Stereotypes in the Media

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in an image. It is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading. Stereotypes are very common in visual literacy as they help readers understand what the image is trying to communicate. Beauty and the Geek is one of the many examples of stereotypes in the media. The clip that I am about to play for you shows what the program is about and how it stereotypes a vast majority of the world’s population. (A YouTube clip from Beauty and the Geek Australia -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzFZc-Y1tAA&list=PL6034D2FA52B7A0A7&index=3&feature=plpp_video )
This Australian television show has two obvious stereotypes. It tells us that attractive people are more worried about how they look than their education and that people who are smart are unattractive, socially awkward and just plain geeky, but what does that word actually mean? The definition of geek has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive meaning. The terms nerd, dweeb and dork have similar meanings as geek, but many choose to identify different connotations among these terms, although the differences are disputed. The contestants in this show represent these stereotypes.
The women in the show are what today’s society would classify as beautiful. They all have long hair and wear brightly coloured clothes and makeup to match their personalities. The clothes are tight and show a lot of skin and their career choices are often involve their looks, more than their brain, while the men in this show have jobs that you would need a lot of knowledge such as I.T. technician, scientist, meteorologist and molecular genetics. The geeks’ wardrobes are very dull. The colours include browns, greys and light blues. They wear long sleeves and pants, glasses, braces and have a lot of hair. Many of them have never been in a relationship with a woman before and spend a lot of their time working or playing video games. The way that they talk shows how intelligent they really are. Their jobs have to do with science which stereotypes intelligent people saying that science is the only worthwhile subject. By placing people who match these stereotypes in a reality tv show they are teaching children the ideas of what is “wrong” in today’s society.
This show tells us that there is a certain way of looking that is acceptable and that only half of the contestants meet these standards. Halfway through the season the geeks are given a makeover and by doing this Beauty and the Geek is saying that it is wrong to look the way they do. Trying to make the geeks more attractive seems to somewhat defeat the purpose of the show. Part of the show’s goal is to make the men more confident in themselves, and feeling more attractive on the outside can certainly increase self-esteem, so the makeover idea does have some merit. However, the men are supposed to be teaching the women that looks are not everything and they should not value appearances as highly as they do. By making the men more attractive as part of a challenge, this message is sadly overridden.
Before the makeovers the beauties have more dominance and power because of their strong personalities and their high self-esteem, stemming largely from their good looks, which also empowers them. Being beautiful and feminine gains these women much attention and power, so much so that it is unnecessary for them to be intelligent. They are able to use their looks to manipulate men to get whatever they want.
Beauty and the Geek contains both empowering and overpowering images, thereby sending contradicting messages to the contestants and viewers. I have come to see the show as contradictory in itself overall. As a “social experiment,” it aims to break the stereotypes about masculinity and femininity. It does so by sending empowering messages about not placing so much value on appearances and about learning to have confidence in oneself. Nevertheless, certain norms and stereotypes are reinforced rather than discredited, including the value of beauty in our society. The show tries to teach the beauties not to be superficial, yet meanwhile changes the geeks’ appearances in order to make them more attractive to women. Power and empowerment are ambiguous concepts in this show because power continually changes hands throughout the episodes. This show unknowingly teaches us about how men and women should behave.