Media Portrayal of Sexes
Babies, when born, have no inherent knowledge about how girls and boys, men and women, are "supposed to act." They learn their cultural roles from the culture around them -- their adult and older-child role models, and more and more, through the media. As one writer quoted Blum, "Nothing in biology labels behaviors as right or wrong, normal or abnormal. Any stereotypes we impose on children -- and by extension, adults -- are purely cultural, not biological" (Abels, 2002). Depiction of males and females in popular media is in a constant change of flux, partly based on inaccurate stereotype but partly reflecting the very real diversity seen in both sexes.
Experts in the field believe that children begin to learn what gender role is expected of them early in childhood, and that these expectations are communicated to them both purposefully and in unintended lessons. Part of this influence is undoubtedly from the mass media. Even very young children may watch up to four hours a day of television (Abels, 2002), giving it many opportunities to contribute to how children come to perceive the two sexes.
One researcher looked at two television shows specifically aimed at children very young -- ages two through five. This researcher did see some changes in how the sexes are portrayed on both shows. Interestingly, she found that while the shows broadened presentations of acceptable behavior in boys, girls tended to remain stereotyped (Abels, 2002).
Throughout childhood many influences play on the developing child's opinion of how boys and girls, and men and women, should act, but historically, the path...
Because there was not the time or means to get a very diverse population of individuals, there may be some limitations when it comes to social class as well as previous levels of aggression in the children and youths. There are only two girls compared with the eight boys. This may be considered a limitation as well, but more parents of boys answered the ad and this may be because
images boys girls offered today's advertising media. The images of boys and girls as offered by today's advertising media Even with the fact that boys and girls are born genetically and hormonally different, the information they learn is decisive in influencing them to take on gender roles. Gender is also something that people learn as they grow up, as it does not only involve a person's physical nature. As children develop
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