Television has come to define American culture and its youth in very significant ways. What began as a platform for entertainment has branched out into becoming a remarkable and unexpected way for younger children to learn. It is important to note what is being broadcasted on television because of how much influence it has on the youth. It has become the dominant storyteller in homes rather than parents, the church, or schools (Signorielli, 2001). As technology further advances, children are generally also becoming more comfortable with television and therefore spending more time watching television. Children should not be receiving most of their learning from television to begin with, however the learning that they are receiving should at …show more content…
These sitcoms included The Office, Episode 3 “Health Care”, Season 1, Aired April 5, 2008 and Everybody Hates Chris, Episode 1 “Everybody Hates the Guidance Counselor”, Season 3, Aired October 1, 2007. There is also a more significant amount of underrepresentation of women in this category compared to PBS children’s shows and cartoons. Out of four main characters that were chosen to focus on, only one from each show were women. In contrast, in other shows such as Teen Titans Go!, Episode 7, “Girls Night Out”, Season 1, Aired June 18, 2013, Arthur, Episode 10a “Binky’s Music Madness”, Season 17, Aired May 1, 2014, and Sid: The Science Kid, Episode 1 “The Sticker Chart”, Season 1, Aired September 1, 2008 there was a more equal representation of men and women.
Representation of women in PBS children’s shows and cartoons was not only greater in numbers compared to sitcoms, but there was also more deviance in relation to the fact that many of the characters did not follow traditional roles of their sex/gender. Characters in Sid: The Science Kid, men and women, were equally presented as intelligent, constructive, and they offered to help with information. In Teen Titans Go!, the focal characters were all superheroes and their super powers were not influenced by their sex/gender. Specifically speaking, women’s ability to perform in the same occupation as men was not a concern. In contrast, The Office and Everybody
In a study done by Huston et al. (1989), it was found that television was the center of the majority of children’s time and attention. This particularly applied to children in low-income and minority families who did not have the financial resources to provide other activities and media sources to occupy their children’s time. This article stated that television has an impact on children in three main ways: as an educator, a source for social learning and a way to advertise and sell products. The article also discussed many of the public
In society, the media is a powerful socializing agent for young children. When children watch TV they see males act more aggressively than females, and that females are more likely to understand other people’s needs and feelings. All of the children shows in the 1991 Saturday morning TV lineup had male lead characters. Even on public TV’s “Sesame Street”, most of the Muppet characters were identified as males. In 2007, there are a few female Muppet characters on “Sesame Street”, such as Zoë (Elmo’s friend) and bilingual Rosita. In the New York
On September 20, 1984 a show aired that changed the way we view gender roles on television. Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes and in reflecting them TV reinforces them by presenting them as the norm (Chandler, 1). The Cosby Show, challenged the typical gender stereotyping of television, daring to go against the dominant social values of its time period. In its challenge of the dominant social view, the show redefined the portrayal of male and female roles in television. It redefined the gender role in the work place, in social expectations, and in household responsibilities. The Cosby Show supported Freidan in her view of “castigating the phony happy housewife heroine of the
Children television programs have been around for decades, designed to entertain and educate the targeted audience. These programs are extremely popular among children, typically last twenty to thirty minutes, are scheduled between the hours of 7:00 a.m. – 10: 00 p.m., and are aired daily on a weekly basis. The commercials that air in-between the breaks of each program are also marketed towards and specifically made for children. Even though the main purpose of children television programs is to entertain, inform, and educate, there are a variety of stereotypes that can be found within some of these children shows. Some of these stereotypes have to do with ethnicity and gender. After carefully watching and analyzing a few of these children
Television has increasingly become the quintessential epicenter of communication, since its invention, in 1927. At any moment in time 2.5 billion people are viewing some form of television broadcast (Ballard). Modern society has introduced various categories of television. These variations range from educational to violent. This broad spectrum makes it hard to generalize the effects it has had on American youth; however, television seems to have increased moral and intellectual degradation. Through violent shows and monotonous news broadcasts, American youths have become desensitized to the poverties, and hardships of the world. This desensitization has had several, and moreover negative, moral impacts on the youths of America. Nevertheless,
I had chosen to assess whether children’s media is gender-stereotyped by watching various episodes of The Flintstones from the ABC televison station.
