Research Update 4

This week I found an article that also talked about the gender-roles in children’s cartoons. I thought it was interesting that even female superheroes were depicted with a negative stereotype. For some reason I expected that they would be viewed as independent and strong females compared to “normal” females. I’m going to try to find more articles along these lines and see if there is a difference between the views of older and more recent shows.

Arthur, Raney A. and Kaysee Baker. “Equally Super?: Gender-Role Stereotyping of Superheros in Children’s Animated Programs.” Mass Communication & Society. 10.1 (2007): p25-41. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 20 Feb 2011.

According to Raney A. Arthur and Kaysee Baker, cartoons are among the most popular children’s television show on the air. These shows use stereotypes to help children learn what it is to be male or female; however, the representation of males and females is very disproportionate. In their study of cartoon superheroes, Arthur and Baker found that males outnumber females by more than 30 percent. Additionally, ethnicity was not the same as the real world percentages with Caucasians out numbering all other races. The female superheroes were also considered average size while the males were much more muscular. Females were more emotional, cared about their appearance and were more likely to ask question while male superheroes were usually angry. At the end of the article, the authors urge that more studies should be conducted so that the effects of the media on children can be completely understood. They also say that the most important defense of negative stereotypes is teaching children how to analyze critically what is being presented to them.

Research Update 3

I am leaning towards stereotypes in younger children’s shows. I find it interesting that stereotypes are being put into kids minds at a very young age. It is almost sad that because of modern shows children don’t have the opportunity to form their own view of the world if they are watching these shows. Most of the shows have positive stereotypes, but this article goes into depth about how female characters are always portrayed as the homemaker or mother like person. This is not a correct description of women’s role in society in 2011. I think I’m going to try and find more on gender-role stereotyping in children’s television. Here is my annotated bibliography for this article

Abels, Lori, & Powell, Kimberly A. (2002). “Sex-role Stereotypes in TV Programs Aimed at the Preschool Audience: an Analysis of Teletubbies and Barney & Friends.” Women & Language, 25(2), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=110&sid=5b651c7b-6a65-4274-a746-4d1c77a16c0e%40sessionmgr115&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=6865090

Powell and Abels claim that because television shows contain sex-role stereotypes, children are engendered and socialized early in life. They analyzed ten episodes each of the two popular children’s television shows: Teletubbies and Barney and Friends. While they discovered that both genders were represented equally in the shows, the female characters took on a more passive role in most activities. In addition, gender stereotypes were prevalent in the occupations and clothing of the characters. Females were also smaller and males were larger, unless their size was used for comical effect. These gender roles are being learned by children as young as one when their insights of gender are still being created. While sometimes the male roles are feminized, like Barney himself, female gender roles are confined to the caretaker and follower. This means that these shows are opening up changes in male gender-roles while they only enforce stereotypical gender-roles of women.

Research Update 2

           The second article I found has to do with stereotyping of older characters in children’s television. I guess I never noticed how negatively older people are portrayed. I also found this interesting because age is not a stereotype I think of right away. Usually I think of race and sex before age. Although the article didn’t go into detail about which shows were positive or negative, it did a good job of analyzing children’s television as a whole.
 

Caitlin, Anderson, and Tom Robinson. "Older Characters in Children’s Animated Television Programs: A Content Analysis of Their Portrayal." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 50.2 (June 2006): p287-304. Web. 9 Feb 2011.

In this article, Tom Robinson and Caitlin Anderson report their analysis of children’s televisions shows, focus on the demographics of the characters and compare them to the demographics of characters from 20 years ago. They explain that children often learn about society from the roles television characters play in shows. The easiest ways for children to learn these complicated roles is through stereotyping. This is why children often already formed stereotypes and beliefs about adults when they enter school. While only a small percentage of characters in children’s television are older, the majority of these characters are portrayed positively. However, the ethnicities of these older characters are not as diverse as the American population, they are mostly male and the characters only played a small role. In some shows, adults are portrayed as the villain and often have negative character and personality traits. The images of older people presented to children at a young age teaches children how to behave around different groups of people.

Research Update 1

At first, I didn't know what I wanted to research and write about at all. I started looking in the online data bases. After about an hour, I found an article from Newsweek about the popular children's television show Sesame Street. I found it interesting that it was originally made in order to show children that people of different races could live together. From this, I thought I could research more on how children’s shows stereotype characters to teach children how society works at a young age. Here is my annotated bibliography from the Sesame Street article.

Alston , Joshua, and Lisa Guernsey . "The Show That Counts." Newsweek 01 Jun 2009: p53-57. Web. 2 Feb 2011.

Sesame Street is one of the most important educational children’s television programs to date. Since its first début in 1969, ratings have dropped, but Alston and Guernsey argue “Sesame Street [has] changed the world, one letter at a time.” It has boosted children’s test scores and bridged racial gaps by creating an educational show with different races living together. Now produced in 16 different countries, it relates to all children even those who live in poverty and through the HIV crisis. The show has even tried to help the conflict in the Middle East by showing Israeli and Palestinian Muppets that cooperate. By responding to major events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the program wants to help kids overcome fears and cope with difficult situations. Viewers have criticized the show for it stereotypes and disregard of some ethnic groups; however, Sesame Street features kids with thriving with illnesses and disabilities. Recently producers have launched clips of new and old episodes on the internet, but they still worry about the health of the show. Alston and Guernsey wonder if Sesame Street will continue to reach audiences and maintain its generations of learning.

Day 1

This is my first blog entry.