Gender Stereotypes In The Media

Founded by Groves in 1999, the Cultivation Theory came into existence (Graves, 1999). The theory states that exposure to television develops social behavior and norms. At a young age, we are only just entering the stage in their lives where we are beginning to think for ourselves and develop our own personal beliefs and values. Our minds are gullible and can be easily manipulated. This particular empirical study analyzes the effects due to media, specifically Disney princess movies, on gender stereotyping. Gender stereotyping can be defined as common generalizations used to describe gender roles in society, specific attributes associated with each gender, and the differences between each. Many a time, gender stereotypes are

Gender stereotypes create a widely accepted judgment or bias about certain characteristics or traits that apply to each gender. According to Al-Shehab (2008) "There is a danger that children may develop behavioral stereotype subconsciously in spite of the fact that what they view may be biased, distorted, or misleading" (p.50). After analyzing a few of the children's television programs, I found examples of gender stereotype in the shows Cat in The Hat and Arthur. When it comes to the gender stereotype in Cat in the Hat, it portrays the idea that girls should be feminine and that boys should be masculine (a sense of gender role). This was evident in some of the episodes I watched when the two siblings (brother and sister) constantly had disagreements on ideas and other things. For example, in one episode, the brother and sister had a disagreement on worms and dirt. The sister considered it "yucky" and "gross" while the boy considered it "cool" and "fun". The girl adored wearing dresses and playing with her dolls while her brother didn't mind getting dirty and playing with his action figures. I also noticed that their mother was always home watching over and taking care of them judging from the episodes that I watched. In the children's program Arthur, there was a variety of gender stereotypes. For instance, every adult male in the show Arthur was either tall and/or bulky and muscular while all the women were shorter than the male they were with. I also noticed that all the men were either wearing slacks or jeans and a long or short sleeve shirt while the majority of women wore dresses. After watching a few episodes I also realized that Arthur's father was the head of the household and was always leaving the house to go to work. This was evident because Arthur's father showed dominance over his wife and everyone else. Some of the examples that I saw

Gender representations in television bear immense weight within society as they either: reproduce or critique societal values, address injustice or uphold mainstream beliefs, and perpetuate stereotypes or initiate change. Today, the problem with gender representations in the television medium is not a lack of visibility of women, as multiple genres include women characters, but rather the problem lies in the portrayal of women. Are the images of women displayed in a positive manner? Does the television medium accurately represent women? Although questions of accuracy and positivity in representations seem minor, these questions have major implications as people use television shows as windows for broader cultural practices. We must realize that the people we see on television programs

I had chosen to assess whether children’s media is gender-stereotyped by watching various episodes of The Flintstones from the ABC televison station.

When I was younger and learning about life is when I probably watched the most television. I fell in love with watching animated television shows and movies; in fact the first movie I had ever seen in theatres was Aladdin in 1992, a well-known Disney classic. Disney movies became my all-time favorite. Now watching them I have come to the realization of how they could affect how any child’s views on different gender roles. As Michael Kimmel explains “We now know that gender is one of the central organizing principle around which social life revolves. (Kimmel, 2)”

News media, the most influential tool in modern society, is ethically required to produce fair depictions of issues and events, however, they often fail to convey unbiased reporting. In an attempt to manipulate and evoke specific reactions from the audience, text structures and language features are utilised to express perceptions and this presentation will explore how these have been incorporated into a media text. The article, Rebel Wilson wages war against Kendall and Kylie Jenner by Jessica Hickam, was published in sheknows on the 11th of November 2015 to deliver details of the ‘war’ between Australian Comedian, Rebel Wilson, and the Jenner sisters.

This demonstration of different cultures, ethnicities, and powerful women is a great education for young children who have not yet been introduced to sexism or racism. The equality in the show, as it always maintains an equal blend of genders, is a great model for children in school who are just learning how to interact with one another.

To begin with, the media reinforces and creates the stereotype that women are portrayed as sexual objects in order to make money

First, their negative influence on society is that they create gendered stereotypes. Quite often children’s media are targeted towards only one gender: for example, Disney princesses for girls and Superman for boys. The longer that children are exposed to such gender classification of media, the more likely they are to have gendered behaviour, since children take the stereotypical image portrayed in media as normal. One study conducted by Thompson and Zerbinos (1995) shows that children who recognized more stereotypical representation of gender in a cartoon had higher gendered expectations for themselves and others. Also, several studies revealed that higher levels of exposure to media, especially television, have been mutually related with more traditional ideas of gender roles (England et al. 2011, 556).

Even though I already knew about the issues with the media and its effect on how we see the sexes and how they should be, seeing these two documentaries together allowed me to make connections that where not possible before. What I came to understand is the duality of the issue. For the male side, men, myself included, are constantly bombarded with TV shows, ads, and movies that define what a man is for us. The effects are clear as day as my definition of a man is not far from that portrayed in media. This causes us to internalize the external that we see and measure ourselves to the standard of “male” that is set. Now this doesn’t mean that every male’s definition is exactly as what the media tells them, but one would be hard pressed to find an

Frequently, children are barraged with figurines portraying gender stereotypes for girls and boys. Walking in the aisle at the store I saw a Popeye the Sailorman collector’s item. I realized that just like the toys in a retail store, television shows also emphasize the male as a protagonist character. He is always the brute strong hero who has to save the frail and helpless woman. Children take these messages depicted by these creators and apply it to their reality. With these interpretation they get an idea of what the expectations and behavior of their specific gender roles should be. However, the social construction of gender does not just stop when you are a child. This shows the power that advertisement and the media have on social interaction and construction. By observing both the formal and informal messages and examples given by our everyday society, gender stereotyping it becomes a

Children tend to think that their whole life revolves around who they are in high school or middle school, as if there is no life outside of it. To learn ways to fit into their environment, they look over to the easiest and most relatable source they have, which are movies and television shows. During their journey to find themselves they often stumble upon stereotypes that they don’t live up to, which can lower their self-esteem gradually. Disney has been the main source of children entertainment for decades now but the classic Disney are so beloved that not that many people talk about the gender stereotypes in them. We can see these is movies like, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" where the men are shown as incompetent creatures who don’t

The construction of gender stereotyping of females in the media is based on outdated and unfounded beliefs. Therefore it has had, and continues to have, a detrimental impact on our society.

According to the social learning theory, the influence of the media in the formation of gender roles and identity is known as being indirectly and vicariously reinforced. It states that we can learn gender appropriate behaviour by learning from others. So by having gender stereotypes portrayed in the media, it has a powerful influence on all of us but especially on children because they are currently

Gender expression is an area of research that is gaining more attention, and has been for quite some time. On the other hand, television has been a heavily consumed source of media with extensive research. By combining these two topics, it then becomes important to examine gender expression in television programs. Is there a correlation between heavy consumption of television programs with only cis-gendered characters and gender expression among teenagers ages thirteen to seventeen?