Today for a fun little experiment, I decided to take a look at google images. I typed three different terms into google images and I yielded three very interesting pictures in return.
In an effort to be as balanced as possible I did decide on a method prior to my experiment: I would enter my terms one at a time and select either the first or second image that was yielded. (All images are discussed from left to right)
The first picture is of musician Snoop Doggy Dog walking down the MTV video music awards red carpet with two women on leashes. This photo was the first to come up in google images under the search "Black Women".
The second picture is of women in military uniforms armed and marching in form. This photo was the second to come up in google images under the term "Korean Women". I chose an ethnic group rather than a racial group in this instance because...well, I'm Korean and I was curious as to how I was being represented.
The third picture is of a white women who just gave birth to a child that appears to be of mixed race descent when clearly the white man standing next to her is her husband, who seems very surprised at the skin tone of the child.
Now, clearly there is a lot to be said of these images and how controlling images shape the lives of women and men (I did this for men too, it's very interesting!). I'm not at all surprised by the images I found for both Black and Korean women but the image I pulled up for White women was initially, a bit surprising. But...then again, I had an expectation for Black women and Korean women but I had no expectation for White women, I'm ashamed to say that I threw that one in more as a control group then for anything else. I guess that is exactly why many groups should be considered in any experiment.
Upon further contemplation of the White women image I came to the conclusion that this picture is more a testament to the fear of the "corruption" of White women by Black men more than an actual reflection of White women. Of course, the same can be said for the other two images, Black women are depicted as overtly sexual and animalistic (Patricia Hill Collins expands this idea in a wonderfully readable way in her book Black Feminist Thought) and Korean women are sexual but in a very reserved and militant way which makes perfect sense considering the political climate of today.
I wonder what do you think??
