Basically, Middleton seems to be arguing that popular culture is one way that gender roles are transmitted...in this case, how boys learn to be "real" men through comic books.
Are there ways you can see gender roles being transmitted through other means to children via the media or consumer goods? How can you tell the boys aisle apart from the girls aisle in toy stores? What kinds of toys are "appropriate" for boys or girls according to such layouts? Remember, I'm not asking you what YOU think about it, but how social and commercial influences exert forces on children.
Aside from commercial goods, like toys, are there other media forms, like comic books, that might contribute to teaching children gender roles? Try and think of some.
Finally, after you think about those things (how society might influence children), I'd like your opinion on just how influenced we are in general by popular culture regarding appropriate roles for our genders.
(oh yeah and don't for get to read chapter 2 in RR...if i have to do it, you have to too!)
34 comments:
Everywhere that you go from the toy store, grocery store, or even watching TV in your own house you see things advertised for different sexes. You see ads and hear people talking about what the cool new toy, food, or clothing specified for a boy or girl. Our culture influences us to see things like Lego's or action figures as boy toys, and barbie dolls and tea parties for girls? What if a boy wants to have a tea party? Or a girl wants to play with the Hulk doll? Is this socially unexpected, or do you just look weird doing it? The way that kids are influenced through advertisement causes them to have opinions about things that aren't really theirs, but something that they were told to think.
Some other things that help contribute to teaching children gender roles are things like comic books, novels, TV shows, and video games. These different things focus of a specific type of child of sex and or age.
I think that people are very influenced by popular culture. Things from what you wear, music you listen to, and things you do for fun are usually influenced by "whats in". If it wasn't cool in other peoples eyes then you usually think twice before doing something or wearing a particular outfit. Also it seems that most guys don't really care or judge each other like girls do. If something is weird or bad about a girl it will be brought up or talked about. I think that when your younger the what is for a boy, and what is for a girl is a bigger issue then when you get older. Maybe its because then you know better or maybe its funny rather then weird for a guy to have a tea party or do something girly.
The media always gives out preceptions of what and how girls and boys should act. In comercials there is always the boys playing outside, getting dirty or playing with action figures. Boys always said that 'girls cant play football because they arn't tough enough' or girls arn't suppose to play video games. Where do boys get these ideas from? Well either from t.v. or older brother or a father. They grow up learning these roles as boys and girls.
Media and toys make it seem like women belong in the kitchen or taking care of children. They always advertise girls with a pink easy bake oven or playing with dolls-it doesn't look right if boys were doing that.
I think popular culture influences everyone some way or another. It could be what the cool thing to wear is or why smoking seems so cool. Many people seem to follow what the media says is 'in' or 'cool' to do.
The media leaves children with no doubt about how they are expected to act and what their desires should be. Girls are given baby dolls to promote the role of motherhood; while, boys are given trucks and symbols of power to encourage domination and the acquisition of power. Also, girls are expected to play with Barbies. From these toys, little girls are given an ideal body image and the idea that they are supposed to wear delicate, pretty dresses. In addition, girls are given Ken dolls along with Barbies, which suggests that girls should have a stonger, male character around.
Other forms of media other than comic books that indicate how a child should behave include Disney movies such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. In both of these movies, the heroine must be saved from death by a male character. Once the male character appears and saves the heroine, the story is resolved. This suggests to a little girl that her problems will be solved when she has a male figure in her life. Likewise, little boys are shown that they have to be strong and dominant constantly, an expectation that can be daunting for a child.
The media has a significant impact on our lives; the extent of which we are probably not completely conscious. The media influences how we dress, the ambitions we should have at certain periods in our lives, our conversations in social situations, etc. Children learn which toys they should want. Teenagers are encouraged to drink and have a lot of friends. Adults are told to stay looking young and thin.
The media definitly has an impact on the expectations of how boys and girls should act. It is seen through several different kinds of media such as the sunday newspaper ads, video games, and the toys thrown in a Mcdonald's happy meal. The sunday newspaper ads, say for a store like walmart, will have a section devoted to girls which will generally be outlined with pink, and a section for boys which is usually a more manly color. Video games are directed to more boys but there are some girl video games out there. And when a kid goes to Mcdonald's for a happy meal and his/her parents order, the employee taking the order usually asks if it is a girl or boy in order to designate which toy they receive. I know toy stores are obviously gender based. When you look down one aisle and see all pink, you will immediately know that it is the section for girls. When you see action figures and toy trucks, boys toys come to mind.
