By Nichelle
In this photo, my little cousin Kaylei age 7 was attending a “celebrity sleepover party”, and the theme was to dress up as their favorite celebrity. Today the media plays a big role in children’s lifestyles. As you can see, she’s dressed up as her favorite superstar Nicki Minaj. The media has changed our generation a lot over the years. Children used to admire their favorite action figures, Barbie dolls, Disney characters, and now they admire celebrities. Children who admire famous people want to know everything about them; dress like them and imagine that they are their favorite celebrity or role model. More and more kids are becoming very aware of what is shown through the media such as favorite celebrities, style of clothing, new electronics and etc. In this photo, Kaylei’s outfit is almost exact to what her favorite celebrity would wear. She has on the green wig, green eye shadow, accessories, and more. Her body language in this photo shows what she has learned from her role model. In the image it shows “interaction styles” with the other little girls in the background. It is normal for girls around Kaylei’s age to interact with mostly girls than boys. The party also represents “interaction styles” and “toy and activity preferences” because it is common for little girls to have a sleepover, play dress up and use their imagination. Over the years children have become more mature for their ages and will continue in the future.
4 comments:
I understand what Nichelle is saying and I agree with her 100 percent. The media is giving the wrong impression to the generations of today. Young girls are now wearing pushup bras and makeup early, wanting to look like their favorite celebrity. Their view of beauty is corrupted by what the media say is beautiful. They all think that being skinny is all that, they think that they need to look like all the models they see on television. The fear they have is changing them, making them grow up too fast. They fear of being different from what they perceive to be normal. They change themselves do much that parent are unable to identify their daughters anymore. I believe what Nichelle is saying is that young girls are losing who they are so that they can become someone they are not. I have a lot of younger cousin and family members, even my friend’s sisters, all this little girls are dressing like how they think they should look some are even wearing makeup, even have sex too early so they can feel like they are grownups when clearly they are not. Some parents are even encouraging them in their pursuit of perfection when clearly it does not exist. I want to say that it not too late but it already is the media is so much a part of their life that they believe everything it says, they no longer think for themselves. I am not saying this is all girls just a major part of it, when a girl is told that she cannot be smarter than boys that she have to dress up all the time so boys don’t think they are geeks. Why young girls can’t be told that they can be beautiful and smart at the same times is beyond me. They also need to be told that they are beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Overall I think that the media needs to stop giving bad advices to own children.
Wow! A "celebrity sleepover party" at age seven?! I can't even imagine! I am so glad that I have a son. When I was seven years old, I don't remember having all these pop-star celebrities to dress-up as. I agree that children used to admire their favorite Disney characters, action figures, and other toys. All I can do is shake my head. This picture symbolizes how much the media influences our younger generations; and truthfully it is very scary. It is only getting worse; but what is actually the cure? Is there even one? It seems like the media has kicked the parents to the curb; like as if they don't have any say in their children's lives. For instance, parents may shelter their children from birth to five years old; but when they become enrolled into school, their peer's become the potential "danger" influences. This photo shows interaction styles, but I think the main point I got from this photo was that according to Rudman and Glick, "the media constantly reinforce gender stereotypes in advertising and programming; thus, children inevitably pick up these stereotypic associations." Nice job on this photo!
I really like the message of this photo. At first it seems so innocent but when you apply the roles of gender it holds a much greater message. The idea that the girl in the photo is dressed up like her favorite star implies that she wants to be just like her. Children don’t fully understand the expectations of life and only see the good in things, which can be a problem when they admire celebrities because when children admire something they treat it like it’s the greatest thing in the world. The fact that the child is dressed as a celebrity instead of a cartoon character says a lot about how influential media can be, especially when the media may not be intended for small children
Post a Comment