Blog Post #3
Jul 1, 2025
Children's Media and Influence (Christensen)
As a child, I loved playing with mainstream toys, like Barbie, and watching “girly” movies and TV shows. I found these forms of entertainment fun, with bright colors, themes of friendship, and a clear demonstration of what is meant to be successful as a girl. While I still love these forms of media, I simultaneously understand how it warped my sense of self as a child. Children’s culture taught me how “desirable” girls act, and what makes a protagonist better than those around them. The preferable traits that this media indoctrinates unsurprisingly work to reinforce the systems of power and oppression that remain dominant in our society (SCWAAMP). To illustrate, the story of Cinderella, independent of the race of the characters, teaches girls that humility and meekness are always favored over expression of needs and wants. Cinderella does not clamor, fight back, or even complain in her conditions, both good and bad. In contrast, the evil stepsisters, not only depicted as mean and conventionally unattractive, are also loud, brash, and needy. The stepsisters’ dialogue is often centered around their desires and expression of their feelings, demonstrating to children that women who display similar behavior are unsatisfactory. This story not only overtly reflects a societal domination of maleness, but also works to support Christian morals. Not only does success come from a man and woman finding love, but women will only be deemed worthy of this partnership if they are modest, obedient, and subservient.
In explaining these ideological influences, Christensen demonstrates how entertainment is not passive. Media consumers digest and internalize the messages reflected on screen. Popular culture is not a silly way to distract ourselves from the “real world,” but a reflection of the morals and values of that world itself. This reminds me of the writings of the Frankfurt School, which purport that media culture is part of an apparatus of manipulation and societal domination. Two influential writers of this school of thought were Adorno and Horkheimer, whose 1944 work posits that cultural products do not influence us randomly, but are made by those who reflect the systems of power in society, and continue to impress those systems onto the society that consumes them. According to Adorno and Horkheimer (1944) culture appears to be happening organically, but it is actually manufactured like any other commodity. This work parallels Christensen’s beliefs that media affects everyone, not just those who are willing to admit it.
Hey! First the meme is so real!!!!!! I also when reflecting on this reading was thinking of SCWAAMP and how we can really see these ideas play out in the Disney stories. SCWAAMP thinking has me also connecting to a class I took in undergrad where we talk about media coming from the male gaze and I feel like the two can go hand in hand, when reviewing texts like this and thinking of Disney and Barbie! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am so curious about where you got into reading Adorno and Horkheimer! This class is definitely rooted in the cultural studies and critical theory traditions they embody. (That is what much of my own graduate work was about. Cool reflections here.
ReplyDeleteI read this during my sophomore year of college when I took a class called "Critical Approaches to Popular Culture"! It was amazing!!!
DeleteHi Gabi,
ReplyDeleteI like how you position media not as an escape from the world but a reflection of it. I usually don't think about the people creating media, but they all must live in the same world as we do
(considering there is only one) and therefore the products they create mirror what we see in "real" life. I think that makes it extra special when creators find a way to break away from the systems of power that control our world.
Great thoughts throughout! I've been pondering the degree that this bias is intentional versus simply systematic (at least when it comes to specific movies and studios). Do we intentionally keep reproducing the dominant paradigm, is it simply ingrained in us to the degree that it's sub-conscious, or do studios simply play it safe and conform to societal norms? My guess is that it's a combination of the three (plus other factors).
ReplyDeleteI love your point about the Step Sisters. They were very expressive in their feelings, but the movie does seem to depict them as almost whiny and in desperate need of attention, which can cause students to develop the mindset of "oh, these girls are whiny and do not seem to be liked by others". Great post overall!
ReplyDelete