“The Media are an important purveyor of information about gender; they promote stereotypes of masculinity and femininity” (Newman, 89). In society today children are becoming the newest victims of big business and are being exploited by commercialization and advertisement. Companies are using video games and toys as labels of masculinity and femininity. Companies use different tactics to market their products to different genders. Through their advertising, they reassure the consumer (both child and adult) of society’s norms by labeling products either masculine or feminine. Toys and products marketed to kids play a role in the gendered socialization of children.
To see how toys influence the gendered socialization of children, I asked my ten year old nephew to come up with wish list of the top five toys he would like. Believing that I was going to buy him some new toys, he quickly grabbed a pen and began jotting down names of many different toys. When he finished, the sheet of paper looked like a grocery list. After I told him could only pick five, he sighed and picked his top five. The list was as followed:
1. Grand theft auto 4 (Xbox 360)
2. Madden 2009 (Xbox 360)
3. A remote control race car
4. A pair of boxing gloves.
5. NCAA official basketball.
So after he handed me the list with a big smile on his face, I went online to see what I would find. My first stop would be Eb games, knowing that I could find the video games he was asking for there.
One of the first things that caught my attention upon reaching EbGames.com was an advertisement at the bottom of the page for another game. The game was a racing game, being advertised by a topless girl. My first thought was “This girl has nothing to do with this game”. Anyhow, I continued to search for the games Grand Theft Auto IV and Madden 2009. I was only interested in how these games were being marketed to children. It was obvious that both these games were being marketed to boys and not girls. On the cover of Grand Theft Auto, you’ll find a sexy woman, a motorcycle, a man with a gun, and a police chase. This game was obviously made for the young child’s need to feel like the macho bad boy and is degrading towards women. “Most video games are designed by males for males. Female characters are often provocatively sexual, scantily clad, and voluptuous.”(Newman,91). In terms of advertisement, they are filled with fast cars, fast women, and fast money. These advertisements and this game feed the boys fantasy to be someone they see in the movies and on television. As for madden, the cover was a picture of the NFL star Bret Favre. On television the advertisements included football games and words from Bret Favre himself.
When searching for a remote racing car, the toys were advertised by two young boys who were clearly competing on whose car was faster. The competition factor of being a boy was evident in this toy. I want my nephew to have the fastest car and if I were his father, I would be compelled to buy him the fastest one. And after talking to him, it is clear that he does want the fastest car. Even at the age of ten, he believes that he must have the fastest car in the neighborhood to show off to his friends. Toys like these feed young boys egos or even create them. It’s all part of being a boy I guess.
Michael Messner “views gender identity not as a thing that people have, but rather as a process of construction that develops, comes into crisis, and changes as a person interacts with the social world.”(Messner, 121) Through video games and toys, young boys are thought to be competitive and macho, while girls are taught to be ladylike and make fake cakes and take care of babies that burp, cry, and even poop. Every toy and every game has a certain gender that they target. The boxing gloves that my nephew asked for were easy to find, but finding gloves for a girl, not so easy. And when I did find gloves for girls, they were pink and sometimes had butterflies on them. All toys are gender specific. Even basketballs are made for specific genders. The girls’ basketballs are smaller than the boys’ basketballs. Some of the girl basketballs are pink and yellow, while the boy basketballs are blue and red.
In conclusion, whether you shop online or shop at a department store, all toys have their specific target market. Boy’s toys are competitive, macho, build egos, and are adventurous. Girls’ toys teach how to cook and how to take care of a child. They are cute and cuddly. For example, take an advertisement for “My little Pony”, shown on television. The actors in the commercial are young girls in little dresses that look so innocent. The narrator is a woman and music is calm and soothing. But when it’s a commercial for a remote control RC car, the actors are boys who are competing in the backyard. The narrator is a man and the music is rock. This is how toys are being advertised. Boys are being molded into rough playing competitors, while girls are being told to stay in the house and act like mommy.
Work Cited:
Messner, Michael A. "Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (1990): 120-137.
Newman, David M. Portraying Difference: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Language and the Media. New York: McGraw Hill 2007. 71-105.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Family Guy Analysis
The Family Guy series has always been a contreversial one. The cartoon goes above and beyond and is not afraid to attack all aspects of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. The episode "Don't Make Me Over" is a perfect example of how the show portrays the identity categories of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. From the beginning of the show, all the way to the very end, it is easy to pick examples that conflict hegemonic/counter hegemonic representations of ideologies related to these identities.
The show begins in a school setting. Megan, a teenage girl in high school, is peered into asking out a boy. His name is Craig. Craig is portrayed as the All American bad boy that plays by noone elses rules but his own. He sports the bad boy look and the bad boy attitude. The guy all the girls want. When megan approaches him, she is turned down. Because of this, Megan believes she is ugly. A likely feeling that many girls like Megan in today's society feel. When she tells her mother of the situation, her mother's solution is low rider jeans and shirts that sport the words "little slut" and other oppressive slurs. In today's society, shirts like this exist, and young teenage girls who seek attention from the "Bad Boys" or just want popularity believe they must wear these shirts that demorolize to get it. Sadly, for many young girls today, this is the reality. Sex sells and sex gets the most attention. So Megan is made over into the typical blonde white girl that wears make up, sexy low rider jeans,and tight shirts with the words little slut on them. Craig now ask her out, not because of who she is, but merely because of what she has become; the sexy blonde girl.
The second example has to do with The Asian correspondent Tricia Tacanawa. Tricia is portrayed as the stereotypical Asian women with the small eyes and an accent. She has black hair and a round face. This portrayal feeds into the stereotype that all Asian women look like this. This portrayal of ethnicity is wrong, but exist in society today.
