Instructions:

(i) You are to search for things on both sides of each

issue.

(ii) You are to search for a variety of sources or

levels of content, not just one type--e.g., articles and

reports, books, journals, magazines, online discussions,

product descriptions, pamphlets, movie scripts,

archives, song lyrics, etc. etc.)

(iii) For this Bibliography report you are to answer a

minimum of 6 research questions to be selected from the

list below.

1. Television characters and sexism

It has been claimed that the proportion of male

characters on television makes children's programs

sexist. What evidence or opinions can you find for and

against this claim?

2. Commercials and cartoons

Is there any connection between the images of

appropriate male and female behavior in cartoons and the

types of products advertised in the commercials which

accompany them? What relationships can be found between

different programs and the products which sponsor them?

3. Conflicts of adolescent girls

What are some of the possible conflicts between cultural

scripts and authentic selves of adolescent girls? What

evidence or opinions can you find on this issue?

4. Sexist jokes and men

Why do many men find sexist jokes about women amusing?

Do men benefit form this type of humor? What evidence or

opinions can you find for this topic.

5. Coca-Cola with aspirin

Combining Coca-Cola and aspirin will get you high. Find

evidence and opinion for and against this claim.

6. Talents of successful people

Many successful people are no more talented than

unsuccessful people. Find evidence and opinion for and

against this claim.

7. Instant gratification without patience

Someone stated that today we live in a culture of

instant gratification, where the attributes of patience

and determination are hard to find. Find evidence and

opinion for and against this claim.

8. Helping yourself by helping others

ãThe best way to help yourself is to help others.ä What

type of people believe this principle of life? Where is

this statement being used, by whom, and for what

purpose? What has been written about this belief?

9. Success is hanging on

ãSuccess is largely hanging on after others have let

go.ä Is there evidence for this claim? In what context

do people say this?

10. Judged by what we finish

ãKeep your promises. We are judged by what we finish,

not by what we start.ä Find evidence and opinions for or

against this advice.

11. Kicked while down

ãPeople always remember two things: who kicked you when

you were down, and who helped you up.ä Find evidence and

opinions for or against this claim. Who tends to say

this?

12. Woman and man's role

It has been said about relationships that a womanâs role

is to help her man to improve himself, and wise is the

man who cooperates. Find evidence and opinions for or

against this claim. Who tends to be for, who against?

Why?

13. Driving without compassion

Aggressive driving has been attributed by some people to

traffic congestion and time pressure, while others

believe that it is the result of lack of compassion and

caring for one another on the road. Explore what is

being said on both sides of the issue.

14. Optimism and self-efficacy

One view is that itâs good to believe in yourself and in

positive outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy and optimism),

but there are those who disagree (e.g., pessimism,

cynicism). Which belief is expressed where, by whom, and

how?

15. Other approved topics

Make up your own research question, email it to Dr.

James at leon@hawaii.edu and ask if itâs OK. If

approved, you can then use it as one of the Research

Questions.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The above is taken from

the Instructions for your bibliography Report located

at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy18/g18bibliography.html

Personally I think that the claim of male characters on

television making children's programs sexist could be

true for the current generation but not necessarily

through the years of television. I can remember when I

was young watching girl shows such as 'My Little

Ponies,' 'Strawberry Shortcake,' and 'Rainbow Bright.'

These shows did have male characters in them but they

were directed towards girls. On the other hand, males of

my generation recall watching such cartoons as

'Transformers,' 'G.I. Joe,' and 'HeMan,' and of course

both sexes occasionally watched eachothers chartoons.

Today there is still a division of what girls and boys

watch, but through controversy sexism is always brought

up in every cartoon which in my conclusion is inevitable

because humans are a sex and will forever be involved in

sexism.

Two interesting articles I found on the internet were

"Kids TV: A guide for the perplexed"

by Steve Sailer, and "Smurfy Sexism: Created with a

biased hand"

Mariruth Graham. Take a breif look at the articles. The

first article gives examples of different shows and the

sexims involved, and the second points out the

stereotypes of women in the well known cartoon 'The

Smurfs.' In the first article Steve Sailer brings up the

point that most Disney movies are focused towards the

female audience, which is a strong contradictory point

to for the claim of male characters making programs

sexist. However Mariruth Graham takes a look at the

classic cartoon which only contains one female and she

reports that "Smurfette's physical characteristics draw

her as a stereotype which promotes sexism because of the

prejudice messages the writers illustrate." Both

articles take a look at sexism on cartoons and have good

supporting evidence. Alltogether, I remain with the

conculsion that there will always be controversy on

sexism because we are sex.

The question, "Will Coca-Cola and aspirin get you high?"

just sounds false. These are one of the many urban

legends that circulate among people, mainly teenagers,

such as "If you make a silly face and get slapped hard

on the back, you'll stay like that forever" or "if you

step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back."

However, taking aspirin alone is a risk for some people,

depending on thier sensitivity to certain medicines.

Sometimes it's hard to judge if the statement is true or

not because some urban legends seem so real. There's

one urban legend that appeared on MTV about eating too

much poppy seeds will show positive for, I believe, a

heroin test. MTV actually had a girl test it and it did

show positive.

For the statement, "Coca-Cola and aspirin will get you

high" is false according to an article on

and David P. Mikkelson. It states that there are other,

supposedly affects, of ingesting Coca-Cola and aspirin:

it's an aphrodisiac, it's a great way to get high, it

causes instant death, and it cures headaches. These

beliefs have been around for awhile. Barbara and David

says that the belief might of originated in the 1930's

when a doctor from Illinois wrote to the Journal of the

American Medical Association to warn that teenagers were

dissolving aspirin in Coca-Cola to create an

intoxicating beverage. The article then briefly

explains the other supposed affects of taking aspirin

with Coca-Cola. Towards the end of the article, it has

a "sightings" of the belief and says that the belief of

combination of Coke and aspirin forms an intoxicant

comes up in the 1978 film "Grease".

I actually watched that episode on MTV about Urban

legends. When the girl went to get checked up for any

drug substances in her body. Her results came back

positive. Now that is really scary. I'm going to stay

far away from poppy seeds. I also heard that if you

drink soda with pop rocks then youre going to explode.

theres a lot of weird stuff going around and they only

way to know if it is true is to try it for yourself.

no...the other way to find out if they're true...is to

trick someone else into trying it...

"here, have some pop rocks, they're good" "oh, and by

the way, try drinking this...NO...its not soda...would i

do that to you?"

BOOM!!!

This just made me laugh when I read this. I have never

heard this before. I knew this had to be an urban

legend. There is no way that taking an aspirin and

washing it down with a Coke-Cola could get someone high.

Think of all the millions of people around the world

that drink Coke. Now think of all the millions of

people who take aspirin. That means there are millions

of people putting this combination into their stomachs.

Everyone around you in daily life is not high. I can

not count the number of times I have combined these two.

But I did some research. Just as I had suspected this

is not true. It was interesting how many other stories

were out there about Coke. This reminds me of the urban

legend when I was a kid. We were told that if you ate a

package of "Pop-Rocks" and drank a "Pepsi" your stomach

would blow up inside of you. We never combined these

two when I was a kid. This just sounds like another

updated for the new generation urban legend. But I did

find a lot of proof of this on the internet.

www.naplesnews.com/02/09/marco/d81179a.htm

www.snopes.com/cokelore/aspirin.asp

www.geocities.com/muslimtruth.Coca_Cola_Proof.html

This made me wonder if this is actually true. I tried

taking coke and aspirin together to see if it really

does make you high. In this experimentation I was ready

for anything. Nothing happened whatsoever? I even tried

aspirin with pepsi, nothing happened there too. I was a

little disappointed, but I just let it go. I went to

look at Heather's three sites and found out they were

not true. This is why I tried it first before looking

anything up. I had to laugh to when this bogus

information turned out to be untrue. The only thing that

I can think of that this combination might produce is a

jolt of caffiene or a development of an ulcer.

I was specifically searching for information on the

claim that the porportion of male characters on TV make

children's shows sexist. I started off by using Lycos as

my search engine. After having little to no luck I

decided to broaden my range of searching to sexism and

cartoons (I figure cartoons are the main programs

children watch). I was having a little more luck using

terms such as: cartoons sexism; tv programs sexism;

sexist tv. I decided to try the search engine MSN. MSN

was a lot easier to use. Using the same key words I was

able to acess more information pertaining to this topic.

Here are a few web sites I used in my search:

Much to my suprise I found valid information that can be

evidence to the claim that cartoons are sexist. I found

that many cartoons have no or a very limited number of

female characters on them. Ex.(A couple of my favorite

cartoons growing up) Seseame Street-Zoe Smurfs -

smurfette I found that not only are many of these

childrens programs sexist, but they are also very

stereotypical. The evidence I found against this topic

is was very limited, but there is good news for todays

children.We are now in the days of Power Puff Girls!

This cartoon demenstrates girl power (well, it's a good

place to start).There are also a number of new cartoons

that have come out in recent years that have more female

characters, but I'm not sure when or if females

characters can catch up to the male cartoon population.

although i agree that the power puff girls is a good

place to start with repairing the sexist-laden

children's shows, are we aware of how stinkin' bratty

this show is? i don't remember what study i read, but

it monitored the behavior of girls before and after a

not-completely-unrealistic amount of watching power puff

girls and documented their lowered respect for authority

and i can't remember what else, but general increased

overall abnoxiousness. although i think 'girl power'

shows are great, i wouldn't let my girls watch power

puffs cause frankly, i don't want abnoxious kids.

I was looking for television characters and sexism and

searched in msn.com under the phrase "television and

sexism". I then got several results and looked under

the link that said "Sexism and Culture". The link took

me to www.bludedojo.com/papers/sexism.

This article was called "Sexism and Culture in

Television" which stated that our culture demands for

sexism. Sexism makes the show more believable. For an

example, male characters believably exemplify strength

and endurance much more than female characters could.

Men are more qualified to play some parts than women are

for this reason.

An example the writer used was the show, Walker: Texas

Ranger. The character of the Texas Ranger had to be

played by a male character to make the "kick-butt"

scenes more believeable. Having a woman do Tae Kwan Do

and wiping out all the bad guys would not believeable.

The writer also said that to include a female character

as a hero is to change society's way of thinking. Many

times, shows flop because they try too hard to push

women to play characters of heroes. We need to slowly

do this and slowly have society adapt.

it makes sense why networks would support sexism. i'm

not saying i support this, but as far as the general

viewer, i understand the point being made. people

generally watch tv as a form of entertainment and

escapism. after a long day of work do you think Joe

Factory wants to question his ideology by watching a

superheroine save the world, or do you think he wants to

live vicariously through the hero and save HER? my

guess is the latter. cable channels like USA have made

shows like La Femme Nikita for a long time now, and

there are those incredible cheesy Xena-type shows, but

those are more sexploitation than superhero, i think. i

do think it's a good sign however, that ABC's Alias is

doing so well, with a strong female CIA lead character,

that it's likely we'll see more atypical characters in

the future.

In the matter of sexism on television, I believe that

the topics or characters on the shows put these types of

people on to attract the public to watch them. An

example of this would be the t.v. show Baywatch. Have

you ever seen any life gaurds that look as good as these

characters, no. Sexism is the number one thing that

television exploits. Sexism on television is a must as

well as a story line. Men as well as women are succumbed

to these types of exposure. Women are portrayed to be

the beautiful and erotic helpless person, and the man is

portrayed to be the tough, strong, and heroic character.

This degrades both male and female. I checked out the

site that Ly checked out which was, www.bludejojo.com,

and sure enough it shows that our culture demands this

type of out look.

I wanted to find out if there was any truth to this

rumor that I had heard previously in high school. To

search, I used Google.com. with the words: Coca Cola and

aspirin. Many, many website matches appeared. One of

them was very informative:

www.snopes.com/cokelore/aspirin.asp Basically, this

website derailed this claim as false. It listed the

four most common rumors about Coke and aspirin: 1) it is

an aphrodisiac 2) it is a good way to get high 3) it

causes instant death 4) it cures headaches This website

even documents places in which girls are taught to be

aware of their cokes and not to let some boy slip an

aspirin in their drinks or they will fall for him

instantly. This website even sites the start of these

rumors. A doctor from Illinois published an article in

the "Journal of the American Medical Association" in

1930 stating that the mixture of Coca cola and aspirin

resulting in an intoxicating high. Personally, I find

it hard to believe this rumor. However, I can see how

teenage kids would fall for any one of these rumors

based on their desire to be adult and get high.

i looked in google using women in war. i thought this

relevant due to our war with Iraq.

this is a site that has many links to it about the

history of women and the roles they play in war. The

roles of the women in the military has changed. They

used to disguise themselves so that they were able to

fight. But for most they found themselves in the role as

servicers. For example they would sew or do other

traditional women things. The times have changed but

not all that much. Women are still not allowed on the

frontlines. They are only able to fly and bring

supplies to the front lines but not fight. Should they

be able to have that option or should the role of women

in war be as they have been and support the men where

they can?

