In many ways I do not believe that "Gender Wars" exist. I fell that we all have our own say in what we do and how we are perceived by society. To me "Gender Wars" is too harsh of a term to use. Maybe gender differences would be better. By using the term "Gender Wars" it seems like it would be just that... a war between what is seen as males and females. Growing up these differences have not been extreme in my life. I grew up with three cousins all of which are boys. I played video games, and played with Ninja Turtles. It wasn't until I was older and had step sisters that I was introduced to the world of girl toys such as Barbie's. Not recognizing these differences at a young age made it seem acceptable to me that males and females be interchangeable in the toys they play with and now with the careers that they hold. My mother has also had influence on this because she raised me herself and is a regional and worked her way there. Seeing her go to work in suits everyday erased the image of stay at home moms and working dads from my mind. I think that the only way that "Gender Wars" or differences exist is because people do not ry to make the differences disappear. To me these differences just don't exist because I have never really experienced them.
Media can be a big influence on "Gender Wars" because they introduce children to what they should play with in toy advertisements. The advertisements we watched in class were perfect examples of what society thinks each gender whould be and do. These can be harmful because in a way they are telling young boys and girls that they have to do this and that in order to be successful. I think that the war metaphor can be dangerous because it can be taken out of context. It is better to think of it as differences.
DQ:
1. Were "Gender Wars" present when you were growing up? Did you take notice?
2. Do you think that the modern workplace has an effect on the outcome of "Gender Wars?"
I agree with your thought that advertisements separate the genders, and it's harmful toward children. Boys are taught to like certain things, and that should be different from things that girls like. It's like saying boys and girls can't have fun together, doing the same things.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your first question, I would say yes, gender wars were present when I was growing up. The messages media sent definitely impacted my life and how I interacted with both girls and boys. But at the same time, I wasn't afraid to cross the gender boundary as I liked to play sports with the guys and played more with my brother's toys than mine. What scares me today are the messages that are being sent by reality shows. Those messages are influencing an older generation. I'd like to think by age 20+, a person would be confident in their role in society and would not need to imitate behavior seen on reality T.V.
ReplyDeleteI think that the media does help influence choices in toys and other choices society makes, however I think a bigger influence on those choices we make are our peers. As a child I was the oldest so naturally my younger sisters looked up at me and based many of their decisions based on what they had seen me do. It wasn't until they started making their own friends that were the same gender as them that they began to change their habits of what toys they played with and some of the decisions they made. In many ways I think that the media plays the older sibling role in todays society and helps to influence our decision making.
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