Gender Representation of Children's Television cartoon - Essay Example

?Gender Representation of Children’s Television Cartoon Gender discrimination has become an integral part of today’s society. It can be seen everywhere from family life to work. In family, it is evident through attitudes of parents related to gender, which has been formed according to the biases expected in the society. Parents prefer to find out the gender of their baby even before their birth in order make preparations accordingly. For instance, if it is a girl, they prefer to buy pink clothes and for boys, they usually go for blue one. This approach is noticeable in many cases i.e. from choices of clothes to toys etc. This prejudice also alters the behavior of parents for instance, for girls it can be seen that they are treated delicately while boys are usually treated discourteously. Due to the behaviors of families towards labeling children as boys and girls, within the 18 months of their birth, infants begin to learn the dissimilarities between two genders by themselves. In this way, between 18 to 20 months, the gender identity begins to be constructed. The idea of gender differences becomes clear in the minds of children by the age of two. “Although they have not fabricated a view of their own gender, they can differentiate females and males and learn to divide the world between women and men. They define behaviors of woman and man (stereotypes about sexuality)” (Ersoy, 2009). For instance, in a study which was conducted with the children below age of 2, children acknowledged that boys like to play with cars while girls like to play with dolls and boys like to push whereas girls like to cry. They define activities of adults as belonging to male and female. They also define colors according to gender (Ersoy, 2009). At this age, children are able to determine their own gender correctly and they understand that gender is a permanent characteristic. In later years, children’s communication with friends and in their schools also leads them to construct biased attitudes towards the two genders. One of the most vital contributing factors in internalizing gender stereotypes in children is Media. Katz and Boswell (1986) identified that among children, media and peers are more effective than parents in developing gender identification. For children, many television programs are integrated with gender discrimination intensively. In TV programs, it can be clearly seen that one of the two genders is posed as dominant while others are insignificant characters. A large number of programs reveal male as more dominant and powerful character as compared to female character. Many of the shows that are being shown on TV are ordinary lives of ordinary people reflected on the screen. According to Mutlu, (1999) “Shortly, television is the extension of people's common, ordinary feelings and interests on screen” (Mutlu, 1999). As Williams states, “most of the television programs are extensions of daily talk” (Williams, 1992). Therefore, it is possible that all the contents of TV programs are actually society’s beliefs, ideas and traditions that are broadcasted on TV. It is really important for parents to know what their children are watching. Television exposes children to those things from which parents are striving to protect the m especially drug abuse, violence etc. Along with the actual television programs, children also get influenced by what they see in advertisements during commercial breaks. There are many negative aspects of watching too much TV. Watching TV too much can cause bedtime resistance and anxiety around sleep. It is also followed by shortened duration of sleep. Another study suggested that there is a strong relationship between watching too much TV and aggressive behavior of children. Children who spend significant amount of time in watching TV during early adulthood and adolescence are more likely to act aggressively against others. Watching too much TV also causes the problem of overweight and inactiveness among children. In TV programs, gender discrimination is also actually a social problem that is reflected on screens. For example, family members are usually happy when they see their children demonstrating socially acceptable behaviors whereas when children exhibit such behaviors which do not coincide with social norms and expectations, then they are punished. One of the highly viewed programs of children, shown on TV, is cartoons. Despite of having educative messages, cartoons which are also a source of entertainment, often include many incorrect messages. Baker and Ball, (1969) states that, “children at tender age cannot separate fiction from reality” (Baker & Ball, 1969) therefore messages shown to them through cartoons are of serious concern. At such tender age, children cannot identify the difference between external experiences and internal experiences. They believe that their toys and movie characters are alive and real. Children also make people of same-gender their models. For instance, boys take their fathers and girls take their mothers as role models and then they internalize their behavior. If there is no one from the same gender, whom they can consider as their models (if parents are separated or deceased) then, they take a movie character as their role models. In this way gender stereotypes which is associated with cartoons, come into the limelight in terms of children since they cannot differentiate between fiction and reality. The cartoon characters, which children consider as their role models, can influence their future life negatively because these cartoons are customary gender roles. Rosenkrantz, Vogel, Bee and Braverman (1968) states that, “stereotypical gender role models are especially responsible for the negative views of young women.” When animated movies were examined in a study, it was observed that the number of male cartoon characters were greater than number of female cartoon characters. A research report published in 1981 stated that around 75% of animated characters in children’s TV programs are male while only 21% of cartoon characters are female. Thompson & Zerbinos, (1995) investigated 175 animated