WHAT STEREOTYPES ARE

FOUND IN TELEVISION AND FILMS AND HOW

CAN THEY INFLUENCE CHILDREN?

MEDIA POWER V’S AUDIENCE POWER Does the media influence the audience? Gauntlett (2002) suggests that the

media provides vasts amounts of messages relating to identity and that the audience can use these messages to reflect on themselves.

TELEVISION + STEREOTYPES Gender stereotypes are often portrayed

in television, children may perceive male and female roles in a certain way, which could influence them, limiting their roles in life (Gunter and McLeer 1990).

Adding to this point, Buckingham (2002) suggests that stereotypes can influence how children view themselves and others, regarding gender.

TELEVISION + STEREOTYPES

Buckingham (2002) suggests traditional gender stereotyping traits in TV are:

Male Female

Independent Dependant

Rational Irrational

Rough Gentle

Nasty Nice

Brave Cowardly

Insensitive Sensitive

Aggressive Placid

Competitive Co-operation

Physical Emotional

Disobedient Obedient

Active Passive

Unhappy Happy

Confident Unconfident

Uncaring CaringBuckingham 2002, p.161

TV + STEREOTYPES Stereotypes are commonly known and can influence children

to develop perceptions and to reflect (Signorielli 2001) Signorielli (2001) suggests that stereotyping relates to the

social cognitive theory, as simple models of behaviour or personality traits are seen regularly.

Television presents stereotypes of male and females, females are often thin, and their appearance is often complimented, males are often muscular (Signorielli 2001)

In television, females are often placed in roles where their looks are of a high importance, before anything else. They are often considered to be helpless and unable, whereas Men are regarded more able and intelligent (Towbin et al 2008)

In children’s cartoons, female characters are stereotyped to be “emotional, romantic and domestic” and male characters are “intelligent, technical and aggressive” (Signorielli 2001, p.347)

http://www.skooldays.com/categories/saturday/sa1750htm

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo?from=Main.JohnnyBravo

THE IMPACT OF TV STEREOTYPING ON CHILDREN Regarding gender roles, children may

want to be like stereotypical characters Children’s views may be shaped or

influenced by what they watch and this may affect their life goals, for example the career they choose (Signorielli 2001)

A positive point is that the way in which female characters have been presented is improving, women are become more equal when regarding roles in television (Signorielli 2001)

BODY IMAGE The Media is often blamed for producing

un-realistic ideas of female figures, with the concept that in order to be beautiful, you have to be thin (Wykes and Gunter 2005)

It has been suggested that girls as young as 11 have reported to have concerns about their body size (Currie 2000, cited in Wykes and Gunter 2005, p.4)

The media can represent ideal figure’s for both men and women, women often desire to be thinner and men want to be more masculine (Wykes and Gunter 2005).

BODY IMAGE AND STEREOTYPES The significance of body size usually develops from

stereotypes, which leads others to judge you on your body shape (Wykes and Gunter 2005)

Stereotypes in the media provide a social pressure to be thin, which could cause an increase in eating disorders, of which the media is often blamed for (Wykes and Gunter 2005)

Children and young people are the most concerned about their appearance, and the pressure to be thin can lead to the cause of serious harm to health (Wykes and Gunter 2005)

It is suggested that “there is growing empirical evidence that the media may contribute to the development of body image disturbance” ( Wykes and Gunter 2005, p.200)

Media stereotypes of female bodies set false standards for society, which can control girls and women's self worth and confidence, success for women is often related to their appearance (Wykes and Gunter 2005)

BODY IMAGE IN CHILDREN'S FILMS

A content Analysis was carried out in 2004 by Herbozo et al, to identify the body image messages in children’s films

Herbozo et al (2004) suggests that there was an average of 8.7 messages per film, of which were mainly Disney, with 10 or more messages.

Many of the characters fell in love because of physical appearance, and 72% of the characters were desired because they were thin (Herbozo et al 2004).

