Video

Here is another video that shows gender roles in the media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2bYinZ6RX0

Help children recognize stereotypes

I was reading on a website earlier about ways that we can help children recognize stereotypes, since at their age it can be hard to grasp. Here are some of the ideas that were presented.

Suggested Activities

Images - Using TV or video clips and magazine or newspaper pictures, chart similarities and differences in appearance and body size for the good and bad characters. Look again at the clips and make note of the type of camera shots used for the good and bad guys or gals. Compare the characters with self and peers and family members.

Working women - List the jobs that TV mothers have such as teacher, doctor. Do we ever see them working at their jobs? Does your mother have a job? If she works outside the home do you ever visit her there?

I'd rather be me - Form two groups - one of boys, the other of girls. From various media have the boys list female traits and interests that are most commonly featured, while the girls do the same for male characteristics and concerns. Form new mixed groupings and discuss how boys and girls feel about the stereotypes by which their gender has come to be represented. What is artificial about these stereotypes? An appropriate video resource available from TVO is Behind the Scenes.

Jobs - Examine the media to determine how certain occupations are portrayed, and then interview people in those occupations to ascertain how realistic portrayals are. Count the number of women or men portrayed in jobs. List the types of jobs for women and men portrayed. How do these findings compare to the jobs held by the parents of students? Stereotypes limit our views of ourselves and others and of the reality of the world. They limit our perceptions from infancy to old age.

Posed vs. natural - Select pictures from newspapers and magazines that show the difference between posed and natural photographs of girls and boys, and men and women. Describe what is emphasized in each.

What's wrong with this picture? - This video is available from MediaWatch and has accompanying educational materials. It can be used to discuss gender issues and concepts such as nonverbal messages. Does body language differ by gender? Make your own collection of pictures or TV clips for each gender and explain the message perceived.

A Real Princess - Introduce stereotyping by brainstorming words to describe a princess. Read the book by R. Munsch, A Paper Bag Princess. Discuss and compare with the image we have of Princess Anne or Princess Diana.

Witches - Make a series of slides of witches, using illustrations from children's books. Use these to encourage discussions about stereotyping of women and witches and the male equivalent.

Twisted tales - Rewrite fairly tales from the point of view of the opposite gender.

Visual novels - View literature-based films. Compare the films with the books for the handling of gender roles. Does one media form rely more on stereotypes? Why? Generate more examples.

Video games - Design a video game for girls and boys that is not stereotypical or violent.

Recommended resource - Video and workbook, Minding the Set - Making Television Work for You. From the Alliance for Children and Television, 344 Dupont St. Suite 205, Toronto, M5R 1V9.
Shari Graydon and Elizabeth Verrall

Source: adapted from mediawatch   
http://www.mediawatch.ca

For MediaWatch’s guide to taking acation on media violence, go to: http://www.mediawatch.ca/involved/voice/

Link-http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/ForTeachers/Documents/Gender%20Issues%20in%20The%20Media.aspx

Rant.

For as long as I can remember, I have been reading magazines about celebrities or other things that I thought were cool. When I was younger it started with magazines such as Teen Beat and J-14 and then gradually moved up to Seventeen Magazine and Cosmo. The women were always dressed in these amazing outfits and as I moved my way up in magazines they started to become more scantily clad. The pictures become airbrushed and the bodies slightly altered to look a little thinner, to give them that perfect woman look.

Men are just as victimized on these magazine covers as women. On the covers of magazines you see men dressed really sharp, in expensive brands or suits. The men are given the look of being financially successful.  

In our society we allow the media to promote the stereotype of the perfect man or woman. As consumers we become completely used to this, and we allow children to see and read things like this. The next generation is going to have to have problems just like we have now with gender stereotyping, if not worse. 

Growing up, I remember some of the girls in my class idolizing some of the actresses or models that would be on magazine covers. One of the same girls that would always have her Cosmo magazine out pointing out which actress she wished she looked like or what she would do to improve her looks, last year had breast enhancement surgery. She is 21 and had breast enhancement surgery. To me I find that slightly disturbing, to think at that age she felt the need to alter her body. Is that the kind of image that should be portrayed?

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

In 2004, Academy Award winning actress Geena Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media."The Institute is uniquely positioned to spotlight gender inequalities at every media and entertainment company through cutting-edge research, education, training, strategic guidance and advocacy programs".

For more information on the Institution here is the link! http://www.seejane.org/about/

Disney and our youth

I personally feel that Disney movies bombard the youth with the concept of traditional gender roles. We all love Disney movies, but some of the lessons that they teach contribute to the stereotypes of genders. They show archaic attributes of femininity and stress the masculinity of the male characters.   

This video does a great job of pointing out specific examples as to how Disney represents the typical gender stereotypes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsy3BblcjCA&feature=player_embedded

Women roles in Professional Sports

Here is an video that  I found interesting about women roles in professional sports http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsSV5-rb7OQ

Influencing the Youth

The media is a profoundly influential force when it comes to representing and stereotyping gender roles of society. Young children are especially vulnerable to the teachings of the media because they lack the ability to distinguish between what is real or not, and to disregard stereotypes.

            In today’s society much of a child’s knowledge and experience of the world has an indirect correlation with the media. They see the stereotypical representations of gender in television, films, video games and other media. The media reinforces values and images that create stereotypes. As a result of these values and images the viewpoints and experiences of people can be of a negative light.