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Media portrayal of gender roles
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How advertising affects young children
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Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. By Peggy Orenstein. New york, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011, 192 pages
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In this book, Peggy Orenstein explores the land of pink. She takes us on an adventurous trip to try and find out the truth about what society tells our young girls what they should be wearing, how they should be acting and most importantly looks are what matters. Orenstein herself is a mother of a preschool aged daughter so the topic of what influences young girls is of great importance to her. She struggles with making the correct decisions for her own daughter, Daisy, as she dives into the girlie-girl world, because as even she has found out, it is impossible to steer clear of it. She talks with historians, marketers, psychologists, neuroscientists, parents, and children themselves. She returns to the original fairy tales, seeks out girls’ virtual presence online, and ponders the meaning of child beauty pageants. In the process, she faces down her own confusion as a mother and woman about issues of how to raise a girl and teach her about her own femininity.
Orenstein explores the rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and the differences that are in today’s society. The rise and fast spreading message that girls receive from the Disney Princesses is one of her biggest issues. Not only does she disagree, but other mothers from Daisy’s preschool do as well. In the second chapter Orenstein invites all the mothers with daughters that are obsessed with Princesses to discuss the subject, one mother states that she sees no problem with encouraging being feminine and then states, “On the other hand, I a...
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...her toys for girls a bit difficult. In lower economic households, there may not me enough money to participate in events such as beauty pageants. Many young children have never even been to Disneyland and don’t have any idea of what princesses are. Orenstein point of view is from that of a middle class white woman. Even though she can’t quit understand why anyone would pay $500 for an American Girl and her accessories, she comes from a place where she and her friends can afford to spend that amount if they please. In a lower class family no way would that ever be possible.
All and all I think Orenstein does a great job of putting a light on the issues of sexualization of or youth and why so many choose Disney as a form of trying to keep our young girls safe. Money may be a small price to pay in order to keep our little girls from becoming little women too soon.
Lianne George’s article “Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters Like This?” (2014) focuses on the societal issue of an increasingly earlier development of young girls. George states that companies facilitate this early development by producing adult like goods for children that push an adult mindset and behaviour. Through the use of various examples George argues that this trend is ill advised and should not be continued.
In fact, Cinderella itself is a prime example on how women should not be suppressed of their own potential. The Cinderella story most known is the “Disney version.” This version is criticized greatly by feminists due to Cinderella’s lack of taking action. Peggy Orenstein wrote an article in the New York Times in 2006 commenting on princesses in today’s society. She speaks of how every little girl these days are expected to be enthralled with princesses. She notes how they cannot grow up wanting to be heroes or anything of that sort. This is similar to “The Yellow Wallpaper” because due to princess stories such as Cinderella, little girls are pushed so often to desire being princesses just like in the short story, wives must succumb to their husband’s authority and ‘superior’
Your sparkling eyes gazed at the television, reading the word “Cinderella” by Disney. You had all your Cinderella toys lined up, ready to grab whenever necessary. Your Cinderella pajamas on, and your tea set is all prepared.Your mom adored your love for princesses. Didn’t we all love to sing along to the Disney movies about princesses and true love? Peggy Orenstein sure didn’t. Peggy Orenstein, the author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter has a sharp opinion about how a “pretty and pink” culture is influencing girls in a negative way. The author proves this argument by discussing gender colorization, dolls, and princesses.
In “Is It Now Slutoween for 7-Year-Olds? Really?” Emily Shire addresses the question of whether or not to wear gender-prescription Halloween costume for girls. Published on September 29, 2015, this is one of the many articles that Shire has contributed to thedailybeast.com, most of which covers popular culture, women’s issues, health and sex and date. There appear to be no Kairos event. However, Shire against little girl to wear costumes that are provocative. The target audiences of thedailybeast.com is women. Shire is a reporter and cheat sheeter for The Daily Beast. Her work has appeared in The Week, The Atlantic, Salon, Slate, and The Forward. She is a writer
A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future.
The article American Girl Dolls Are More American Than Ever: and Not in a Good Way was written by: Krystin Arneson. This article is about Arneson’s opinion on the new American Girl Dolls. She writes about how her own American Girl Doll helped her through life. How the book showed her that race doesn’t define you, and telling the truth always is the best option. She expresses her dislike of the new dolls, throughout the essay, and how the author of the american girl dolls, Mattel, “traded in substance for style, history’s great moments for mani-pedi outings.” This article is influential because it shows the commercialism of American Girls, the impact of the dolls have on other people’s lives and the way this change will affect the generations of the future.
