Media's Effect On Girls: Body Image And Gender Identity

Did you know?

Gender identity begins in toddlerhood (identifying self as a girl or boy) with gender roles being assigned to tasks early in the preschool years (Durkin, 1998).

>A child's body image develops as the result of many influences:
>A newborn begins immediately to explore what her body feels like and can do. This process continues her whole life.
>A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks.
>A pre-adolescent becomes increasingly aware of what society's standards are for the "ideal body."

Media's Effect on Body Image

The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body (and now ever more physically fit) image as the ideal for women. The ideal man is also presented as trim, but muscular.

>In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (USA Today, 1996).
>A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996).
>One author reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen (Brumberg, 1997).
>In a study among undergraduates media consumption was positively associated with a strive for thinness among men and body dissatisfaction among women (Harrison & Cantor, 1997).
>Teen-age girls who viewed commercials depicting women who modeled the unrealistically thin-ideal type of beauty caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance (Hargreaves, 2002).
>In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends" (Mundell, 2002).
>In another recent study on media's impact on adolescent body dissatisfaction, two researchers found that:
1).Teens who watched soaps and TV shows that emphasized the ideal body typed reported higher sense of body dissatisfaction. This was also true for girls who watched music videos.
2).Reading magazines for teen girls or women also correlated with body dissatisfaction for girls.
3).Identification with television stars (for girls and boys), and models (girls) or athletes (boys), positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002).

Media's Effect on Gender Identity

Many children watch between two and four hours of television per day. The presence or absence of role models, how women and men, girls and boys are presented, and what activities they participate in on the screen powerfully affect how girls and boys view their role in the world. Studies looking at cartoons, regular television, and commercials show that although many changes have occurred and girls, in particular have a wider range of role models, for girls "how they look" is more important than "what they do."

>In a 1997 study designed to study how children described the roles of cartoon characters, children (ages four to nine) "perceived most cartoon characters in stereotypical ways: boys were violent and active and girls were domestic, interested in boys, and concerned with appearances" (Thompson, 1997).
>In another study, three weeks of Saturday morning toy commercials were analyzed. Results found that:
1).50% of the commercials aimed at girls spoke about physical attractiveness, while none of the commercials aimed at boys referenced appearance.
2).Boys acted aggressively in 50% of the commercials aimed at them, while none of the girls behaved aggressively.
3).With regard to work roles, no boys had unpaid labor roles, and girls were mainly shown in traditional female jobs or roles of unpaid labor (Sobieraj, 1996).
>Dr. Nancy Signorielli, Professor of Communications at the University of Delaware examined the types of media most often viewed by adolescent girls: television, commercials, films, music videos, magazines and advertisements. While the study did find positive role models of women and girls using their intelligence and acting independently, the media also presented an overwhelming message that girls and women were more concerned with romance and dating (and it follows how they look), while men focus on their occupations (Signorielli, 1997).

Media’s Affects on Women

Media’s Affects on Women
By: Erin K. Hritz

In American society, currently there is an emphasis on excessive thinness of women and girls. This obsession with the slenderness of female bodies, which advertising both creates and perpetuates is an essential part of the struggle aimed at restricting and immobilizing women’s lives within. Women seem to have only one thing on their mind, and that is to look better than any other women.



Advertising and the media seem to take thin women and flaunt their style to others, and make it look as though that is what everyone should be. Often times when women pick up magazines while waiting at the check out line, all there seems to be is thin, gorgeous women who are always shown on the covers.

Models, and actresses, have always been thinner than the general population, but recently this trend seems to have gone to the extreme. Since 1992, models have been seen as having wider hips, more muscle tone, and healthy looking. Now they are seen as fragile, underweight, sick looking individuals. Is this really the image we need to be sending to younger generations? The answer is no. Adolescence is a hard time on a young girl, they are starting to develop more and gain a sense of individuality, but not when the media and advertising are playing a different roll on their lives. Young girls see that famous people are thin and beautiful, such as the role model Brittany Spears, and want to be just like them. Also this is what they believe most men will go looking for, beautiful, thin women. This then leads to eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia that have side affects that can lead death. This is what our young girls and even women are going through just to keep up with what the magazines say is ideal.
(Before major media influence) (After major media influence)


