|
|
|
|
|
Media, the new Super Parent. Children spend more time with media than any other waking pursuit, more than learning in class or talking with parents. But media now shows boys more violence younger, and girls more sexuality earlier, than ever before. And "new" media still recycles tired, old gender stereotypes: Boys are blue, strong, independent; girls are pink, nurturing, and social. Studies show none of these trends are healthy for kids.
| Media use second only to sleep in children’s lives (2008) |
Media geared for families has shifted from originally targeting children and their parents to solely targeting young children as a separate marketing demographic.Children now devote more time to media than to any other single activity except sleep.Because of this they are performing worse in school, are less socially adjusted and engage in more risky behavior than previous generations.
TITLE: "Trends in Media Use.”
AUTHORS:Donald F. Roberts and Ulla G. Foehr.
JOURNAL:The Future of Children.YEAR: 2008.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available from JSTOR by subscription.
|
|
| Hyper-sexualization of young women linked to despression, eating disorders (2007) |
|
Young woman are increasingly inundated with commercials, TV shows, toys, and other media showing them how "sexy” they are supposed to be. As a consequence, they are wearing more revealing clothing, eating less to achieve a thin "ideal” body, and practicing less safe sex. This hyper-sexualization is linked to three of their most common mental health complaints: eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem. The authors believe that the early sexualization of young girls is linked to the same sort of harmful outcomes as young women experience.
TITLE: "Report of the Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls.”
AUTHORS: Eileen L. Zurbriggen, Rebecca L. Collins, Sharon Lamb, Tomi-Ann Roberts, Deborah L.Tolman, L. Monique Ward, and Jeanne Blake.
YEAR: 2007.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Acknowledge American Psychological Association.
|
|
| Boys and girls who listen to sexually degrading music have earlier sex (2007) |
|
Both boys and girls who listened to a lot of music with lyrics that promote "acceptance of women as sexual objects and men as pursuers of sexual content” were more likely to engage in a wide range of sexual activities at an earlier age.
Even though these songs are mostly derogatory towards women, they are also degrade and stereotype men by portraying them simply as "studs” with no individuality who are all focused on sex.
TITLE: "Exposure to Degrading Versus Non-degrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior among Youth.”
AUTHORS: Steven C. Martino, Rebecca L. Collins, Marc N. Elliot, Amy Strachman, David W. Kanouse, and Sandra H. Berry.
JOURNAL: Pediatrics. YEAR: 2007.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available free from the US Department of Justice.
| |
Toys play a large role in the internalization of gender roles in young boys and girls. Boys and girls tend to have the same number of books, musical items, stuffed animals, and furniture as each other. However, boys have a greater variety of toys than girls and more vehicles like toy cars and trucks, more art and educational materials, and more sports equipment. Girls’ rooms have more dolls, doll houses and domestic items.
Children will ask for more stereotypic play toys than the ones their parents may choose randomly for them. Sales associates typically push parents to buy gender-typical toys as well.
TITLE: "Characteristics of Boys’ and Girls’ Toys.”
AUTHORS: Judith E. Owen Blakemore and Renee E. Centers
JOURNAL: Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. YEAR: 2005.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available from SpringerLink by subscription.
URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/f1415p4h43786rk1/ |
|
|
Today’s parents generally disagree with the traditional "expert” categorizations of toys being for either girls or for boys, suggesting that parents are seeing traditionally stereotyped toys -- like trucks -- differently. When playing with boys, most time is spent by parents playing with masculine toys. However with girls, there is greater flexibility by parents in the categories of toys that their daughters play with. Girls are freer to play with "boy” toys while it is still considered un-masculine to play with "girl” toys.
While parents are buying less gendered toys, they overwhelmingly will still play with gender-specific toys when playing with their children. As a result, parents make these toys more desirable and as a result influence the preference of gendered play toys among their children.
TITLE: "The Impact of Parenting Experience on Gender Stereotyped Toy Play of Children.”
AUTHORS: Eileen Wood, Serge Desmarias, and Sara Gugula.
JOURNAL: Sex Roles. YEAR: 2002.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available from ERIC by subscription.
