In America, children spend 1,480 minutes a week, watching television. This statistic, when broken down among white, black, latino and asian children, amounted to 5 hours a day, 7 hours a day, 4 hours a day and 3 hours a day, respectively. Given how much American children watch television, it is no surprise that the images portrayed on it shape and influence the kind of people they grow up to be. It's important to note that black children are recorded as spending the highest number of hours in front of the television, per day. Among these children who will be — perhaps unwillingly — shaped by the images they see on their ever-glowing television screens is Layla from Fort Worth, Texas.
My little swimmer says, "I Got Next!" @simone_manuel #SimoneManuel #Swimming #History #TeamUsA pic.twitter.com/xjeRABQ1fZ
— Nett (@Laylas_Mommy_13) August 12, 2016
Layla's mom later posted a video of her affectionately nicknamed "Little Swimmer" clearly off to a promising start, during a swimming lesson at the pool, and Layla (and her Mommy) almost instantly went viral. But, what's so special about Layla's excitement, among probably hundreds of kids who go viral everyday, unbeknownst to them?
"If she can see it, she can be it."
For little girls like Layla, Simone Manuel's win means so much more to her than she even realizes right now. Maybe Layla's interest in swimming will fade, maybe she'll end up pursuing another sport or another hobby, but that doesn't matter. It's not really about the swimming, it's about the message. When you see people in the media who are doing things you maybe haven't ever felt comfortable enough to even dream about, and these people look just like you, it makes that "impossible" dream feel a little bit more possible. If you can see it, you can be it. Simone Manuel, Dalilah Muhammad, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Ashley Spencer and Michelle Carter are all positive representations of not just women in media, but black women in media. These women are putting on display all of their black girl magic for the whole world to see, on the biggest athletic stage. They are so fiercely dominating their respective competitions that news platforms have no choice but to acknowledge their accomplishments, and while we've still got a ways to go in regard to coverage of women's Olympic events, we're heading in the right direction.
This year's Olympics is teaching little black girls and boys everywhere that they don't have to be white to make it to the world's greatest athletic stage, and that they don't just have to be reduced to the often negative and unfair representations of black women (and men) in the media.
So, the message behind all this? Representation matters.
Show a little girl or a little boy someone who looks like them, doing amazing things, and how they define themselves, as well as how they define people who look like them is forever altered. If you only ever show a little black girl white models, white athletes, and white actresses achieving great things, she won't know that she has the power to do that, too. If you only ever show a little black girl people like her being sexualized, dehumanized, fetishized, arrested and oppressed, she will think that is all she can ever be, too.
#RepresentationMatters Thanks for reminding us that TV is POWERFUL @Alexiaa_Minaj @milas_universe @Laylas_Mommy_13 pic.twitter.com/V4H6Z7pGPy
— The Dinner Table Doc (@dinnertabledoc) August 12, 2016
It's hard enough to be simply exist, as a black woman, without controlling images and symbols, everywhere you turn, not just telling you but showing you what you can't be. I've heard women my own age, saying: "I wish I had seen more people like me on TV when I was growing up." This year's Olympics is such an amazing step in the right direction, to start showing little black girls who and what they can be. Because then little girls like Layla, and maybe even little girls like me, can stumble a little more fearlessly into their dreams.
SEE ALSO:
Sure, These Women Are Winning Olympic Medals, But Are They Single?
Are Women Of Color Represented Equally On Television?
If We Talked About Male Olympians The Way We Talk About Female Athletes