Personally I think that the claim of male

characters on television making children's programs

sexist could be true for the current generation but not

necessarily through the years of television. I can

remember when I was young watching girl shows such as

'My Little Ponies,' 'Strawberry Shortcake,' and 'Rainbow

Bright.' These shows did have male characters in them

but they were directed towards girls. On the other hand,

males of my generation recall watching such cartoons as

'Transformers,' 'G.I. Joe,' and 'HeMan,' and of course

both sexes occasionally watched eachothers chartoons.

Today there is still a division of what girls and boys

watch, but through controversy sexism is always brought

up in every cartoon which in my conclusion is inevitable

because humans are a sex and will forever be involved in

sexism.

Two interesting articles I found on the internet were

"Kids TV: A guide for the perplexed"

by Steve Sailer, and "Smurfy Sexism: Created with a

biased hand"

Mariruth Graham. Take a breif look at the articles. The

first article gives examples of different shows and the

sexims involved, and the second points out the

stereotypes of women in the well known cartoon 'The

Smurfs.' In the first article Steve Sailer brings up the

point that most Disney movies are focused towards the

female audience, which is a strong contradictory point

to for the claim of male characters making programs

sexist. However Mariruth Graham takes a look at the

classic cartoon which only contains one female and she

reports that "Smurfette's physical characteristics draw

her as a stereotype which promotes sexism because of the

prejudice messages the writers illustrate." Both

articles take a look at sexism on cartoons and have good

supporting evidence. Alltogether, I remain with the

conculsion that there will always be controversy on

sexism because we are sex.

I agree that cartoon shows have always been divided for

the sexes and will probably continue to be in the

future. While some cartoons for girls do have the girls

being heroes such as "Sailor Moon" or "Powerpuff Girls"

the shows still have the female heroes in skirts and

pastel colors, a trademark for little girls and

clothing. Other cartoons do have strong female

characters but for the most part the females tend to be

the ones who need saving or are the observers. I think

one way things may change is if there are more female

cartoonists that create strong and independent female

characters for young girls to watch. Maybe with a slow

transition of strong female characters such as the

leading female role on "Alias", we will see a move

towards female characters as leaders not followers.

I also read the Smurfette article and I agree that

sexism will never be completely eliminated in our

culture because the media, mainly television is so much

a part of our lives. T.V. reflects our culture and

culture affects T.V.

It seems that in a way sexism on television exists

because of the viewers demand for male dominated

characters who belittle and poke fun of female

characters. Viewers laugh and don't think twice about

it. Just this morning, while listening to the radio,

the dj made female sexist jokes while eveone in the back

just laughed.

Atleast now, there ae more and more shows that have

female lead characters that are intelligent and capable

of holding their own instead of waiting for a guy to

rescue them. In this way, I do think we are headed in

the right direction.

I agree on the idea that television will be involved

sexism forever. When I was a little kid, I tended to

watch cartoons that were made for boys. It's just

because I simply wanted to be a boy and those boy

characters gave me the idea of what a hero is.

In the current situation, those TV programes in which

male characters overbumber females' and actually that

has effects on children in terms of gender stereotypes.

I wonder if that's caused by the number of people who

prefer those programs, or the number of male workers

behind the scene.

Interesting research, although I strongly disagree with

the article by Steve Sailer suggesting that Disney

movies are geared primarily towards a female audience. I

personally was an avid fan of Disney movies when I was

younger, and I have many male friends that can relate.

The reason being that Disney tends to draw its female

characters as the typical supermodel, with perfect

bodily proportions and highly attractive facial

features. The animators of Disney are obviously aware of

the effect of attractive females on the male populus; to

believe otherwise would be preposterous. Insofar as the

sexism in cartoons, I do believe that there are more

male-oriented cartoons, but I suppose this occurs only

because there is a greater tendency for males to watch

cartoons than females, although I have seen no empirical

data to support this opinion.

After reading this response to the topic of sexism in

television characters, I tend to agree with the author:

sexism is inherent in human nature because of social

norms associated with a very early part of our lives.

The example about the cartoon "The Smurfs" shows this

through the use of its only female character, Smurfette.

Because she is the only female, it is easy to se the

traits the creator gives her that may be considered

sexist. In my own experience, I watched many male-based

cartoons as a child. I enjoyed "GI Joe," "HeMan," and

""Transformers" all of which are directed at young male

audiences and perpetuate the male bias that we are

talking about. I looked down on 'girlie' shows such as

"My Little Pony" and others because of the girl

targetted attitudes of the shows. This shows my bias,

and demonstrates that the creators of these cartoons

specifically made their cartoons for a certain audience,

be it male or female.

I also looked up a few things about cartoons being

sexist. The Smurfs are probably the most sexist

cartoon. I love the smurfs, but I hate sexism. When I

was a kid I did not see this cartoon as sexist. Only

now that I am an adult and look back can I see this. I

think we need to remember that it is also somewhat

appropiate. Now let me explain. Men are visually

stimulated. So how did they illustrate this in the

smurfs - smurfette. She always wore a dress, high

heels, and long following blonde hair. This is what men

like to see. Now look at how the male characters were

illustrated. Women generally do not choose a male

partner on appearance. They look a little more into the

man, his character and employment. They all had jobs

and were pretty much identified by their jobs (handy

smurf) or their personality (brainy smurf). This is

what women look for in a male partner. So even though

the smurfs were a sexist cartoon, I believe it just

mirrored our society.

I wasn't really looking for a specific aspect of this

topic. I just wanted to look at the general sites that

were offered concerning this topic.

I used AOL as my search engine and I used the search

terms: television characters, sexism. I had no problem

finding articles related to this topic.

I found an article called "The Portrayal of Women on

Television" by Paul Harper at this address:

He mentions the fact that although women and men are

about equal in the population, men outnumber women on

televison He mentions that television is sexist because

it reinforces prejudice sex-role stereotypes. These

would include the idea that women are supposed to look

very pretty, be domestic, have children and then look

after them while the man goes out to work.

Men basically have all the lead roles and are given

action-adventure roles while the majority of women are

in soap operas and situation comedies.

Hello...Just to let you know that I clicked on the link

of that article, but the the page wasn't found.

I agree that most men are the ones who portrayed in

those stereotypically masculine roles and the women are

the ones who are stereotypically portrayed in feminine

roles such as cooking, babysitting, crying over a

man...etc.

Although these sexist roles still exist, there has been

some major improvement over the years. Remember "Leave

it Beaver", "Brady Bunch", and those other corny TV

shows in which the women were just typical housewives

who subjected themselves to be the lower counterpart in

the household. Fortunately things are changing on

television and in our culture. Women on TV now can also

"beat up the bad guys" and be the heros. Thank God for

the movie "Charlie's Angels" and the TV cartoon

"Powerpuff Girls"!

Back in days women were seen as housewives. Women were

expected to stay home to take care of the children, cook

wonderful meals, and look good for their husbands.

However, we are in a different century and time. Women

are now playing different roles in our society. We are

not just housewives we are professional working women.

I agree with what you said about tv shows reinforcing

gender stereotypes. The typical scenario is a man who

works to put food on the table for his family, while his

wife stays home and cares for the kids. That is sooo old

school. But I guess we are seeing more women in the work

force in tv shows such as Ally McBeal(yikes), and also

in reality which is a step in the right direction. We

are also seeing more agressive women emerge in shows

such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena(double yikes).

These shows portray women as being independent and more

assertive beings, rather than weak and feeble. And

although I would personally rather watch Real TV, I'm

sure other women out there appreciate these shows that

give us more power.

This message is in response to TV characters and Sexism

posted by Katherine Gimeno.

I agree with Katherine about how she mentions that

television reinforces prejudice sex-role stereotypes.

But I feel that television programs and movies are

starting a gradual trend in the oppsite direction, with

women taking on the lead roles. Deni stated in the

previous message about how women are showing up with

leading roles in shows such as Ally McBeal, Buffy the

Vampire Slayer and Xena. In the movie Ever After,

starring Drew Barrymore, which is a creative, realistic

remake of the Cinderella Story. Danielle, played by

Drew Barrymore, is a resourceful young woman who does

not display the typical passive femine characterstics.

An example of this takes place at the end of the movie

Danielle is being held captive. But instead of the

prince coming in to save the day, Danielle escapes from

her shackles, holds a sword to her captors neck and

demands to be set free. Just when she is leaving the

castle her prince comes riding up on his horse and tells

Danielle that he came to save her. This is just one of

the many movies that are now portraying women as strong,

and resourceful. As opposed to the traditional view

that women are helpless and always in need of a man to

come and rescue them.

I agree with the writer of the original message and the

2 others that have responded so far that women are

delving into roles that would have never been open to

them before. I am optimistic that this trend will

continue, but I think it's important to put things into

perspective.

First of all, no woman could currently demand the huge

sums that Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vin Diesel, Keanu

Reeves, and the like can and do receive for the movies

they star in.

In addition, the actresses chosen to star in these "new

roles" add a troubling dimension. One of the movies

mentioned was "Charlie's Angels". Its stars (Cameron

Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu) with their flawless

faces and figures, triumph over the villains with

martial arts and sexuality. This only reinforces the

constant bombardment that women and girls receive which

says that they must be stunningly beautiful in order to

succeed in life. While I see nothing wrong with them

using their sexuality to dominate their opponents, the

unnecessary overt sexuality in the movie affects girls

just as Cosmo does. I also think some of the movie's

dialogue makes them look stupid. And we musn't

forget...their boss is a man.

Another example of women breaking out of stereotypical

roles is Jennifer Garner in "Alias". I agree that it is

a groundbreaking role, but do you think she (just like

Charlie's Angels) was chosen for that role because of

her martial arts skills?

I agree wholeheartedly that the media is moving in the

right direction. But we can't be lulled into

complacence -- as far as "Alias" is from "Leave it to

Beaver" is how far things are from being equal.

I want to start off by saying that I am not a proponent

of sexism nor am I a "sexist pig" of the traditional

sense, but I am admittedly at odds with accepting

equality between male and female gender roles. The

current trend in media programming has been a wave of

so-called empowerment. While this wave is a movement

away from the social norm, the line between gender roles

still remain quite clear.

Women should be afforded every opprotunity that their

male counterparts have. There's no doubt about that.

This message isn't about women's rights and

opprotunities. My concern is gender roles, afterall

where better to learn about gender roles than T.V.? It

seems to me that women, as a whole, are not satisfied

with society's portrayal of female gender roles on

television. What then is the ultimate female gender

role? What would appease the female masses?

I hope that complete equality is not the outcome women

are looking for in gender roles. Part of the allure of

women is their differences from men, in the media as

well as in real life. To blur those differences would in

turn rob women of their inherent beauty. I don't know

maybe I am a pig afterall.

I think it's important, when looking for where and how

certain groups are exploited, to examine what does the

dominating group want? Here we're talking about women

and, while the ideal woman's profile has shifted some

since the good ol' days, her two most important

characteristics to be fulfilled remain good looks and

being subervient. Even though women may be more

empowered on television, the question remains is whether

they still must answer to a man. In terms of Buffy and

Xena and ass kicking women, they are sex objects and

they serve a purpose in that respect. They are not

leading any kind of movement of empowerment. The last

thing we should be doing is patting our patriarchy on

the back because we've evolved from "Leave It To

Beaver." With every role we observe a person in, we

need to ask ourselves if we could see the opposite sex

playing an almost identical part. It's so much deeper

than that. Pick a popular network and watch it from 8pm

to 10pm and tally up the number of times a woman was

portrayed sexually versus a man. Tally up how many

aggressive acts against women take place versus men.

Then come back to this discussion and let's go from

there.

I specifically searched for Sexism and Culture in

Television and how does culture affect sexism. I used

the search phrases 'Sexism in Television' and 'Culture

and Sexism'. I didn't encounter any problems during my

online search. I used the www.google.com as my search

engine.

In this short research, I found that not only can

culture affect television, but television can also

affect our culture. We can learn to alter our culture to

change the thinking of the people our society. The

reason why sexist shows even exist is because there

still seems to be a demand for them. Sexist shows are

dominated by male characters. There is little

improvement in the past few years with movies such as

'Charlie's Angels' and other movies that portray women

just as heroic and strong as men. There are also some

TV programs such as 'Powerpuff girls' and 'TV shows that

are incorporating females in positive lead roles that

are helping to create the equilibrium among of males and

females. Incorporating females into positive lead roles

will cause some changes in society.