The question is, why does the mass media hire such women when they know the affects it will have on some women? The average fashion model weighs less than twenty-three percent than the average American woman. Twenty years ago, the average fashion model weighed only eight percent less. Only five percent of all women are born with the ideal body weight and type of fashion models, and the other “non-ideal” ninety-five percent are shown images of only the five percent ideal.
Advertising and the media have also used certain techniques when displaying models to the public. Technology has advanced and is being used in the fashion industry, such as the use of airbrush, body doubles, and computers is used to make these already “perfect” models look even more luxurious or “ideal”. This just proves that no one is perfect and we all have our flaws, but woman are not shown flaws but perfection.
If you read magazines as well you notice that almost every single one has a section in it on dieting. It is bad enough that women have to endure the media’s so called perception of what they are to look like, but offer suggestions to help women become the perfect woman. Dieting requires disciplining the body to not eat as much as before. Appetite must be monitored at all times, and will power suddenly becomes essential just to make it through the process of losing weight and being the ideal woman. The media also provides commercials and ads with diet pills and drinks that will supposedly help us to lose weight and to feel better. Yes, losing weight may make you feel better and produce more energy, but the media is pushing these even though most are not approved by the FDA and have unimaginable side affects.


The mass media is a powerful tool. Their influence on shaping American women’s sense of ourselves and our futures is more than significant. They have the ability to influence women’s lives and make women believe that what they show in magazines and such is what everyone should be. Women are always being watched and women are always watching. But is there anything that can be done about the media’s interpretation of women? Could there be a change is society just like there was in the early nineties. That is for the future to tell. Demoralization of Society through Hollywood and TelevisionBy: Courtney Grimm In recent years, American society is at the grips of moral decay. Many of these problems have been linked to television and movies. There is a constant overflow of scandalous acts or what was socially unaccepted behavior being portrayed by the media. These acts include violence, murder, rape, adultery, drugs, and sex. When acts such as these are constantly on televisions and movies, people become desensitized to them. We now live in a society whose morals are becoming more lax at an alarming rate and the number one reason why is the media. The group that is most affected by this moral bankruptcy are children. Often children will see these acts and want to copy them. A recent study explains, “The deepest problem with this material is the possibility that the children will imitate the behavior they see on screen.” Because of this persistent showing of immoral acts, children become desensitized to them. This leads to the destruction of values parents attempt to instill in their children. The portrayal of gruesome violence is one of the biggest controversies in media affecting children today. Children become almost neutral to the violence on television and movies that make the rest of society cringe. This can have an adverse affect on society in later years because of what it could lead to. Children who become neutral to violence have a greater chance themselves of committing the same acts they see on the big screen or on televisions. In Joe McNamara’s article, “Anything Goes: Moral Bankruptcy of Television and Hollywood,” he pointed out that a survey taken over 30 years linked TV violence as playing a large role in children’s aggression. If television and Hollywood continue to let these violent and immoral acts to go on, society will become a breeding ground for moral destruction. An example of how Hollywood has portrayed immoral and violent acts as acceptable is through the movie Seven. This movie expresses violence by showing grisly murders of relatively innocent people. Immoral acts are depicted in almost every scene through cussing, sex, and other behaviors throughout the movie. Unfortunately it’s not just this movie, but it seems to be an alarming trend among most Hollywood films.

Seven is just one notably graphic film Yet another problem linked to the decay of societal values is the overexposure of celebrities that are in these movies and television shows. We as a society are fascinated by the lives of the rich and famous. This is obvious through the amount of entertainment shows and tabloid magazines that enthrall many American lives. These forms of entertainment generally show celebrities leading carefree lives, with many adulterous affairs, habitual drug use and bearing children out of wedlock. These celebrities don’t realize that their lives are under a microscope by the general public. Unfortunately, society tends to place an unbalanced importance on celebrities. People attempt to copy this carefree immoral lifestyle because that’s the way they view what is acceptable behavior among the famous. People hardly place value on what is right and wrong through societal norms but rather on what is right and wrong through the lives of celebrities. This can lead to a nation that is at the threshold of a morally lax society simply because of the attempt of copying celebrities.
Basically, the lax values and the overflow of violence in the media are redefining societal morals. Not only are television and movies making Americans immune to violence but is also portraying a lifestyle with loose values. This, unfortunately creates a situation in which people will attempt to copy these actors and actresses. An easy way to prove this epidemic is by comparing the movies and television shows 50 years ago to the ones now. Fifty years ago, couples weren’t even allowed to sleep in the same bed on television. Now, it’s a rarity to not see sexual scenes and random “hookups” among characters. Fifty years ago, however, we weren’t experiencing a society at the grips of moral decay. Now, we are. For reasons such as these, the media is undoubtedly the reason behind the loose morals and violent problems that are affecting the nation today.

