In this assignment, you will argue a pro or con position involving minorities, women, or LGBTQ individuals given an audience with opposing views.
Presenting stereotypes of minorities/women/LGBTQ individuals affects viewers’ conceptions of different groups.
How do such skewed views affect real-life interactions with members of minority groups? Is there a difference among such genres as comedies, dramas, police procedurals, children’s shows, cartoons, and reality shows, in how marginalized people are portrayed? Can you cite any examples from your own experiences?
The media should be trusted to provide the means to change people’s perceptions of minorities. Argue for or against this statement.
Requirements
Your paper must outline specifically the nature of the problem and demonstrate critical thinking, sound logic, valid claims, personal passion, and credible support that is cited correctly.
Write a three-page paper in which you:
In the introduction, include a quote, question or statistic from your text and an overview of the three major points you will cover.
Introduce your position with a thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph.
Provide three major points to support your thesis statement (put each major point in a separate paragraph).
Answer each of the sub-questions in at least one paragraph each.
Wrap up your assignment with a strong conclusion in which you restate the points you made and supported.
Organize arguments and support your claims effectively.
Demonstrate personal passion for your position and critical thinking with persuasive language, sound logic, valid claims, and credible support for the claims.
Provide three credible and reliable sources (in addition to the textbook) about current events, which have been published in the last five years and are cited correctly in the position paper.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title and the date. Include a source page to demonstrate understanding of the Strayer Writing Standards. The cover and source pages are not included in the required assignment page length. An Assignment 1 Sample [PDF] has been provided for your reference.
Resources:
Strayer University Library
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:
Argue a pro or con position on a controversial topic considering an identified audience.
Comments from Customer
The name of the book is “Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Mass Media and Society”
Social and Cultural Norms
Is there a “correlation between abortion and depression labeled ‘post-abortion syndrome?’” (White 237). Two groups differ concerning the topic of whether the post-abortion syndrome is real, pro-life, and pro-choice. The first group argues that abortion has a positive correlation with depression, while pro-choice organizations claim that data is inadequate to support the relationship between the two variables and that safe abortion should be supported in media and public discourse. The paper presents three cases to support the pro-choice side of the debate and the importance of safe abortion. First, support for safe abortion eliminates the risks of illegal abortions. Second, women (a minority group in society) should be given the freedom to decide on matters related to their reproductive health. Lastly, it is necessary to address the social myths associated with abortion and death (such as suicide and other mental health problems). Regardless of people’s negative perceptions of abortion, media should be trusted to provide the means to change them since it shapes the agenda and provides the means to question the negative beliefs.
Current research on media presentations of women’s reproductive health focuses on the negative aspect of abortion, such as post-abortion syndrome. However, such perceptions fail to emphasize the other side of the story, which the media presents, such as the potential for safe abortion and eradication of illegal procedures (Purcell et al. 1142). Media plays an important role in addressing the negative perceptions regarding the dangers of abortion and presenting a case for legal and safe abortion that can help women to make an informed decision. Media helps address skewed views, such as abortion being immoral from a religious perspective, to help women access safe abortion and eradicate the negative psychological effects of unwanted pregnancies. However, the media presents the case differently in various genres, such as family dramas, which create a pro-choice agenda, and children’s shows, which avoids the issue altogether. Generally, the media can create an agenda that addresses the issue of safe abortion in society.
The media supports the need for women’s right to their reproductive health and the freedom to decide on matters, such as abortion. Media sets the agenda associated with abortion, such as creating knowledge about the issue to ensure that people make informed decisions when they get unwanted pregnancies. The media, such as social media, has impacted the issues by enabling the creation and sharing of stories related to the issue to create awareness among young people (Altshuler et al. 226). Thus, individuals learn and form opinions regarding the issue through social media. For example, social media has made the subject more acceptable among youth and young adults by sharing experiences related to safe abortion. Therefore, when the idea of being a taboo in the United States, which has prevented people from making an informed decision, is being eradicated. In its place, the media has created a safe environment to discuss and make rational and informed choices on abortion and reproductive health, in general.
Media has played a key role in addressing social myths associating with abortion and death (such as through suicide and other mental health problems). The pro-life group has always propagated the belief that abortion has a strong correlation with death, but the media suggests that this emanates from the myths that have always been associated with the topic. Looking through the media, such as on TV films, the abortion debate has been changing over the years, especially a decline in the number of people who view abortion as still a taboo and immoral (Sisson and Kimport 89). For example, since the 1970s, TV shows, such as Maude, have been explicit about abortion. The media has been effective in addressing the taboo and social myths that could be used by the pro-life camp, to reveal the pros of abortion in society and the need to support the rights of women (who are a minority group in society). Mediated discourses discount the current views of abortion, such as post-abortion syndrome, which are only used to push the pro-life agenda and maintain social myths.
Regardless of people’s negative perceptions of abortion, media has played a key role in changing them through agenda–setting and providing the means to question the negative beliefs. Modern media has been increasingly accepting of the positive view of abortion and increasing awareness such that women can make informed decisions regarding their reproductive health. First, the media has supported the need for safe abortion to eliminate the risk of illegal abortions. Secondly, women have been given greater freedom to make informed decisions regarding their reproductive health, such as abortion. Lastly, the media has created the grounds to address social myths associating with abortion and death. Therefore, despite the pro-life’s claim of post-abortion syndrome, evidence supporting safe abortion, as presented in media and public discourses, is greater and more convincing even to the opposing audience.
Works Cited
Altshuler, Anna L., Helen L. Gerns Storey, and Sarah W. Prager. “Exploring abortion attitudes of US adolescents and young adults using social media.” Contraception vol.91, no.3, 2015, pp. 226-233.
Purcell, Carrie, Shona Hilton, and Lisa McDaid. “The stigmatisation of abortion: a qualitative analysis of print media in Great Britain in 2010.” Culture, health & Sexuality vol. 16, no.9, 2014, pp. 1141-1155.
Sisson, Gretchen, and Katrina Kimport. “Telling stories about abortion: abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916–2013.” Contraception vol. 89, no.5, 2014, pp. 413-418.
White, Jacquelyn W., ed. Taking sides: clashing views in gender. McGraw-Hill, 2007.
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