Although animated cartoons have long been associated with children’s entertainment, many cartoons suggest they are for adults as well. Ranging from character portrayal to perceived gender roles, cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Scooby Doo both reflect societal values from their time periods as well as perpetuate the developed stereotypes. Comparing the earliest popular cartoons to more recent productions, shows progress towards a less stereotypical character portrayal in regards to gender.
The show reinforces gender roles and does not attempt to deviate from common gender
Television is a powerful influence in determining the roles of men and women in society. Throughout the history of television, the representation of women as the housewife, mother and subservient woman has changed to a working, powerful and dominant female of today’s culture. In early television, during the 1950s and 60s, the female characters were depicted as submissive towards and dependent on the more assertive male characters. While the male characters were depicted differently in diverse roles, the female characters always played the same submissive role of mother, wife, daughter or girlfriend. As time progressed, the roles of women in television or sitcoms have been evolved into a more authoritative, independent, and non-reliant on men.
Television is widely considered a more racial and gender friendly medium of popular culture. However, prime time television is not nearly as progressive as people believe, and is still a male dominated industry. In a report done by the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg, 11,306 speaking characters were evaluated and 66.5% were male, while 33.5% were female [1]. Moreover, 41.6% of females in television took leading or
However, there’s something else these shows are teaching your kid. Your child is being exposed to gender norms. Gender norms are expectations society has set for both genders. While a man may be strong and rigid, a woman must be soft and delicate. These expectations have and continue to significantly affect your child's life.
This paper is designed to help you, the reader, better understand the severity of the problem as well as possible solutions. Kids are undoubtedly affected negatively by the media, and change needs to occur soon. It is important that parents step back and examine their own moral and those that they would like to instill upon their son or daughter. They may realize that the television is acting as another parent in their house, and sooner or later, a child may turn to the TV for advice and role model behavior.
During the 1980s, family sitcoms were thriving in the US with shows like Alf, Family Ties and Different Strokes. These programmes were fairly docile, focusing on instilling the ties of the American family unit. However, this all changed in 1989 when The Simpsons was premiered on Fox. Instead of playing it safe, The Simpsons seemed to mock American values rather than embrace them in the same way other popular shows did at the time. They were satirical and often dark. The Simpsons were not afraid to shine a spotlight on big issues in American culture. Not only was The Simpsons breaking the mould but it was also incredibly successful. With 29 seasons and counting, it is the longest running sitcom and the longest running animated series of all time. With such huge audiences, The Simpsons has undoubtedly influenced the public with its examination of various topics. I’m going to conduct a feminist analysis of The Simpsons and study the representation of sexism by looking at the episode “Girls Just Wanna Have Sums”.
Today on television most shows are still using stereotypes to portray characters in comedy but are making some progress in the way that they portray women and men. Women are shown more and more frequently and are given the leads in many shows today. New shows are making progress allowing men to show their feminine side, women are able to accomplish things on their own and stick up for each other and be supportive of other women. Compared to earlier television comedies todays shows have come a long ways, but still have a long ways to go.
There is no doubt that when it comes to American youth television is one of the biggest influences by far. Many parents would love to say that their child does not watch that much TV but in reality they are spending a lot of time watching television or using media in some way. “The study by the Kaiser Family foundation shows that children ages 2-8 spend an average of 5 ½ hours a day “consuming media” kids 8 and older spend even more time in front of the tube nearly 6 ¾ hours a day” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005 ). Astonishingly, more time is being spent with media then doing homework, studying or even spending time with family. A child’s retention of what