Canadian Minority Matters

There have been numerous cultural and social changes in Canada over the past few decades. The contribution of women in jobs has increased, and they are working to support their families equally. The visible minorities in Canada consist of older generations of various ethnicities who would initially migrate there for work or education. The women of the visible minority class usually had low income earlier as compared to the non-visible, minority women. Women totaled about 28% of them earning below the low-income tax, whereas only 14% of non-visible minority women earned below the low-income tax cut-off. As stated in the General Society Survey (GSS), visible minorities are more likely to face racial discrimination and bad behavior than non-visible minorities. The main reasons for discrimination are cultural differences and color differences. 

The media in Canada plays an essential role in portraying the identities of minorities in Canada. The portrayal is mostly negative and gives a message to the minorities that their life is under threat, and they have no contribution to nation-building. The information portrayed on the media about minorities damages their self-esteem because they work very hard and spend their money on purchasing products. At the same time, minorities are referred to as criminals who hurt them the most. It is both demoralizing for minorities from Asia and Blacks living in Canada. They are bombarded with adverse comments on radio and television.

Minority groups are forced to do low wage jobs and face a lot of criticism. Canadian media shows negative images that hurt minorities in Canada. At the same time, ethnic media are not portrayed anywhere in the media and totally excluded from the press. It has created a feeling of exclusion in their minds as they are not reflected anywhere in the media. At the same time, Canadian people and media both do not consider them the people of Canada.

Ethnic minorities are called homeless, poor, school drop-out in the Television, media, and social media. In the past few years, social discrimination on social media has also increased. The word ‘them’ is used for the minorities and ‘us’ for Canadians, which shows the difference between two classes. Moreover, people excluding white are called incompetent, skeptical, and inscrutable. In the advertisement, people prefer to see white people in good advertisements such as a commercial for shampoo and other domestic ads. However, in advertisements like alcohol, the opportunity is provided to minorities.

Since 1968 the role of women has increased in the mass media as there are lots of opportunities are available on the screen for them. However, there is still male dominance in many areas on mass media. The earlier male had more opportunities in the screen, they had the powerful authority in the occupations. It was common to show women for sexual purposes, however, it was a rare phenomenon to show men as sexual objects. Women had to face sexist comments and they were the victims of sexual abuse and aggression of men. However, education brought a revolution in the 21st century as women are now independent and they know their rights.

According to a study, gender equality is much better in Canadian Cinemas since 2012. The minorities and the black women still excluded from this balance on the screen and away from the screen. In the past women were under-represented in the media and they had no jobs in the media. Women had to fight for equality in the media and screen. Many scholars believe that more women are now part of journalism as compared to the 1960s when the industry was dominated by the males only. Therefore, equality achieved through women empowerment and a fair portrayal of women in the mass media. The wave of feminism proved fruitful in the time period between the 1970s and 1990s. However, women empowerment has increased after Justin Tredeau took charge as the prime minister and now a day's women are an important part of the mass media.

There have been numerous challenges for women especially minorities since they were under-represented, didn’t have equal jobs and were treated badly. In modern times of mass media, women are able to achieve equality but they are still underrepresented in the media.