According to an article at the Washington Post written by Daniel Wu, Discovery’s ‘Shark Week’ lacks diversity. It lacks diversity of course, because of all the same scapegoats the left likes to use like misogyny, white men bad, and a whole lot of “I don’t see myself” on the show, so how can I relate. Yes, it’s all Shark Week’s fault the subjects in this Washington Post article couldn’t become a marine biologist, or have their expertise displayed on shows like ‘Shark Week’, because you know…white man bad. It’s another preposterous take and attack on something that should represent what’s possible. But instead, the Washington Post would rather display the subjects of this article as victims, rather than focus on the subject of ‘Shark Week’ as an aspiration for anyone who puts their critical thinking mind to it. Yes, while the world finds out how collusive Twitter and the Legacy media were, we spend billions funding a corrupt government like Ukraine who keeps poking the bear, and Joe Biden swaps a piece of human filth for a basketball player, while a Marine rots in a Russian prison, the Washington Post’s priority is the lack of diversity on a cable show.
I Can’t be a Shark Expert Because All I See are White Men
Just when you thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel with the “diversity” in media propaganda, Discovery’s ‘Shark Week’ has become its next proverbial shark bait. In the article, Daniel Wu references Lisa Whiteneck, a biology professor, who apparently grew up watching ‘Shark Week’ thinking there was no way she could be an expert in sharks because all she saw were white men dominating the show.
“Why would I know I could do that?” Whitenack said. “I don’t come from a family of scientists. I didn’t see very many people that looked like me on television.”
I mean seriously. Is she that weak minded that she thought in America she couldn’t pursue being an expert on sharks because she only saw males dominating a show about sharks?
Related: Always Doomed to Fail
It’s All Mike’s Fault
Whiteneck also led a team of researchers that found not only were sharks put in a negative light, but that most of the programming was dominated by white males and were overwhelmingly named Mike.
“Whitenack led a team of researchers to examine hundreds of “Shark Week” episodes that aired between 1988 and 2020. In a study published last month by the Public Library of Science, their research claims that Discovery’s programming emphasized negative messages about sharks, lacked useful messaging about shark conservation and overwhelmingly featured White men as experts — including several with the same name.”
”The programming featured more White experts and commentators named “Mike” than women, said David Shiffman, a conservationist at Arizona State University who was a co-author of the study.”
“When there are hundreds of people of color interested who work in this field, [and] when my field is more than half women, maybe it’s not an accident anymore that they’re only featuring White men,” Shiffman said.”
Shark Week Lacks Diversity
It doesn’t end there. Carlee Bohannon, a marine biologist who co-founded minorities in shark sciences agreed with Whiteneck’s study, claiming that all they ever saw was one type of person on TV, with ‘Shark Week’ being dominated by white men.
“We all grew up seeing one type of person on TV,” Bohannon said. “‘Shark Week’ was really the biggest thing, and it was always filled with White men.”
Both Bohannon and Whiteneck agreed that the biggest problem with ‘Shark Week’, was its lack of diversity.
“Diversity in people brings diversity in thought, which ultimately brings innovation,” Bohannon said. “Being able to see someone who looks like you in this field really has an impact.”
What word salad did she just regurgitate? So if I gather a room full of people from different races, that automatically bring about innovation? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. This article perfectly encapsulates what’s wrong with the American culture in the 21st century. We’ve become a society of narcissists who like to blame everyone else for their failures and lack of accomplishments, rather than going out and becoming the best you can be. Did these white men not earn the right to be on ‘Shark Week’ based on their varied levels of expertise? I say get on with yourself and do better if that’s the case, and stop making your gender or race the victim.
Stop Blaming Others for Your Inadequacies
I could compare this to women’s sports and their ridiculous notion that they should be paid as much their male counterparts. It’s ridiculous and has no merit. Men’s sports just factually bring in more of an audience and money . The same could be said…possibly…for Discovery’s ‘Shark Week’. But who knows, and why does it even matter? Can’t you just like something without looking at it through the prism of race or gender? Can’t you just see a really cool marine biologist talking about sharks and want to aspire to be one, without putting up all these ridiculous blockades of race and gender?
It’s All About Quantity and not Quality
I’ll end with this. The Washington Post is owned by a white male named Jeff Bezos, and is run by a white male CEO named Frederick Ryan Jr. Are they now banned from talking about sharks because they are male and white? Just saying. It’s also hysterical that The Washington Post thought this was more important to cover than all the scandals being uncovered through the Twitter dumps….because that’s not headline news, right? Hopefully David Zaslav will stand his ground, and tell the naysayers to pound sand. Or maybe, if you don’t like what you see…change the channel. Our culture has been so warped by identity politics, that nothing is safe…not even watching shows about sharks apparently. Everything needs to be a diversity hire…quality and experience be damned.
