Gender Stereotyping of Women in the Media

 

Gender stereotypes- we all know that film and television are full of them. This YouTube video contains snippets from advertisements, movies and programs on television that contain gender biases. While this video is based on American television, similar advertisements and programs can be seen on Australian television. The first clip is a scene from the Disney movie Snow White (1937), where the animals of the forest are helping Snow White to clean up after the seven dwarfs. In this scene Snow White is singing, and seems incredibly happy to be doing housework. This is reflective of the stereotype of a woman as a housekeeper.

This stereotype is further demonstrated in advertisements in the video, one of them being an advertisement for Glade fabric and air spray. In this advertisement the mother sends the father off to work and the children off to school, and says that she has a busy day ahead of her, in which she cleans and uses this fabric and air spray. As was mentioned in a previous blog post ‘The Influence of Current Television Programming on the Maintenance of Female Gender Identity,’ while the accepted roles for men and women have changed in recent times, this is not always reflected in television programs and advertisements.

Perhaps the most alarming advertisement would be the advertisement for a toy, where a young girl was depicted playing house with the toy, which consisted of a washing machine, oven and baby cot. These advertisements reinforce gender stereotypes to children from a young age. This effect can be seen when the video cuts to an interview with children about gender roles. The interviewer holds up a male doll and a female doll, which the children use to answer questions such as who goes to work, and who takes care of the babies. All children can point to the male as being the breadwinner, and the female as being the principal child minder. This is no surprise, as Witt (2000) states that children are likely to perpetuate gender stereotypes they view because they model the behaviour they see on television. Traditional gender roles do not benefit anyone, especially women, as they discourage the full range of expression and accomplishment (Witt, 2000). As educators, we need to teach our students to be critical of what they view.

By Kara

REFERENCES

Witt, S. (2000). The Influence of Television on Children’s Gender Role Socialization. Childhood Education, 76(5): p 322-324.