Gender roles are definitely expressed through children's toys these days. But I am starting to notice kind of the alternatives to the "norm" of children's toys.
These days, it is more attractive for a woman to be the "anti-Barbie" in my opinion. A lot of dolls and toys on the shelves seem more "real" looking these days, forgoing Barbie's signature blonde locks for (perhaps a sexier) and more common brunette shade. This is not to say that these dolls still do not set a standard for young woman. Any doll on any shelf in any toystore has seemingly perfect style, thus pressuring girls into become materialistic and clothing obsessed. Of course, there are still dolls that are scandalous and outwardly sexy, like The Bratz Dolls. Due to all of these feminine qualities, it kind of makes these toys only appropriate for females.
Today, men who are into style and perfecting themselves physically with things such as the right hair and right moisturizer are considered wimpy.
Dolls seem to teach gender roles in other ways too. Although there is the occasional police officer Barbie, you're more likely to see Barbie in an apron or with a baby carriage, doing "Womanly" things.
No matter where, or who you are, there is no escaping the influence of popular culture. The tight hold of the medias grip extends to youth, teenagers as well as those in adulthood. It is the children however that are impacted the most. They are in the stage of their lives where they are just learning about gender roles, and what is socially accepted. Boys tend to try and mimic the tough and rowdy toys with which they play (GI Joes for example), while little girls are taught to be calm and sophisticated.
Popular Culture is constantly affecting children. Sex is clearly divided when it comes to toys, sports, television and much more. It amazes me that something as simple as a color defines boy vs. girl. Generally it is pink or purple for the girls and black, red or some other "boy-ish" color for the boys. When it comes to toys, boys are supposed to play with action figures, video games, and violent things whereas girls are the pretty pretty princesses. If a little boy were to play dress up or house, some people may think that would be unacceptable.
I don't think it is just popular culture that influences the gender role, but parents and other adult figures too. Like the mom that worries when she sees her 3 year old son playing dress up with the little girl from down the street. The media is taking over people; especially girls. They give us a fixed image of the ideal weight and appearance of what a "typical" girl should be. They say what is and is not in style and cool to wear, how to do your hair and hundreds of other beauty secrets.
Gender Roles are being transmitted throughout the world around us. At an early age, we are expected to play with cars, or play with dolls, throgh tv commercials, the type of books read by our parents, and characters we are expected to recognize with.
The biggest influence must be tv, how many commercials do we see chlidren, say age 3 playing with dolls? A lot, now how many chlidren are boys. None, while we are little, we recognize and unconsciously conform to these ideas. I know I did, because i don't play with dolls.
I thought it was intresting how Middleton stated that through comics, Men did't want boys in their world. Through Comics boys can identify such traits and qualities, but not take part in the actual world. Because it would mean men would have to share power with women and children. I hope we can further discuss this in class
Everywhere you go everything you see on tv, the newspaper and magazines is indirectly advertised to one sex or the other. Mainly you see this though tv commercials. Often times you can sit and watch commercials and be able to tell which ones are directed towards little boys, little girls, men, and women. In store most of the boys/ men stuff has to do with sports. When talking about comic books, in realyity how many girls do you see reading them? Now flip the script and think about how many boys and men at that read or collect comic books. Its a huge difference. Overall the tv and ads in newspapers and magazines dictate how our society runs. People see something on tv, they get it, its that simple.
I think we are influenced by popular culture in everything we do. Anything you want to buy is advertised by the type of sex. You will see attractive people smoking cigarettes or driving nice cars so that you will want to go do that and think that you will be like them. The media also makes kids act like what type of sex they are. You will see commercials with dolls or that fake kitchen stuff aimed at girls. You will see the little army men or legos and building blocks aimed at boys. Gender roles can be taught by a lot of things other than comic books. You have movies, tv, video games, and sports. Some sports or only for boys and some are only for girls.