"What's Wrong with Cinderella", an article in the 2006 New York Times, discusses the toxicity of the Disney Princess era and all the princess products, and how it largely contributes to forcing gender roles on young girls and pushes young girls to heighten their sense of being feminine. Peggy Orenstein, the author of the article and a mother to a young girl herself, doesn't like the concept of princesses and explains how everyone associates girls with princesses. Several issues and concerns are raised regarding the physical and mental impact that the younger generation might have from the excessiveness of the princess theme toys, clothing and animation. The writer believes that young girls are being influenced to think that beauty is determined
Peggy Orenstein has been very popular around the literary world, writing books, and publishing for many popular magazines such as O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, New York Times and many more. She mainly focuses on today’s society issues such as topics that affect women and girls. Orenstein’s article originally published in the New York Times in 2006, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” is the article I chose from the book, The Conscious Reader (page.64-74). Disliking the princess industry, and the impact they have to young girls and forcing gender roles, Peggy Orenstein writes this article as a feminist mother who has concerns about what it will do to her three year old daughter.
Throughout many fairytales, Cinderella more evidently, there is the stigma of male roles and female roles. The man is the prince, the knight in shining armor, the strong protector and able provider, and the woman is the princess. Dainty and innocent, weak and capable only of looking pretty, fostering children and maintaining appearances of house and home. These roles of placement have been around long before fairy tales, and they’ll be around long after fairy tales, but the inclusion of these roles through characters in fairy tales does nothing but enforce the idea that this is the way things are meant to be, and women who do not assume these roles are wrong and unworthy. In her article, Orenstein refers to Cinderella as “the patriarchal oppression of all women”, and she is exactly right (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). The impression left of these gender stereotypes travels off the pages of the fairy tale and into the real world when studies show that there is a “23% decline in girls’ participation in sports and other rigorous activity … has been linked to their sense that athletics is unfeminine” (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). The blatant disregard for equality in these stories can be summed up with a term Orenstein coined, “relentless resegregation of childhood”, which ultimately defines what it means to be a boy or a girl in the terms of set behaviors and life duties (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). Whether it be Cinderella or any other princess, the fairy tale business makes it a point to create a place for women with their stories, and unfortunately that “place” is demeaning and still practiced
In the 1950s Disney character such as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” depicted women as still innocent and meek, thereby alluding to the permanence of pre-feminist stereotyping of women in popular culture (Cheu 150). In the two fi...
In the short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros, the young girls didn't mind they did not receive other things such as new Barbie's or Ken Barbie's and the friends to go along with the dolls (206). These girls were just happy to play with their own dolls. The girls have bonded with each other and they enjoy playing with each other's dolls. A doll brings two or more children together for fun and social entertainment. Have you ever listened to a child frequently you will hear a child say " so what” that means the child really don't care, it don't matter; nothing else mattered to the two little girls. In the short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros to purchase a brand new Barbie doll meant that the dolls are expensive in the store so the girls are very happy and pleased to own a second hand Barbie. When the parent places the dolls in the child's hands the dolls take on the character of the owner's beauty; culture; how girls see themselves and the future when the kids are all grown up. Barbie is a fun toy to dress up. Each child has her or his own imagination of a Barbie doll. I, too, myself, like watching all the different cultural background Barbie dolls in the malls or Macy's Department Store around Christmas times. Most large department stores dress
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
However, Camp doesn’t recognize what is being implicitly stated by her inaction. While it is possible for girls to overcome the confining nature of pink that Camp illustrated, it is just as likely that girls will end up with their own damaging conclusions about femininity. For example, Camp mentioned the marketing of pink, flower-embossed LEGOs to young girls. Perhaps toys like this do, as Camp suggests, support patterns of inferiority. However, a girl may also draw the conclusion that she needs to be both a LEGO architect as well as a dainty princess that resides in the castle she has just built for herself. Neither conclusion is healthy for a girl’s self-esteem. However, Camp denies their relevance because she believes young girls simply don’t understand the implications. Although most girls do outgrow the pink phase, femininity manifests itself in different forms as girls age, all of which are equally limiting. What Camp assumes to be blissful ignorance of the social implications of pink may actually be an outlet for stereotypes to begin corrupting a girl’s self
In present day society, where political correctness and equality are at the top of the priority list, by reading essays such as the one by Karol Kelley we find that this might not have been the case in earlier days. Fairy tales such as Cinderella have been found guilty of possessing subliminal socialization traits. Classifying genders as inferior and molding young girls into the female that society expects them to be. In Charles Perrault’s version, which is considered the most common, Cinderella is seen as passive, limited, dependent and inferior. As critics argue, these traits can hinder a child’s self esteem. Karol Kelley states that the “expectations and the promises
Often beauty pageants feature an “outfit of choice” portion where parents and their children can collaborate in deciding their desired ensemble. On the TLC hit series Toddler and Tiaras, a three-year-old child entered a glitz beauty pageant, and in the “outfit of choice” portion, she dressed as Julia Robert’s character from Pretty Woman (O’Neill 20-21). In other words, a mother dressed her three-year-old child as a prostitute in hopes of winning a pageant. Young girls all around the country compete in beauty pageants that, on the surface, seem like harmless fun, but the negative consequences of juvenile beauty pageants drastically outweigh the benefits. Modern-day