Investigated with Dr. Deepika Bahri in the English department at Emory College of Arts and Science through the Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE) Research Partner Program. In early October, I began locating, documenting, and analyzing subtle multimedia messages targeting minorities and immigrants.

1. Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Emory University, the Scholarly
Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE) program, and Dr.
Jacob Shreckengost for financing this poster. Additionally,
I appreciate support provided by the Department of English.
Tentative Conclusions
What can be ascertained from
analyzing the subtleties and
suggestions of modern
advertisement messages? The
implicit messaging found within
media publications allow for a
homogenous look of what it looks
like to ‘fit in’ to commonly held
beauty standards in the United
States.
Minority and immigrant consumers
are barraged through many media
platforms with suggestions on how
to aesthetically assimilate to
mainstream American culture.
•Why is it that when I cover their
eyes, I can no longer tell if a
character is of the White or Asian
race?
• Can you?
•How has the media created
distinct racial barriers that can be
so easily traversed?
Representations of race in modern
media and subtle, suggestive
messaging have set the standards
for aesthetic beauty.
•Do you make the cut?
Methods
Magazines, television shows, news casting
programs and Youtube videos were
chosen based on consistently high viewing
or circulation rates. These rates were self-
reported or gathered from Nielson.com, a
leader in media consumption
measurement. The materials presented
here include messages regarding the
reformation of grooming, product use, and
accent.
Materials and Products Examined:
Magazines-
•Chance Chanel- Seventeen
•Hairfinity Healthy Hair Vitamins-
Essence
Television Shows-
•How to Get Away With Murder-
American Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC)
News casting Programs-
•Sheila Dharmarajan- National Business
Review (NBR)
•Viviana Hurtado- American Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC)
Youtube Videos-
•Makeup for Black Women: Full Face
Makeup under $40 by
ExcuseMyFrenchPls
Introduction
This poster will exhibit some of the ways
media promotes aesthetic assimilation to
mainstream American culture.
Observations: Youtube Video
.
Observations: Newscasting Programs
Messaging in Modern Media
Eboni Freeman1
Julia Munslow2
Deepika Bahri PhD3
.
Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE), Department of English, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Observations: Magazines
.
Observations: Television Show
Main Character- Annalise
Without wig + Makeup With wig + Makeup
Weak Strong
Tattered Traditionally Beautiful
Upon the removal of her standard shiny brown
bob, heavy eye shadow and varying lip colors
look, Annalise exposes a stark aesthetic differences
underscored by an accompanying change in
demeanor and confidence. Why is Annalise’s
physical beauty connected with her personality? Is
a minority person’s inner worth attached to their
outward assimilation.
• Asian character
• Matching aesthetics
excluding her eyes
and slightly darker
skin tone.
• What can be said
about the underlying
message of unspoken
normative beauty
standards?
• Black character has wavy
tresses common in
magazine illustrations
• Advertising “longer,
fuller hair”
• By using a pageant
perfect character, do you
get a sense of how
American beauty does or
should present itself?
• Could you tell from these pictures that it is same
woman?
• Through a makeover process including face
lightening and hair curling, the character looks
much more ‘radiant’. Transforming into well-
coifed, much lighter version of herself, the video
is an example of colorism in the larger race
culture of America. Furthermore, by taming her
natural beauty and employing a video title that
explicitly targets black minority consumers,
ExcuseMyFrenchPls exhibits a public example of
the before and after assimilation.
References
Burke, D. (n.d.). Tumblr. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
Fareed Zakaria Named Commencement Speaker. (2011, October 14).
Retrieved April 7, 2015.
31 August 2002 Backdated Julie Chen Fights. (2002, August 31). Retrieved
April 7, 2015.
Name: Sophia Choi
Born: Taegu, Korea
Accent: Negligible
•Immigrated to Maryland,
U.S.A.
•Public face of Atlanta
journalism community
•Is accent suppression a
necessary alteration to meet
tacit assumptions about the
sound of newscasters?
Name: Fareed Zakaria
Born: Bombay, India
Accent: Significant
•Naturalized American
citizen
•Political authority on
immigration policies
•How do his classic
Indian pronunciations
influence the way he is
perceived?