Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Once Upon A Time...

Linda Christensen, in her article, "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" tackles the ideas that are taught to children from the time that they are able to understand a book, or understand that girls play with Barbies and boys play with Hot Wheels. Christensen refers to the "secret education" that we receive from all of the things that we encounter on a daily basis. These things, such as gender roles, are taught to us not in a formal education setting, but rather through the messages and images that we see in television, books, magazines and games. I had not thought much about this until it was brought to my attention in a Children's Literature class that I took as an Undergrad. We are being shaped and persuaded to think in a certain way right from the start. I would argue that very few people "wrestle with the social text of novels, news, or history books" or " critique portrayals of hierarchy and inequality in children's movies and cartoons." We simply take all the messages that are being thrown at us and put them into our minds as the things that are expected of us. Or at least some of them. I can remember from a very young age wanting to play with baby dolls and be the "mom" in any kind of playing. What I don't remember is when this started. When did it start that I wanted to be the "mommy"? Was it after watching television shows where girls were the moms, or was it from watching the example of my own mother? Maybe both. Christensen's discussion of Cinderella is one that I really enjoyed. Disney has an unbelieveable effect on our society. Little girls are taught by watching Disney princess movies that "happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption-in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle." Woman and girls everywhere want the "fairy tale," myself included, I think this in part is because I have grown up seeing the fairy tale and how much happiness that the princesses live with after. I came across an article last night that I can't stop talking about. Mercy Academy, an all female school in Kentucky has rolled out a new advertising campaign that focuses on the empowerment of girls by debunking fairy tales. The campaign tells girls that they are not princesses, so start doing things for themselves, and not to wait around for prince charming, but to rescue themselves. I love these ads and have even printed them out for my classroom, I, like Christensen, "do not want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after."" I think these messages are just setting girls up to feel bad about themselves when their life doesn't pan out like that of the princesses. Christensen goes on to talk about critiquing cartoons, and stereotypes that are involved in them. For example, Popeye, has several ethnic stereotypes that run though it. Even the board game, Game of Life, has a set way to be happy, and "win." I would like very much to tie this dicussion into my class, but I am toying with how I can weave it in. I want my students to think about the messages that they have seen and been taught since they were little, and to think critically about how those messages have shaped their view for their own futures. The conversation of our distorted view of reality is one that I want to have with my students and hear their opinions on.
                     

4 comments:

  1. Traditional fairy tales and Disney certainly did stereotype roles and even today young adult movies re-spin those "happily ever after" tales for adolescent movie goers. It's an easy and popular formula so a win-win for studios. I am not familiar with modern kid's stories. Nor have I paid attention to modern cartoons, but it would be a great exercise to examine the more recent crop of media messages to children. As far as young adult, there is a disturbing new message - young girls who receive super human abilities but then must use them in masculine ways to fight others. The message is that force wins - or so it would seem with Katniss and the Vampire stories. Force, rather than mental craftiness is what saves the day, regardless of gender.

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  2. Hi Allie, I have a few friends with kids who think it's adorable to dress their little girls up as princesses and have them play with baby dolls. The baby doll thing, especially, drives me crazy. Why in the world would you want your 5 year old pretending to be a mom? It's just strange to me. I think I did play with dolls when I was a child, but never remember pretending to be a mom myself. I think that parents really need to start teaching their children when they are very little that they do not need to fit into a box. I played with dolls, but I also played outside in the mud. It's important for kids (younger and older) to have exposure to many opportunities outside of the cookie cutter "girls are princesses and play with barbies" and boys "are super heroes and play with hot wheels."

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  3. I also played in the mud. My father had four daughters and he always brought us up believing that we do anything and be anything that we wanted to. I played pretend but never "mom". I also find it strange. My girls never did either. My daughters sometimes played with dolls but so did my youngest son. Our neighbors have a daughter and they were good friends...it was natural for them to play together. I also never wanted to be a cookie cutter girl and that is how my husband and I are bringing up our children.

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  4. Brittany, I agree with you that there is a message that young girls receive and is almost "embedded" in our culture. Why do little girls want to be mommies or princesses instead of, say, engineers? As a tomboy myself, I still felt and feel very overwhelmed by the media's portrayal of women, particularly in commercials. It is impossible to strive for the perfect princess exterior when you are not fundamentally happy with yourself. This rings true for me even as an adult; there are days when I "feel ugly" and subsequently get into a bad mood. Good days are often those when I "feel attractive." I hate my own superficiality, but unfortunately, I was raised with an acute perception of my need to be physically attractive according to my societal role as a women. I work hard to debunk it and even pretend it doesn't matter in school, but it does. It's hard to break the princess stereotype.

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