URL: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ662153&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ662153 |
|
Violent video games increase aggressive behavior in both male and female children and young adults, while also increasing aggression-related thoughts and feelings. As a result, the increase in aggression from playing violent video games increases acts of real-world violence as adolescents and young adults grow up. Even nonviolent video games can increase aggression because of their ability to produce frustration. Video games are also more likely to make children and young adults less social since their time is devoted to being indoors playing these games alone.
TITLE: "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature.”
AUTHORS: Craig A. Anderson and Brad J. Bushman.
JOURNAL:Psychological Science. YEAR: 2001.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available free from Iowa State University.
URL:http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-2004/01AB.pdf |
|
By the age of 18, U.S. children witness around 200,000 acts of violence on television alone. When children in elementary school receive a classroom intervention with a curriculum designed to reduce television, videotape, and video game use by, their levels of physical aggression on the playground are more significantly reduced than their peers who do not partake in the curriculum. As a result of the intervention, children also engage in less verbal aggression with their peers, and are less likely to believe the world to be a mean and scary place.
TITLE: "Effects of Reducing Children’s Television and Video Game Use on Aggressive Behavior.”
AUTHORS: Thomas N. Robinson, Marta L. Wilde, Lisa C. Navracruz, K. Farish Haydel, and Ann Varady.
JOURNAL: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. YEAR: 2001.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available free from American Medical Association.
URL: http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/155/1/17 |
|
Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts and are more likely to assume that acts of violence are acceptable behavior. Viewing violence can lead to an emotional disconnect towards violence in real life and decrease the likelihood that a person will help a victim of violence. Violence as entertainment feeds a perception that the world is a violent and mean place, and as a result increases fear of becoming a victim of violence. This causes people to mistrust others and want to protect themselves more. Children exposed to violent programming at a young age have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive behavior later in life than children who are not as exposed to violent media.
TITLE: "Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: Congressional Public Health Summit.”
AUTHORS: Donald E. Cook, Clarice Kestenbaum, L. Michael Honaker, and E. Ratcliffe Anderson, Jr.
JOURNAL: N/A.YEAR: 2000.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available free from American Academy of Pediatrics.
URL: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jstmtevc.htm |
|
|
The body image and dieting practices of girls from 5th grade to 12th grade are directly influenced by pictures in fashion magazines. 69% said that pictures in magazines like Seventeen, Jet, Sassy, and Glamour influence their ideal body shape. While only 29% were actually overweight, fully two-third (66%) thought that they needed to lose weight, and 47% wanted to start dieting. Girls who read fashion magazines at least twice a week were up to 3 times more likely to report dieting or exercising to lose weight and to have.
The power of fashion images was so strong that over half (59%) of girls who didn't even read magazines said that the pictures influenced what they thought was the correct, ideal body shape, and 41% admitted that seeing the pictures made them want to lose weight.
TITLE: "Exposure to the Mass Media and Weight Concerns Among Girls.”
AUTHORS: Alison E. Field, Lilian Cheung, Anne M. Wolf, David B. Herzog, Steven L. Gortmaker, and Graham A. Colditz.
JOURNAL: Pediatrics. YEAR: 1999.
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available at no charge online from Pediatrics.
|
|
|
By the time a child reaches kindergarten, they will "know” more television characters than real people. Women are under-represented by three to one and tend to be overly emotional, sympathetic, nurturing, reinforcing, and dependent. When they need help, it is usually for emotional problems and not physical ones. Women who are employed outside the home tend to appear in traditionally female occupations such as nurses, secretaries, waitresses, and teachers. Women are generally ten years younger than men or more. Males are shown on the screen twice as many times as women.
|
|
|
In video games that have characters, there are no women or girls in 41% of them. In 28% of the ones that do have female characters, they’re shown in traditional femme colors of pink and yellow and with long hair, thigh-high boots, gloves, revealing leotards, and similar femme-fatale apparel. Women are heroes or action figures in only 15 % of video games – about one in six. Nearly 80% of games include aggression or violence as part of the game’s strategy and goal, such as rescuing a kidnapped female victim. Nearly 21% of games depict violence towards women.
TITLE: "An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior.”
AUTHOR: Tracy L. Dietz
JOURNAL:Sex Roles.YEAR: 1998
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Available from Springerlink online by subscription.
URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/r326135512365r40/ |
|
|
| |
