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By William Rotger

As a 21-year-old white man from a small town in Michigan who is now a student at Arizona State University, I have learned more about how the media shapes identities and reinforces stereotypes. I see a lot of the stereotype of the “privileged white college male” in the media, and I can relate to it. This person is often seen as entitled, politically ignorant, socially insensitive, wealthy, and mostly unaware of systemic issues. You see this stereotype a lot in movies, TV shows, social media conversations, and even news commentary.

A lot of pictures show white male college students as fraternity members who are rich, careless, and don’t know what problems people have in the real world. People often use the “frat bro” stereotype to describe this person. This person is loud, arrogant, doesn’t care much about school, and is socially dominant. Privilege can exist and should be examined; however, this generalized media representation reduces individuals to a simplistic identity category, neglecting complexity.

The Key Questions make a lot of things clear. First, you don’t always see things the same way as someone else. The media doesn’t show white male students who are self-aware, work hard, are good with money, or come from different socioeconomic backgrounds very often. Some white male students are wealthy and some are not. Not all of them think the same way about politics or the world. There is also not enough important background information. For instance, being a white male from a wealthy family may make some things easier, but that doesn’t mean that personal problems, expectations, academic stress, or mental health issues aren’t real. These pictures show that being privileged means being lazy or not caring about right and wrong. The implicit bias suggests that identity solely dictates character. The construction reduces identity to a caricature instead of depicting complex, multifaceted individuals.

The 2014 movie Neighbors, which stars Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, is a good example of this stereotype. The movie shows that the white male fraternity members are irresponsible, shallow, and careless partygoers who make life harder for other people. Even though the movie is funny, it still backs up the idea that white male college students are naturally immature and make life hard for other people. People are very focused on having fun, feeling like they deserve things, and not taking care of their responsibilities. This keeps the “frat bro” stereotype alive without showing any real growth in school, work, or life. (Example link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2004420/)

People often argue about politics or culture on social media, which is another example. People often say “straight white male” on sites like TikTok and Twitter/X to quickly dismiss someone’s opinion without really thinking about it. A lot of viral posts during cultural debates from 2020 to 2023 used identity labels to make a point instead of looking at each person’s reasoning. This article from the BBC about online identity politics shows how identity groups can change how people see things online: (Example link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56933733)

In these cases, a person’s identity is more important than what they say or do in their life. These posts may come from real anger about systemic inequality, but they still support the idea that everyone in that identity group is the same.

The stereotype has some truth to it. White men in the United States have had more control over the economy and institutions than anyone else in the past. A lot of white students, including me, might come from families that are stable or have enough money. The stereotype is wrong when it says that everyone is the same or acts the same way. Media often makes stories simpler because it’s easier to talk about archetypes that people know, but real identity is much more complicated.

This building could be dangerous. If you treat people like symbols instead of people, it might be harder to have real conversations. Instead of helping people think and grow, it can make them defensive or angry. It could also make it seem like the experiences of people who don’t fit the stereotype, like white male students who work multiple jobs, have trouble in school, have unstable families, or have mental health issues, aren’t real.

Some people might also say that this construction helps people who are on the outside by changing the stories people tell about culture and getting people to talk about privilege and how unfair the system is. It can help people think about themselves and the bigger picture of history. But being aware doesn’t mean making things too easy or putting people in groups based on who they are.

In the end, media portrayals of identity often lack depth. Stereotypes can arise from patterns or historical contexts, but they seldom encapsulate the intricacies of individual experiences. I grew up in a small town, but now I live in a big university. I can see some of the good things about privilege, but I also know that identity doesn’t always shape experience. To be media literate, we need to think about whose voices are not there, what context is not there, and how stories change how we see things.

In a world where the media has a lot of power, it’s important to keep systemic analysis and personal generalization separate. You can see stereotypes and privilege at the same time, but neither should make someone less special.