Representation of Ethnicity

Big Bang Theory- Raj

Raj is the only main character who is not american in the American comedy, Big Bang Theory. Raj is Indian and is represented as Indian through his accent. However the show represents Raj as a silly and comical character in the company of his friends, although shy in the company of females. This however is changed when Raj drinks alcohol as he becomes very confident with the opposite sex, although Raj is a Hindu and therefore is going against the beliefs of his religion as he is drinking alcohol, something Hindus do no believe in. Strong Hinduism followers would therefore take a opposing reading to the show despite the chance of them being the shows target audience which would potentially be both genders aged 15-24. Raj also does not eat Indian food, in fact he despises it, representing him again in a negative way for Indian culture. 

Representation of Women in Visual texts- Case studies

Music Videos

A good example for showing women in a negative way in music videos is Lily Allen's single 'Hard out here'. The song features Lily and a group of dancers who are all wearing little clothing. This has been purposefully done to represent women as sexualised objects. The dancers are also dancing in a exotic and sexual way to show the patriarchy and dominance of women in society as the dancing are 'twerking' in front of Lily as she acts out to represent the dominant male as if she 'owns' the dancers. This negative representation of women in a text such as a music video comes across as very shocking to the viewer as a music video is something usually very positive. The women featuring in this music video are represented as sex slaves due to the way they are dancing and how they are treated by Lily who is acting out the dominant male role in today's society. This video is serving two purposes: one, to entertain the male audience as males will be sexually attracted to the dancers; and two, to make a statement for feminism and stand up against the dominance of male patriarchy.