We need more nonsexist TV programs and movies. We need

less of 'Howard Stern', 'Who Wants to Marry a

Millionare', and those TV shows that portray women as

being weak, battered, abused, and bored housewives.

It's the year 2003 and yet television shows and movies

still need more improvement on creating a sense of

equality among males and females.

In this research, I used the online article "Sexism and

Culture in Television" by Jim Winn. The article can be

I tried the link to the address, but it didn't work. I

agree that we need more shows the portray women in a

brighter light. I've watched "Joe Millionaire" and the

main thing that it points out is that american women are

gold diggers. Personally I think it's a funny show,

because you can tell why women are portrayed that way on

television just by watching some of the women on that

show. Another show that's out right now that does give a

woman "power" but is still sexist is "The Bachelorette".

This is american culture.

This is in response to Marissa Kuroda on Sexism and

culture in television. I agree that there is a demand

for sexism in television shows because that is what gets

to viewer interested. I really have no first hand

experiences with other cultures and what they have on

television verses what we see here in America. I wonder

is if Japan, Australia, and Germany for example have the

same amount of sexism as the America. I would guess that

because there is so much oppression in South Africa on

women that perhaps that is a reason why there are less

women in their television productions.

I think that the reason why sexist television exists is

actually quite simple. That is what sells. As sick and

perverted as it is...sexist television is what

entertains and sells. Even women seem to still watch

this sexist television, in spite of their constant

protests against it.

simple and sick equasion...yet totally real:

sexist TV = ratings = $$ for network officials

I used the yahoo search engine for the topic of tv

characters and sexism. The terms I used in my search

were sexism, children, and tv. I had no problems with

this search.

On this site the author mentions that the Public

Broadcasting System(PBS), which features children's

programming, has consistently shown substantially more

males than females on their programs. She also mentioned

something kind of disturbing that I never really noticed

before. She pointed out that the Muppets were

overwhelmingly male characters with the exception of

maybe 1 or 2 including Miss Piggy, who is voiced by a

man. Also, it isn't very comforting to know that they

made the female a fat pig. I never really liked the

Muppets anyways...but I was totally into Scooby Doo and

the Flintstones :)

This is a comment message for Deni Ramiro on

"Television characters and sexism":

I have noticed that much of children's programs are

dominated by male characters and though I was

surprised at first, I am enlightened that you pointed

out the fact that The Muppets only casted 1 or 2 female

characters and that Ms. Piggy was voiced by a man.

Besides The Muppets, I also thought of Sesame Street

and the cartoon series Winne the Pooh. Look at the more

prominent characters on the shows--Big Bird, Elmo,

Oscar the Grouch, the Count, Bert and Ernie, and the

Cookie Monster on Sesame Street; Winnie the Pooh,

Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger--they're all males!

Although we can think of many more examples that

illustrate how sexist these programs are, we cannot

deny their popularity. (Have you noticed the different

kinds of Elmo dolls they come up with each year?) Would

it really make a difference if these shows added more

female characters? I think not; probably because they

have already established themselves and have had

reliable numbers of followers throughout the years.

But then again, these shows/characters were made at

least twenty years ago and I have begun to notice that

there are more children's shows that have females in

the limelight now. Yes, the PowerPuff girls, Kim

Possible (who has a male side-kick), Penny Proud (from

the Proud Family), Sailor Moon, etc.

There will always be evidence for children's programs

being sexist and while steps are being taken to

alleviate that, all I can wonder is, "Do kids even

care?" It's not a matter of them noticing how sexist

shows are. Afterall, I would think that these shows'

creative groups put in a lot of time and thought into

them, testing out different ideas they hope would

attract children and keep their attention for a long

time. If the children "get hooked on them," then

congratulations to the masterminds. They did their

jobs, even if the shows are sexist.

I didn't realize that PBC consistently shown more males

than females on their programs, either. How

interesting! In any case, I belive that television has

a great influence on children regarding their attitudes

toward gender roles. Television could provide

stereotyped and biased messages to children about the

gender role. As I was grew up in Japan, I remember

there were many "hero" types of Kid's TV shows. (Kikaida

is one of them) But I didn't like them because all the

heros were boy charactors.

This is a comment message to Emiko Kaylor's comment

message on "Kid's shows and sexism":

That's true! I definitely agree with you that television

has a big influence on children's attitudes toward

gender roles. Television already provides stereotyped

and biased messages to children about these roles.

Unfortunately, I don't think there will be major changes

in television soon to make children's programs less

sexist.

Society as a whole places such emphasis on the gender

roles that even if children's programs became less

sexist, family, friends, and peers would still

perpetuate gender roles.

I agree that television plays an important role in

shaping children's attitudes toward gender roles, but I

think family and school have an even greater influence

on their concept of gender roles. Say for example, if a

little boy cries, mommy will say "boys don't cry", or

his siblings might tell him "only girls cry".

Television is, most of time, reflecting what reality is,

so maybe it'll be fair to say that television is being

influenced by what real life is.

After reading your message, I thought to myself, "That's

right! The muppets did have mainly male characters!"

It is something I never noticed before. I watch a lot

of cartoons with my daughter (she's almost two, so I

regulate what she watches)and notice the ones that she

watches have mostly male characters also (Rolie Polie

Olie and Stanley on the Disney Channel). Both of the

shows have male characters as their main character. The

only other females are usually younger siblings or their

mother.

It does make me wonder why male characters are dominant

even in cartoons, because they can make the character

any way or any sex that it wants to, but it chose to

have mainly male characters. For children though, I

don't think that it has too much affect on them, but as

they are older, I am sure that they learn to identify

with the characters.

I agree strongly with you that sexism exists in our

childrens TV programs. Your right, there are few female

cartoon characters (at least compared to the amount of

male characters)! And of the few female characters, most

if not all seem to fall victim to the harsh stereotypes

that are put on women today. It's sad, but what do you

expect? We live in a world where men dominate

everything!Of course sexism has slithered its way into

the childrens TV programs, with the sole purpose of

currupting the minds of the todays youth.

I found Deni's website link very interesting. The

author, Susan D. Witt says, "Television sends forceful

and compelling messages to children about the

societally-approved roles for boys and girls and men and

women. These messages are often sterotyped, biased, and

outdated yet continue to persist and influence the

behavior of children. As children continue to develop

and grow, they are exposed to more and more of gender

biases and sterotypes and thus children perpetuate

similiar unfair attitudes and behaviors."

I think that Witt helps explain WHY there may sexism in

television. Society accepts them. I accept them. Such

sexist ideas have been past down from generation to

generation.

I also think shows about "superwomen" heros like zena,

and charlie's angels help break the typical women

profession. However, those shows are still sexist.

Zena wears tight fitted clothes and Charlies angels

actresses are young and sexy. I guess they have to do

this in order to appeal to both sexes.

The television shows for kids have powerful messages in

them. although children are not able to understand the

messages they do tend to imitate them. For example i

never noticed the number of male to male ratio. it

never crossed my mind, but if you look back on the

programming and start picking out things then you start

to see a difference. wheather people are actually

affected by these cartoons or shows we will never know.

but what we do know is that many behaviors that a child

sees on tv are imitaded and can have life long effects.

Last year I did a report on children's media and I found

that from birth children learn a significant amount of

gender typing from the media. Programs still continue

to underrepresent females, to display males and females

in stereotyped activities, and portray female's bodies

different from males.

I was specifically searching for information on the

claim that the porportion of male characters on TV make

children's shows sexist. I started off by using Lycos as

my search engine. After having little to no luck I

decided to broaden my range of searching to sexism and

cartoons (I figure cartoons are the main programs

children watch). I was having a little more luck using

terms such as: cartoons sexism; tv programs sexism;

sexist tv. I decided to try the search engine MSN. MSN

was a lot easier to use. Using the same key words I was

able to acess more information pertaining to this topic.

Here are a few web sites I used in my search:

Much to my suprise I found valid information that can be

evidence to the claim that cartoons are sexist. I found

that many cartoons have no or a very limited number of

female characters on them. Ex.(A couple of my favorite

cartoons growing up) Seseame Street-Zoe Smurfs -

smurfette I found that not only are many of these

childrens programs sexist, but they are also very

stereotypical. The evidence I found against this topic

is was very limited, but there is good news for todays

children.We are now in the days of Power Puff Girls!

This cartoon demenstrates girl power (well, it's a good

place to start).There are also a number of new cartoons

that have come out in recent years that have more female

characters, but I'm not sure when or if females

characters can catch up to the male cartoon population.

Aloha Tamara, I remember watching Seseme street all the

time when I was younger and truly enjoyed it (Grover was

my boy). I didn't realize the absence of women though,

there weren't many puppets who were girls but I do

remember a lot of the human actors being female. Big

Bird was always a mystery to me to which gender he

represented. I watched a special program the other night

which revealed some very interesting facets of Seseme

Street such as: Oscar being a grouch and everyone

treating him like he was a mean guy. He lived in a

trash can for crying out loud, anyone would be grouchy

if they lived in a trash can. It gave evidence of

underlying motives of some people concerning the

mistreatment of homeless people. He was a rather dirct

stereotype of a grumpy homeless guy.Another theory

proposed was that The Count was a pimp! Always dressed

in a suit, and continually counting(his money), that

cookie monster is a druggy, his eyes aren't cukoo just

from regular old cookies (those cookies are laced!),and

that Snuffalupagus was always stoned evidenced by his

slow and slurry speech. There were others but I can't

remember them right now. I don't know how watching that

program affected me because I'm not mean to homeless

people, not a druggy and definitly not a pimp. I think

it may have just prepared and warmed up my young mind to

the millions of sterotypical representations I will

encounter throughout the rest of my television viewing.

I will not and do not blame Snufalupagus for any habits

I may have aquired from him. He's a good guy! Bye.

I was looking for television characters and sexism and

searched in msn.com under the phrase "television and

sexism". I then got several results and looked under

the link that said "Sexism and Culture". The link took

me to www.bludedojo.com/papers/sexism.

This article was called "Sexism and Culture in

Television" which stated that our culture demands for

sexism. Sexism makes the show more believable. For an

example, male characters believably exemplify strength

and endurance much more than female characters could.

Men are more qualified to play some parts than women are

for this reason.

An example the writer used was the show, Walker: Texas

Ranger. The character of the Texas Ranger had to be

played by a male character to make the "kick-butt"

scenes more believeable. Having a woman do Tae Kwan Do

and wiping out all the bad guys would not believeable.

The writer also said that to include a female character

as a hero is to change society's way of thinking. Many

times, shows flop because they try too hard to push

women to play characters of heroes. We need to slowly

do this and slowly have society adapt.

This was an interesting post inasmuch as it comes

from a different stance than most of the others in this

category. Having looked through the other posts, it

seems clear that most people would agree television is

sexist. This would seem to suggest that progress can be

made not by filling what would be a male role with a

female, or blindly adding female parts, but rather by

looking more realisticlly at the role anyone should be

playing. That is, sexism works both ways. I liked

that the walker texas ranger example was given, though

to be fair, Chuck Norris is not, himself, particularly

believable, so would any other actress/actor do more

harm? What comes out of this post for me, though it

is not really the point, is that sexism on television,

as elsewhere, is a problem with which we need to deal,

but that it is important to do so carefully.

Reply to research message:

It is true that television tends to only make men the

hero. There are a couple of shows that have done pretty

well, for instance the shows "Xena the warrior princess"

and "Alias." Both shows have women defeating the bad

guys. Of course there is also sexism in these two shows

because the women sometimes are playing more of a sexual

figure than a hero. I'm not sure if it's discrimination

towards women, but in general, any type of show that

gives women the power and title of a hero will always

glorify her as a woman that is sexually alluring. This

is what our society expects.

a). After I searched the articles about television

characters' influence on children, I started looking for

the opposite opinion or evidence against ghe claim that

male characters on television makes children's program

sexist. Unfortunately, I could not find any research

findings or evidences that proved the opposite opinion.

However, there was the research that showed, viewing

television has the strong influence on children in terms

of gender-role as children, but not adult role.

b). TV characters influence on children, TV impact of

sexism on children, psychological impact of TV

characters, relationship: TV characters and sexism, no

impact: viewing television,

c). The problems occured when the articles mentioned the

specific cartoons, and dramas. Although, I've been here

for three years, I've not get accustomed with TV

programs here ,yet. That means, the only articles I was

motivated to read were the conclusions or results of the

surveies and researches.

d). I used "Google" and "Ask jeeves".

e).

f). Basically what I found was the facts that those TV

programs creat sex/gender role streotyping and TV

characters are overnumbered by men. I found the

interesting graphs as follows.

