Muslim Characters Are Erased & Stereotyped in Widespread TV, In keeping with Inclusion Initiative Examine

Final 12 months, Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a study outlining the insufficient illustration the Muslim group has obtained in widespread movie lately. Now, Smith and the Inclusion Initiative, with the assist of Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Movies, the Ford Basis, and Pillars Fund, are analyzing television portrayals of Muslims — sadly, the state of affairs is, as soon as once more, pretty dire. In keeping with “Erased or Extremists: The Stereotypical View of Muslims in Popular Episodic Series,” regardless of comprising 1 / 4 of the worldwide inhabitants, Muslims made up simply one % of talking characters (n=98) throughout the 200 top-rated sequence airing within the U.S., U.Ok., Australia, and New Zealand in 2018 and 2019.

Of the 8,885 talking characters studied within the pattern, Muslim characters have been outnumbered by non-Muslims by about 90-1. Eighty-seven % of the 200 sequence analyzed (n=174) featured zero Muslim characters, and solely eight % (n=16) depicted a number of Muslim characters.

“Not solely is that this radical erasure an insult, it has the potential to create real-world damage for audiences, notably Muslims who would be the victims of prejudice, discrimination, and even violence,” lead research creator Al-Baab Khan mentioned of the stats.

Breaking the info down additional, nearly all of Muslim characters have been, unsurprisingly, males. Over two-thirds of Muslim characters have been male, 30.6 % have been feminine, and nil characters have been coded as non-binary.

The portrayals of Muslim girls TV characters have been particularly stereotyped. Solely 21.6 % of Muslim feminine characters have been depicted as having a job — and almost all of them have been within the medical subject. “Greater than half of Muslim women and girls within the pattern have been proven carrying a hijab, although Muslim boys and males have been proven carrying a various vary of apparel (e.g., topis, kurtas, denims, t-shirts, and many others.). Muslim girls have been usually depicted as fearful and submissive to their male counterparts,” the research particulars.

As for different intersections of id, most (52 %) of the Muslim TV characters studied have been Center Japanese/North African, 28.6 % have been Asian, and 13.3 % have been Black. Practically half (48.5 %) have been younger adults, a few quarter have been center aged, and none have been kids aged 5 or beneath. Simply two aged Muslim characters have been current within the pattern. Zero characters have been depicted as dwelling with a incapacity, and just one Muslim talking character was coded as being LGBTQ, “a 21-to-39-year-old Asian lesbian who performed a supporting function within the U.Ok. sequence, ‘Subsequent of Kin.’”

Thirty % of the 98 Muslim talking characters have been “perpetrators of violence” and 40 % have been “targets of violent assaults.”

“The findings on this research reveal how not often content material creators take into consideration together with Muslims in widespread storytelling — notably women and girls,” Smith said. “In consequence, viewers must watch hours and hours of content material earlier than seeing even a single portrayal of a Muslim character — with much more time required to discover a portrayal that’s not linked to violence or extremism.”

“TV exhibits are the tales we convey into our houses. They play an enormous half in shaping how we perceive the world, one another, and our place inside it. This research reminds us that on the subject of Muslim portrayals, we’re nonetheless being fed a TV weight-reduction plan of stereotyping and erasure,” Ahmed burdened. “For Muslims, this sends a message that they don’t belong or don’t matter. For different folks, we threat normalizing worry, bigotry, and stigmatization in opposition to Muslims.” He continued, “Networks and streaming companies have to embrace their accountability to make sure Muslims of all backgrounds see themselves mirrored in our favourite TV exhibits. And they’d be sensible to embrace this gigantic alternative to succeed in and join with an underserved world viewers — not simply as a part of a passing variety fad however as a decisive shift in the direction of inclusive story-telling.”

Take a look at your complete “Erased or Extremists” research here.