While watching television this week or thinking back to things you have seen in the past. What gender stereotyping are on television commercials or television shows? How do you think these affect young boys and girls perceptions of gender roles?

Maybe for a change you could tell us what you think?

WHAT ABOUT OUR HOMEWORK!!!

Men: like to look handsome and cool, and like women.

Women: like to look sixy and cute, and like men.

Both: think about getting six equally.

What do I win?

The majority of kids toys have some form of gender stereotyping involved. And adverts for things like cleaning products or air fresheners. I don't know who the marketing people are who think women invite their friends around for coffee and spend their time talking about their new plug-in air freshener which matches the decor. Plus ads for things like nappies which seem to only show Mums - like Dads are never involved in that sort of thing. Reminds me of that scene in "Jack and Sarah" where Richard E. Grant gets pissed off that he can't change his kid because they put the changing facilities in the women's toilets.

When it comes to television and film I think there's a very wide range of roles, ranging from traditional to non-traditional. I suspect some of the former rely more on stereotypes than I'd like, and some of the latter try to be too hard to be non-traditional and end up undermining their intentions, but even if the extremes have their problems there is enough range in the middle to make up for it.

As for commercials, commercials often do rely on stereotypes but then most wouldn't work if they didn't. For example commercials often target the people who care most about the product, which can reinforce a stereotype that a specific sort of person emphasizes a specific sort of product. However it's not like a shampoo commercial for women who just want to pick up something inexpensive and effective is going to do much - the commercials are specifically for the higher end stuff and directed towards those women who want higher end hair care.

Does this mean that all women are obsessed with hair? (Or on the other side, that all balding men want hair replacement?) Not at all.

I have a six year old son and I'd like to think we do a good job of showing him a variety of gender roles (then again with my wife as the primary bread-winner and me the stay-at-home-dad he's already growing up in a non-traditional household). But specific to media he loves our Studio Ghibli films, which often have empowered female protagonists, and the British murder mysteries my wife and I watch have quite a gamut of male and female characters. I might be a bit hesitant about watching classic Doctor Who with him, some are quite bad in this regard, but then again I grew up watching them and it didn't warp my sense of gender.

Most women DO CARE about their hair, though. Moreso than their male counterparts. I would go as far as to say the majority of the female gender does.

I think girls learn from most TV that it is a man's world, and learn to displace their own perspective. In recent years there has at least been a notable increase in the number of women news presenters. Formerly, TV directors (largely male, of course) had argued that women were less likely to be taken seriously by viewers.

I also think the 'dream-girl' stereotype is gentle, demure, sensitive, submissive, non-competitive, sweet- natured and dependent. The male hero tends to be physically strong, aggressive, assertive, takes the initiative, is independent, competitive and ambitious.

Men are more likely to be shown advertising cars or business products; women are mostly advertising domestic products. Men are more likely to be shown outdoors or in business settings; women in domestic settings.

That's because women shouldn't be tainted by the 'evil' of the outside world. They're too cute/beautiful/sixy (most of the time) for that. :celebration:

It's true. I went outside once. It was terrible.

Gender roles are as natural as trees.

What type of trees are we talking about?

Not the kind you'd grow in your basemant.

Haha.

Gender roles is part of society, I don't think the boundaries between men and women will ever get distorted too much from what it is today.

Absolutely, and all the frantic attempts by some to break them are just futile in the long run. In fact, there's nothing wrong with stereotypes, as long as one keeps in mind that there are exceptions to gender patterns. Fact is, most women are better than men at certain things, and most men are better than women at certain things. It's what's in our genetic make-up. All this idiotic hammering on the "both genders are equal"-cliché gets on my nerves. Both genders are of equal worth, yes, but they are not the same. I certainly don't mind men or women breaking free of gender stereotypes, but that doesn't mean I should simply ignore the genetic differences between genders or be branded a troglodyte.

Also, Jess, from the awkward wording of your OP, and the other threads you started, I have a sneaking suspicion that you're asking the members of this board to do your homework for you. If that's the case, at least say so outright instead of trying to conceal it as a discussion for its own sake

Gender Roles aren't bad and are natural in our evolution. After all, from the dawn of man where small tribes living in tents were the norm, the men would hunt and fight while the women gathered, cooked, and cared for the young. Why? Not because of some gender inequality but because the roles matched the traits of each gender. Men are stronger by genetics, that's a fact.

Of course genetics aren't as big of a role as effort however. Women can become stronger than men by training. However, gender roles now in the 21st century are downplayed a little more. There are stay at home men and working women. However, as children, gender roles of playing with dolls are more akin to women because of their nurturing instinct.

Having Gender Roles isn't a matter of equality. Both genders can be equal, but different. For example, all races are equal, but different. If they were the same, then there would only be one race wouldn't there?

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Women clean things and men wrestle bears. I thought that was the natural order of things *shrug*

I can't stand the paper towel commercials.

Father and son are dikeing around in the kitchen, throwing a jar of salsa back and forth. It spills. Mom smiles and laughs "Oh you boys" and cleans it up with the super duper towel.

Are you kidding me. Anyones mom I know would tell them to stop being idiots and clean up their damn mess. But I guess that is the advertising worlds "mother" figure. A lady who gets off on cleaning and enjoys looking for a new vacuum to make cleaning "fun".

As odd as this may seem, I actually enjoy cleaning. Although I'm also really lazy, so I never clean anyway. I'm also male, so there goes the stereotype.

It's stupid, yes, but the question is, why do you even care? Is anyone harmed by this silly, naive representation of man and woman? It's because of reactions like these that we constantly get politically correct crap shoved down our throats, because OH NO WE MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE!

I think it depends on what sort of programs and channels the children are exposed to.
As far as toys, there is a clear division in what is marketed to children, no disputing that. What my problem is are the assumptions that these toys are what kids want to play with. Working with children, I can assure you that little girls will throw down with Legos and dinosaurs, and little boys like to pretend cook and play with action figures.
In the end, it is up to the parent to introduce playthings and ways of thinking that enrich and expand a child's horizons. Gender roles need not apply.

Im ok with gender roles but its funny when I hunt and we kick the women out of the kitchen so we can make the meal

Gender Roles are ingrained in our human psyche and always will be. Both genders are of course, equal worth, but men are better at somethings and women are better at somethings.

As said before, people who believe in 100% gender equality annoy me.

All you need to know about "gender roles" can be summed up as follows:

Equality in Importance
Different in Purpose