Gender Stereotypes

We see a LOT of gender stereotypes in advertising.  Historically we saw blond, blue eyed angel like faces on advertisements.  The insistent, submissive look sold many things!  Today, we still see this angel face (picture Princess Diana!) and we also see a more confident woman, with less clothes and a more demanding sex appeal, who can sell just about anything.   

1. TV shows and movies that reflect a racial stereotypes, gender gaps and diversity.

Family Guy is a modern animated show mainly targeted for adults.  The script is written purely for shock value.  This show jokes about everything, putting morals on the back burner.  Many people love this show, and for the most part I do believe it makes light of a dark reality, but also it puts things into perspective, and allows us to not forget our past. 

Modern Family is a modern show that portrays the lives of one family including all of the extended family.  It portrays the lives of an inter-racial couple, a bi-sexual couple, a few heterosexual couples, depicting all of the “normal” and extremely dramatic events, which occur in our everyday lives. 

The Simpsons is a cartoon that has been around for a long time.  It touches on racial and sexist humor, but it’s light enough for children to watch. 

I find it interesting however, that jokes made in cartoons are more harsh than jokes made on sitcoms.  The fictional cartoon characters get away with  so much more.  Also, it’s interesting because people are more likely to laugh at a racial or sexist joke in a cartoon than in a sitcom.  Somehow cartoons make the matter less controversial. 

           

Django – A new movie that depicted a black cowboy during the civil war.  A fantastic example of why we should have these racial depictions, because it helps us learn, it helps us relate to overs and feel for others, it helps acknowledge our history. 

2. Why is depicting diversity in media important?

Having diversity portrayed in our media is important because it depicts a true reality of our society.  In today’s culture we see more and more diversity and it’s important to include it in our media so that we don’t try to ignore modern culture.