Herbozo et al (2004) argues that stereotypes may influence children’s views on body image, it could have a negative effect on how children view themselves. There is a pressure to look a certain way, and children may respond to these messages by attempting to lose weight which could have serious consequences.

http://thegrio.com/2012/07/31/disney-princesses-rebooted-as-women-of-color/#s:new-disney-princess-lineup-rapunzel-disney-princess-18212648-1280-800

DISNEY AND STEREOTYPES

Animated films are often considered as entertaining and safe for children, providing them with fantasy and developing their imagination, however they can teach children roles and values of society (Giroux 1994)

“Disney films combine ideology of enchantment and aura of innocence in narrating stories that help children understand who they are, what societies are about, and what it means to construct a world of play and fantasy in an adult environment” (Giroux 1994, p.25)

Films create a innocent, dream world that children can delve into and escape reality (Giroux 1994)

Gender, race, class and self identity are all explored in Disney films (Giroux 1994).

GIROUX- QUESTIONING HOW SOCIETY IS REPRESENTED AND WHAT MESSAGES ARE PROVIDED IN DISNEY FILMS

The films, Giroux (1994) looked at were, The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994)

Giroux (1994) suggests that there are many stereotypical characteristics amongst the fantasy in Disney films, for example in The Little Mermaid, Ariel is cross between the typical teenager and beautiful model and is the heroine, whereas Ursula is evil, and is a large unattractive squid.

The common themes that are often presented in Disney films are freedom, rights, choices, power and romance (Giroux 1994)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Little_Mermaid)

GENDER IDENTITY FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN Within The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King, females have

stereotypical roles and are treated of less importance compared to the male characters (Giroux 1994)

The Little Mermaid highlights a controversial issue as Ariel is very slim and attractive, she appears to be motivated and independent. However towards the end of the film she agrees to give this us up having her voice taken away in order to be human so that she can be with the Prince (Giroux 1994)

Giroux (1994) suggests that children may be influenced to believe that men have a hold over women when it comes to love, making choices and having power, as Ariel becomes the typical housewife-to be

Ariel is told that losing her voice isn’t that bad as men prefer women who are quiet, this message is emphasised when the Prince falls in love with Ariel, even when he hasn’t spoken to her (Giroux 1994)

Similar negative stereotypes of girls and women are seen in the majority of Disney films, for example in Aladdin, Aladdin falls in love with Jasmine immediately, her happiness becomes dependent on men and in Beauty and the Beast, Belle is the independent heroine, firstly rejecting the Beast, however even though he is cruel, she falls in love with him and changes him into a new man (Giroux 1994).

GENDER IDENTITY FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN Boyatzis (1998) analysed 26 of the most viewed

Disney films by children, one of the key themes was ‘Being Female’ (Towbin et al 2008, p.25)

In Disney films, the stereotypes of female characters are that their looks are more valued than their brains, they are unable to protect themselves, they are domestic and likely to fall in love (Towbin et al 2008)

Statistics: In 15/26 films, females were valued because of their

appearance rather than any other abilities In 15/26 films, females were involved in domestic roles Only in 2/26 films, females did not regard marriage as

important or an achievement In 4/26 films, overweight women were portrayed

negatively. (Towbin et al 2008)

DISNEY MESSAGES

http://www.boingboing.net/assets_c/2010/05/s3Pro-thumb-600x495-32442.jpg

This image highlights the messages that the Disney princesses provide about body image.

ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE DISNEY PRINCESS

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/10/25/disney-princesses-deconstructed/

GENDER IDENTITY FOR BOYS AND MEN

Boyatzis (1998) analysed 26 of the most viewed Disney films by children, one of the key themes was ‘Being Male’ (Towbin et al 2008, p.25)

In the Disney films, the key findings regarding male characters were that men mainly expressed their feelings and emotions physically, they were not in control of who they fell in love with, the were often strong characters, the heroes of the films, they had diverse variety of jobs and overweight men were portrayed negatively (Towbin et al 2008)

Statistics: In 12/26 of the films, men expressed themselves violently In 15/26 films, male characters could not control their feelings when around beautiful women,

for example in Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, the main characters fall in love instantly