The Naked Truth
By: Jen Hejtmancik

A Bare Controversy
“Britney Spears topless!” “Julia Roberts NUDE!” may be some attractions to urge viewers to visit adult websites featuring celebrities. Most likely, these words have been seen over email or while searching on an Internet search engine. What the viewers don’t know is whether these celebrities have actually posed nude or if they are a false images made with easily accessible software. If those celebrities actually posed nude, is it their right? Maybe technology has gone too far and if so, will the interactive technology, and exploitation eventually come to a stop?
A False Reality
In the December 1998 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, the cover read, “He put naked pictures of me on the Internet: Why it could happen to you.” This was an article about a woman who’s ex-boyfriend emailed her parents a video of the couple having sex. This story is only one of the many thousands of exploitive images. Celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and more recently Alyssa Milano, and Nancy Kerrigan, have been through many identical situations. Although these celebrities have filed lawsuits against these false images, there is no light to this advancing technology. This technology allows web pages to be made by anyone, at any given time from anywhere. These images can be and are often created by available software with intentions to retouch photographs. Instead, faces are grafted onto nude bodies, where it appears as though the celebrity posed on their own free will. On the Internet, exploitation is a topic of cultural controversy, unfortunately for those celebrities and many others not mentioned, this will continue to happen unless there is some issue of a more strict law. Fortunately for those who enjoy these kinds of images, they should expect more images that are false both steamily and seamlessly in both content and text.
Do Celebrities Have the Freedom to Pose Nude?
Renee Zellweger is just one actress who has
refused to be fully nude in film or print

Britney Spear posed on a bed in only her bra and underwear on the cover of Rolling Stone in April of 1999. Although she was only seventeen years old, controversy and negative attitudes followed the publication. She wasn’t in the nude; she was simply “showing some skin.” Understanding that these feelings of anger came from adults who didn’t want their children to pursue this image, the crowd within the same age group as Britney continued to sheer her on and even follow her “stylish” footsteps. Actresses such as Renee Zellweger and Sarah Jessica parker refuse to pose nude in their films. Zellweger states, “I have always felt that screen nudity detracts from the story and I saw no reason to compromise my beliefs, “Swordfish” and she said, “I still want to do things tastefully, and I don’t want to degrade women or myself…Once I decided to do it, then it was all a cakewalk.”
Sarah Jessica Parker is another actress who
refuses to be nude on screen

Technology Friend or Foe?
In this era the Internet has become almost more of a controversy than anything else. If one were to weigh both the Pro’s and the Con’s of the Internet, the list would never come to a complete halt. Some consider the Internet as a Freedom of speech, while others look to it as an educational source. The numbers are fifty-fifty. The advancing technology will not completely stop. The Internet today has become our sole provider for information. Students as young as the age of six are using the Internet for entertainment or educational purposes. Luckily, AOL has a block to authorize or unauthorized any information that is not wanted. With more advances and more time allotted, the imagination of cyberspace won’t be allowed to run so freely.

Personal Business
By: Lisa Hansen

The media or the paparazzi have affected many people. Many famous people have been humiliated and scrutinized by the world due to the fact that the media makes everything public. Their entire lives have been made public. Certain people have even lost their reputation due to false information broadcast by the media. People like Michael Jackson have really been affected by the media. What he does in his spare time, or what he decides to do with his body is not public business. Many people get plastic surgery or breast implants done, but do you think it is broadcast to the public as much as it is with famous people? To even take it to a level of that which people have lost their lives. Princess Diana lost her life trying to prevent the world from getting into her private life. She might still be alive today I it weren’t for the paparazzi. When are we ever going to draw the line? Famous people do not deserve to be publicized like they are. All they want to do is what they love and that is performing. We have nothing to give back in return except for a little bit of curiosity about their private lives. There is no such thing as simply enjoying the music or the movie it has to go further than that with who they are dating, where they live, and when their birthday is. Maybe they don’t want everyone in the world to know how old they are. They deserve to do what they love with a little bit of privacy.