movies on normal TV and cable TV and found that numbers of male characters are nearly more than one fifth as compared to females (Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995). The reason of large number of cartoons characters dominated by males is stated as attractiveness of cartoons for boys. According to some researches, boys rather than girls mostly watch cartoons. One of the highly viewed cartoon character among boys of recent times is Johnny Bravo. This cartoon character has gained ample popularity since it first on aired in 1997. Johnny Bravo is an American cartoon television series that was created for Cartoon Network. This series involved a muscular young man named as Johnny Bravo. He carries a pompadour hairstyle and has a woman chasing personality. He has a voice like Elvis Presley. The series revolves around him trying to attract a woman that he targets to fall in love with him, throughout the episode. He is often ditched, stunned or beaten up by his target. Originally, it was a part of World Premiere Toons but its popularity urged its presenters to commissioning a full series of Johnny Bravo, which premiered on 14 July 1997. Male Representation of Johnny Bravo Johnny Bravo is muscular chief character of the series. He is egotistic, intellectually challenged and instinctively cunning. A male muscular blonde bulging Johnny thinks that he is a gift of God to all women. Johnny Bravo is childish, vain and incredibly dumb. The noticeable feature around which the story revolves is his inability to attract a woman. He spends most of his time in trying to persuade women and loves to chase them. Along with his love for women, he equally loves his own self as well. Some of the characteristics of Johnny Bravo include attractiveness, agility, immortality, healing, super eating, super strength, super speed and stamina. He spends hours in toning his muscles and doing his hair. He does not care if he knows a woman or not, he just grasps her and tries to allure her. Johnny is not so bright and intelligent. He acts before he thinks. Despite of being muscular, Johnny is usually beaten up by the woman whom he tries to attract. He usually fails in the process of pleasing them and those women show no mercy to him. Lil Suzy and Carl are friends of Johnny, though he never admits it. He hates his so-called best friend, Carl Chryniszzswic. The male representation of Johnny Bravo unveils the image of ‘dumb blonde’. The character is popular because of his quick movements, which he usually does when he wants to impress a woman. These quick movements are accompanied by crack of whip sound effect. The most famous catch phrases of Johnny Bravo are “Wooaaaaah Moomma!” (After his target woman refuses to leave her alone or beats him up) and “She wants me!” Johnny Bravo dresses up like a little macho person. He is dressed in a black skintight shirt and blue jeans. He wears his trademark sunglasses and never reveals his eyes. He carries a pompadours hairstyle and spends a large amount of time in doing his hair. Much of the series’ humor revolves around the dimwitted-ness and pranks of Johnny himself. The entire cartoon series revolves around the undying desire of Johnny Bravo to go on a date with a woman. Most women beat him up or refuse him when he asks them out. In turn, Johnny asks them in an almost swaggering and confident manner. It has also been seen that Johnny does absurd things just to get the attention of a woman. In conjunction with his lack of intellectual capability, he has fairly an innocent nature. When Johnny likes something, generally something he sees or tastes, he often exclaims in amusement and says ‘Mmmmm, (object)-y’. This joke was presented and was most widespread in the second season of the series. Johnny Bravo exhibits some major personality traits of men. Even in real world, there are large numbers of male who possess a personality just like Johnny Bravo. They are babe-magnet and want to date women every other day. Impact of Johnny Bravo on Children Many researches have been conducted in order to find how children begin to learn after they open their eyes in this world. In 1690, John Locke first came with the study of human understanding. He referred human mind as Tabula Rasa. Tabula Rasa is Latin words, which equates as ‘blank slate’ or ‘clean slate’. He stated that human’s mind is a clean slate at birth until it starts gaining some experience afterwards (Locke, 1690). This study validates the fact children’s minds are like empty slates. Whatever information is given to them, that information takes up a firm place in their mind. Nowadays, children spend large amount of time in watching cartoons. Toddlers are also attracted towards colorful and fun filled cartoons and because they don’t go to school, they spend even more time in watching cartoons. Every cartoon character leaves substantial impact on children. Children have brilliant imagination as well as imitating skills. They begin to act, talk and walk in a manner of their favorite cartoon character or role model. Johnny Bravo is one of the most popular cartoon shows among boys and young kids. As mentioned earlier, children take a person or character as role model and try to adopt the behavior of that person or character. The theme of this cartoon series depicts a flirty behavior of the main character, i.e. Johnny Bravo. He is a babe-magnet and whenever he sees a woman, he takes his heart out for her. Despite of his good looks and infinite efforts, he is never successful in impressing a woman. Since these are the characteristics of elder men, they are not suitable to watch for young kids. The character of Johnny Bravo is more inclined towards chasing women. Women, who are shown in this cartoon series, are often not dressed properly which is not a good thing to watch for children. Johnny Bravo also does exhibits discourteous and flirty behavior, which is not a decent thing to show to young kids. These features of this cartoon show are not appropriate for young children. It does not seem to have favorable impact on them. In order to determine the impact of this cartoon show on children, Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld (2010) conducted a study. The purpose of the study was to investigate the aggressiveness in this cartoon program. In addition to that, Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld (2010) also gathered information from children related to gender stereotypic behavior. For carrying out their research, Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld (2010) conducted two studies. In the first study, authors selected totaling of 187 elementary students. Out of these, 96 were females and 91 were male. The ages of these students were: 22 children aged 6 94 children aged 7 11 children aged 9 57 children aged 8, whereas 3 ages were not obtained (Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld, 2010). As part of a regular classroom activity, a brief survey was conducted. The survey conducted 8 items. Children indicated their age, gender, favorite cartoon, next favorite cartoon, if they ever watched Johnny Bravo, if they ever watched Power puff girls (next favorite cartoon among children). Children had to write aggressiveness of both shows on the scale of 1 to 3 (1 denoting ‘not at all aggressive’ to 3 denoting ‘very aggressive’). The results of the first study revealed that 77.5% students said they had watched Johnny Bravo. Out of these 77.5% students, 55.3% students answered that it was not aggressive, 26.9% stated it as little aggressive and 15.1% said very aggressive. First study of Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld (2010) revealed that children did not perceive Johnny Bravo as an aggressive program. The second study was related to gender stereotypic behavior. For this study, authors showed a half an hour segment of each cartoon to children and then developed scoring criteria. Thirteen categories were chosen in this criterion. The included: 1. Aggression by main character to a male(s) 2. Aggression by main character to a female(s) 3. Aggression by main character to other(s) 4. Aggression to the main character by male(s) 5. Aggression to the main character by female(s) 6. Aggression to the main character by other(s) 7. Appearance of main character 8. Appearance related compliment by the lead character 9. Appearance related self-compliment by the lead character 10. Appearance related compliment by others to the lead character 11. Giggling/laughing of the lead character 12. Flirting by lead character 13. Crying of the lead character (Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld, 2010). The results of the study revealed that Johnny Bravo was less aggressive than Power puff girls. Appearing good is generally a habit of girls, but in this study it was found that Johnny Bravo pays more attention to how he looks. As far as gender roles are concerned, the study concluded that in post 1980 cartoons, gender roles are less traditional on prime-time TV (Ogletree, Mason, Grahmann & Raffeld, 2010). Johnny Bravo also spends large amount of time in building his muscles and making his hair. If shown to young kids, such activities can distract them from doing productive work. There are substantial chances that they would also begin to spend hours in trying to look good so that they can impress girls. At such early age, it is not an admirable act. These activities do not suit young kids as they begin to lose their innocence and childishness by imitating such things. It has been observed that Johnny Bravo is not a suitable cartoon series for children under the age of 10. The theme of the cartoon series is more prone towards elder boys, i.e. ages from 12 and onwards. While young kids must not be allowed to watch this cartoon show. If shown at early age, this cartoon can make children know more than what is required for them to know. Too much information at such tender age is not a decent thing. Therefore, it is not a good idea to show such program to young kids having such tender minds. Implications for Educators This cartoon demonstrates serious point of concerns to educator as well as parents. In the past decades, very little research has been done in order to determine the content of children’s cartoons. The literacy level of cartoons cannot be determined through standard methods. Nevertheless, there is always a very strong relationship between resources of literacies available by communities and how childhood is formed. Nowadays, children are exposed with too much information and knowledge from different sources. According to critics, it leads to ‘lost’ childhood innocence. An attempt to utilize literacy education to assimilate lost childhood innocence, would present classroom activities and practices from a different point of view. Educators need to consider the type and amount of information being exposed to children. This information can be used in meaningful manner in order to teach children the realities of life. In order to find out if this show, Johnny Bravo, is appropriate for children or not, before letting the children watch a certain cartoon series, educators must ask themselves few questions. What the cartoon characters are doing? What is the theme or main story of the cartoon series/ TV program? Do these characters laugh at each other and make fun of each other? Do these cartoon character fight a lot? Are they doing anything with adult theme or anything illegal? How does a child behave after watching that specific show? These questions can be asked by ourselves for any type of program that we want to show to our children. As far as Johnny Bravo is concerned, the first question is of great importance. As discussed earlier, Johnny Bravo is involved in elderly activities i.e. chasing girls, flirting with them, trying to impress them etc. The main theme of this show contradicts with guidelines of letting children watch decent programs. The story of Johnny Bravo revolves around a macho stud who is always involved in indecent activities (for children). It is related to adulthood and therefore is not decent for children to watch such types of programs. On the other hand, there are many cartoons which are not only best source of entertainment but also serve educational purposes. Some of those cartoons include ‘Barney’. It can be used to stop toddlers from crying. Cartoons like ‘Dore, the Explorer’ and ‘Blue Clues’ can be helpful for brain activities and can make them learn shapes and identify colors International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI), (2008). Children can be taught education through cartoons but if cartoons are not decent enough to show to them, then it is hopeless. The impact of cartoons on children can be made positive by doing a little effort on the side of educators. According to a research conducted by American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see”. In the light of this study, it can be stated that Johnny Bravo does not come under the label of violent or aggressive cartoon. For educators, cartoons can be used as a great tool in global education classroom. They can be supportive in stimulating interest of students and involving them across a wide range of literacy levels. Students who do not pay attention to studies, their attention can be gathered by involving them in fun activities. Cartoons also help in challenging critical thinking of students on controversial topics. They might not understand something by speech or text, but through cartoons even difficult messages can be portrayed as understandable. Cartoons can also help in developing visual literacies of children. Since cartoons are of children’s interest, they gauge their attitudes and understanding. In addition to that, cartoons also help in analyzing current or historical events. Educators can implement such activities through which cartoons can be included in curriculum of young student. In this way, they will not only take interest in studies but will also learn enthusiastically. Some activities that can be included in curriculum of young kids include: Telling stories of their favorite cartoon character Stories can be in animated form. In these activities, educators can cut up picture of their favorite cartoon character say for instance, Johnny Bravo, and ask students to reorder the story. It can be made more challenging and difficult by giving separate frames to each student. After all students are done, they must be asked to share the story which they reordered, with the class. Another way can be of removing last picture and asking student to paste draw or think of an ending. Stories can also be told in a way by removing captions. Students be then asked to write captions which they deem appropriate with the picture. Interpreting a problem In this activity, educators can show clips of Johnny Bravo cartoon series to students and ask them about what is shown in the cartoon, what it means, what are the involved characters, how would they respond to that cartoon and if they would be in the pace of the main character, what would be their stance. Expressing ideas By taking similar pictures of cartoons, their captions or speech bubbles can be removed. Students be then asked to write or give different interpretation to the same pictures. Developing a character with the help of simple line drawings, drawing cartoons and repertoire of symbols are other helpful activities for engaging students in fun animated as well as educational activities. Appropriate stance of educators can shape the mentality of children. It can be done by showing them decent and educative cartoon series at elementary schools. It will not only develop their interest in studies but will also let them enjoy at school instead of running away from it. Conclusion In order to protect children from unwanted and undesired information that is being bombarded to them through TV and other forms of Medias, parents must limit the viewing time of television from 1 to 2 hours a day. A separate TV must not be provided to children in their bedroom. Parents must watch television with children and must discuss what is going on in that specific show. Discuss about more acceptable things or other alternate things that the character could have done for inappropriate actions and behaviors. This study focused on a famous cartoon character ‘Johnny Bravo’. It has been found that under the innocent appearance, many wrong messages are hidden. Apart from this, another issue which was observed in relevant studies was Gender Discrimination. Large number of TV programs reflects the social problem of gender discrimination. It is not only seen in children’s program only but also in many other programs. It is seen that females are represented as weaker than males. Through cartoons, even children at such tender age are shown unequal depiction of gender. Works Cited Baker, R. K., & Ball, S. J., 1969. Mass media and violence: A staff report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, 9. Washington: Government Printing Office. Ersoy, O. A., 2009. Erken Cocukluk Doneminde Cinsel Geliuim ve E?itimi. Istanbul: Kriter YayOnlarO. Global Education, n.d. Teaching Strategies. [online] Available at: [Accessed 18th April 2013]. Gokcearslan, A., 2010. The effect of cartoon movies on children's gender development. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, p. 5202–5207. International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI), 2008. Children’s Television Worldwide: Gender Representation in US. [online] Available at: [Accessed 18th April 2013] Katz, P Q., & Boswel, S., 1986. Flexibility and traditionality in children's gender roles. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 112, p. 103-547. Locke, J., 1690. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. Merskin, D. L.,2008. Race and Gender Representations in Advertising in Cable Cartoon Programming. Comparative Literature and Culture, 10(2). Mutlu, E., 1999. Television ve Toplum. Ankara: T.R.T YayOnlar. Ogletree S. M. & Martinez C. N. & Turner R. T. & Mason B., 2004. Pokemon: Exploring the Role of Gender, Sex Roles, 50, 851–859. Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S., Bee, H., & Braverman, I., 1968. Sex-role stereotypes and self-concepts in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 287-295 Thompson, T. L., & Zerbinos, E., 1995. Gender roles in animated cartoons: Has the picture changed in 20 years? Sex Roles, 32, 651–673. Williams R., 1992. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. London: University Press. Read More