The "Dish" on Diversity... I was watching an episode of Rachel Ray's talk show the other day. I was excited because it was a Friday episode and every Friday Rachel meets with Lara Spencer (from The Insider) to discuss the weekly "Dish." During the "Dish," Lara announces her must-have list for the week. This past week one of her favorite items was the book "Hero" by Perry Moore.

Hero is a novel about a gay superhero. Hearing about this book made me think about minority representation in superheroes. I did a quick head count of the superheroes I grew up with: Batman--white, Superman--white, Spiderman--white, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--mutant (ok whatever, they don't count.) My point is, I could not think of one African American, Native American, or Hispanic superhero that was a part of my childhood or even adulthood.

Superhero movies have become increasingly popular and these characters are continuing to be casted by white, male actors. Why is this? We live in a country that stands for equal rights and social acceptance yet it is not being portrayed in the media. I know I would not think twice if the next Batman movie casted a non-white man as the main character. I think having Halle Berry play Catwoman was a great step in the right direction towards equal minority represent ion, however, more similar actions need to be displayed in order to truly make a difference.  ¶ posted by Stephanie Lauren Kahan at 8:51 PM •