Stereotypes in Popular Culture and How it Tells Us Who We Should be
I look around at work and see children the ages of seven – twelve with their hair done, bringing makeup to school and worrying about their appearances. One day I asked one of my students (who is in the first grade) why she had a case of makeup in her backpack and her response was “It helps me look pretty”. I have seen little girls cry because of what others say to them and I have heard them say negative things about their appearances. I ask myself why these girls worry so much, they are so young and have so much to look forward to instead of worrying about how they look. I think to myself, is there something on TV they’re trying to be. Do they find someone beautiful and want
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Women have a representation in popular culture which facilitates the stereotype of the simple minded, and emotional female. This is preserved in various forms of media, including movies, TV shows, and cartoons. Women’s roles are being portrayed socially and commercially. For example, I watched a video called “Like a Girl” which is about girls going through puberty and getting made fun of, such as “you run like a girl, you throw like a girl, you dance like a girl” and so forth. That’s who they are, why do girls have to be stereotyped based on what they do? When a girl is going through puberty we’re supposed to help boost confidence and make them feel strong. The show Toddlers and Tiaras, a show of girls in beauty pageants is another perfect example of little girls and their appearances. Mothers are doing their hair and make-up, also making sure they have the perfect outfit to dance around in to be judged by their beauty. I never understood why girls starting at four years old need to be wearing makeup, having to put on fake hair, and have sparkles all over …show more content…
The portrayal of heroine with lean waists and sexualized attire lead to cyber bullying and unhealthy body image issues. It is proven by recent studies that show 50 percent of young girls in today’s society are insecure about their bodies. Women characters depicted on TV, no matter how diverse they are presented to be, they choose the sexiest ones to play the part. The issue elevates awareness from the society and more girls attend campaigns against sexualization. Girls have a tendency to look up to Disney princesses based on how they look and act. I have noticed a majority of princesses are very slim and have a pretty face. I always wondered if applying for a position at Disney to become a princess, do you have to look a certain way, or act differently. My thoughts always wonder about these types of theories and how a princess should look. I remember in fourth grade I went through a tomboy stage and everyone always had something to say about how I dressed. Like "why are you wearing that?" "Do you shop in the boys' section?" First of all, I didn't know dressing like a boy could be such an issue. I always thought and still think wearing boy clothes are so much more comfortable and looked better than me. I went through the tomboy stage until the sixth grade. I believe a majority of girls go through a stage of being a tomboy and I don't
As a child, I did not often watch princess movies so a strong female stereotypical image was never introduced to me. I found out who I was by myself and by the people who surrounded me in everyday life. I was allowed to chose who I wanted to be, free of the idea of who I should be. These movies and the people around me didn’t pressure me to be sexy so often enough my outfits consisted of mud covered jeans, stained tennis shoes, a t-shirt, and a wild ponytail. If parents chose to “opt.” out of showing their kids movies and other media that influences female stereotypes, the children of ours and future generations have a higher chance of having the freedom to choose for themselves who they want to
The topic of over-generalizing characteristics of a man or woman has become a controversial debate. While both sides have valid points, Monika Bartyzel, a freelance writer who created Girls in Film, a weekly feature on “femme-centric film news and concerns” at theweek.com, argues in her gender stereotype article “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” Disney has gone against their own perception of a princess, leaving young girls to believe they are only worth value if they are pink, sparkling and dependent on a man.
Our girls are expected to conform to a beauty and behavior standard at a very young age. This is something that stays with these girls into adulthood. They will continue to conform to beauty standards and they will conform to what our male-dominated society wants. If/when women break these standards they are labeled as something else: free-thinker, weird, and even “lesbian”. This brings up another issue; Disney princesses are all heterosexual. So from the start, if girls want to be like a princess, then they better be straight. In this way, Disney movies are hetero-normative, and influence girls to believe that if they want to find their “one true love,” then they need to find a handsome man, not possibly a fellow princess. Evette Dionne writes that Disney princesses gave her warped expectations of love and romance in "Were You Ruined by Princess Culture?”.
RaStereotyping is a way of thinking about groups of people. It ignores the differences of the group, while emphasizing its similarity. One belief, that is a stereotype, is that red-haired people are hot tempered. Another belief is that Scottish people are stingy. Such thinking ignores many even-tempered redheads and generous Scottish people. Stereotyping emphasizes many differences between groups while ignoring their similarities to other people. It ignores that many blond and brown-haired people also lose their tempers. Stereotyping overlooks the fact that many American, Brazilians and French people are stingy.
