Scholars Magnet for Business and Law senior, Gabriella Hewitt, is focusing her AP research on the effects of social media on diverse people. Even in 2017, the vast majority of the modern-day media landscape still lacks the diversity needed to accurately represent the world’s population. A study conducted by the University of Southern California, published 2016, analyzed more than 21,000 characters and behind-the-scenes actors in over 400 different movie and TV shows released from September 2014 to August 2015. In this study, Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti, and Katherine Pieper found that only 28.3% of speaking roles were held by non-white persons. This shows that Hollywood lacks diversity, which could have a serious impact on the self-esteem of young viewers. Media sets the tone for societal customs and conventions. Through popular depictions, certain behaviors, lifestyles and appearances are promoted and normalized (Cortes, 2000). It is when one does not fit into these standards that self-esteem issues can arise. Children may begin to tear themselves down if images of success in everyday pop-culture do depict who they are. Through her research project, Hewitt hopes to examine the impact this absence on the self-esteem of children of color, who are the least likely to see themselves in popular media. If you want to know more about this research, please follow Hewitt on Twitter. Click on the image to access her Twitter page or contact her by email representationmatters201718@gmail.com.