I believe that the media is the number one reason boys act the way they do and girls act a different way. When you watch television or a movie you see the men fighting the enemy and you see the woman being rescused by the hero. These stereotypes I have been put in place and have been followed forever! If you go to the toy store you see the aisle with all the girl dolls and barbies and you know that is for little girls. Then you see big, muscular men in costumes with guns and knives and you know that this for little boys. Not only does the media influence the way that children think, but it also influences how the parents treat their children. You see the dad tell his son to get the action figure of an army man rather then the ken barbie doll. It is just something that everyone does because it follows the norm.
I think that most everyone is influenced by popular culture on how to act or how to raise their children because you just want them to fit in. You don't want your son or daughter going to school with a toy of the opposite sex and getting picked on by all of their classmates. Although we would like it to be different and not matter, it does and it always will. There are certain things for boys and certain things for girls.
in terms of gender, our surroundings influence us from the minute our mother gives birth to us. for instance, once the doctor verifys what sex we are, we are put into two categories, blue for boys and pink for girls. boys are given trucks and action figures to play with, while the girls are given dolls and play dress up. in toy stores it is obvious what side is geared toward what gender. the girls isle is always decorated in pinks and soft pastels, with a wide variety of barbies and dolls, and make-up kits. the boys side contains plastic hand grenades and huge super soakers. one might say that these toy companies influencing these children to behave according to whats expected by their gender socially, but i think that boys and girls are what influence the toy companies. i think that naturally, girls are more nuturing and affectionate than boys, which would explain why they like to take care of their baby dolls and play house. boys are naturally more agressive so that would explain why they like guns and action figures. orrrrrrrr it could be society i dont know where im going with this
The media is extremely persuasive in how girls and boys should act,what they should play with, and even look like. No matter how hard you try to fight it, somehow, someway you will be influenced by pop culture and the media. In today's social media, girls should play with barbies and boys should play with action figures and video games. Some other types of media forms that teach children gender roles may include magazines, novels, and commercials. Each of these things focus on a target age group, and are specifically typical for either boy or girls. As for me and the influence that popular culture has on me, i would say its a fairly even balance between my personal preferences and then what i see and like in the media. I don't agree with everything that pop culture views as appropriate for different genders, but a good amount of it i like as a girl myself.
In todays world many thing influence gender roles that are deemed appropriate for both boys and girls. When walking into section of toys at a store the girls section stands out as well as the boys section. In the girls section you are likely to find a lot of pink and purple along with dolls, ponies, doll clothes, etc. In the boys isle you are likely to see a lot of red and black dominated by action figures, matchbox cars, remote control cars, toy guns, legos, etc. Toy commercials in the media are very gender ordinated. A commercial for the newest rocket launching robot is likely to have a group of young boys yelling and playing. A group of young girls is more likely to be baking up a batch of cookies in an easy bake oven. Society itself as a whole dictates how boys and girls are supposed to act different from each other.
There are definately gender roles transmitted by other means to children via the media and consumer goods. The perfect example that came to mind was foods and toys, which is mentioned in the next question. Telling the boys aisle from the girls aisle is so simple. The most noticable differnece is the color of each aisle as a whole. The girls aisle is bright, usually pink or maybe purple yellow etc. The boys aisle is green, blue brown. The majority of the toys that target each gender happen to follow those color patterns. According to society there are absolutely toys that are appropriate for boys or girls and never both. For example, when I was little I played with a G.I. Joe, which was not a doll but a action figure. My sisters played with Barbies, which were dolls. They were very similar in size and shape, but according to society very different. As far as other things that promote gender roles aside from comercial goods and the media, your interaction with people certainly affects and shapes gender roles. That is probably the biggest and most influential force.
Populaer culture has a massive effect on gender roles and the developement of children into adults. Look at the example that celebrities set for kids to see on TV. I know that if I ever have children, I want them to view that and recongize that many of them arne't adults at all, even though they may seem "grown up".
