Minorities in Photographs at UNT

Today while attending Honors Geology, the UNT public relations department had hired a photographer to come in and take some photos for an Honors College brochure. There were about twenty students in the class who all came in and sat in their regular seats. I sit down in my regular seat and the photographer comes up to me and quietly asks if I can please switch seats with another white girl who is sitting in the first row in the first seat from the center. I agree without much though and realized he was asking me to move so that he could capture some ethnic diversity in these photos. He also asked a black male student to move to another seat. He and I were the only obviously non-white students in the class (that I could tell).

The class was at first unsure why we were being asked to move but it became quickly obvious. They were shocked that the photographer would ask us to basically pose or stage a picture. It was embarrassing being asked to be in a photo because I am an ethnic minority.

I have no problem with the university trying to portray ethnic diversity in photos, but I just hate they way they are always staged to have 1 or 2 white students, 1 black student and one Hispanic/latin@ student. I think they should just take photos of events that occur naturally on campus. Not every white person consciously surrounds themselves with a black and white person at all times as portrayed in most University publications.

In regards to “A Girl Like Me”

I am not sure what year the study was conducted but from my recent experience with family and relatives and as part of a minority group my experiences with children and dolls has been quite different.

I have a young female cousin in particular who prefers the Bratz and Dora the explorer dolls . The majority of the dolls she plays with have a brown or tan complexion which is pretty much in line with being a Hispanic. However, my family has noticed the extremely sexy and grown up manner in which the Bratz dolls are always dressed. They wear miniskirts and tons of garish makeup. I think manufacturers are realizing that a large part of their target market is minority or non-white girls.

I also had a conversation many years back with a friend of the family who is Hispanic and married to a Puerto Rican man. Her children look both Hispanic and black as far as skin color, facial features and hair texture. All the children have thick curly hair. She told me that both her children and their cousins prefer black dolls. They do own dolls with different skin colors. However, the leader of the pack is always a black doll and her sidekicks can be white or Hispanic dolls. She also told me that some of their relatives in cities like Atlanta have a very hard time finding black dolls because they always sell out around the holidays.

I know that racism is alive and well but I think that our society is acknowledging that a large part of consumers are nonwhite minority groups and moving in a more positive direction.

Mexican Maids who speak very poor English

On the topic we briefly discussed in class (brought up in the syllabus), I have noticed a growing trend in the Mexican maid who speaks very poor English on a number of television (both fictional and "reality") shows including but not limited to: Rosario on Will and Grace, Lupita on Weeds, Zoila on Flipping Out, and another whose name I am unsure of on The Real Housewives of New York...
They are typically older Mexican women who act as a comedic relief in the show and speak very poor English. They are also often made to do things their employers do no wish to do.
Although I do realize that Mexican women do take jobs as maids or housekeepers, i rarely see Mexican women portrayed in television shows in any other large trends.