Gender representation of sport articles in the "The

Times" .

the number of articles Percent(%) of total Men

2632 88.5 Women 291

10.9 Mixed 15 0.6

I used MSN.com again to find information on television

characters and sexism. The phrase used was television

characters and sexist children programs. The website is:

The author Susan Witt in "The influence of television on

children's gender role socialization," states that since

the 1950's, about two thirds of the characters on

television programs are male. And also that children's

programs on PBS showed fewer females than males.

The article also states that sexism is even among the

Muppets, because most of the muppet characters have male

names or male voices.

I used Yahoo to help with my search and when I typed in

'gender roles' for another topic, I was given so many

sites that some of them ended up working for this

discussion as well. Www.apa.org/releases/cartoon.html

is an interesting site because it shows stark statistics

in today's programming with a sexist agenda geared

toward children. While the percentage of female cartoon

characters may have increased slightly, their 'station'

really has not changed. They are still the nurtures and

the men are still the violent warriors. Not only is

this detrimental for young girls, teaching such traits

as co-dependance in lieu of self-reliance, but it only

furthers the the already rampant violent nature in

television and all the dangers which accompanies it. If

the nature of stereotypical programming has changed so

little over the past twenty years (of the past forty

years which have been critical in the civil right

movement), it seems like wasted energy to expect any

difference in programming for our children to come. I

was not actually looking to find proof of children's

stereotypes when I began this search, but with what I

have read, and being that childrens' minds are the most

influential, then it's easy to believe that similar

predispositions filter through adult-aimed airwaves.

I agree that male cartoon characters are usually

portrayed as the more violent characters and the females

are the nurturers. Even if the females are portrayed

as superheroes, their sex appeal is maximized. I think

that children receive these messages and try to act in

the same ways. Little boys and girls definitely have

gender roles and play behavior from a young age, which

is probably highly influenced by the television they

watch. The future of these children is concerning

when females learn to be dependent on males from the

stereotypes they see on television.

i believe that roles in television play a big role in

how children develop. The visions we see on tv give an

example of the values that our society has. We see

women as care givers and men as violent warriors. until

we change how society views women and men in general i

foresee no changes in the programming of tv shows for

children.

For this research topic I was interested in finding out

what influence the dominance of male characters has on

the development of children. I used MSN with the search

terms "male characters on television". I came up with

the following sites:

www2.lewisu.edu/~gazianjo/influence_of_television_on_child.htm

and

www.ifrance.com/sociomedia/THE%20INFLUENCE%20OF%20TELEVISION%20ON%20CH.

The search itself went well and basically what I found

was what one might guess about male characters on

television. For one, they make up the majority of

television programming. And two, women's roles are

defined by their relationships with men. It was that

second finding that I found profound. One of the web

sites actually broke down the average hours spent by

children in front of the tv and how that related to the

male and female stereotypes they learn.

For this week's topic I focused on how sexist jokes

might affect men and women. I used MSN with the search

phrase "sexist jokes" which produced an endless list of

joke sites. I then tried "sexist jokes and men" which

produced much of the same. Third time was a charm though

with the phrase "sexist jokes towards women". I found an

article called "An Analysis of Sexist Humor" at the

following website:

newmedia.cgu.edu/comedy/projects/teitgesera/stfinal.htm

This article attempts to give reasons why either men or

women might find humor in jokes that degrade the

opposite sex. It did it in an interesting way though.

The author actually gave examples of several sexist

jokes interjected with literature on it's possible

causes and effects.

The topic I was looking for was culture and television.

I used the yahoo.com search engine I had no problems

finding this site. The phrases I used was sexism in

The things I learned from this article was that

television and our culture are directly linked. These

are two things that go hand in hand. Television

influences the values of our society and the values of

society are shown to us through the television. The

values of our society are evident through the media and

television shows. Our society is a male dominated

culture in which females are trying to make a name for

themselves. This is evident through the television

shows as we see more women on t.v. that are playing

stronger roles. Although they are no where they should

be time is changing and with it is our culture and

television programming.

I liked the article you've chosen. It completely

explains how our society influcences teleivsion. I

agree with you that television and culture go hand in

hand. It's interesting to see that there are more shows

with stronger women, but I still think there needs to

more. Many shows that are male dominated portray women

as helpless and needy. They should put strong female

characters in these shows so it can seem more realistic.

I also agree with you that as society changes our

television shows will also change.

The topic I was looking for was culture and television.

I used the yahoo.com search engine I had no problems

finding this site. The phrases I used was sexism in

The things I learned from this article was that

television and our culture are directly linked. These

are two things that go hand in hand. Television

influences the values of our society and the values of

society are shown to us through the television. Our

culture as many others is male dominated and we see that

in our programming. As our society changes where women

are becoming stronger and stronger and we see this as

roles in comedy shows. The women are no where near

balanced but they are letting themselves be known and

society, culture and television programming will change

with time.

I found your posting interesting as well as sadly true.

What can we really expect from T.V.? We live in a male

dominated culture that views woman as sex objects, and

our TV programming is a direct reflectoin of it. Sad but

true.

I think that it is really good that women are becoming

more stronger in television programs. Women need to

have a stronger role these days because television

really influences are children and society. Children

should learn that women and men are both equal and

capable of fufilling the same role, therefore, the media

should recognize women as also having a superior and

more powerful role.

For this research I was searching for anything that had

to do with television characters and sexism. The search

terms I used was television and sexism. I did not have

any problems with this search because there were a lot

of information on this topic. The search engine that I

used to find my information was google. The web address

for the site I found is:

In this article I found that the media has a lot of

gender typing. Television programs still continue to

underrepresent females and to display males and females

in stereotyped activities. Current television programs

have more leading characters played by males than

females. I am appaled after reading this article. I

feel that the media reflects how women are displayed in

reality: they are often dominated by men and given

different expectations. Even though women today have

professional careers, they are still steretyped to play

the role as housewife and caregiver. The media also

reflects how women are seen to be more superficial than

intelligent. In the media and reality a woman's

appearance and beauty seems to be more important than

their intelligence, which then begins to affect their

self-image.

Once again I had to default my attempts to use other

search engines and again utilized ol'faithful Yahoo.com.

I wanted to find feminists points of view so the search

words I used were: television, sexism, representation,

and feminist. There were plenty of articles but the ones

I picked are listed below:

www.frontpagemag.com/articles/printable.asp?ID=119

www.aber.ac.uk/media/students/pth9601.html

I have been aware of stereotypical representation of

gender roles portrayed on television so it was no

surprise being told this by both websites. There were

intersting factoids which did enlighten my comprehension

such as: the number of women working behind the scenes

is greatly misrepresented by those who work on it, that

only 6.2% of film directors last year were women, on

primetime tv women account for 28% of the roles, they

get only 38% of screen actor guild roles and that there

is a drastic decline of women acting beyond their

forties. This is all detailed in the first website along

with some positive trends such as: the chairperson of

Universal Pictures and the CEO of Paramount Pictures are

both women and other powerful positions are held by

women at ABC, CBS, FOX and UPN. It seems as if women are

well represented behind the sceens but not well

on-screen.The second website just offered an essay on

the representation of stereotypical gender roles on

television. It gave evidence such as the representation

of women as being emotional, fearful and compassionate

while male actors were told to be strong, hard working

and aggressive. It is my contention that these

characteristics are such common attributes given to

actors throughout the years that it has gone virtually

unnoticed to the common television viewer through

habituation, so that when a role comes up which defies

these traditional gender roles people quickly notice. I

also feel that these representations are so widely

accepted because of biological as well as envirornmental

influences. Men are strong and bring home the bread

while women are supportive and loving and are the reward

which makes the man's life worth living. These values

are instilled at a young age and have been for many

generations.

I remember growing up and watching smurfs as one of my

favorite morning shows. I never really thought about

smurfette as some sex symbol, but I'll admit that when I

grew older and would chance upon the show I would think

that smurfette must really get it, being the only female

in a mushroom village of males.

I think cartoons back in the day had more of a

wholesome story line to it; in cartoons for today's

generation its all about explosions and kung-fu

fighting, minus the plot. This lack of story line does

more damage to the budding mind than a little blue chick.

I figure that every person has their own opinion

about this topic, if they've taken the time to think

about it. But, I decided to search for opinions in the

academic field about the role that the female has in

today's television. I typed in gender role + television

in Google.

In the American Psychology Association's website,

www.apa.org/releases/cartoon/html, the article talked

about the majority of male characters who all held some

type of powerful, prestigious position in the story

line; while the few female characters were subserviate

helpers.

I found some information worth noting in the

American Academy of Pediatrics website,

www.aap.org/advocacy/ sign298.htm. This long article

stated that the few women who get a strong role in a

show, usually are portrayed as the invincible type.

Also, that as people and especially children watch more

and more television gender role stereotype behavior will

increase.

I'm not sure of my statistics, but I remember boys

being more into television and cartoons than girls were;

even during our generation' childhood,when there were a

lot of cartoons and shows directed toward the female

audience. I think it's just that the television has to

target the largest audience. If males are watching more

t.v. than girls, which seems obvious because of the male

orientation of television, than girls are going to take

a back seat to the hero's of the story.

I was interested to see if male characters still

dominated the television programs or if female

characters have changed in any way. I search using

Yahoo, under the media section. I tried using Google

first, but I just didnât like the outcomes. Using

Yahoo, I had no major problems, only for that fact that

I had to look for a good website. I used the phrase ãTV

and gender roles.

The website that was good and one that I could agree

with was

maskin.bxscience.edu/tat/50s/50swomencurrent.html. The

author says how slowly over the years, the negative

representations of women have slowly been developing.

From a stereotyped women of being in a domestic setting,

the ãheroineä of the home, whose only ambition was to be

a good mother and dutiful wife, made a transition to

women being intelligent, independent, and self-reliant

to solve problems. Some movies that show these new

characteristics are ãCharlieâs Angelsä, ãAlly McBealä,

and ãMurphy Brownä.

There's alot of movies that depicted women with having

the same attributes as men, and that's how it should be.

My thoughts about gender roles and how they have

changed.

The biggest event that changed American women's lives

was WWII. During WWII, women were invited to work

outside of home, otherwise "forbidden". Many of these

women were called to help with the developments of war

because many men were enlisted in the service

(machinery, factory labor, welding) all jobs, that men

only performed before the war.

After the war ended, women were expected to go back to

being the housewife and mother. But often this was not

the case.

Women were seeking equal rights and liberation which was

slowly entering the hearts of all americans homes.

The main question that I want to raise is that with the

new freedoms and rights of women and the rise of mothers

entering the workforce, do you think it is better that

mother's work? Don't you think that mother's should

stay home and take care of the kids rather then relying

on babysitters and so on?

The search engine I used was MSN. First the key words I

used were: television and sexism to find an article that

supported this view. The site I found was:

that television affects culture and culture affects

television because they have both become intertwined. I

thought an interesting view on why there is sexism on TV

was "sexism exists on television only because it exists

in our culture." I think this article had many valid

points such as there is sexism because many viewers want

to see sex on TV. An interesting way to eliminate or

lessen sexism on TV suggested by the author is to

incorporate strong females in shows. I found a humorous

article in support that Bugs Bunny is not a sexist

character. I used MNS, search words Television is not

sexist. The address is:

A Canadian woman was upset over an episode where bugs

bunny escapes a witch with magic powder and walks off

into the sunset with a beautiful female rabbit and he

comments, "Ah sure, I know! But aren't they all witches

inside?'' The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council

had rejected her complaint and request to apologize to

all female viewers. Saying that the female character

was actually portrayed in a "strong light."

After researching this extensively for my bibliography

report I have a few questions. I thought b/c our

society is in the 21st century I was not going to find a

big difference. Wow - was I wrong. I thought for sure

that the kiddie cartoons would be less sexist. Boy was

I wrong. I found that the proportion of male characters

outnumbers the female characters by 4:1 ratio. This

comes from a website that is from the APA. Check it

When I was a kid we watched the Smurfs. Now looking

back at this cartoon, it is probably more sexist than

any other cartoon. In smurfville, there is only 1

female, named smurfette. All the other male charcters

are label with a job in their title like: brainy smurf,

handy smurf, papa smurf and jokey smurf. And she always

is wearing a dress and high heels with blonde hair. Now

if that is not the typical man's dream image of a woman

I do not know what is. I found 2 seperate articles on

this.

This website stated that since the 1980's cartoonists

have been trying to draw characters as genderless as

possible,

In my search I used google as my search engine. This

search was a little more difficult. I played a lot with

the terms; sexist, cartoon characters, male cartoon

characters, and female cartoon characters. When I used

the terms female and male cartoon characters I got the

results I was looking for.

