greeting cards

[Sparx]

so in my sociology class i had to write a content analysis of the racial presence in greeting cards. i went to american greetings and counted 303 cards in the store that represented a particular race. of the 303, 285 were Caucasian, 11 were african american, and 6 were hispanic.

the only photographed non-Caucasian was a card with Barack Obama on it. the rest were cartoon-representations. and the only hispanic on any of the cards were Dora The Explorer.

i thought that was really interesting.

 

[nerdylightbulb]

That's dumb.

 

[Savikins]

Hmm... That's pretty interesting. Maybe it's because greeting cards tend to depict the "perfect" american family, and what our culture tells us is a perfect family is a white, heterosexual couple with 2 kids.

But geez, out of 303, if it was accurate to the demographics of most regions, about 60 should depict african american families and about 40 should depict hispanic families (at least that's how my area's demographics are). Maybe it's a bias of the people making the cards?

 

[Sparx]

Hmm... That's pretty interesting. Maybe it's because greeting cards tend to depict the "perfect" american family, and what our culture tells us is a perfect family is a white, heterosexual couple with 2 kids.

But geez, out of 303, if it was accurate to the demographics of most regions, about 60 should depict african american families and about 40 should depict hispanic families (at least that's how my area's demographics are). Maybe it's a bias of the people making the cards?

i'm not thinking it was the store either. my paper is due wednesday and i have a few other things to do besides this part, so i didn't have time to do the legwork to go to several different stores to get different numbers, but the cards i saw were all popular brands, like hallmark. so i'm thinking it will be the same no matter where i go.

 

[Sparx]

That's dumb.

are you saying the assignment was dumb or that the greeting cards only show one race (pretty much) was dumb?

 

[Savikins]

i'm not thinking it was the store either. my paper is due wednesday and i have a few other things to do besides this part, so i didn't have time to do the legwork to go to several different stores to get different numbers, but the cards i saw were all popular brands, like hallmark. so i'm thinking it will be the same no matter where i go.

Indeed, you're probably right.

I wish my school offered Sociology.

 

[Sparx]

Indeed, you're probably right.

I wish my school offered Sociology.

i took a light version of it in high school, paired with a class called "contemporary issues" which is kinda the same thing, but muchmuchmuch less scientific. both were mostly discussion based on like random topics such as 'race' or something like that.

my college is liberal arts, so they offer a lot of classes like this. i also take the sociology of the marriage and family in society.

 

[imabrat]

I think it's idiotic that all races aren't represented equally. I know at my high school, as a young, white female I am the minority. (My high shcool of 2000 people only has 15% whites, more males than females, and many of my classmates are born prior to May).

I guess it all depends on demographics of the area. I know I've seen quite a few Spanish-language greeting cards at my local Hallmark, not so much black race-themed cards.

 

[Sparx]

I think it's idiotic that all races aren't represented equally. I know at my high school, as a young, white female I am the minority. (My high shcool of 2000 people only has 15% whites, more males than females, and many of my classmates are born prior to May).

I guess it all depends on demographics of the area. I know I've seen quite a few Spanish-language greeting cards at my local Hallmark, not so much black race-themed cards.

NO cards i saw were in anything but english.

and with the holidays coming up, i figured a few native americans might be ont he thanksgiving cards, but nope. all white pilgrams, all white santas and angels and jesuses.

 

[STOPxmickeytime]

I can't say it really surprises me.
For a culture with so much diversity, our commercial media has remained pretty focused on only one small sector of our population, thin white people.

I actually have noticed somewhat more diversity in national commercial campaigns over the past 3 or 4 years though, so at least it's being addressed and amended, albeit achingly slowly.

 

[Sparx]

I can't say it really surprises me.
For a culture with so much diversity, our commercial media has remained pretty focused on only one small sector of our population, thin white people.

I actually have noticed somewhat more diversity in national commercial campaigns over the past 3 or 4 years though, so at least it's being addressed and amended, albeit achingly slowly.

some "diversity" in ads though is sort of forced and uncomfortable, kwim? like its obvious that they have 2 white kids, one asian, one black kid and a hispanic. you can tell that they forced it to be that way, and its sort of awkward. a lot of parent's magazines do that, too.

 

[nerdylightbulb]

are you saying the assignment was dumb or that the greeting cards only show one race (pretty much) was dumb?

The cards

 

[tower_of_terror_luvr]

My mom works for halmark the walmart area and in the specific halmark stores(not american greeting with a couple of halmark but a halmark with a couple american greetings) they have hispanic cards in Spanish. a section called mahogany specifically aimed towards african american they even have mahogany gift wrap.

 

[Sparx]

My mom works for halmark the walmart area and in the specific halmark stores(not american greeting with a couple of halmark but a halmark with a couple american greetings) they have hispanic cards in Spanish. a section called mahogany specifically aimed towards african american they even have mahogany gift wrap.

thats really interesting, but i don't think my local hallmark stores have that section. (i shop there a lot, i just happened to be closer to AG when i was doing the assignment.)

 

[nerdylightbulb]

Maybe it's the socio-economics of where you live. Like maybe there are more white people

 

[STOPxmickeytime]

some "diversity" in ads though is sort of forced and uncomfortable, kwim? like its obvious that they have 2 white kids, one asian, one black kid and a hispanic. you can tell that they forced it to be that way, and its sort of awkward. a lot of parent's magazines do that, too.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It's kind of uncomfortable, because you have to wonder if that black kid being hired knew he was there to play the role of "the token black person."
But I guess SOME progress is better than none?

 

[Sparx]

Maybe it's the socio-economics of where you live. Like maybe there are more white people

my city actually virtually mirrors the socioeconomics of the country.

usa median income: $60,370
rutherford county median income: $60,570
usa white population:75%
rutherford county white population:77%
usa hispanic population: 6% (or so, its hard to get a steady number on this one)
rutherford county hispanic population: 5%
usa black population:12%
rutherford county black population: 14%

 

[Sparx]

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It's kind of uncomfortable, because you have to wonder if that black kid being hired knew he was there to play the role of "the token black person."
But I guess SOME progress is better than none?

oh, i'm sure they know. it makes me think about text book illustrations. like how the blend of races is almost equal, and not at all representative of the population. like they position them exactly to show each race.