Effects of Music Lyrics
By: Jacob Holzworth

Music lyrics and the way they affect people has been an issue in society for several decades now. There are several genres of music that have explicit lyrics that refer to drugs, sex, and violence. Rock music, heavy metal, and rap music are considered the three types of music that contain the most explicit lyrics. Not only does the music contain these explicit lyrics, but also the artists who perform these songs are often times vulgar in their own right. It is harmful for people to listen to these music lyrics or see their favorite singer in an offensive video because many influential children listen to the music, and sometimes the lyrics have an influence on people’s emotions.
Young children and teenage minds are the most likely to be influenced of any age group. They are at the age where they want to experiment and fit in with their peers. The type of friends they have will help determine the type of music they listen to. Numerous studies have shown that teenage kids who listen to heavy metal music may be prone to alienating themselves, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risks, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors (The Power of Music). A good example of this is the Columbine shootings. Two rock bands that use explicit lyrics were prominent in the compact disc collection of the two teenage gunmen.
Children are also influenced by the music videos that these singers make. Many of these videos show sexually suggestive material including girls dressed scantily or guys half-naked. Many of these singers are role models to children, and when they see them appearing like they do in the video, it affects them (Media Effects on Kids). They might want to dress like them or act like they do in the video. Brittany Spears is a good example in which many young girls see her dressed like she is in her videos and they want to dress like her.
Eminem is a very public example of a recording artist
who is known to influence those that listen to his music

Another reason why it is harmful for people to listen to music with explicit lyrics is that it may have an influence on people’s emotions. Music can have a very powerful influence on our emotions, moods, and behavior (Impact of Music). Some studies have shown that arousing noise such as heavy metal causes aggression in individuals. I know from personal experience that I get really pumped up when I listen to rock or heavy metal music. When I go to the recreation center to list, there is often some type of heavy metal music to pump up everyone in the gym. Heavy metal music only pumps me up but it can do a lot more to another person’s mindset. It could pump someone up so much that it would cause him or her to release that aggression on something or someone.
Rock, heavy metal, and rap music can all have harmful effects on someone. The artist’s lyrics as well as their videos can have a deep impact on an individual’s life. This issue is a problem now and it will continue to be a problem for a long time to come.


Reflections in Muddy Water
Celebrities and Media as a Reflection of Society
By: Joe Grunenwald


Why do most people watch television? Why do most people read books? Why do most people go to the movies? What is the common answer to all three of these questions? It is simple: to escape from reality. Things happen on television shows, in books and in movies that could never happen in the real world. Films such as The Matrix, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park are outlets for societies’ collective imagination. However, for some television shows, which mirror the world around them, events in the real world cannot be ignored.
The West Wing was one of many shows to
incorporate the tragedy of Sept. 11 into its show

The attacks of September 11th on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. changed the way that Americans live their lives. For shows such as The West Wing and NYPD Blue, these events could not be ignored. The writers for both shows incorporated real-world events into their shows. The West Wing had a special show that dealt specifically with the attacks, although they were not named specifically. NYPD Blue made the event the crux of its two-hour season premiere. Each show dealt with coping with tragedy and how one can deal with an event of this magnitude.
Even somewhat obscure events can be incorporated into television shows. One show that is famous for using societal references in its shows is South Park, the somewhat-grotesque cartoon show created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. This show addresses everything from political occurrences (the dead-lock in the election of 2000 was parodied by kindergartners being unable to decide on a class president) to societal fads (Starbucks Coffee was addressed as an evil corporation in one episode). Another show that practices this, although not through the use of parody, is Law and Order. Many times, shows are plugged as having plots which are “ripped from the headlines,” meaning that the murder or case being investigated was a real-life case, perhaps with a different ending than in real-life. Either way, this show, and others like it, acts as a mirror for the society in which is supposedly takes place.
Law and Order often uses real-world crimes
As plots for the show


Whether it’s as a parody of an obscure social event, or an homage to a grand-scale world event, the media and celebrities in the media act as a mirror for the world around us. Whether that portrayal is accurate all the time is something that the viewers must decide for themselves.
Celebrity EndorsementsBy: Kristin Hessling Television and radio today are filled with advertisements and promotions for varieties of products. From dog food to shampoo, all the advertisements that are popular and the ones that sell the most items have one thing in common: Celebrity Endorsement. This basically means that a well-known actor, athlete, musician or politician represents a certain product. They put their faces on boxes of cereal and put their names on brands of shoes hoping to be the leading producer of that certain item. They cause demand simply by standing in front of a camera and saying that they use the product whether they do or not.