It is true that the smurf's contain a high level of

sexism within the show but then again look at all of the

cartoons that were made in the 60's and 70's. Scooby

Doo for example is a prime candidate for this

discussion. Notice how whenever anything goes wrong

that it is always Fred who has to make the courageous

rescue or that when something else goes wrong and

someone needs to be rescued that it is always one of the

girls who is in distress. This is a reinforcement that

girls should always be the damsell in distress and that

they have no means of powering themselves through the

situation. It is also true that the number of male

characters on the show do ration at 4 to 1 and even

someimes more than that. The thing that is most

disturbing about these staticstics is that these

programs provide a sexist view through the actions and

relations of the characters, incorporated with the gross

ratios. Since we are now in an age that promotes

equality between the sexes, it is inevitable that we

find discrepencies throught everything we obsevrve. But

the shocking thing is the prevelance at which these

infraction occur. Only in shows whos direct content was

meant not for the show to offend will not, because

almost all of these shows carry with them some form of

societal meaning at the time in which they were made.

This means the only way to solve this is to get rid of

all of the shows we watch now and create new, PC,

television programing.

i agree that when looking back on television shows that

we used to love we see things in a different light. Its

funny how we do not become aware of things until we get

much older. It teaches us a good lesson of how we thing

of things now and how will we see these things when we

look back on them in 10 years.

My focus was to see if there is sexism in children's

programs due to the domination of male characters. I

used the same search engine for both articles

children's programs; for both articles. No problems

occured, and I got results right away.

I found a paper written about how television is thought

to influence gender roles for children. It discusses

how even a show such as the Muppets displays sexism by

using all male voices for the characters. The paper

also found that Saturday morning cartoons had more males

in the shows and they played most of the lead roles.

But it states that boys are given precendence over girls

because boys make up 53% of the Saturday viewing

audience.

Another article I found was a contrast to the first. It

seems like a review for Katha Pollitt's essay on "The

Smurfette Principle," which is about a bunch of males

with only one female. Pollitt disagrees with children's

television shows because of sexism. The review goes on

to say that Pollitt doesn't have any evidence or

statistics as to why "kids pick up on the sexism in the

children's culture." Another thing the review states is

that Pollitt doesn't want to end sexism in children's

programs, but instead wants to promote female dominance.

The articles both show different sides to the conflict

and pose good reasons to support either, so you be the

judge.

in our society the sexist roles are taught to us at a

you ng age. Television influences the values of our

society and the values of society are shown to us

through the television. Thevalues of our society are

evident through the media and television shows. Our

society is a male dominated culture in which females are

trying to make a name for themselves. This is evident

through the television shows as we see more women on

t.v. that are playing stronger roles. Although they are

no where they should be time is changing and with it is

our culture and television programming.

I looked up sexist television characters on

www.yahoo.com. I found an article at this website:

talks about a connection between our culture and sexism

on television and how there is a demand for sexist

television shows. There are books that can be

referenced that give more information on the topic. It

also talks about how males are mostly portrayed as the

heroes in childrenâs television and females are the ones

that need to be saved. It goes on to say that more

studies need to be done to say for sure that these

sexist television programs are affecting children. This

could be done through cross-cultural studies. This

article shows both sides of the argument. Sexist

television shows may be affecting children, but on the

other hand, men are genetically different which may be

why they are portrayed as the stronger sex, more capable

of being the ones to ãsaveä others or the world in the

television shows. The other good article I found is at

This mainly has to do with commercials, but also brings

up good points on the subject.

using the terms tv sexism i found a site on google

explaining about current issues in television sexism and

its depiction of male and female roles.

The article is looking at a television station in canada

called bbc2. its trying to show how women in television

are pushed in the backgrounds and given roles that show

off traditional female roles. This causes a problem in

societies because it doesnt get the traditional

perception out of the heads of the countries youth. If

each generation keeps making the mistakes of the past

then nothing will ever change. The traditional roles

are sold to us on television then we expect these things

out of woman as the norm. Is there a way to change?

sure by redefining the role of woman to encompass more

skills and abilities and not portray them as housewives

who love nothing better than to cook and clean.

I researched what the possible effects of having a

disproportionatly large amount of male characters on TV.

I used Msn and Google, Google provided me with one more

response than Msn.

I first searched for "male television characters", but

this did not give me responsed that I desired, so I

added sexism, and "Male television characters"+sexism

produced better results.

The site:

summary of a television show and the messages it

conveyed, including sexism. The second site

I found was an article discussing a study on TV

characters, male and female, and the effect of

characters on the audience.

The males and the females on the first show analyzed

both held sterotypical roles; even when the female was

supposedly a superhero character the male usually

stepped in to help or take credit. This show could lead

children to falsely conclude that women always need a

mans help in certain areas. The study from the second

site said that "...older children and young adolescents

spend almost 25% of their awake time watching

television" The fact that so much of this age groups

time is spent watching TV is a good indicator that much

of what the younger age groups beleive about the world,

and men and women is based on what the TV decided to

show them. The study reveals that "...relatively few

prime-time TV characters were overweight (12%) and

under-represented the proportion of overweight

individuals in the general population...", which

certainly leads many young girls to percieve their own

body image as unnacptable; they "need" to be like the

girls they see on TV.

while looking for this topic, i stumbled accross this

it is of the NOW (National Organization for Women). it

details the major primetime tv networks and how they

help, or don't help, the cause of equal rights and non

sexist (feminine) tv shows.

this may be my own synical view, but i just find it

funny that there are people out there who devote their

entire days to watching TV (okay, maybe just their

entire nights, since it was primetime) to make sure that

the shows are not sexist, and that they address female

views as well. i repeat, people...ITS ENTERTAINMENT!!!

have we gotten so self serving that we forget to step

back and look at what teh real purpose is? forcing tv

networks to create shows that are pleasing to

"feminists" but end up bombing on the "ratings" is

rediculous. i agree that we need to be conscious of TV

content and make sure it is non-offensive, and

representative of actual people. HOWEVER...we also need

to realize that if it isn't entertaining, or informative

in the case of the news, it shouldn't belong on

TV...plain and simple.

RELAX!!!

I did my search today on the topic of television

charcters and sexism. I used Google and found no

problems at all. The key words that I used were

"television characters and sexism". I instantly found a

web site that helped:

written by Jim Winn and was entitled "Sexism and Culture

in Television". The paper was very interesting in that

it noted the symbiotic relationship between culture and

television. The reason that television characters and

programs are sexist is that our culture creates the need

for these programs and characters. However, television

also affects our views on sexism and, therefore can

alter our perceptions. Thus, both television and

culture contribute to the prolongation of sexism in our

society. Winn also gives examples of two television

programs with different lead characters. "Walker, Texas

Ranger" is the first show with a male lead character

(Chuck Norris). The author uses this show as an example

of why our culture demands sexist programs. Our public

would not believe a female lead character that beats up

all the bad guys like Chuckl Norris. The second show

features a female lead character--Katherine Janeway. It

is entitled "Star Trek: Voyager". Winn uses this show

as an example of how we can help to change our culture's

perspectives on sexism. By featuring more female lead

characters on television, we can help to change our

sexist society.

A. Today I searched for new information about sexism in

advertising to add into my bibliography report.

B. The phases I used: sexism and advertising, sex in

ads, sexism

C. While I was searching for this topic, I found it

very difficult to find information to argue the other

side. Most of the information I've been reading only

argues one side: that sexism in ads can cause distorted

ideas about how a person should look.

D. The search engine I used was: Skworm.com I don't

care to use this search engine but I thought I may help

me find something new :)

E. The web address of one article I read:

www.personal.kent.edu/~glhanson/readings/advertising/womeninads.htm

F. One of the interesting things that I found while I

was reading this article titled, "sexism and sexuality

in advertising" By Michael F. Jacobsen and Laurie Anne

Mazur was that it gives a historical perspective of how

the ideas of an ideal women's body has changed within 80

years (1920-2003). I found this to be very useful

because it allows the readers to understand that "thin

was not in" which seems to be the ideal body type now.

However, no matter what year it is, apperance means a

lot in advertising.

Here are some of the quotes that I found in this article

to be beneficial for my bibliography report:

1. "many products are pitched with explicit sexual

imagery that borders on pornography.. such ideas of

women reinforces stereotypes of women as sex objects and

may contribute to violence against women.

2. "Everywhere we turn, advertisments tell us what it

means to be a desirable man or women"

Overall, I think this is an excellent webpage because it

allows the readers to get a sense how cultures and ideas

may change over short periods of time. Plus, I think

people often mistake life right now is and was the same

20 years ago.

I used the searching terms, "Gender ROle." I had no

problem finding the following site with Google searching

engine.

This article written by Dr.Signorielli explains various

issues about the gender-role stereotypes on TV. For

instance, the image of women on TV are that of under

representative. The number of women and men characters

is uneven for paticular TV shows. Moreover, women are

likely to be younger than men on TV. TV can be a

positive force in a young children's life, but only if

that child is media-literate.

To add to my bibliography report I searched for new

information about sexism and advertising.

typing in the phrase: sexism and advertising.

I enjoy using this search engine because it's easy and

it rewords the phrases you type in. For example, when I

typed in the word sexism and advertising, it came up

with new phrases such as problems with advertising. I

would highly recommend using this search engine. Plus,

I didn't encounter any problems while I was using this

search engine.

Here are some of the websites pertaining to this issue.

website provides contact information of brand names like

BEBE and DIOR. The purpose is to get people to write

and complain about their sexist advertisments.

2.

This article dealt with Windson Smith shoes and his

sexist advertisments. Apparently, one of his ads was

considered distastful. And the Advertising Standard

Board (ABS) also found it to be distasteful so they had

one particular billboard taken down.

Childrens cartoons are daily supplement growing up in

America and around the world. One of the most popular

cartoons of my generation was the smurf. The idea of the

cartoon was simple a bunch of small blue people with

different personalities live together and face off

against the evil gargamel. Back then no one came to take

a look at what messages we were sending our children.

All the characters in the smurfs are men, except for

Smurfette who wore high heel shoes and a dress. The drew

the character to look very sexy. Other shows like He-man

and Gi-joe draw sexist barriers on how men and women

should act and behave. That is what can be seen as the

problems with these types of shows. It portrays men as

the aggresores and women as submissive and incapable of

taking care of them selves. Men also wore tight fitting

clothes and and women skimpy outfits. As a kid this has

a strong effect on out gender roles, and has the

possibility to inhibit men and women for stepping

outside of those means.

I searched in Yahoo using the phrase 'commercials during

cartoons' to find websites. I didn't really have a

specific topic in mind, but I figured that since

cartoons are pretty sexist (as I found in my TV-sexism

forum research), their commercial promoters would

probably be plugging pretty sexist toys. Pink and

pretty for the girls, dark and destructive for the boys.

And this proved true.

Two good, but very different, websites I found were

www.danielscablevision.com/pages/60tips.html and

www.geocities.com/carnival_isha/commercials.htm.

The first website lists a bunch of tips on how to

monitor your children's viewing by limiting their TV

time daily and interacting with them while they watch

TV. This helps proper absorption of fact rather than

fiction since oftentimes young children cannot decipher

for themselves and thus commercials that boast of

products with amazing abilities will have children

believing in no time. This also helps the parent

because do you want your child whining for a new toy

after they've been brainwashed? Probably not.

The second site is even more interesting because it has

bizarre facts such as 'American children see 20,000

commercials during their childhood.' It also mentions

the dangers of such stereotypes and expectations

children can form.

I personally, just don't think it's healthy to sacrifice

our children's minds to this mass-consumerism society.

Would kids clamor after so many brightly colored new

toys or junk food if they didn't see it on TV all the

time? Yeah, probably somewhat cause it's all around us.

But when I'm a parent, I'll want my kids to think for

themselves, not for Fisher-Price.

P.S. I had no trouble researching this topic.

I totally agree with Christina. I searched through the

search engine of yahoo and tried different ways of

finding information on coomercials during cartoons.

Commercials during cartoons, commercial brainwashing,

children's television, as well as a few others. I found

that without commercials advertising persuasive ways of

getting people to buy things, people would probably be

healthier and more in shape. Television is a main

source of corruption in our society. Children are very

subseptible to commercials and what they advertise.

They are subdued to violence, sex, and even to diseases

such as obesity and anerexia. In my opinion, this is why

children are beginning to learn adult subjects earlier

and earlier, such as the topic of sex. I also have found

that if there were no commercials during children's

cartoons, kids would not be subdued to toy advertising

and candy advertising. Without these commercials kids

would probably be much amarter and healthier. Parents

must be strongly cautioned towards what there children

watch on television. Parents should accompany there

child when watching television and explain to them

things that they might not understand. Parents also

should limit there child to an hour a day of television.

