Gender Stereotyping In Halloween

Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.

Society expects males and females to adopt, accept, and accommodate specific gender roles and stereotypes that have been previously established. In western society, males are expected to be an alpha, independent, and athletic type, whereas females are typically expected to be obedient, nurturing, and reserved. Society demands conformity to an enforced gender order. When these gender norms are pushed beyond its boundaries, it is common for labels to be given, questions to be asked, and individuals to be ridiculed. While “traditional” gender stereotypes have remained fairly constant over the past few centuries, they have also been challenged.

It is no secret that media has played a large role in reinforcing stereotypes of how the “ideal” man/woman should behave, be interested in, and identify with. Media such as movies and cartoons intended for children have distinctly different messages for boys and girls: boys are encouraged to be brave and tough, while girls are told to be kind, caring, and compliant. This rift is restrictive and conformity, and pigeon holes children into a dangerous dichotomy between male and female identity. The movies Cinderella and The Little Mermaid both promote gender roles which work to oppress females in society.

It only takes a second to attach a strong feeling or idea to a character in a movie, advertisement, or video game. Many characterization used are based on the assumed stereotypes, and are usually one-dimensional characters. Typically, these characterizations usually come from inherited family values, education, and the media. While stereotypes existed long before mass media, the media machine certainly helped to accelerate the cultural growth of all kinds of stereotypes. It is beyond this paper to answer why magazines employ these gender stereotypes, instead this research is designed to analyze

1. What do you think a peer leader does? What kind of qualities should a peer leader

Educators need to be aware of the gender stereotypes that their students are exposed to. The articles and book chapters that were assigned, give the reader an insight to how the media shapes the views of gender and how they can influence children as young as six.

Gender stereotypes are beliefs that certain attributes, such as occupations or role behaviors, differentiate women and men (Eisend, Plagemann, & Sollwedel 2014). There are masculine and feminine versions of each of these attributes (e.g., independent versus dependent roles in everyday life), and the masculine and feminine variants of each attribute are very strongly associated with males and females, respectively. Although stereotypes can provide useful orientations in everyday life, they can produce

Gender stereotyping evolved with the emergence of a consumerist culture. It was vital for companies to exploit pre-existing stereotypes in attempts to attract new and loyal customers to their products (Browne, 1998). Today, gender stereotypes are visible in every form of media: in Hollywood movies, magazines, television commercials and advertising campaigns. Gender stereotypes are often used as a marketing tool because these values have been instilled in our society for centuries and consequently, consumers view these depictions as truthful (Bessenoff & Del Priore, 2007).

Gender stereotypes are mostly taken for granted at a young age: girls are told to play with dolls and boys are told to play with trucks. But as children grow older they find themselves in a world where the reality of gender roles and stereotypes aren’t acknowledged, and the illusion of gender neutrality is commended. If gender roles are becoming more neutral, then it would follow that gender role stereotypes are also becoming more lax. However, in actuality this is not true.

Gender stereotypes affect children substantially. From the baby boy in blue with trucks and action figures to the baby girl in pink with dolls and princesses, these roles and generalizations affect children’s personalities while they are still developing. Those guiltiest of stereotyping in children’s media are Disney, Nintendo and other video-game companies, and reality television. These influences are expansive, and they reach past elementary-age kids to teenagers. Stereotypes negatively impact children of all ages through these forms of media, and parents need to be aware of this.

From gender roles, we, the people of society, are able to determine whether someone identifies as a male or a female. Both biological and social factors tend to determine what gender roles a person takes on. However, there are also gender stereotypes, which are “the fixed and oversimplified beliefs about the ways in which men and women ought to behave” (Rathus, 2010). Often times, gender stereotypes are related back to the traditional beliefs of when women were responsible for staying home and being the caregivers and men were responsible for going out to work and bringing home the food, supplies, and money that the family needed (Rathus, 2010).

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

At a young age, we are taught to adhere to norms and are restricted to conform to society’s given rules. We are taught that straying away from stereotypes is anything but good and encouraged to build our lives upon only these social rules. Recently, stereotypes based on genders have been put into the limelight and have become of high interest to a generation that is infamously known for deviating from the established way of life. Millennials have put gender roles under fire, deeming it a form of segregation and discrimination by gender. Researchers have followed suit. Mimicking millennial interests, numerous studies have been published that detail the relationship between gender, stereotypes, and the effects of the relationship between the two. Furthermore, gender roles have been used as a lens to study socialization; tremendous amounts of interest have prompted studies on the inheritance and dissemination of norms, culture, and ideologies based on the stereotypes that cloud gender. For sociologists, determining the extent of the impact of gender stereotypes on socializing our population has become a paramount discussion. Amidst many articles, the work of Karniol, Freeman, and Adler & Kless were standouts and between the three pieces, childhood served as a common thread; more specifically, these researchers studied how gender roles impact socialization from such a young age.

Edgar Allan Poe is a famous American writer from the 1800s who is renowned for his gothic writings, which were often dark and mysterious stories. The unique and distinctive themes utilized within his works included untimely death, madness, and obsession. Through the usage of “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Raven”, and “Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe uses the themes of untimely death, madness and obsession to convey a sense of darkness in his gothic writings for his audience,

In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, many characters possess internal traits that affect their decisions and actions. Macbeth, the main character of the play possesses three traits that significantly affect him and those around him. First of all, Macbeth’s ambitious personality leads him to engage in harmful actions. Furthermore, Macbeth’s unstable beliefs and his tendency to be easily manipulated also plays a notable role in the play. Additionally, Macbeth’s impulse to prioritize illusions over logic contributes to his decisions and actions. Macbeth possesses internal traits that ultimately have a negative impact on his decisions and cause him to commit evil actions which lead Macbeth towards his downfall.