IHSI Diversity Committee Monthly Resources
Each month, the IHSI Diversity Committee shares resources and learning opportunities with the rest of IHSI staff. Curating and sharing these resources allow us to educate ourselves on various topics related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. As an institute devoted to promoting all forms of health, we want to share these resources more broadly with our campus and community stakeholders. We hope that you will find them as useful as we have.
Let's talk about representation in media
This month, Max Wallace, IHSI Visiting Research Project Coordinator, led a discussion on representation in the media. He shared the following:
I love media. We all do, whether it's listening to the radio, watching a show you heard about on a streaming service, reading a book or an article, playing a video game, even just watching the 6 o'clock news. Media consumption and engagement with art is a cornerstone of our society, it pushes us forward, it informs our perceptions, it gives us something to do and talk about with one another. As an institution, we create media, and we do it in the pursuit of elevating the health and wellness of the community, both on and off campus. There's intentionality behind everything that we create; A newsletter, a story, a social media post; there are reasons for each decision in framing, narrative, and timing that we make to deliver messages that create an impact on specific populations.
It's Black History Month. I want everyone to think about the media they consume and how it pertains to your identities. The media we consume is reflective of our personal interests, engagement in salient cultures, and can help us understand why we pursue the goals that we set for ourselves individually and collectively. Being biracial is a significant part of my identity, both black and white identities informing how I perceive the world around me. So when I engage in artistry created by those groupings, it is through a different lens than someone who doesn't share the same background as me.
Take some time to read this document created by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) that discusses the history and considerations for black life in media in the United States. Having read that, how do you think about the media you engage with? Does it center around people you identify with? Are these portrayals something you find relatable, or exaggerated stereotypes that exploit a certain population and culture?
Another resource highlights something often missing in our "mainstream" media spaces, the idea of The Race Bechdel Test. For those unfamiliar, the Bechdel Test, created by Alison Bechdel has three rules:
- It must have at least two [named] female characters.
- These characters must talk to each other.
- The conversation must be about something other than a man.
The Race Bechdel Test has a similar premise, focusing on two black characters talking to each other about something other than a white man. I'm fascinated by how little this is seen in media, and you can check out examples within the linked article.