Television is one of the most influential things in

society to our children. We must monitor what our

children can and cannot watch. Everything you see in

commercials is directed to a certain sex and age group.

Commercials for children is seen as boys like cars as

well as girls like dolls. It is a part of our society.

Society chows us something and we, especially children,

think it is right.

I agree that commercials advertising sexist toys do have

their downside, but we should be looking to other

sources to blame for the development of children's

attitudes also. I know that when I go shopping for my

five year old nephew I tend to buy toys that I would

have wanted to play with as a kid, regardless of the

advertising dollars spent on it's commercials. So

really I'm to blame for imposing my inclination towards

certain toys, sexist or not. In fact the last toy I

bought for him was a kick-ass remote controlled monster

truck which I play with more frequently than he.

Whether or not my liking for sexist toys was learned

from sexist commercials as a kid I'm not sure. I do

know that I expect my nephew to feel the same towards

the toys I buy for him and react negatively when he

doesn't.

good call. that's typical of me too. and thus the

cycle of sexism repeats itself.

You know, I think thats interesting that you brought

that up. I never thought about that. My father did

that to me when I was little, and still does (just not

with toys).

I remember as a 5yr old (I'm an only child)...my dad

bought a Laser Tag set (one gun, and one vest)...and

guess who got to wear the vest...ME!! He'd chase me

around the house with the gun, and I'd have the vest

on...and I'd wonder to myself who the set was for, him

or me.

He still does it too, he'll buy things for my car that

he'd like to put in his, but realizes that "tricking

out" his truck is a lot less fun that my sporty little

car.

I agree with Miss Larson...good call!

you know...i do know one example of what you said.

whether children would still beg for toys if they didn't

watch TV.

a child that i work with (i work with elementary

children at an afterschool/daycare/japanese language

school thing) is not allowed to watch television at

home, with the exception of educational TV...history

channel, discovery, etc.

however...i still hear him screaming for the newest rage

toy, or game or whatever...its amazing. the children

around him are enough of an influence that he still

falls victim to the mass-media produced

"brainwashing"...damn they're good!!

I couldn't agree more. Concerning the first point on

monitoring children's viewing habits, it is becoming

incresingly important: kids are watching TV more than

ever, and TV is an all too easy way to entertain a child

while the overworked parent gets a break. Limiting

viewing time is essential. More sex and violence is

being marketed to kids than ever before. If something

inappropriate does come on while a child is watching, it

isn't necessarily bad if there is a responsible adult

there to discuss it with them if they have any

questions, or to set them straight if it's deemed a bad

influence. It gives the child and adult an opportunity

to discuss things that might not otherwise come up.

Now to the second point. Commercials (and cartoons

themselves) absolutely support gender stereotypes.

However, I think the advertisements children are exposed

to as adolescents are far more harmful than the ones

seen during early childhood. But perhaps this is where

the seeds are planted. The amount of commercials during

all TV programming is necessary for our digustingly

over-consumptive society. Kids are taught at a young

age that more is better, that possessions bring

happiness, and that unnecessary luxuries are indeed

necessary. This is what keeps the cycle going, and

parents feed the leviathon because they were raised the

same way.

I agree that parents should take it into their own hands

to monitor what their kids are watching. They should

also be there to discuss with them anything that doesn't

seem right on T.V. T.V. has been used as a baby-sitter

for kids and parents wonder why they may have behavior

problems. I don't think that T.V. is all to blaim for

children's gender preferences in toys. Boys are not

encouraged to play with girl toys and girls are not

encouraged to play with boy toys. They acquire these

gender differences from their parents as well as society

and T.V.

It is completly up to parents to monitor the television

viewing habit of their children, but in the end if you

allow your child to watch tv, they will see

advertisments directed towards them. Advertisments

which are a result of our culture, and that cannot be

avoided. The gender difference encontered from watching

television are also unavoidable, but what can you do.

Things are what they are because they are a certain way.

And that is the reason that people like things. If you

didn't agree with the catholic church on the way that

they handled the sex scandal, you could boycott the

church. But so much depends on the media, primarily

television, that at some time you are dgoing to have to

revert back to it, and when you do it will be the same

as it was when you boycotted it. It will always be a

lose-lose situation when you deal with it. The trick is

how long can you not deal with it?

I agree that it is not healthy to sacrifice our

children's minds to the mass consumerism of this

society, but these days everyone is so busy. My cousin

constantly buys his daughter anything to keep her

occupied. He found that as long as he has a Barney tape

going or some kind of cartoon going, she will usually

just sit there and keep quiet. It's funny because to me

it looks like he tries to use the TV media as a

babysitter, so that he can work on his business. He

even put a TV and DVD player in all his cars just so

that she can watch her shows while on the road.

I looked for the reviews of the movie, Princess

Mononoke. I was simply curious about the interpretation

of the main character in the movie through people who

saw it as some sort of idealized model of woman in

Japan.

I used the title of the movie as the search terms and I

had no difficulty in finding the specific opinions in

the reviews.

Mostly I use "askjeeves.com" when I search, actually I

don't know many search engines.

this is Hayao Miyasaki's homepage. I would say, he is

one of the greatest and most famous anime director in

Japan and I belive that his name has been well known in

the world.

Personally, I like his films and I've been the big fan

of his movies. Most of his films have drawn many female

viewers to the anime genre and changed traditional

stereotype of female characters. The main character

represents the genuine role model of female; strong not

only mentally but also physically, independent, and

world saviour.

Japanese women see it as ideal and alternatives in

personality and lifestyle, and they have recognized that

they are no longer men's belongings.

Aloha Kyoko- I have not heard of Hayao Miyasaki but the

contributions he is making to global equal gender rights

is beneficial to say the least. It is my understanding

that the traditional Japanese wife is expected to be

obedient and submissive. For these women to realize

their own self worth through the artistic talent of

another gives Miyasaki the greatest compliment. I have

always enjoyed Japanese anime but always had a special

appreciation for the classics such as Voltron and

Robotech. Then need to bring those back with positive

themes because, through your post, I can see how great

the influence of cartoons have on individual people.Bye.

I was curious to see the connection between gender

based cartoons and commercials they aired with, but I

found articles about gender commercials. I had no

problems with these searches. I chose to use two

different search engines for a variety of articles.

using these key words:commercials based on the cartoons

they air with. I found this article

many cartoons from the 80s such as: Transformers,

He-Man, She-ra, Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake

were created by toy companies to help with toy sales.

Basically the toy companies made cartoons out of their

own products making it like a half hour commercial.

These products were gender based and so the cartoons

"commercials" were aimed specifically at a certain

gender. My second search engine I used was

with commercials. I found this site

about how big the gender gap was for tv commercials for

children's toys, and how children recognize different

toys by their brand names. Both these articles

show that commericals for kids are gender aimed and many

cartoons are created to boost toy sales.

I agree with you that the gender gap in childrens

commercials is huge. But as we have learned the

children recognize the differences at an early age.

They show outward signs of how they deal with problems

and its much different between girls and boys. Even if

they havent watch much tv they still model after their

parents. By the time they do start watching cartoons

and enjoying them they have already been gender

socialized so boys dont want to play with girl toys and

vice versa

The information you researched was quite interesting,

especially the idea that many cartoons(including ones I

enjoyed as a child) are produced purely for advertising

purposes; for a particular product produced by the

cartoon developer. This is a highly effective process,

for both genders, as myself and my younger sister are

both proud owners of multiple toys from our favorite

cartoons.

I used google to find information on commercials and

cartoons. It was really difficult for me to find

information on commercials and cartoons. When I finally

typed in exactly what I wanted to know: "what is

advertised during cartoons" I finally got something at

website is called "Food, Kids and Television" and it is

design for caretakers and parents to gain awareness of

the harms of television programs and commercials.

Authors of the website state that at a very young age

children learn consumerism from commercials. The ones

during cartoons especially are harmful because they

advertise so much candy and other foods that are bad for

anybody's health, but especially young people who are

still developing. Authors call attention to the need for

parents to talk to their kids about the hidden messages

(in this case having to do with health). Not only that,

but this website also addresses the role that sexism

plays--the toys that are advertised during children's

programming like cartoons are very gender specific.

you know, it's so true. kids are driven by

mass-consumerism as much as the rest of our culture.

interesting what you point out about kids' health

because recently i went getting drive-thru when i

noticed McD's now has 'supersize kids meals.' typical.

and so gross. this is why america is overweight.

absolutely no child needs a double-decker cheeseburger.

I agree that unhealthy foods are advertised all the time

but it sells the product---exactly what it's suppose to

do. Marketers are very smart and they do their job

well. In fact, business and psychology are very

similiar from this perspective. Psychologist and

economist are both looking to see what sells, the

choices people make and why, and what are the

reinforcements.

Nevertheless, even though a commercial does what it's

suppose to do it also invites problems. Because many

commercials are marketed a certain way (makes food look

good and people are having fun eating it) it makes me

feel like I'm missing out even though I know it's

unhealthy. But I don't care, I want it. Now, here is

where differences may arise between me, an adult, and

children. I am older and I have my OWN money to buy my

greasy cheeseburger and large fries and I am also more

educated about foods. So with this in mind, I'm

thinking that it's not the markerters fault that

children buy and want what the see on TV. Rather WHO is

buying these unhealthy foods and can it be a learned

thing- to eat unhealthy? I believe parents are partly

to blame for their kids "unhealthy" eating habits. If

parents like to eat Mcdonalds maybe their kids will too.

And if they see their parents eating/buying it all the

time I think their children will want to, too (social

learning). I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if

a lot of unhealthy children have unhealthy parents.

First of all, kids can't buy their own food and I don't

think they go out and buy their own groceries to cook

"good" food. So like the article, I think it's a really

good idea for parents to educated their kids about

eating healthy.

Just some other information to think about. In a

magazine recently published, Hawaii was rated the fitest

or had the lowest rate of overweight people. And, I

heard on the news that six out of ten people in Hawaii

are overwight.

Commercials during childrenâs programs not only

advertise candy but also make it appealing by

transforming the world around them or by transforming

them physically into fruit or cartoons. And of course

the boys are supposed to play with Tonka trucks and the

girls with dolls. There are even commercials that will

target women and cleaning. What I do like about the

Disney channel is that they make an attempt to educate

about letters and numbers during commercial breaks.

This may be a reflection of junk food commercials during

cartoons but in the supermarket you almost have to trick

kids to eat healthy with colorful packaging or fun

shapes and even the candy sometimes is fruit shaped,

tricking the parent to believe it is healthy and the

child that healthy food tastes like sugar!

I guess I never really thought about it, but it is

true...there is an unbelievable amount of commercials,

for candy and other junk food, that air during cartoons.

It's kind of funny if you think about it because we are

always nagging our children not eat too much candy, or

to finish their vegetables if they want some dessert.

But these advertisements, which clearly target children,

give mixed signals. The t.v. says it's okay to eat, but

mommy says no causing her to look like the bad guy just

because she cares about her child's health. Just that

little element alone probably adds to the pains of

parenting.

I found this article in msn.com after typing in "effects

of commercials and cartoons on childre". I was led to

the site

easy to find and I had no trouble with it.

This article was actually a research that was done by

Jacquely S. Bradway on commercials and television

programs that children watch. What was surprising to me

was that the article showed that there is more gender

stereotyping in commercials than in the television

programs that they watch. It said that the commercials

reflect the culture. Boys are to play with toys that

have to do with construction or building things while

girls play with dolls and housekeeping equipment.

Commercials with boys are also more fast paced than girl

commercials. They are louder, brighter, and more

active.

Gender stereotyping in commercials bring out gender

stereotyping in real life. Children are very affected

by these commercials. If a boy sees in a commercial

that a girl is playing something, he would never want to

go out and buy that toy. Same with real situations.

Building and construction becomes a "man's occupation",

while housekeeping is a woman's.

I do agree with you that some people still see that a

man's job is outside the home, while the woman's job is

inside the home. But I think ultimately it is the

parent's responsibility to explain and educate the

children properly. As I grew up I was told I could do

anything I wanted to do. I truely believe this.

Anyone, male or female, can do whatever makes them

happy. It is very important to talk with kids and

listen to the things they say. It is the parent's

responsibility to educate the child about gender

sterotyping. I can say that I see a big difference in

the cartoons and commercials that I saw as a kid and

them today. Much more sexual and violent content now.

Technology is at their fingertips. They see way more

than what I saw as a kid. I wonder how much childhood

will change in the next 20 years.