The catergory of race is also portrayed in episode. Peter's one black friend, is portrayed as the black guy with few words. However when he does speak, his speech is a bit slow and drags. When Peter turns the guys into a rock band. The black guys outfit is a disco suit with a afro. While the white guy in the wheel chair's outfit is rocker outfit with long hair. And Quagmire wears an outfit resembling that of which Tommy Lee would wear. Later on, the family is introduced to Dr. Diddy, the black producer who wears a gold chain and wears his hat backwards. Bryan who has always been questioned as being racist barks at him everytime he sees him. Dr. Diddy vocab consist of the words 'Yall" and "Aint".
Gender was also portrayed in the episode. The female is not a dominant figure in this show. Megan for example gets taken advantage of and Peter is sent to beat up the guy that took advantage of her. This is reinforcing the idea male dominance. Anytime Lois has an issue or problem, she approaches Peter and ask him for his idea. Even if she feels that something is wrong, she goes with what Peter says. Peter is an idiot, but he clearly still maintains the dominance in the household. Even though Lois is portrayed as smarter and more level headed, Lois goes by whatever Peter says because he is the male. This reinforces the idea that woman or smarter, but guys are stronger.
Sexuality is always potrayed in the family guy episodes. For example, Peter is the head of the typical heterosexual family with a wife, daugther, son, infant, and pet. In this particular episode, many homosexual comments are made. When Peter is putting together the band, the guy in the wheel chair makes a reference to looking like a queer because they all had different outfits. I believe he was making a reference to the YMCA group who wear different outfits. The tinman from the Wizard of Oz was portrayed as gay. In the jail scene, there were many gay comments made. A guy braded the son's hair and Peter signed a mans butt. Just to name a few homosexual comments.
All in All, the Don't Make me Over episode of Family Guy simply just reinforced the things that we in society do daily without even knowing it. Its almost making fun of our ignorance. From wanting to be skinny blonde white girls to making racist and gay comments, we do it all. This episode was a perfect example of how the show portrays the identity catergories of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity.
Family Guy. “Don’t Make Me Over.”
Season 4, Volume Three, Disc One, DVD. 6/5/05
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: Beverly Hills, CA. 2005.
The show begins in a school setting. Megan, a teenage girl in high school, is peered into asking out a boy. His name is Craig. Craig is portrayed as the All American bad boy that plays by noone elses rules but his own. He sports the bad boy look and the bad boy attitude. The guy all the girls want. When megan approaches him, she is turned down. Because of this, Megan believes she is ugly. A likely feeling that many girls like Megan in today's society feel. When she tells her mother of the situation, her mother's solution is low rider jeans and shirts that sport the words "little slut" and other oppressive slurs. In today's society, shirts like this exist, and young teenage girls who seek attention from the "Bad Boys" or just want popularity believe they must wear these shirts that demorolize to get it. Sadly, for many young girls today, this is the reality. Sex sells and sex gets the most attention. So Megan is made over into the typical blonde white girl that wears make up, sexy low rider jeans,and tight shirts with the words little slut on them. Craig now ask her out, not because of who she is, but merely because of what she has become; the sexy blonde girl.
The second example has to do with The Asian correspondent Tricia Tacanawa. Tricia is portrayed as the stereotypical Asian women with the small eyes and an accent. She has black hair and a round face. This portrayal feeds into the stereotype that all Asian women look like this. This portrayal of ethnicity is wrong, but exist in society today.
The catergory of race is also portrayed in episode. Peter's one black friend, is portrayed as the black guy with few words. However when he does speak, his speech is a bit slow and drags. When Peter turns the guys into a rock band. The black guys outfit is a disco suit with a afro. While the white guy in the wheel chair's outfit is rocker outfit with long hair. And Quagmire wears an outfit resembling that of which Tommy Lee would wear. Later on, the family is introduced to Dr. Diddy, the black producer who wears a gold chain and wears his hat backwards. Bryan who has always been questioned as being racist barks at him everytime he sees him. Dr. Diddy vocab consist of the words 'Yall" and "Aint".
Gender was also portrayed in the episode. The female is not a dominant figure in this show. Megan for example gets taken advantage of and Peter is sent to beat up the guy that took advantage of her. This is reinforcing the idea male dominance. Anytime Lois has an issue or problem, she approaches Peter and ask him for his idea. Even if she feels that something is wrong, she goes with what Peter says. Peter is an idiot, but he clearly still maintains the dominance in the household. Even though Lois is portrayed as smarter and more level headed, Lois goes by whatever Peter says because he is the male. This reinforces the idea that woman or smarter, but guys are stronger.
Sexuality is always potrayed in the family guy episodes. For example, Peter is the head of the typical heterosexual family with a wife, daugther, son, infant, and pet. In this particular episode, many homosexual comments are made. When Peter is putting together the band, the guy in the wheel chair makes a reference to looking like a queer because they all had different outfits. I believe he was making a reference to the YMCA group who wear different outfits. The tinman from the Wizard of Oz was portrayed as gay. In the jail scene, there were many gay comments made. A guy braded the son's hair and Peter signed a mans butt. Just to name a few homosexual comments.
All in All, the Don't Make me Over episode of Family Guy simply just reinforced the things that we in society do daily without even knowing it. Its almost making fun of our ignorance. From wanting to be skinny blonde white girls to making racist and gay comments, we do it all. This episode was a perfect example of how the show portrays the identity catergories of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity.
Family Guy. “Don’t Make Me Over.”
Season 4, Volume Three, Disc One, DVD. 6/5/05
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: Beverly Hills, CA. 2005.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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