Abstract: | In the 21t century, maybe more than ever before, the media have started to play such an important role in the lives of people of all ages that ideas, opinions and even beliefs and values tend to be shaped in accordance to what is seen on TV, read in newspapers, magazines or on the internet or heard on the radio. The media, be they written or audio-visual, offer their own representation of the world, which, though sometimes quite far from reality, is central to what ultimately comes to represent peopleâs social realities. Throughout history, the media depicted women and minorities in stereotypical ways. In response to that, these groups tried to find their own ways of self-representation. Starting from social representations theory and social identity theory, this paper seeks to analyse the manner in which American black women present themselves in their own media through the titles used in Essence, an American magazine dedicated exclusively to black women. |