Gender roles are transmitted every day in the media. If you look in Wal-Mart, or any place that sells things for children, there are obvious eisles designated to specific genders: on row is really pink while one is filled with Legos, car, actions figures, etc. Video games do the same thing. Girls are supposed to play with Barbies and dolls and dudes are supposed to like explosions, Star Wars, etc. Other media forms also influence children on their gender roles, such as commercials during children's programming. There are commercials for these gender products. Also, there is certain television for certain genders, as well as things like children's chapter books, certain athletics, clubs, etc. Personally, I don't necessarily like that we are obviously placed into gender roles in this society, but it is hard to avoid falling into them, and with everyone in the same or opposite boat with you it is hard to break free from certain habits or ways of thinking. You have to think beyond everything around you.
I think the media is the main controlling factor in what boys and girls are "supposed" to like. When going down the aisle of a toystore, you know its the boys section when you see action figures, monster trucks, toy guns. At the same time, you know its the girls section because everything will be outlined in pink, and there will be Barbies, maybe teddy bears? I dont really know what girls toys are, I just know there is a lot of pink, and a lot of Barbies. The media portrays young boys as adventurous, all the commercials the kids are playing in some TV made set with mountains, stuff like that. So kids grow up with this sight of what they should be like based on gender.
I am going to answer the question about the toys in the aisle. You can tell by the different packages and what not for the toys. Girls toys usually consist of pink bright colors and the boys toys consist of a darker color like army colors. The kind of toys that are appriote for boys is like soldier action figures and play guns and even water gerenades and such. For girls it is the barbie figures and ken. As for gender roles in the media, you always see the mom taking care of the children in the commercials or mostly men in the army commercials. It seems like anything to do with physical work has to do with the males in the world.
I definitely think that stereotypical gender roles are shown to children through the toys in stores. Barbie's, ez-bake oven, and other dolls and doll houses are all marketed to young girls. Some of these toys can be looked at as sexist because of the gender role they imply; such as the ez-bake oven implying that women are supposed to know how to cook, and so on.
The toys marketed towards boys were always the hotwheels cars, model planes and sports. They show the boys that their supposed to have a sense of masculinity, simply based off of their toys.
In my childhood there were never any "pink" toys marketed towards the boys nor were there "blue" toys marketed to the girls. Each gender had their own toys and through that, we were all wrongly shown the stereotypical lifestyle of the sexes.
Ever since we were little kids we can remember those commercials on Nickleodeon that try to sell toys to us. There would be those pink ponies and barbie dolls for girls. And they would have hot wheels, action figures, and transformers for boys. The way that those toys are advertised alone are different, and can be seen in just the colors in the commercials. The hot wheels commercials would have these boys playing with the fire cars and there would be blues and blacks on the commercials. The barbie commercials would have girls in pink and there would be girly things surrounding them. They had make up and accessories. While guys had different weapons for accessories. Shows like teenage mutant ninja turtles would appeal more to boys because of the action and the way the turtles were portrayed appealed more to boys. Boys were told to be heroes and fight the good fight. While girls were told to be pretty and dainty. This portrayed certain gender roles through advertising on commercials and shows for children.
Gender roles are in place from birth. From the time you are born, boys and girls are usually separated by blue, and pink. Going into the part of childhood that I remember, as a small boy, the typical toys were barbies for girls, and for boys, G.I. Joe, or the ninja turtles. Boys are generally exposed to ideas of manhood, such as combat and fighting, hence G.I.Joe and the turtles. What I remember about girls are the barbies with their accessories, easy bake ovens, or cabbage patch kids, keeping them in the role of a girl.
As far as the popular culture goes, we are subject to this even as we progress into adulthood. Constantly are there commercials or ads for make-up or hygiene products, and forever is the "man" present in sports as well as the only targets for the military. "The stereotypical role of the man".
Everywhere you go there are different gender influences. Movies, tv shows, commercials, and electronics. There is a movie called She's the Man where a girls soccer team is cut and at her school she was not allowed to play soccer on the boys team so she changed her appearance into looking and acting like a man. Another school ended up letting her play.
I think that there is a perfect example of gender issues. I think theres been a great improvement in gender issues, but it still does exsist.
Every kid and teenager are influenced by what they see and hear. Especially what is on the television or what a celebrity is doing. Teens also feel the need to fit in and by doing so they will do anything they see or hear that is "cool" that will make them more popular and to fit in.
