Halloween: a day where children can knock on strangers’ doors, asking for candy and dress up as far as their imagination stretches. But, when it comes to women, the producers of such Halloween apparel have certain standards that they deem acceptable for the female gender. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Eleventh Edition, defines gender as,” the behaviors and attitudes that a society considers proper for its males and females; masculinity or femininity (Henslin, 2014,).” Wade’s (2012) publication A Halloween Gender Binary, showcases the major differences on how each gender is portrayed using the exact same character. For example, Scooby-Do is an iconic character of a mystery-solving male dog: a character so notable also
There has been a lot of quarrels over the years about how children’s picture books are embracing traditions and presenting gender stereotypes. In an article I found, author Narahara May of “Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books,” discusses two major problems. One being that gender stereotypes and sexism has an emotional impact on the development of children’s identity and development. Secondly, she explains about how books in the last decade have portrayed gender negatively. Furthermore, I will be discussing May’s ideas further in depth by examining the portrayals of gender stereotypes found in the popular “Berenstain Bears” picture books.
Is this a fair picture of how women are or should be? How does it differ from “normalized” views of women? Does it differ from other Disney interpretations of women? (1 – 1.5 pages minimum; value 20) Intertextuality Intertextuality is the way in which texts refer to other media texts that producers assume audiences will recognize.
The 2001 film Spy Kids is about two children Carmen and Juni Cortez who must save their parents who are spies captured by a children’s television star by the name of Floop. Carmen and Juni are often at odds with each other with their contrasting personalities. Carmen is an independent and confident older sister while Juni is the scared and younger brother who makes frequent mistakes. Compared to the analyzes of children’s books done by Lenore Weitzman in her journal Sex-Role Socialization in Picture Books for Preschool Children and the release of Spy Kids it is apparent that great progress has been made over the years in the dynamics of gender roles shown in the media.
“A sex category is achieved through application of the sex criteria, but in everyday life, categorization is established and sustained by the socially required identificatory displays that proclaim one’s membership
There is definitely a problem when we talk about gender equality and sexism. It's everywhere: in movies, commercials on television, in music videos, at the workplace and even at school. The gender biases are blatant. One of the sources of the problem lies in the media and the way the media portrays women. For example, the function of an assistant can be fulfilled by both a man and a woman, but when we look at movies and commercials, we often think that it is weird when the assistant of a powerful man is not a woman but a man.
For my gender and halloween analysis, last friday I went to Spirit Halloween to study the differences between mens and womens costumes. The store was mostly comprised of young people and families shopping for costumes. The atmosphere was hectic and chaotic. Gender was used as a strategy by placing two signs were strategically placed on opposite sides of the store to divide the young boys and girls costumes.
The novel “Into the Wild” is about a man known as Chris McCandless, who takes a spontaneous journey across America and into the wilderness of Alaska where he attempts to live off of what he thinks he knows about survival. McCandless embarks on this adventure because he wants to escape his family and the way his parents live. Throughout the book, elements of the gender theory are present as far as what McCandless does and how he handles different situations in the novel. According to the gender theory, people adjust their behaviors to fit in with the gender norms and expectations of their culture. As you read you can pinpoint things in the book that can be considered both masculine and feminine.
Every since its popularity began to rise back in the early 1900s, the horror genre specifically has always been one of the most gender stereotyped in the categories of film. This can be seen throughout the centuries, how the majority of women in scary movies are “classified” or determined as helpless, weak and defenseless; like the females in Friday the 13th or American Psycho. However, as time has changed (more recently) over the years, we see the same women in similar films who are able to fight back, escape the killer, and survive. This is because, they are breaking down the bonds that use to confine them. Which has, in turn, given female actors or characters the ability to outgrow such previous stereotypes that were once typically portrayed in horror films.
Socialization is defined as process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, language, social skills, and value to conform to the norms and roles required for integration into a group or community. Gender socialization is defined as the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one 's sex. Lion King is an good example where the Simba and his parent’s Mufasa and Sarabi are often shown as together as a family. In the Harry and Tonto film, the Tonto Cats appears to be around a similar age but their status appears to be evil and important to the plot since they often collaborate together. As what Marisa Peralta stated, she said that she can see the impact on kids when a movie about to get released, as well as all of advertisement that was being promoted on other companies.
While young girls are the main target for Disney princess movies, it has been found that young boys can take in just as much information while watching. Coyne’s article brings up the idea that both genders are affected when they watch these films: “Research has found that boys can learn gender stereotypes from watching female heroines in the media and vice versa” (1910). She explains that depending on the boy, and what characters they decide to identify with, they can start to develop feminine qualities or overly masculine qualities. But, there are many other facts that can reverse these effects, such as young boys already having stereotypes in mind, therefore being uninterested in these movies. Conye’s article, in “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses” Dawn Elizabeth England et al., explores this factor, showing that they are not as affected, and do not develop these qualities.
Imagine that America is still in its eighties stage. As far as the eye can see, “[g]uyliner” (From Bowie to Adam Lambert, 20 Rock Stars Who Made Guyliner Cool) and grunge clothes take over the scene. Flaming outfits practically drenched in plumage, boas, sequins, glitter, and even sashes with hyper-realistic eyeballs. Artists and bands such as The Cure, Queen, David Bowie, Pete Burns, Culture Club, and the Eurythmics started festering into the radio stations of every home. Within just a few years, America was alive with this sweeping ‘new wave’ of androgyny.
As feminism and gender equality are becoming more important to society, the way gender roles are depicted in literature and media are shifting to conform to society’s views. This usage of gender roles can be seen in two popular contemporary animated movies: Frozen and Spirited Away. Both of these films are geared for younger audiences and attempt to teach important life lessons, like friendship and growing up. Through closer examination of how each film portrays gender, however, Frozen appears to not be as egalitarian as many have come to believe. Comparing both films, Frozen is not very feminist as it continues to perpetuate traditional gender roles and fairytale tropes, such as love at first sight and damsels in distress, whereas Spirited
Amanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay.
Attention Getter: I’m sure you have all heard the children’s rhyme that goes trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. Thesis: Today I will be telling you about the holiday that is just around the corner, Halloween! I will be sharing with you some facts that will help you understand the origins of this holiday.
Furthermore, Hoffner and Buchanan underline the fact that identification is an overly temporary term, which change throughout a show and even transfers outside the shows diegesis (2009:327). Additionally, Hoffner and Buchanan argue that genre influences audiences’ response and interaction with television characters (2009:334), which becomes a crucial, yet problematic aspect in understanding the female