Media's Impact on Gender

From: Sophia

Media has a unique way of influencing young children. In many cases, media is the backbone of gender roles and schemas. Social media has dramatically impacted the way children are raised in society by showing unachievable gender goals. I chose to use these photos to show how media negatively influences the way children view the world.

In many media posts towards young girls, the image pertains to makeup, skinny models, marriage-seeking women, and motherhood. Women in media are shown as fragile barbie dolls that need to cover up their flaws to be “beautiful.” Body shaming in young girls is widespread since media posts only show skinny girls; this makes it difficult for many overweight women to be happy with themselves because they are constantly fat-shaming themselves. The desire to become extremely thin as a woman is detrimental to young girl’s mental health because the thoughts of “the perfect body” inhabit their minds every second of every day. Girls are shown videos and photos of skinny models to make the image of skinny girls the norm of society’s female body. The only way to get that way is to eat healthy and workout. Makeup commercials now target young kids to make them feel obligated to cover up their faces’ faults to be pretty. Media also shows that many young women long to be happy housewives and mothers to young children. Media has placed this feminine ideal into place with young girls so much so that many little girls play with baby dolls and toy kitchen sets to practice for their future. Many children’s magazines and commercials that are targeted towards children show mothers with children to sell baby dolls as a way to become a mother at an early age. Media influences society into believing that girls are not strong enough to do manual labor like men, so they must become this happy
housewife and a mother of many children. Media provides insight into how young children should act in order to grow up as a girl or a boy.

In this photo, I show makeup, heels, and a purse to portray what social media wants young girls to become involved with. These objects are photographed in front of a white background to represent the young, innocent girls the media targets to make a profit. I also provided a photo of my sister with her daughter to show that media influences young minds into thinking a women’s job is to become a mother. If you are not a mother when you are older, you are seen as unfeminine or not normal. Media describes girls as weak or helpless, so I also show a helpless female that needs a boy to do a manual labor task because girls are brought up with movies that show boys using tools while girls sit back and watch. In the Smurfette Principle, Katha Pollitt says, “they plead helplessness before juvenile filibuster” (Pollitt).

Media dos and don’ts for girls never be seen as stronger than men, never be too physically rough, never be overweight, never eat junk food; do be super skinny, do wear makeup, do become a mother, and do get married to a strong man.

Media is incredibly impactful towards young boys as well. The media paints the perfect gender schema for boys is to be masculine and robust, using male models that are super muscular and straight; boys are shown that they are responsible for taking care of women. Boys have action figures to create scenarios in which their action heroes save the helpless victims (girls). Media also generates negative gender schemas within the male community on muscular bodies being the only way you will be attractive to women. The gender transgression with the males of society is that men must workout, eat healthily, and become aggressive in society. Sex aggression is the commonly taught lesson of young boys. Media promotes sex aggression for boys through sports that involve rough physical contact with other players and intense
competition that will provide the young boys a sense of what it means to be a masculine boy in society. The misogyny in the particular culture tells young boys that they need to become these overly protective and strong men so that they will be able to save their wives from distress because men are the strong ones in society, whereas women are considered weak and helpless. This photo shows hand weights and a boy using a power tool while helping a female. The hand weights symbolize the muscular bodies that men strive to have due to muscular male models’ constant media exposure. Media influences boys into building muscles because being strong is what makes a great man. As stated in the Two Cultures of Childhood article “masculine as rougher, tougher, and more active,” and boys are raised to be these macho men (Two Cultures of Childhood 60). As boys are raised into this masculine persona, they believe they are the only ones to use power tools because they are stronger than girls. Movies use the main male characters to show boys that they are supposed to help girls or protect them from doing anything too strenuous. By showing my brother on a ladder using a power tool, helping a woman, I have demonstrated the media’s desire to create the perfect boy.

Media dos and don’ts for boys: never cry, never ask for help, never be seen as weak or emotional, don’t be gay; do gain muscles, do become great with power tools/machines, and do become the breadwinner in the household, do be heterosexual.

The green check marks on the photos represent the correct gender-specific desires that the media wishes to get across to the public. These objects and situations within the photo are the desires of the media’s influence.