In audience reception theory, representations of ethnicity can do which of the following?

• A. They can reinforce stereotypes.
• B. They can challenge identities.
• C. They can both reinforce stereotypes and challenge identities.
• D. They have no effect on audiences.

Answer: (C)

Representations of ethnicity in media are read differently by audiences, reflecting the idea that texts carry messages but viewers decode them in varied ways. They can reinforce stereotypes when the dominant reading is accepted, keeping simplified, prejudiced ideas about a group in place. At the same time, they can challenge identities when viewers adopt a resistant or negotiated reading, pushing back against oversimplified portrayals and encouraging more complex or alternative understandings of ethnicity.

Because readings are open and influenced by context, media portrayals can do both at different times or for different viewers. It’s not true that they have no effect, and it’s not universal that they only reinforce or only challenge—both outcomes are possible, which is why the best answer is that representations can do both.