What Does the Media Teach Us About Gender - Essay Example

?What Does the Media Teach Us About Gender? Introduction Media have significant impact on the life of every person. They are influential because various information in today’s modern world pass through them. There are many things media teach the humanity and among of them is about gender and its significant role played. This can be depicted in various types of media such as cartoon, TV show, radio report, commercial, adverstisement, book, mgazine, website and others. In this paper the proponent tries to discuss in detail what media teach the society about gender roles. In the context of the society, gender is defined as either male or female (London School of Economics and Political Science et al. 47). It is therefore a social orientation and gives specific distinction between the concept of what is a male and a female and what are the things they are supposed to do. The very difference of these two sexes lies on how the society should view what a male or a female should be in their status, emotion, roles, and more. This however, is reflected through the media. Cartoon networks for children are common venues for showing clear emphasis on gender roles. Walt Disney is known for its ability to provide young viewers with legendary fairy tale icons such as Cinderilla, Snow White, Mulan, Pocahontas and other characters. These movies could be perfect for representing the role played by gender in the society. Cinderilla Cinderella continues to believe in the fulfillment of her dream that someday she will marry a prince. This alone depicts the real emotion or longing of every woman in the society to eventually meet the man of her dreams. On the other hand, the King longing for a woman to be married to her prince son is another remarkable depction in our society that a real man eventually longs for a woman. Symbolisms are also present in this movie. Particularly, the glass shoes of Cinderella could represent the vagina and her foot must represent the penis in the same way with finger and the wedding ring (Western Kentucky University 52). This is agreed by Durand and Leigh. The glass shoes could represent the woman’s vagina while its being fragile could represent the suceptibility of hymen to be broken when a man inserts his penis (Durand and Leigh 50). There could have been other types of shoes that would perfectly fit in the movie. However, there must be a deep reason why glass was used instead. According to Duran and Leigh, the glass material must be a perfect representation of a hymen for the reason that once it is broken it could no longer be put back in its origninal shape. Furthermore, they emphasized that the very moment when Cinderilla was seized by the prince was a symbolism of how a man dearly possesses or catches a woman including her virginity. This was emphasized in the movie when the prince tried to trap Cinderella in order not to let her walk out of the ball. From the stand point of the critics regarding the association of gender and its roles within the animated movie film Cinderilla, media always have a perfect representation of male and female role, sex, and sexual organs. In Cinderilla, it is without question that male and female role, sex and sexual organs are definitely given with perfect representation through tangible objects. Of course, this movie is suitable for children and it would be safer to use rich forms of emblems instead. However, what is undeniably true in the film is the depiction of feminine and masculine nature of a woman and a man. For instance, Cinderilla wearing a white dress does not only represent her purity as a woman but her feminine nature was the focus of it. In today’s society, a woman wearing gown during her wedding day is a perfect depiction at the dance ball when Cinderilla met his prince charming. The prince on the other hand signifies how a man should long for or posses a woman as an integral part of his masculine nature. His ability to encourage Cinderilla in a dance marks the real essence of a man to be aggressive in whatever situation, as this is particularly dictated by the society to be normal for manhood. All of these point out to the fact that media have the ability to create situations and symbols that are in line with gender roles and integrate them through films. What is fascinating about this very act is the introduction of some major sociological concepts to movies that children dearly loved. This implies that media through animated movie films are trying to educate children with concepts and things that are extension of the reality within the society. Cinderilla is a movie showing gender roles which tries to emphasize how males or females are supposed to act. In fact, feminist sociologists agree that people are learning gender roles and part of it is acquired through the mass media (Brym and Lie 74). This can hardly be disputed idea because young girls of age are actually learning from fairy tales and the perfect proof is their fascination about being a princess that is supposed to have a prince charming. Definetly, there exists a gender role integrated in this basic example. Snow White Another important movie that teaches children about gender role is Snow White. The movie emphasizes that only a kiss from a Prince Charming will be able to wake Snow White up from eternal sleep. This marks the dependence of a woman on man’s strength. However, this situation does not only end up in this movie. Bryan and Lie believe that its coverage are widely found significant in various themes in “magazines, romance novels, television, advertisements, music and internet” (74). Mulan and Pocahontas In today’s world where in some societies women are still struggling to be higly equal to men, feminists groups are always looking forward to situations where they can prove the insurmountable ability of a woman. This can be depicted in movies such as Mulan and Pocahontas. Mulan tried to defend her father by taking his responsibility to fight in the war. As a result, Mulan was able to prove that a woman can definitely do what a man is able to do, which in Chinese society that is dominated by men is viewed highly impossible to happen. The same thing happened in the movie Pocahontas. She was a woman who always believes in herself that there is something in a woman that could significantly be worth listening to especially by a man. As a result, it was only through Pocahonta’s remarkable intuition and higher form of leadership that were able to save her tribe from doomed destruction. These movies eventually tried to educate the people that a woman can definitely do what a man can do. These are another movies depicting basic streotypes about gender role in the society. However, the movies Mulan and Pocahontas are definetly contrasting Snow White and Cinderilla. There was a depiction of what the modern woman should be in the movies Mulan and Pocahontas while in Snow White and Cinderilla, grace and poise of a woman prevails, and their remarkable dependence on the man’s regime, power and masculinity. However, it was the other way around in the movies Mulan and Pocahontas. Conclusion The above cases show how gender role is portrayed in the media especially its revolutionary process. The clear differences among the themes about gender roles in these movies try to voice out the fact about how society engaged itself with the concept of gender and its norms, stereotypes and so on. References Bryan, Robert J., and John Lie. Sociology: your compass for a new world, the brief edition. 2nd ed. California: Cengage Learning, 2009. Durand, Kevin Karl Jones, and Mary K. Leigh. The universe of Oz: essays on Baum’s series and its progeny. North Carolina: McFarland, 2010. London School of Economics and Political Science, Marlies Glasius, and Centre for Civil Society. Global civil society. London: SAGE, 2005. Western Kentucky University. Southern folklore, Volume 52. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1995. Read More