No matter how hard you try there is no escaping popular culture. It influences our lives in many ways. The ads we see on tv or read in the newspaper or see online are trying to influence us. I think that business play a huge role in popular culture via advertising. Business market there products towards either boys or girls. If they marketed a new purse towards males that would be considered out of line and would not help the sale of the product. While if there target audience was at women it would help the sale of the product.
When you go to a toy store you immediately know what aisle is acceptable to look through. As a male I would not look at the dolls or the make up or anything of the nature. If I did I would get made fun and be called names. I would have to go looking through the video game aisle or the sporting goods aisle to be considered normal. You can tell what gender the products are aimed at by simply color. Most people lives are controlled by only popular culture
There are a myriad of ways that gender roles are narrowed in the media. The aisles for girls are pink and glittery, filled with Barbies and ponies, engulfed with dolls. The boy's aisles are littered with action figures, guns and such, as well as various things idolizing sports stars. It is not appropriate for boys to like rainbows or pink or horses. It seems acceptable for a girl to like things with action though. There have been developments in creating women's sports to compete with the popularity of men's sports to shine in through idolizers lives. In comic books it always seems the man is the hero. There can be nothing feminine about him. Wonderwoman is an exception. I think everything influences gender roles. Like separating women's and men's clothes in stores. Like how sometimes women reduce their names to initials when they are authors. That frightens me. Certain jobs seem directed specifically to men or women. And if a man wants a job that's "appropriate" for a woman only, he may seem homosexual. And still in our society, homosexuality is grotesque to some. I think our culture is highly disrespectful to gays.
Gender roles are prevalent literally from the time we return home from the hospital as newborns. The moment our families receive news our sex, they run out to the store and immediately buy blue paint for the walls of a boy's room or pink for a girl's. From that point on, our roles as a gender are shaped. The scenario that always seems to instantly pop into my head when someone mentions the words "gender roles" was when I once took my younger sister to a McDonald's drive-through for lunch one afternoon. She was still young enough to enjoy a Happy Meal, so that was her request. After our orders were placed, the employee asked if the Happy Meal was for a boy or girl, to which I answered "girl". When we pulled up and were given our food, I realized the toy inside was a small Barbie replica. Apparently, if I would have answered "boy", the toy would have been a Hot Wheels car. Although my sister was pleased with the doll, I found it odd the employee did not ask if she wanted a Hot Wheels or a Barbie. There must be some little girl out there (perhaps a Danica Patrick type) who would have wanted the car instead, isn't there?
Gender roles are expressed a lot through the TV shows and toys out there for kids. Disney and Cartoon Network show so much gender roles for children in there shows. They have shows toward girls, like Hannah Montana and Lizzy Mcguire. Then shows toward boys of fighting and other boy things, like Space Ghost or Batman. Even Shows that aren't usually gender side have characters that are, like the Flintstones or Dextor's Laboratory, his sister is all ballet like and he's manly in his laboratory.
Toys aisle are easy to tell which are which, girl's toy aisles are usually in pinks, purples, and other light colors like that. Boy's are darker colors like greens, blues, black and reds. They are also different by the toys they hold boy's often have guns, cars, action toys, and building stuff. Girl's on the other hand usually have house like toys and dolls, clothes and fake makeup.
All of these things are made to lead toward the child's gender roles. They are made in the way that people see boys and girls. How pop culture and society sees and thinks children should be and what they should be like.
I think that it is apparent in grocery stores, convenient stores, malls, and any kind of place for shopping what's for girls and what's for boys. If you think about it, it can even be traced back to hospitals where boys are always in the blue blankets and girls are always in the pink ones when born. in a grocery store you can always tell what is the girls because it's all pink and has dolls and fake makeup kits where as the boys aisle has cars, sports stuff, and army men.
I think that aside from toys, people that kids see on tv teach them gender roles. Girls always want to look like models or celebrities and boys always want to be a basketball star or a football player.
I think that we are very influenced by culture regarding roles for our genders. We do what is socially acceptable for our gender. And when someone strays from that, they are pointed out and made fun of/ridiculed.