In 19/26 films, men are heroes and rescue someone, often a beautiful female In 9/26 films, the large, overweight men were portrayed negatively, with a huge focus on them

eating (Towbin et al 2008) Jack Zipes a theorist on Disney suggests that male power is often celebrated, and that gender

stereotyping can be harmful for children and they may react to how females are not empowered and how they are represented compared to men (Giroux 1994, p.39)

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Prince

WHAT DISNEY PRINCES TEACH MEN ABOUT ATTRACTING WOMEN

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/10/25/disney-princesses-deconstructed

RACIAL AND CULTURE STEREOTYPING

This is another issue in Disney films, there are negative views towards less dominant cultures, only western values are portrayed (Towbin et al 2008)

For example, in Aladdin (1989) there are stereotypes against the Arabs, they are considered to be large, violent and nasty. They are considered to be the ‘bad guys’ and have heavy foreign accents, large noses, beards, turbans and scary eyes (Giroux 1994).

However, as Aladdin is the ‘good guy’ he has none of these characteristics, and him and Jasmine are given American/English accents (Giroux 1994)

Giroux (1994) suggests that most Disney films represent to children that white, middle class is best, and that whiteness is seen as a privilege.

Another stereotype is that those who have similar views should stick together, this was the case in 8/26 Disney films, in order to be friends, the characters had to share the same values and views. However, in 5 of the films, characters who did not have different views, did get along (Towbin et al 2008).

Overall, negative stereotypes of minority racial groups are repeated, and these are often the ‘bad guys’. (Towbin et al 2008).

PORTRAYAL OF OLDER CHARACTERS A content analysis on 34 Disney films was carried out,

all of the films apart from Dumbo had at least 1 older character. Since the 1970’s, more older characters have been present (Robinson et al 2007)

The majority of the older characters were male and were mainly Caucasian, also less than half of the older characters had major roles (Robinson et al 2007)

Towbin et al (2008) suggests that older characters are often portrayed negatively, and are often considered as forgetful, grumpy, unfriendly and are not valued.

Robinson et al (2007) suggests that the media can influence and that children who have limited contact with old people are more likely to be influenced by these stereotypes, they may influence how they interact with older people in society.

OTHER ISSUES Giroux (1994) suggests that Disney often

highlights family values in the films, however no mothers were seen in The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994).

Another issue identified is the lack of same sex relationships, Towbin et al (2008) did not identify any same sex relationships in any of the 26 films they analysed, in 3 of the films, same sex affection between males was considered wrong and disgusting.

Same sex relationships are now considered acceptable by the majority of society today, however this may not have been the case when some of the Disney films were produced.

http://utterpiffle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/disney-daze-week-30-beauty-and-beast.html

POSITIVE STEREOTYPES There have been some positive stereotypes

in Disney films Towbin et al (2008) suggests that: An example of a female character portrayed

positively is Pocahontas as she is strong, independent and she doesn’t allow her father to tell her who she marries.

An example of a positive portrayal of a male character is Robin Hood, as he expresses his emotions without violence when he settles a disagreement

Regarding race and culture, an improvement has been seen in newer Disney films, there are more positive non-western portrayals, for example Mulan portrays Asian culture positively.

http://whatarhetoricalworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/whole-new-world-of-same-old-gender.html

A POSITIVE LOOK AT THE DISNEY PRINCESSES

http://princesszita.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/positive-attributes-of-princesses/positiveprincess/

CONCLUSIONIt is clear to see that the media provides a range of

stereotypes regarding gender, race, culture and age, with more negative portrayals towards females, as the male characters often have more power. Mixed messages are often provided regarding all of these themes.

Although Disney provides children with a range of positive and negative stereotypes, they are usually only identified when looked at closely. I feel that Disney films on the whole are harmless for children, as children become lost in the imagination and fantasy. Children are unlikely to identify how the characters are portrayed, the only issue that could be considered is body image, as children may want to appear similar to their favourite Disney characters.

A way in which stereotypes in the media can be challenged by children, is for them to be questioned, if children are taught to question what they see, then they may be less influenced by media stereotypes in the future.

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