While famous for being a superb basketball player, Michael Jordan is most recognized for his endorsements for products such as Nike and Hanes These so-called celebrities endorse a certain product for three main reasons. The first and most popular is the money factor. It is no secret that companies pay a large sum to any star willing to support their product. Such examples include Michael Jordan wearing Hanes and other stars supporting certain brands of clothing and brand names. It has been proven that a product, when seen with a celebrity, gains the public’s attention more than one that is not. People seem to think that since he/she is using/doing it that it has to be good. The logic behind this is why would a well-known (and paid) star wish to sabotage their career by endorsing a product that doesn’t do what it claims? They wouldn’t. So people believe what they are told by the stars and buy their product. The second reason celebrities endorse certain products is because it is a worthy cause. Celebrities think that by supporting causes like The Red Cross, Rape and Abuse Prevention, and other benevolent causes it will make them more appealing and more popular to the general public. They also get paid for their promotions but they also gain respect and more publicity for their careers. Also they might have a personal connection to the cause. A family member or friend may have suffered or died from a disease or by the hands of an abuser. So the star will support the cause out of loyalty and remembrance for their loved one. By doing so they also prove that they are a caring and normal individual and not just a stuck up snob. The third reason celebrities support and endorse products is because they use it or have been subject to the disease or injury they are supporting. For example, Bob Dole is seen on many commercials for Viagra because he claims to use it. Also Michael J. Fox supports research efforts for Parkinson’s disease because he has suffered from it for much of his life. Many celebrities want to get their disease or personal cause out to the public so as to gain more support for it. They hope that by being in the spotlight and having attention centered on them that their cause will be brought into the light with them. It works very well in many cases. A lot of the time it depends on how popular the particular celebrity is.

Michael J. Fox, a Parkinson’s Disease patient,is a known endorser of Parkinson’s research In conclusion, celebrities inform us on many fronts about many products. Some do it purely for the monetary benefit and others do it to support a personal or beneficial cause. Either way, they play a large role in what consumers purchase. As trusted role models these stars provide us with a sense of knowing that the products can be trusted to do their jobs. If they didn’t the celebrities would be in trouble with the public for selling them a useless product, and that would not be good.

How Much Sex is Too Much Sex?By: Brittany Hardy
On TV sitcoms and dramas, productivity is low and sex appeal is higher than ever. When watching TV most viewers would never know that the U.S. has laws to prevent sexual harassment from current TV shows. Sex is a more commonly used word recently when describing a popular TV show. Viewers from a variety of age groups seem to be receiving a false message. This would be that sex is acceptable in situations on the most watched TV programs. However, in something we like to refer to as reality, sex is not always something that is tolerated. When viewing a sitcom or drama, its more than likely that colleagues are doing it, as well as bosses, defense attorneys and prosecutors, and of course the teenage favorite Dawson’s Creek characters are doing it. And who could forget the steamy sex scenes going on behind closed doors of a hospital, that viewers are dying to see. Sex in the media is almost always willing and good-looking. What viewers don't always realize is that the results of sexual relationships seen on TV, don't always end up to be the fantasy one could create for themselves. Rarely does TV portray the downside of bitter office breakups or unwanted divorces that stem from such sexual intuitions. Neither does TV dwell on being passed over for promotion for a lack of good judgment. Some viewers and industry insiders contend these fictional obsessions with office flings to reflect society, to an extent. TV gives the wrong message that sex on the job, or sex before marriage is acceptable and common. Situations on TV could give rise to sexual harassment charges or conflict of interest in similar real-life situations. When observing television, there seems to be an increasing number of shows that are almost obsessed with sex. Some viewers may not be quite sophisticated enough to incorporate situations that appear on sitcoms and dramas into a normal life. But everyone who views TV now a day, must be smart enough to realize these sexual relations portrayed on television are not to be interpreted as the moral thing to do in the real world today. Celebrity Cartoons and ViolenceBy: Ryan Jerwers The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, X-Men, Dragonball Z, GI Joe, Power Puff Girls, and yes, even Disney animated features. What do all these cartoons have in common? Violence. In today's society many people look at celebrities as role models, setting the example of the way we each should live our lives. However, these role models are not only restricted to real people, but they also expand into the animated world of cartoons. Every Saturday morning children sit down in front of the television set to see what kind of wacky adventure their favorite cartoon will go on this week. These adventures often include falling off a cliff, getting smashed by a boulder, being cut up into many small pieces, having your insides exploded by a stick of dynamite, being dropped into shark-infested waters, or even being shot by a small bald man with a speech impediment (Elmer Fudd). Which ever cartoon children watch they are guaranteed to see at least one act of violence in the episode. So the question raised is what are the negative and positive effects on children who watch this type of violence on a regular basis?