I have to agree with Heather because I took a childhood

course and we discussed the effect of television on

children today and the main point that was emphasized

during our discussion was that parents today are too

busy working that they tend to neglect talking to their

children about what they are watching and what children

think about what they are watching. In addition, we

also talked about how it is important to sit with your

children (especially if you are watching television

geared more toward adults) and explain to your children

what the program was about and why they portrayed it

that way.

I went to this

is a article about two psychologist that studied

cartoons to see if they have changed at all...the answer

is no. They say that males are more dominant characters

in cartoons. They play the main characters and are more

well-rounded and show more masculine traits. While

there are some women main characters and some women are

portrayed in cartoons, they are not well-rounded, they

nag, they whine, they are bland characters. I thought

this was really interesting because I love to read the

funnies every sunday and now that I think about it the

findings of these two psychologists are true.

I went to this website:

funny because it basically says that children are not

complaining about gender roles in cartoons...only adults

are. And while the suggestion is wisely taken I can not

express to this person the extent of instruction that

children learn gender roles from commercials and

cartoons.

I never thought about how fast paced boys commercials

are until I read that article. Now that you think about

it girls commercials do have softer music and they are

more slow paced. Then you look at some action figure

for a boy and the music is fast and the boys are running

around.

When thinking of cartoons I don't think of Digimon or

Powerpuff girls, I think of Transformers, GIJoe and

He-man and the cartoon with the animals with different

t-shirts detailing their qualities (Shirt-tails?) anyway

-I think the cartoons in these modern times suck. I

don't see how the cartoons from my day are still not on

the air. I'm sure kids nowadays would fully appreciate

them if they were still being broadcasted. I finally

used a different search engine with Google. This google

thing works pretty well. I typed Cartoons, influence and

Transformers and the list was pretty long. I chose the

following articles:

www.moondancersdream.com/PAR.thirtyminutecommercial.htm

www.yojoe.com/faq/gifaq.shtml

The first article was a counter attack against those who

propose that cartoons of the eighties were mere thirty

minute commercials trying to influence young,nieve minds

into begging their parents for the toys they saw on TV.

The author states that these toys were flying off the

shelves before the cartoons were even conceptualized and

that the success of the toys caused the cartoons to be

produced. This guy was a real cartoon junky, citing

everything positive about cartoons and their

accomplishments (ex.Transformers Beast Wars getting an

Emmy)and did nothing to show him as unbiased due to not

detailing any ill effects of cartoons. The second

article was just filled with information on GIJoe. I

don't knoe how GIJoe got into this Transformer party but

this second favorite cartoon caught my attention just

like it did 15 years ago. Anything you wanted to know

about GIJoes can be found in this website along with

frequently asked questions. It also detailed how these

cartoons and others such as Jem were all made and

produced in Japan. Cartoons do have an overwhelming

influence on a young childs mind. I know for a fact that

I saw my first Transformer cartoon way before I got my

first Transformer toy and that it was due soley to the

cartoon that I needed Grimlock, Soundwave, Sabotage,

Sludge, Thundercracker and Megatron. If I saw these

toys in the store and I had no idea who they were or

where they were from I probably would not have asked my

mom continously,repeatively and irritatingly for them

without mercy. So yeah, I disagree with the first

article and do think that cartoons do serve a double

purpose for their creators, one is ratings and the other

is commercialization of their product.

I watched a Saturday morning cartoon called

Pokëmon. This particular episode was called "Brock's

Heartbreak," and it was about the character "Brock,"

getting hit on by girl to the point where this girl

wants to marry him upon first sight. The usually

womanizing Brock is caught in a reverse situation where

he is the one who is hit on (instead of vice-versa).

During the course of the show, she also attempts to

marry two other people at first sight: namely one of the

lead villians of the show, James, and a doctor that

treats her at the end of the show. This girl's father

is a wealthy scientist that raises and studies Pokëmon,

and the villians push the idea of marriage in order to

steal her father's Pokëmon. The heros of this series,

Ash, Misty, and Brock reveal their true intentions and

rescue (or try to) this reluctant girl, Tamaku, from

marriage to "bad" people with the "wrong" intentions.

After the battle, Tamaku "falls-in-love" with the doctor

treating her. Misty reminds Brock that no-one can

compete with a Doctor (probably preaching some kind of

social-status value no-doubt). In the end, Tamaku's

scientist father tells the heros that she had previously

saw a wedding and was very enthusiastic about having her

own.

The Moral? Early marriage is dangerous for there

are many bad people in the world. Extra lessons could

be that love does not come over night (for everyone),

Social status does pay an important role in marriage

(so study hard kiddies and become an MD), and boys:

watch out for those finicky girls. These lessons are

important lessons for all ages, but I don't think half

of the world is listening to them anyway (proof? The

divorse rate is bad enough, and that doesn't even

include or compare to the amount of broken

relationships and unmarried mothers, etc.).

I would show this to any child, it has soft-core

violence, but weilds terrific values and entertaining

dialogues throughout it's plot. The ending was sort of

sad, but it had true-to-life reality (heartbreak) that

fits in quite well with preparing our children for the

twists and turns of life (warning them of impending

danger; or something like that).

So Mark-- I read your review of the Pokemon cartoon. I

have not seen that one or any of them for that matter.

You made some interesting inferences but I must say,

based on what you reported as events in this episode, I

disagree with you. Here's my interpretation of the

cartoon: *This woman/girl wants to marry Brock and then

2 other people sends the message that a woman's love is

not genuine, but rather she wants somebody who's secure

(a doctor perhaps???). *Ash, Misty, and Brock rescue her

from a bad marriage--SHE HAS TO BE RESCUED??? Don't you

think this makes her look a little powerless? If she's

tricked into marriage and then has to be rescued out of

it, she's looks stupid and helpless. *This woman/girl's

father explains that she just saw a wedding so she's

enthusiastic about her own. Doesn't this perpetuate the

stereotype that all females--girls until they're

women--sit around planning their wedding day and waiting

passively for an assertive man to "rescue her?"

*Please help me understand how "boys: watch out for

those finicky girls" is an important lesson for all

ages? It's grossly one-sided to say the least. *P.S.

"Softcore violence" is not a "terrific value."

Vanessa,

I did not post this to generalize, so I expected

you not to see it as such. A woman's love is genuine,

but not everyone's is, regardless of gender. Just as a

person must be careful regardless of whom she/he is

dating, etc. "Rather she wants somebody who's secure?"

A doctor perhaps, yeah social status does exist, most do

prefer to marry a doctor. Especially in Japan (where the

show was made, and no doubt it was made by a Japanese

National). *Ash, Misty, and Brock rescue her, period.

Don't YOU think this makes her look a little powerless?

"If she's tricked into marriage and then has to be

rescued out of it, she's looks stupid and helpless."

That's the whole point! Hopefully the CHILDREN can

understand that, being that they are regular watchers of

the show and know who the villans are by heart. It's

the children who get to point and the screen and say

"DANGER! DANGER! Don't do it!" They should feel good

knowing that they know what's right and what's wrong.

*Doesn't this perpetuate the stereotype that all

females--girls until they're women--sit around planning

their wedding day and waiting passively for an assertive

man to "rescue her?" --There's a stereotype? Nah,

that's not what my MOM taught me. Oh, you must be

confused with the movie Pretty Woman. I did NOT like

the way she was portrayed in it. But I'm not bold

enough to say that it doesn't happen. *Please help me

understand how "boys: watch out for those finicky girls"

is an important lesson for all ages. -- Ok, but soon

I'm going to start charging. lol. As a child grows up

(boys or girls alike, mind you), they have this

innocence about them. Sometimes they remain this way

until they get burned by some mean person. A warning

doesn't seem that bad around now, does it? Or are you

still hung up on the feminist issue? Ok, back to the

divorce rate: it's quite high. People are deciding that

they are right for each other, not right for each other,

right for each other, not right for each other... A lot

of people keep up the repetition but I don't have the

time to keep going. "Boys, watch out for only CERTAIN

girls," was what I was referring to. This means YOUR

PERCEPTION of things is grossly one-sided to say the

least. SHEESH! Look closely at my reply again, the only

feminist issues you see exist in your head. Remember

that you did not see the show, but still jumped to

conclusions. Hmmmm, yet you did reply to my reply. For

what it's worth, thanks. --Velocity *P.S. "Softcore

violence" is a "terrific value" for two reasons: 1.)

When you're fighting for the right cause, especially for

what you believe in (like justice). and 2.) Soft core is

not hard core, and presumably it has the right amount of

action without getting too aggressive (shooting water

versus shooting bullets from an AK-47).

I was using the google search engine searching for

gender roles as they are portrayed in cartoon

characters. i had no problems finding an article on

gender roles and those roles in cartoons.

This article was mainly about how cartoons portray the

traditonal gender and sex roles we have in society.

Things havent changed much from the 70s. Our youth is

still being exposed to the same images as generations

before. With the new age of broadcasting and tv

becoming more edgy and controvocial the images being

sent out are that much more powerful. Besides the

advances in the equal rights of people the traditional

images still stand strong in our society.

This was extremely interesting to research. It is

amazing how much advertising is marketed directly to our

children. I found a fantastic site that has ove 10

articles written about ads that target children. This

is huge business. Children see over 40,000 commercials

a year. Children influence about $500 BILLION in

spening a year. Marketers target children instead of

the parents who have the money b/c it is easier for your

kids to convince parents to buy something rather than

the tv commercials. The commercials that are being

played are for toys and junk food. If the advertisers

can convince the kids that every other kid has it,

children will pressure the parents.

In addition to marketing directly to children, the

commercials are gender biased. During girl cartoons you

will see more commercials for dolls, barbie's, make-up,

and stuffed animals. During the boys cartoons you will

see the commercials target the boys; cars, action

figures, and other male oriented toys.

Again I started using google as my search engine. This

search was a little more tricky. I used the terms:

advertising that targets children, commercials during

cartoons, advertising during cartoons, commercials. My

search was not going so well. So I started using the

advance search. I just mixed the words around until I

got waht I was looking for.

this is the best site I found:

Reply to Marketing to our children

I can't believe that children see over 40,000

commercials a year. No wonder it's such a big

industry!--I mean $500 billion dollars a year is a lot

of money for kids to be generating.

I also agree that advertisers can convince children to

pressure their parents to buy them toys or food. I can

remember asking my mom to buy me a cabbage patch doll.

I thought every girl had one except me and begged her

for it. Of course I got it. But, now I know. So if I

ever have kids I won't fall for their tricks. hehe.

I found a place where they talk of the subject, perhaps

you all already seen this one but:

"Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and

Make-Believe Violence"

It was interesting to hear someone other than myself say

that letting children watch shows where they can define

or understand what is right or wrong in the content

actually helps them in their development.

Acknowledgement of what is right and wrong is another

key ingredient in the learning process. If you want to

teach children right that is. I'd imagine it probably

would be better if you watch the show with them and

speak some of those out loud for confirmation though.

I agree that allowing children to watch shows with

violence in it does not harm the child. If the child

wants to watch it, the parent should just let them watch

it, but must be sure to explain to the child the

difference between TV and real life. All throughout my

life my parents never restricted what I could and could

not watch. But when I was young they made sure to

explain to me about the difference between reality and

TV. By doing that it helped me to understand why I

shouldn't imitate the characters that I see on TV. For

instance why I shouldn't copy the Ninja Turtle's and

beat up people that made trouble to me.

Yes, yes! Many of us watched violent things when we

were young! You see, thats my whole point. If you sit

down with the child and explain what is good and what is

bad then no matter what terrible things (like rated R

movies that children tend to end up seeing) the child

"accidentally" sees, he/she can seperate what is good

and what is bad. Of course if you gradually yet

constantly remind the child of both what is good

behavior and what is bad behavior, they will listen. I

am a constant reminder of that [I knew right from wrong,

and I'm fine today] and (most of) us are too.

Accentuate the positive too, that is always a good

start.

P.S.: Thanks for agreeing with me Shawn, sometimes I

feel like I'm alone in this.

Do we not look down upon those who threaten the well

being and saftey of our children and children in

general? Then why do we tolerate commercials aimed at

children which promote nothing good or wholesome, but

rather junk food and toys? the way thing are going now

that is all advertisments during childrens programing is

about. 96% of all advertisments during childrens

programing is for candy, pre-sweetened cereals, new toys

and soda. Only 4% of commercials are for breads and

grain, juice, or meat. you could say that it is

because that is what children like. But, do children

really like this stuff that much, or do we make them

like it? Just like when people say that if children

watch violent programing they will tend to be morre

violent than usual. Then what about watching shows for

candy and fast food? Does this not have the same

effect? you have to be stupid to say no. Then why do

we allow our children to be subjected to these types of

things when we know that this is a silent epidemic?

People want to wait until the problem is visable, and by

that time it is too late. When will you intervene?

