Majority Activity 3-2 - Essay Example

For centuries, since Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the world has made strides toward gender equality. Women have fought to obtain rights equal to their male counterparts and have succeeded to obtain the right to vote, work, get educated, and be self-sufficient. Although women achieved milestones in feminist rights, the media has remained stuck in a male dominated world and female children are still influence by old school thought. Although television aimed toward children has added strong female characters, these characters are still second to their male counterparts.

Commercials differentiate trucks and action figures for boys between dolls and fairy princesses for girls. The media must work toward gender equality. Male characters still dominate children’s television with few strong female influences. Television cartoons like Sesame Street have added strong female characters like Maria (Human), Rosita (Muppet), and Zoë (Muppet) to the program. These women display feminist qualities – Maria works, Rosita teaches Spanish to the children with pride in her Mexican heritage, and Zoë portrays that girls and boys can be best friends without romantic ideas by being best friends with Elmo; however, boys are still the main stars of the show with girls making appearances only on occasion.

Dora the Explore is a little girl, without a super thin waist, that helps her friends when they need help. Hurray! Finally, a strong female character; however, this cartoon is outnumbered by the many cartoons with female characters secondary to stronger male counterparts. Jimmy Neutron has Cindy Vortex, a blond girl just as smart a Jimmy but always second best. SpongeBob has Sandy, a strong female squirrel from Texas that only appears on the show occasionally as SpongeBob’s rowdy friend. Winnie the Pooh has Kanga, the mother of Roo who is always doing laundry and other chores while the others are having adventures.

Television executives must create more programs with strong females as the main character and male characters the co-stars – like Dora the Explorer.Commercials differentiate trucks and action figures for boys between dolls and fairy princesses for girls. In commercials, boys play with trucks and action figures, while girls are picture playing with dolls, castles, kitchens, toy vacuums, and more. Girls notice the medias subtle messages defeating the caregiver that bought trucks as well as dolls for little girls to break down the walls of gender inequality.

Eventually, girls start asking for “girls toys” and notifying the caregiver what toys are for boys. Some boys enjoy playing with dolls, kitchens, castles and vaccines and some girls enjoy playing with trucks and action figures; however, the media discourages gender equality. The media should portray boys and girls playing will every toy on the market create more sales for the toy companies, as children, male and female, want the advertised toy.Feminist have come far to enter the job market, got to college, vote, and remain independent; however, the media must portray gender equality in programming.

Young children are impressionable and television that portrays women as inferior costars to men or creates gender distinctions between toys takes gender equality back decades. The media must portray gender equality to continue positive progress in today’s society.