Gender Roles in The Media

Think About This:

• What type of gender socialization messages do people get from toys,

advertisements, clothing, movies, etc. • Are gender stereotypes reinforced in

society today?

Media and Socialization: - Gender Roles - Children and Violence

Definitions

Sex: refers to the biological distinction between males and females; by contrast

Gender Identity: Ones private sense of being male or female

Gender Role: Cultural expectations about ways in which men and women should think and behave

Where did Gender Roles Come From?

They are socially constructed (created).

Gender roles can be defined as the behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society.

Different cultures impose different expectations upon the men and women who live in that culture.

Media in Society

The consumption of media has drastically increased in our society over the last few decades – media, family, and school (agents of socialization) transmit social values

What are examples of how we consume media in our society?

What is the impact on us and our society (how does it influence – positive and negative)?

1950s Instructional Films - Coronet Instructional Films were

shown in American schools starting in about 1941.

The purpose was to teach the youth and teenagers about the social values and norms of the time.

The category of ‘teenager’ and ‘youth’ were new concepts at that time.

Here are some examples of the instructional films…

Family Life/Roles: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTGWKHWbxgg&feature=related

Dating: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRF-nB8xJLI

A Funny Example…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bps-xbo8wnA

1950s Home Economics Education

Have dinner ready: Plan ahead even the night before to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-wary people. Be a little a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Clear away the clutter: Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

Minimize all noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quite. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him. Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax-unwind.

Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

Research

By the age of 2, children begin to see themselves as being a boy or girl

They begin to see themselves in a stereotypical manner (i.e. toys, games, attitudes, behaviours – aggressive vs. compliant)

Studies

1974 study at Michigan State 6-8 year olds given a game to play Each group told girl game, boy

game, sex neutral Girls and boys performed better at

game when told it is their genders game

Same results when asked about the enjoyment of game

Studies cont’d

Interact differently with babies when we know gender

Baby crying When told a boy – boy is angry When told a girl – girl is scared

Explanations

Most psychologists believe socialization is the most important role in establishing gender role differences

Gender Roles and Children

Children and Gender Roles http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W20QTWuk1E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZdsCdx04to&feature=related

http://www.oprah.com/own-our-america-lisa-ling/Transgender-Child-A-Parents-Difficult-Choice

Commercials – Toy Ads and Learninghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZn_lJoN6PI What are some of the roles and

stereotypes learned by boys and girls in the toy ads? What is the product? Who is the target audience? What images are used to sell the product? Does this advertisement reinforce any

stereotypes? What is the advertisement telling us about how

we should look, act, or dress? Is the advertisement effective?

Media – Primary Agent of Socialization???

Do you think that the media is becoming a more prominent form of socialization in today’s society?

The Commercialization of Children

Companies are marketing products specifically geared towards children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKH4YGKnOSs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCsUpggXqbQ

What are the social consequences to this?

Marketing Strategies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3mTTIoB_oc

http://www.oldspice.com/videos/all/22/the-man-your-man-could-smell-like/

The Effect on Children…

Albert Bandura – Bobo Doll Experiment

Background of the experiment: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCETgT_Xfzg

Albert Bandura explaining his experiment: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWsxfoJEwQQ&feature=related

Are our social values changing?

In the modern world, there are many concerns about the effect of social influences on the development and growth of a child’s personality and morality.

Television, computer games, food additives, music and the lack of role models are all cited as reasons for a supposed breakdown in society, and an increased tendency towards violence.

These concerns have existed for many years, even before the media turned these factors into sensationalist stories, to try and sell more newspapers. During the 1960’s, there was a lot of concern and debate about whether a child’s development was down to genetics, environmental factors or social learning from others around them.

For this purpose, Bandura designed the Bobo Doll Experiment to try and prove that children would copy an adult role model’s behavior. He wanted to show, by using aggressive and non-aggressive actors, that a child would tend to imitate and learn from the behavior of a trusted adult.

The Bobo doll is an inflatable toy about five feet tall, designed to spring back upright when knocked over.

Children were chosen as subjects for the study, because they have less social conditioning; they have also had less instruction and teaching of the rules of society than adult subjects.

In 1956, researchers took to the laboratory to compare the behaviour of 24 children watching TV.

Half watched a violent episode of the cartoon Woody Woodpecker, and the other 12 watched the non-violent cartoon The Little Red Hen.

During play afterwards, the researchers observed that the children who watched the violent cartoon were much more likely to hit other children and break toys.

Albert Bandura – Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment was performed in 1961 by Albert Bandura.

His belief was that all human behavior was learned, through social imitation and copying, rather than inherited through genetic factors.

Therefore, he believed, when children see violent behaviour, they will repeat it.

Hypothesis and Predictions

1. Children witnessing an adult role model behaving in an overly aggressive manner would be likely to replicate similar behavior themselves, even if the adult was not present.

2. Subjects who had observed a non-aggressive adult would be the least likely to show violent tendencies, even if the adult was not present. They would be even less likely to exhibit this type of aggression than the control group of children, who had seen no role model at all.

3. Bandura believed that children would be much more likely to copy the behavior of a role model of the same sex. He wanted to show that it was much easier for a child to identify and interact with an adult of the same gender.

4. The final prediction was that male children would tend to be more aggressive than female children, because society has always tolerated and advocated violent behavior in men more than women.

Setting up the Experiment

To test the prediction that boys would be more prone to aggression than girls, he picked 36 subjects of each sex.

The control group, which would not see an adult role model at all, consisted of 24 children, 12 boys and 12 girls.

The second group, which would be exposed to an adult showing aggressive tendencies, was similarly made up of 24 children of either sex. Both of the resulting groups of 12 were further divided; half would be tested with a female role model, half with a male role model.

The third group was structured in exactly the same way as the second, the only difference being that they would be exposed to a passive adult.

What did this experiment teach us?- Monkey See, Monkey Do…

Children learn by watching how other people behave:

They learn gender roles early on in life by modeling their parent’s behaviour

The learn social values in school Children consume (on average) 4 hours of

television per day – they learn from watching – called Observational Learning.

If they watch aggressive and violent behaviour – they are very likely to repeat it.

Children and Violence in the Media – Examples of Research Studies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj0ybgDDIpg

Children and young people who play violent video games, even for short periods, are more likely to behave aggressively in the real world.

Violent music lyrics increased aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings among 500 college students.

The Nature of Things – Origins of Human Aggression

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BelCtlekuik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Go3md35nA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae3D6kuQGh0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxOoc7qMZfg&feature=related