Itchy and Scratchy is a cartoon-within-a-cartoon on The Simpsons.It’s not hard to tell what the episode shown above is about. Recently, more then ever, many children’s television programs have become filled with violent acts that are reflecting the way children behave in society. On an average, children are watching at least three to four hours of television daily, and every hour of this time is filled with twenty acts of violence on average. For young children increased aggressiveness, anti-social behavior, desensitization to violence, and the need to watch more violence for entertainment are some long term effects of watching these violent acts. A major problem with watching too much violence in cartoons is that children imitate what they see, therefore this leads to the aggressive behavior. According to Barbara J. Wilson a professor at Santa Barbara, "Cartoons pose little risk for older more mature viewers who are able to distinguish the content as unrealistic. Yet younger viewers, particularly those under seven, have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy on television." In one instance the popular animated film, "The Lion King" served as the reason why one small three-year-old boy became traumatized. "The Lion King" is a fun filled movie that is bright, colorful, and full of songs. However, the scene in which Mufasa is killed in the stampede caused this boy to have re-occurring nightmares about death for many months. This shows that the boy was too immature to realize the difference between fantasy and reality. Television violence has caused many children who view it much physiological damage. Children who watch too much violence are having problems socially because they have become so immune to what violence does that they have accepted it as the one, and only, way to solve their problems. Children who see violence as a problem solver are more likely to be the bullies on the playground and therefore the criminals in adult life. Excessive viewing of violent acts causes complications in smaller children, in their mental growth of understanding society and the way it works.

Bugs Bunny is probably the most famous example for cartoon violence in the world.Here a mobster dressed as a baby holds a gun to the rabbit’s head. While all of these arguments may be true, the old adage remains true: laughter is the best medicine. Who can watch Wyle E. Coyote chase the Roadrunner and not smile? Who can watch Elmer Fudd try to hunt for rabbits and not chuckle? Who can watch Bugs Bunny outsmart all those who try to capture him and not burst out into laughter? At some point everyone needs a little humor in their lives to take them away from the seriousness that every day life can bring. In a poll given in 1996 by the National Coalition on Television Violence the majority of people are worried about the amount of violence on television, but yet they still want to see action. This shows that viewers are showing the knowledge that they know how to separate fact from fiction. However, children still need to be monitored on how much violence they see. Parents need to take control of this in order to protect their child from viewing certain acts until they are old enough. By exposing children to acts of violence at an appropriate age level television is helping children understand that life isn't always fair, and that not everybody in the world is of good character. By helping children understand this, cartoons are helping prepare children for the rough world that awaits them when they start to venture out on their own.Not only do cartoons help children see the difference between good and bad, but they help the growth of imagination as well. Cartoons give a different perspective on life. They show a less serious side, giving children a place to escape to when they need someplace to go. Some people tend to underestimate the power that television can have in forming our lives, if we can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.
Children who watch cartoons that have violence in them are susceptible to have some mental difficulties in telling the difference from fact and fiction. When this happens children who act out what they see tend to have the most problem n fitting in with society. However, cartoons are still a way to take us out of the reality of our lives and place us in a fictional setting where we can laugh at the expense of no real person getting hurt. So next time you see Homer Simpson falling into Springfield gorge will you take the time to laugh and enjoy yourself for a moment? Or will you think of the negative effect that this act could possibly have on you?
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http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nware/ad.html (10 September 2001).

Media's Negative Representation of Genders.

Why does the media only display what they want to instead of the actual truth. I believe that the media has a negative influence on how women are suppose to look, and dress. Media displays women in many commercials as sexy and beautiful. The problem with this is their roles in these commercials are negative. For an example beer, and cigarette commercials. Women are perceived as beautiful when they drink or smoke. But in actuality drinking and smoking causes health problems, weight gain, and many other issues.

The men on the other hand are shown to be tough and muscular. One of the problems with this is; if your not muscular or physically fit, you can fix that problem with steroids and other muscle enhancing drugs.