Summary

Project Summary Results: Children are very impressionable! I started my project looking at how children’s own parents influence their gender. I found myself shifts towards how the medias portrayal of parents and gender influences children. I feel as though many families are not as “nuclear” as it seems. I think that the media culture wants us to believe that we need to have this perfect family function. Even in current media that is somewhat controversial there is still these gender norms that are being performed. In Modern Family we see two beautiful gay men in a family and even with a wonderful daughter. However just like when Will and Grace first started on TV there is STILL the typical gay guy stereotype. And as much as I love Modern Family I see the exact same issue with it. My project took a turn because as I was interviewing my three different kids at daycare I noticed how they always referenced different media outlets. For example when I asked Grant what he wanted to be when we grew up he told me a ninja and to have a car like Lighting McQueen. When I asked him if his mom liked ninjas and Lighting McQueen he said no “Moms do not watch ninjas” (Interview April 2nd 2012). When I asked Landon the same question he said he also wanted to be a ninja I asked if his mom liked ninjas and his response was that “My dad is the ninja master” (Interview April 6th 2012). I found this to be interesting in that we can see that Landon’s father is probably more proactive in interacting with his son and what Landon wants to do. I think that Landon has an interesting look on his gender; he never lets girls play with him when he is playing ninjas or power rangers. However whenever it is just me and him at night he lets me play ninjas with him. I wonder if it is because he sees me as more of a “motherly” type of figure instead of just another “girl”. Another child that I interviewed and observed was Rainy. Rainy is one of the two children I interviewed whose parents are still together. Rainy was very interesting, she loved being a “tom boy”. She plays with cars and almost never do I see her playing with baby dolls. However Rainy dresses in complete “girly” outfits. She wears dresses, skirts, and these inch platform shoes (which her mother absolutely hates, but lets her wear whatever she wants). When I asked rainy what she wanted to be when she grows up she said she wanted to be a vet “just like mom” (Interview April 2nd 2012). While at daycare we watch a movie every night at 6pm each night a different child gets to pick a movie. Rainy will always pick Toy Story 2. Landon will pick Power Rangers. Grant will pick Cars 2, Shrek, or Power Rangers. Obviously these behaviors are learned. I asked Rainy why she likes Toy Story 2 so much and she just kept saying Jessie and cowgirls. I did not need to ask Landon because I could observe him pretending to be a Power Ranger. He would stand in front of the TV and act out every scene. I asked Grant why he liked Cars and he said because “it is like Dads cars”. I think that parents are very influential to a child’s gender and so in the media. More importantly how parents let their children interpret the media. If a child is convinced that all the Power Rangers are boys they assume that only boys can be kicking butt. If there is a girl power ranger she is in an obvious pink uniform and a skirt. Landon (obsessed with Power Rangers) explains that girls have to wear skirts to be able to kick butt. (Interview April 6th 2012). I think if Landons dad talked with him on how it does matter what girls wear, they can still kick butt I bet that he would be more excepting towards girls playing with him. I looked at the nuclear family and patriarchy which I did still find in my research. Landon and Grant both had an arrogance about them because they could be ninjas and power rangers and girls could not. I asked my best friend if her parents ever talked to her about the television shows she watched and she said no. I think that the media needs to be talked about at an earlier age and addressed. What I learned: I kept thinking about my future family. I kept thinking about myself also. How I have grown up watching nuclear families on television my whole life. I think that even though I did not grow up with my mom only cooking and cleaning (my parents pretty much shared responsibilities), I still saw it constantly on television and in our culture. So even though I saw my father cleaning and cooking, I also was Hollywood telling me that that is not normal. I think that if my parents discussed these types of norms with me maybe my perspective would be a little different. But as a parent how do you know you need to talk to your children.