BEHS 220 DIVERSITY ASSN 1

1

5

Media Representations of Diversity

Name

Institution

Date

"The Bold Type" is based on the life of Joanna Coles, the editor in chief of "Cosmopolitan." The show provides a look at the wild lives and loves of those in charge of a global women's publication. Discovering themselves, maintaining friendships, and having their heart shattered were all problems they faced while wearing the appropriate jeans to flatter any body shape.

The series depicts the flash and glam of the fashion magazine industry and addresses more severe and delicate issues such as immigration, sexual assault, gender equality, sexual orientation, and the risks of online trolls. "Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy), and Kat Edison (Aisha Dee) are three millennial women who work at Scarlet, a fictional women's magazine based on the legacy journal Cosmopolitan. They negotiate their way through tumultuous love relationships, self-discovery, and the pressure to make their imprint by the age of 26". Putting together a magazine is a complex process requiring a great deal of effort to complete and get the publication into newsstand shelves. That is why the editors of Scarlet, a global women's magazine, lean on one another while they struggle to develop their voices. They fight to define their identities, manage friendships, and find love while working together to print each monthly issue.

When it comes to race, the Bold Type has a tumultuous relationship. On the one hand, the cast is varied, with essential characters Kat, played by a biracial actress, and Adena, played by Pakistani-Canadian Nikohl Boosheri. Lauren (Emily Chang), Oliver (Stephen Conrad Moore), and Alex (Matt Ward) all have recurrent small parts, which feels true to the show's setting of midtown New York City. On the other hand, however, non-white identity expression can sometimes feel erratic and studied rather than wholly lived in. it is notably visible in Kat and Adena's romantic relationship. And this led to one of the characters speaking about the issue on her Instagram post. Aisha Dee, an actress who plays Kat Edison, the department's first Black female head, talked about flaws in The Bold Type's exterior dynamics. She discussed the nuanced depiction and development of white hetero characters in The Bold Type in an Instagram post, as well as "the inconsistencies of the stories involving LGBTQ characters and people of color." "We cannot bring specificity and honesty to situations we have not lived," she continued. Whenever there is a lack of acknowledgment, the treatment of marginalized characters is even more critical, since they can encourage or perpetuate harmful stereotypes that have a long-term and genuine impact on real people." Comment by Busayo Oyewole: What does this statement mean Comment by Busayo Oyewole: What led to this statement, it is an incomplete sentence Comment by Busayo Oyewole: What led to the Instagram post , another incomplete sentence. This was what led to the instagram post (The “colorblind” perspective of the show first really came to my attention during the third episode, where Kat becomes a victim of internet trolling, and eventually is doxxed. )

In plain terms, "intersectional feminism" is the study of how "race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation," and other factors influence how women are discriminated against (Kang et al., 2017). "When Adena El Amin was detained at the airport for possessing a vibrator in her bag, Adena runs rather than waiting for the cops after Kat attacks a man who calls Adena a racial slur; the Bold Type has touched on intersections before. As she correctly points out to Kat, what is acceptable for her is not suitable for Adena, both a Muslim and a lesbian in modern-day America". The Bold Type has made headlines, with praises for its clever banter and feminism, as well as a small but devoted fan base. Through workplace drama at a fashion magazine, the show tackles themes of identity and adolescence. Comment by Busayo Oyewole: THIS IS WHY ADENA RAN. THE AIRPORT SCENE IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT Kat’s encounter with the police starts when she punches a white man in the face as retaliation for Islamophobic comments that he made towards Adena, a Muslim lesbian and artist that Kat has befriended (to say the least). The police quickly arrive on the scene and arrest her, while Adena disappears; the next time we see Kat, she has been bailed out by her editor in chief Jacqueline and is upset that Adena did not stay to defend her. Comment by Busayo Oyewole: CHECK THAT WEBSITE FOR THE REAL EVENT. THIS PAPER DID NOT REALLY TALK ABOUT WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT. https://medium.com/@viviantg/kat-edison-deserves-a-race-conscious-narrative-afd0f6ba4cd

Everyone desires to see themselves mirrored on television, in movies, and other forms of media. When I was growing old, I always had a dream of seeing myself depicted on a television character, it was also very difficult to come across anyone who experiences almost the same things I did or even went through the things that I went through. In this series, I feel represented by Kat, a biracial woman who discovers herself with a proud lesbian Muslim (Kang et al., 2017). Finding my identity has been a struggle for me, and seeing a female character friendship is also the series' backbone. I've had trouble making friends, but seeing three successful women stand together throughout their lives and careers encourages me to believe that such friendships exist.

Even while there is a positive range of representation for black women in the film, including representation for them in the LGBTQ community, the series features just a small number of black women and employees behind the cameras, according to one of the characters. The film highlights good variety, including gender diversity, by featuring women and demonstrating how successful women can be. The film shows positive diversity with each character's different work positions in the company. Women are powerful, and the film has represented their voices.

References

Kang, M., Lessard, D., & Heston, L. (2017). Intersectionality. Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/intersectionality/

Miliann Kang, Donovan Lessard, Laura Heston, and Sonny Nordmarken, 2017. Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/front-matter/introduction-to-women-gender-sexuality-studies/