Pretend you are driving along on the highway. You see a person on the side of the road having car problems. This is person is wearing an Armani suit and driving a Porsche. The next day, you encounter the same incident but, this time, it is a man wearing baggy jeans with holes in them, a dirty shirt and he looks very unclean. Would you be more likely to stop for the man in the Armani suit, or the the second man? I know that I would stop for man #1. The reason I and most of our society would do so, is because we have a horrible habit. The habit is unintentional and we do it not meaning to hurt anybody This habit is stereotyping people by the way they look or talk based on what society considers normal. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, Atticus and Tom Robinson are victims of being stereotyped by others. Each has to cope with being stereotyped. Scout and Atticus have the ability to change their ways in order for people to respect them, unlike Tom Robinson, who is stereotyped as a mutant to the town of Mayberry simply because he is black. For example people are preaching to Scout that she should act like a typical girl. Atticus is stereotyped as a traitor to his people, the white race, because he stands up for a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a young woman. Last but not least, Tom Robinson is stereotyped as being a flaw in the human race because he is black. When he is accused of committing a rape, he is not given a fair tr...
In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.
There are many different factors that display the “social norm” for genders. Religion plays a role along with social media. Females are to wear pink and play with dolls. As females grow from girls into women. They are supposed to clean, cook, do laundry, and anything their husbands ask them to do. They have the ‘okay’ to show emotions on how they feel about something and not get picked on it. As where boys, they are not allowed to wear pink or play with dolls. They are to wear blue and play with monster trucks or play in the dirt. They are not typically allowed to show emotions. When little boys grow up to be men, they are supposed to go to work, pay the bills, and they typically want their supper on a plate ready when they get home. Katz proclaims in his article, “More than anything else, boys are supposed to learn how to handle themselves.” (59.) Meaning, they are not allowed to show emotions to other kids not even to their own parents. They are just supposed to ‘handle’ themselves. How does a little kid just handle themselves and not show emotions? Pollitt states, “Women’s looks matter terribly in this society, and so Barbie, however ambivalently, must be passed along.” (74.) I must strongly agree with this remark. They do everything you watch on a TV. The TV Ads advertise women with makeup and being tall and skinny. Gardner claims, “By helping children understand the similarities of different
In the American culture today, women are becoming more sexualized at a younger age due to the influences of the corporate media. Corporate media and society form the perfect idealistic body that women should have and is constantly being promoted, making younger girls start to compare themselves to them at a young age. Certain shows and movies, such as Disney, influence young children and teenagers through their characters as to how a woman is supposed to be accepted. The way the corporate media and society make this body image they want women to have starts at a very early stage in a woman's life without them knowing. There are these childhood movies, such as Disney, Barbie and Ken dolls, programs such as Netflix, teen magazines, and the most common source of them all, the internet.
Imagine you are at home, watching TV. Flipping through the channels, you see a preview for next week’s episode of Toddlers & Tiara’s. They show the girls dressed in frilly, sparkly attire, fake teeth, fake hair, fake tans, and makeup that could transform their faces into someone in their 20’s. These children are usually misbehaving, disobedient, overdramatic and they are between the ages of four and six. Any person could see that this lifestyle is incredibly harmful to these children not just because of what it does to their appearance, but what happens when these little girls’ minds become tainted with the thoughts of needing to be beautiful and talented in order for people to like them.
Stereotypes In the Media Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary, stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere in the world. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways, it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-meek, M. (2011). Proquest. “Gender role portrayal and the disney princesses”. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567.
In American culture today, society's view of beauty is controlled by Hollywood, where celebrities are constantly in the lime-light. The media watches Hollywood's every move, and is quick to ridicule “A-listers” whenever they dare to gain a few pounds or to let an uncontrollable pimple show. The media has created a grossly distorted mental image of what should be considered beautiful, and with almost every junior high and high school-age girl reading and viewing this message, the idea has been instilled in them as well. This view of beauty is causing many teenage girls to become obsessed with a highly problematic and unattainable goal of perfection.
“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”
In recent times, the world’s view on woman is very unhealthy. Women portrayed on magazines and TV shows are thin, beautiful, and are always covered in perfect makeup and styled hair. Runway models are known to have ribs showing and look like they’ve starved themselves for days just to hold their job and to look beautiful. Women activist are actively protesting the use of dieting models or photo shopping a women’s body so that it looks good for the viewer’s eye. But when we show the younger generation Disney princess movies, what it shows is that thin, young beautiful girls is what women should look like. If someone who isn’t exactly like that, is ultimately judged as being ugly. Disney has eroded the self-esteem and confidence of young females. “Today, the average American woman above the age of 20 is 5'4" tall and weighs 166 pounds, according to the CDC. By comparison, the average Canadian woman is the same height, but weighs 145 pounds, and the average British woman is shorter at 5'3" and weighs 155 pounds.” (Sun, Is it Time) As for Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Elsa, or Rapunzel, their body types are so much different and hardly represent the average woman. These princesses have large heads with large ...
In society today, there is pressure from all sides to conform to a certain ideal of beauty. People are overwhelmed with the different types of images and media forms that are telling people how to act and what to look like. Media is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. It has the power to educate, affect social change, and much more, but if taken incorrectly people will take drastic lengths to change something about themselves. There have been many attempts to empower women through different types of media, but many have failed miserably. Over the last couple of years, Disney has struggled greatly with the representation of women throughout Princess movies because young girls are hounded with images of princesses,