What was the last movie, television show, or book you read? Think of the main characters in your head. You are probably imagining a straight, white, cisgender, able-bodied male or female character. This is usually the norm for mainstream media. For decades, only a small group of a certain type of person has been represented in popular media.
Growing up, I barely ever saw an accurate representation of myself in movies or TV shows. I was always fed stories about straight girls. I saw girls fawning over boys, or young girls in a group at a sleepover discussing their male crushes. How was I supposed to understand that the feelings I was having towards girls were valid when all I was being shown was that “girls only like boys”. That’s why I didn’t realize I was a lesbian until I was 15 years old. That is why I did not tell a soul I was gay until I was an 18-year-old college freshman. The lack of representation in terms of women who love women was why I was not fully out of the closet until I was 20 years old. People need to see themselves reflected in media in order to feel valid.
The lack of representation doesn’t end with the LGBTQIA+ community. People of color are incredibly lacking in exemplification in popular media. That’s why shows like Empire and Black-ish are so controversial. That is also why the fact that John Boyega, a Nigerian man, was cast as a lead in Star Wars: The Force Awakens got a ton of negative backlash. Black actors and actresses are not being properly portrayed in the media. When there is finally a show or cast that represents people of color, it often gets a lot of negative attention.
Representation is SO important. It lets children know that what they are feeling or going through isn’t wrong. It is completely normal. Marginalized individuals are usually seen as “weird” or “different” because the majority doesn’t understand them. If these oppressed people were shown in popular media, it would most definitely allow a better understanding of differences throughout the entire population.
I would love to, in the future, see a children’s television show that has a young girl experiencing feelings for another young girl. Or a show that has a main character with a physical disability, maybe in a wheelchair. The potential for diverse casts is out there; it is now up to the casting directors and television makers to write these stories.
