Stereotype Threat

Besides acknowledging the fact that television media often offers negative stereotypical portrayals of individuals belonging to certain racial and/or ethnic groups such as African-Americans and homosexuals, social psychology goes further by examining the direct implications of these mostly negative images. One of these implications is the notion of stereotype threat, the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group as self characteristic. As an individual is constantly exposed to negative images of his/her racial or ethnic group, this person begins to internalize the same social and personal characteristics of these images.
In terms of primetime television, an issue that has been in the news recently is how many women are seen on television represented by unrealistically thin imagesof many prominent actresses in Hollywood. Shows such as Ally McBeal and Friends have generated a great amount of controversy over how these images affect a number of women viewers into aspirations of attaining these virtually unattainable bodies. While television images provide only one aspect of our culture that leads women to desire these traits, it deserves the most attention because of how pervasive television has become in American society. The negative impact of these media trends is seen in the many women who suffer from eating disorders such as Anorexia and bulimia in hopes of reaching a slim figure.