Minorities Representation

Published in

Dare to Challenge

3 min readFeb 22, 2021

We are a team of 6 Greek students of Panteion University. Our main topic is the ‘Minorities Representation in Media.’

As the Ghost Writers Team, we all together decided to investigate the subject a little more. Therefore, when we were asked about the reasons we opted for that topic and what SDG’s related solutions we could offer in order to help on our behalf, we started writing down everything we had collected up until that time and searching for more.

When we first saw the topic we were given, we immediately thought that we should present accurate reasons for why we chose minorities representation in the media and how we would help reduce this problem. Of course, we knew that our contribution wouldn’t be able to completely solve the problem, but we thought of some factors that, if followed by most people, would really make a difference.

With that being told, we started our research. We wanted to see how much minorities were represented in well-known media, such as movies and series. We found several researches, where the preference for white actors and actresses was way higher than the ones for POC actors. Also, two out of three black Americans believe that they don’t see their stories represented on screen.

The only positive evidence we saw in some charts was that, since 2015, the choice for POC actors has increased. We clearly can’t talk about significant differences, if we take into consideration we’re in 2021 and our society is more ‘open-minded’.

However, our subject isn’t only about POC. We also searched how LGBTQA+ Community was represented in the movies/series world. Of course, we didn’t notice much appreciation for this community, either. In 2018, only 20 out of 110 films included people from the community and in 2019, only 2 movies were added to the previous number, out of the 118. Transgender characters were shut out of movies for the third year in a row.

When we came to think about how this situation can be led to an end, we couldn’t think much more than what everyone else would say. If those solutions were put into action by the majority of people, it would be so much easier for those communities to fit in and finally be accepted.

First and foremost, we need to treat all people with respect and dignity. Secondly, more actors and actresses from those communities should embody according characters, in order to represent them way better and make POC/LGBTQA+ people feel more comfortable watching them and feel like they can relate to them in any way.

Our indicative future plan includes quite some solutions, which are small and easy to adopt, yet they can make a big difference.

Starting, we should include news about POC/LGBTQA+ community members on the news. We should ensure guaranteed diversity and her protection. Employers should make sure that members of the two communities occupy roles in organizations and corporations, including senior positions, as well as an assurance of equal salary. Last but not least, mentoring and development programs should be created for everyone interested to learn.

The road to those communities’ acceptance is easy, once we decide we want to cross it.

evadinou John Reizis Alexandra S Marina Sol. Σοφία Α.

Our sources:

Minorities Representation

Written by Marianina Deligianni