"Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon? Did they have a leading role or were they a servant?" is asked in Linda Christensen chapter, "Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us" (131). Disney and other cartoon shows portray stereotypes throughout characters that affect children and their perspective of the world. Christensen is a teacher and constructed her class around watching
old cartoons and Disney movies. She had her students keep track of their responses in a dialogue journal and fill in a chart noting stereotypes. Christensen believes children are being "manipulated by children's media or advertising" (128).The messages these shows and movies portray, especially Disney Princesses, begin to influence kids at young ages making them believe the ideas of society. Michelle Juergen expresses 9 Harmful Stereotypes We Never Realized Our Favorite Disney Movies Taught Us in this article. She lists the Disney shows we watched in our childhood and points out the stereotypes in each. For example, Cinderella's story teach women that their life can be changed by finding the ideal man or because of outward beauty. A prince sees a female all dressed up, thinks she is beautiful and falls in love at first sight. This story plot also relates to Sleeping Beauty. Majority of the Disney princesses are white and thin which may make girls who do not fit in that category feel left out. Juergen mentions, "Disney is spreading a few different stereotypes with this focus: Women need men to save them; saving a woman makes you a man; and that only men are capable of protecting others from harm or danger."
Alia Bibi and Roshan Zehra go into depth about cartoon and the effects on children in the article, Effects of cartoons on children’s psychology & behavior patterns. Cartoons are children's favorite entertainment however they do not notice the influence they have on them. The authors say, "Children watching too much cartoons often fantasize about the kind of life that various characters are living." Also they say the influence of cartoons can be make a "negative impression on the innocent minds of children." At the age of these children, they are still learning and their minds are still developing therefore the cartoons are greatly influencing the way they think. In cartoons, females are tend to be viewed as dependent, emotional, sensitive, etc. however the males are viewed the opposite. Males are looked at as dominant, tough, aggressive, etc. These examples of stereotypes are hidden behind the characters in these cartoons. Points to share:
I enjoyed reading the way Christensen constructed her class. She did not just point out to her students the wrong in these cartoons and Disney movies, she made sure her students saw it for themselves.
Hey Cindy I used this post in my blog!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job choosing important quotes to show how Disney movies portray women as weak and men as strong. I liked how you included Chritensen's chart that she had her students fill out to note the different characters and how they were portrayed in the movie.
Great job picking relevant quotes.. isn't it scary and sad to look back on the movies we grew up with and are so attached to and realize what bad lessons they taught us? I also like your point that at the ages children are watching these cartoons, they are very susceptible to influence- positive or negative. Do you think the stereotypes in the chart play out in real life? are females not aggressive, submissive, passive and nurturing etc. where males are the opposite?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article. It gave a better perspective on what we as children were watching. I agree with Lindsey's comment that it is scary and sad to know that these so called "role models" are not exactly what we thought they were. The artice on the " 9 Harmful Stereotypes We Never Realized Our Favorite Disney Movies Taught Us" was a true eye opener. I personally never realized these stereotypes before and its crazy that these movies portray that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said in the beginning and I like how you added an picture that shows the traditional gender stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the chart you included in your article to show some of the multiple stereotypes that males and females carry. I also like your commentary about Christensen's teaching skills, I agree with you. She did not just throw facts at her students, she made them come to the answers themselves and really got her students interested and involved in the class.
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