being surprised by her shock and disappointment at the low-key environment of our school, town, and community. Not surprisingly, this teen had been watching shows prior coming to America like The Hills and Gossip Girl. Even though she knew she would not be living in Orange County or The Upper Eastside, she still though most American communities were wealthy, lavish, and fancy...boy was she in for a surprise. Although my home town is not a poor area, it is rural and rather unexciting. I found my exchange student friend curious as to why we all did not go out all the time to fancy clubs or parties on weekends or why we did not have expensive designer accessories and clothing. One night we even decided to watch The Hills just for fun, and this girl from German simply came right out and she said that she honestly believed her experience was going to be a version of this lifestyle but in Vermont instead of California. I was shocked. In addition, the stereotypes about appearance, behavior, and wealth abound as well.

Girls such as LC, Audrina, Heidi, and Whitney all have the same sort of Hollywood, southern california look that is depicted in the media. After my visit to LA last year I of course realized (not that I presumed this in the first place) that not every young woman appears like these women do by any means.

In addition, to the Southern California girl look the leading women on the east coast are also beautiful, young, and polished. These two depictions of women all over the country do not give much wiggle room for foreign people to think much else of young Americans. Of course the most attractive people in our society tend to be the ones who are celebrities that act and model, however, it still is not a realistic depiction of our general population. Unfortunately, because of these teen shows that are aired all around the world there is a definite stereotype about males and females that is given to foreign peoples all over the world. Since America is the leading source of media with television, movies, and music being sold all over the world it is important that we pay close attention to what stereotypes we are sending out to the world. It is misleading and inaccurate to portray all the women and men in America in a certain light with certain lifestyles, values, and ideals. Foreign peoples may become confused and even convinced that this is how young America looks and acts. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a trip to America by a young person to finally realize that young people are not in fact the way they are shown always in the media.