I think gender roles are defenitley being transmitted through media and consumer goods. On music videos you always see the girls dancing, they are usually dressed provocativley, with a guy or trying to get a guy. Whenever you see a guy he is usaully driving an expensive car, has money, and has girls all over him. With toys it is the same, for instance barbie dolls and G.I. joes. It just shows kids that that is the way things should be or that is how they should act and look. I think that popular culture influences us because we feel like we will be an outsider if we don't follow along with the way our society acts. If a guy wants to be a hair dresser for example some people will automatically say that he is a wuss or a girly guy, when in fact he could be just as manly as the construction worker who no one would ever think to call that.
It is very easy to distiguish the boys section from the girls section. When you walk down the boys section at a toy store there are many different variations of weapons an action figures. Theaction figures are always muscular guys that usually depict wrestlers, army men, and superheros. you also can see trucks, and other trasportation vehicles, beacuse all of these things are mascualine.
When you walk down the girls aisle you can see a lot of pink. You see dolls, playhouses, accessories, easy bake ovens and so on. These items apply to girls because girls like to play "house" and like to dress up and play with dolls. It would be rare to see a girl playing with a wrestling action figure.
Television advertisments play a big part on how boys and girls are influenced. Its obvious that boys want toys like action figures, squirt guns, sports balls, and girls want toys like dolls, barbies, and play houses. Another thing that I see for boys and girls is colors. I mean for the majority, the color for boys is blue, and the color for girls is pink. Now what would happen if a boy wanted to wear pink girlie clothes and play with barbies, and a girl wanted to wear boys type clothing and play with guns or action figures? Does this mean that these children are socially incorrect or sexually incorrect? T.V. advertisements have an impact of kids's opinions. But is it really what the kids wants to do or think?
People are influenced by the majority. If the majority of people do one thing, then that's waht everybody wants to do. A lot of people are followers and not doers. It seems like today, clothing is a big thing with kids. They think that they have to wear the same things as everbody else just to fit in. Everybody, men, women, boys and girls, are their own person.
Media has a huge effect on children these days it affects what they do and who they hang out with and what they play with. Most children are doing the cool hip thing which is usually what they see famous people doing. you can definately tell the difference between girls and boys aisle in stores because girls is more colorful and happy and boys is more boring might i say. Society says girls should play with barbies and dolls and boys should play with action figures and swords, guys get the violent toys and girls get the fashion and responible kind of toys if that makes sense to you ... well sorry to cut this short but got to go to your class such a long story interesting but long!
girls toys are usually dolls or play kitchen sets, and boys toys are usually trucks, army men etc. cartoons, movies and tv shows that are aimed at young children often have the girls that are vain and then the tomgirls. The boys are either the stereotypical nerds, bullies, or 'average' boys that are into sports. I didnt realize we were so influenced by these things, but how could we not be? many of us grew up watching tv or playing with toys that were gender specific and had these stereotypical boy and girl characters.
Gender are portray everywhere you go, including toy store, mall, grocery store, and etc. As for the media, they are transmitted throughout the TV world by using commercial advertisement. There are toys for different gender such as you can tell them apart by masculine toys are for boy (G.I. Joe, Action Figures, Lego's, and etc) and feminine toys are for girl (Barbie, oven baker, makeup, etc). You can easily tell the difference between a boy aisle and a girl aisle in a toy store by the color. Boy have darker colors while girl have brighter colors and the first thing you will see in each aisle is either Barbie or Lego's. Social and commercial thinks that boy should play with things that involves the outdoor and competition while the girl should play with things that a typical mom would do such as cleaning, cooking, taking care of kids, and etc. School can contribute to teaching children gender role. When you are at school, you interact with other kids and try to fit in by wearing the same stuff, listening to the same music, do the same fun things, and etc. By doing this, you slowly learn what certain things you should do depending on your gender.
Gener roles are present in every form of society there is. Commercials amided at little kids, have catigories that they present to. The boys adds are about action, when the girls are about keeping a house tidy. This implants images in the back of kids heads that tell them where to go in their lives. Parents also place gender roles on children, like the buying of toys and the activities. I can never remember cooking dinner with my dad. All of these things are placed in a childs world and force them one way or anohter.
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