When your child is 80 pounds over weight, or will you

wait until that child has his or her own child that is

now 80 pounds over weight? the cycle has begun and mass

media is the culprit. I used the google search engine to

find results on this topic. I typed in commercials and

childrens programing, but that didn't get too many

relavant hits, so i typed in advertisments during

childrens programing. here i got many better results.

www.isiswomen.org/pub/medvaw/repre.html

www.cycf.umn.edu/schoolage/programs/cc1024.html

Reply message to Raul Sabat:

I think the main reason adults and society tolerate

commercials that are not "wholesome" has a lot to do

with the lack of information about how commercials can

effect a child.

I honeslty don't think many people are aware of how much

impact commercials can have. Another thing to note is

that adults don't give much credit to how smart children

are.

Using Yahoo, I did a search on the words " ." It took

me a little while to shuffle through some of the sites

that did not even pertain to this subject. But other

than that, I had no other problems. I found an article

entitled "COMMERCIALS ON KIDS SHOWS - WHAT'S THE

MESSAGE?" at:

According to this article, commercials that come on

during children's shows are discriminant in terms of sex

and race. It states that a majority of the characters

in commercials are white males. It also says that some

commercials do feature black children, but they rarely

have any speaking lines. One thing that the author

pointed out was a commercial that she had seen while

watching Saturday morning cartoons. It was a lego

commercial with a little boy playing Legos with his

grandmother. His grandma kicks his butt and everyone is

left wondering how she pulled that off...then at the end

of the commercial she reveals that she is really a HE.

Those are just a couple of examples of sexism and racism

pointed out by the author of this article.

In response to Deni........

What you found is really interesting, when I try to

think of how many children's commercials feature black

female kids, I can't think of any right off the bat

compared to white male kids. Latley, however, I've seen

much more Asians not only in commercials, but on t.v. in

generaL, which suggest an increasing awarenes to have a

better representation of the American population.

If you also listen to the voiceovers on the commericals

there are far more men than there are women. Women

voiceovers usually do house cleaning supplies or

feminine hygiene products, while men voiceovers are more

broad.

The search engine I used was MSN. The key words I used

to search were gender roles in cartoon commercials. At

first I had a lot of difficulty because only cartoon

sites were presented. I came across an article about

how cartoons stereotype gender roles. The address is

discussed that in cartoons the men have more important

roles such as scientists and doctors while women are

nurses or beauties. Male characters also outnumber the

female characters. "Male characters are also still

portrayed as dominate, powerful and aggressive. Female

characters don't have any 'character' at all." Another

article I found on MSN is "Gender-Differentiated

Production Features in Toy Commercials". The address is

This article discusses research that shows differences

in how toys are marketed to children including male

voices for boys commercials and female voices for girl's

commercials. And the commercial styles for boys were

more "masculine" while girls commercials were

"feminine."

Can people say that if we didn't incorporate gender

roles into modern society that we would be better off?

i think it is horrible what people are doing to the

children by over projecting gender roles into hildren

programing, but then again there must be some basis to

hold these ideas together. I am not saying that

children need to learn about these things in these ways

or that they need to be brainwashed into thinkiing a

certain way about their genders, but it would be

impossible to have a completly fair and impartial

society in which people could avoid conflict as such.

Are we to say that the media society has to change

before real society can change or does real society have

to change before the media will change? I feel that it

is impossible for equality to occur because once one

aspect has been liberated, another will fall into the

hole, and then people will say that this new thing is

unfair, and that is just the way it is.

using google i looked under sex roles in commercials. i

found articles quite fast.

the article is a journal article sent out to show the

roles of men in television. It focuses on the commercial

aspect of tv. it has statistical analysis showing how

many commercials the avg. american watches in one day.

Its rediculous. We are affected by everything we see on

tv. The article shows how commercials try to reflect

the values of our society. Like television program it

uses the values and laws of society to socialize in to

all thinking the same way. Sex roles are a by product

of this. The more we see some one acting a certain way

we begin to make generalizaions that, thats how things

are and thats how they are done.

I was attempting to find information on between

advertising during cartoons, I can remember as a child

watching hours of cartoons and gazing longingly at the

newest Transformer or GI Joe and insisting to my dear

mum that I HAD to have it.

I used Google to search for advertising+during+cartoons

and found a few interesting articles, one of them pretty

much summed up all the others.

This article discusses advertising in cartoons and its

effects on children.

The article claims that 13 Billion dollars are spent

each year marketing food and drinks to children and

their parents. And this doesnt even mention money spent

on advertising toys and other things, i'm guessing that

just as much if not more is spent on toys during

cartoons. I still watch occasionally and it seems like

they are just a big toy ad with some cartoons thrown in

between. The advertising is not for healthy food by any

means, "...only 2 percent of all advertising by food

manufacturers is for fruits, vegetables, grains or beans

-- foods that the government and health professionals

encourage." So basically advertisers just want a bunch

of fat kids watching cartoons all day, and they are

doing a good job of it, "These days, about 14 percent of

U.S. children and youth are too heavy..."

Unfortunately much of the blame lies with the parents,

its up to them to stop buying every fancy fattening food

product their spoiled child desires.

i was researching this topic on the internet and found

this neat site:

it has a listing of all the different children's tv

shows throughout history. it was funny when i would

look at some of them and remember them. but, one of the

things that i would also remember was the different

commercials that came with them.

its amazing the gates that were opened up by just the

discription of the show. i remember old army recruiting

commercials, toys, movies, commercials for other tv

shows...clothes. it then dawned on me that these

advertisers are good. they have the ability to affect

children far into their adult lives, the way they have

mine...and i hope that these advertisers are aware of

this, and are responsible with this power.

Yes, it does bring back memories to think of all the

cartoons that I watched when I was growing up. I do

agree with you that tv does influcence kids, and

advertisers need to be more careful on how they

advertise. Of course they are going to try to make the

most appealing commercials to sell the most products.

They are clearly taking advantage of children at this

age.

I wasn't really lokking for anything specific, I just

entered the basic search terms, "children's programming"

and looked for ideas to search for something more

specific on Vivisimo.com. The final search terms I

used was "cartoon character's children's programming,

modeling." www.cqcm.org/juror/juryman4.htm This site

called Coalition for Quality Children's Media lists

criteria for accepting/rejecting titles of children's

programming like:

NO gratuitous violence or sexual behavior NO physical or

verbal abuse NO racial, gender, cultural or religious

bias NO condescension toward children NO unsafe

behaviorRemember to adhere closely to KIDS FIRST!®

baseline criteria when evaluating a product. No

gratuitous violence or sexual behavior

I searched for a connection between boys and girls

cartoons and the commercials they aired with. I used

phrase:commercials for girls and boys cartoons. There

were no problems in the search.

I found the article "Media effect on girls: body and

gender identity."

In the article it says that children's cartoon

characters displayed sterotypical characteristics. Boys

were violent, and girls were concerned with their

appearance, domestic, and interested in boys. As for

the girls commercials 50% were about physical

attractiveness, but the boys commercials didn't display

any of this. Also 50% of the boys in commercials aimed

towards them showed them acting aggressively, while the

girls commercials had none of this.

There is a connection between commercials and cartoons.

Advertisers will try to aim for a specific gender and

use sterotypes to try to sell their products to them.

This article i found while looking for commercials and

sexism. The article is about the racist and sexist

views we see on television everyday. This is a huge

problem in our country although we do allow it and do

nothing about it. I think americans like thier sex

roles and race roles out there in the open. Because the

changes are so small and insignificant it looks like

nothing has been getting done at all to regulate

commercials and the sexist and bias views they portray.

I used Google for this search and typed in

"cartoons"+"sexism". I had no problem finding an article

on that topic.

One of the articles hit was titled "Sexism and Culture

In this article, the author Jim Winn first states that

television shows are sexist because of the viewers'

demand for them. It also seems that most viewers would

like to have sexist shows that are dominated by male

characters. Therefore, some shows are sexist not because

of the producer but because of the viewer themselves.

Another point that Winn brought up in his paper is that

to a certain extent, television also affects our culture

while being affected by it. The author states that every

attempt to incorporate females into television shows

will positively cause some changes in our society,

regardless of whether the change is big or small.

I agree that television and culture are intertwined with

each other and they both have influences over each

other. Becaus of this relationship, sexism exists on

television only because it exists in our culture.

In my search I was looking for anything that related to

conflicts that adolescent girls would have. The search

terms I used were, conflicts in adolescent girls. There

were no specific problems with this search. There were

other interesting sites that dealt with intellect and

problem solving. The web address of the article I

looked at is: www.wellspring.org The web address

discussing the difference in how girls and boys resolve

conflicts is:

It is commonly know that many adolescent girls suffer

from anorexia and bulimia, but what interested me about

this site was that they explained how they treat these

disorders along with substance abuse and attachment

issues. The media has focused largely on what these

disorders are and spend less time discussing the

treatment process that follows. I think this is a very

important area to focus on and should receive more

attention.

I like the fact that you addressed the fact that we hear

a lot about WHAT these disorders are, but not a lot

about how to TREAT them. When you look back at the 70s,

when this disorder was becoming a big part in hollywood,

and first starting to get some attention, we have come a

long way in being able to talk about it. At first

society almost had a "shhh...if you ignore it, its not

happening" attitude towards it, but its nice to see that

since the mid 90s we have finally been able to discuss

it with young women and bring the fact that it IS a

disorder to some light. Next step...talking about

treatment.

I do also think that its sad that with as much as we DO

put into education about this and similar disorders,

that we still have it happening. Refering back to my

discussion topic, this partly has to do with the "thin"

look that is going around modelling and hollywood as

"beautiful." I would like to say, as attractive as some

of these women are...THIN IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER!!! If we

could get the media to help inform our impressionable

young teen girls about this, and help instill some self

confidence back into society...we may be able to start

PREVENTING these disorders, as opposed to mourning those

who've been victimized by it...

The study cited what I think is an obvious but often

overlooked fact of the difference between male and

female relationships. Referencing my own relationships

with my friends, the most insight I can give is that

guys just don't talk about thos kinds of things. By

"those kinds of things" I mean hurt feelings, problems

with girlfriends, etc. Males and females support each

other in completely different but equally effective ways

-- but I think only psychology students would realize

this. Girls offer each other their attentive listening,

shoulders to cry on, advice, and a good time (e.g. a

girls' night out) to free their minds of unpleasant

thoughts.

Guys offer each other ego protection. Without

confidence, men have a hard time. Whether this is the

result of a stereotype or not, it's true. Guys offer

each other excuses and rationalizations to each other

about their problems, and then go out and get wasted

with each other to make themselves feel better. No

pillow talk, no sappy music, just ego rebuilding. While

it may not be as healthy as expressing their feelings,

it's a reality.

How this related to depression, eating disorders, and

the like is very complicated. There is doubtless a

strong connection with the media, but it is possible

that the way women and men cope with social distress

affects their rates of mental disorders. However, it is

hard for me to swallow that a healthier way of dealing

with conflict (as women do) actually causes more mental

disorder.

Adolescent girls constantly experience their bodies

changing. Many allow the culture to define who they

should be and what they should look like. In this site,

a clinical psychologist points out several conflicts

that adolescent girls may encounter. For instance, the

early adolescent emotional system is unstable; most

early adolescents cannot think abstractly; schools treat

girls and boys differently; the social pressure from

family and peers and so on.

I think this was a good article because it gave an in

depth look on what kinds of issues teenage girls are

experiencing. I especially think that at this stage in

life girls are very emotional, and they do take the

smallest thing and totally blow it out of proportion.

The way adolescent girls view themeselves definitely has

a lot to do with today's media. Countries like America

value attractiveness. This is why teenage girls without

a strong self-identity will try to be the "image" our

cultrue admires. When we change the way women are

portrayed in the media, we should see more girls feeling

positive about their own selves.

I think that this is a very interesting article. I

actually recieved this book, Reviving Ophelia, as a gift

when I was in high school. This book helped me to

understand some of the difficulties that I had to face

as a teenager. Mary Phipher is an amazing woman. She

is helping many adolescent girls understand themselves

in a more positive way. I think adolescent girls today

have a very difficult time, especially with body imaage.

The media portrays such a negative image on how a woman

is suppose to look. So many young girls today are

starving to be thin just so they can fulfil the

superficial acceptance of society.

This was a good article. It brought up that 'peers are

everything' in adolecent girls. As we have read, females

need peer groups, and peer groups during adolecence are

the same groups that offer drugs, alcohol and sexual

advances. It is not surprising that peer goups are

everything in adolecence and from this it is obvious

that there will be conflics between culture scrips and

authentic selves. Also during adolecence girls are

constantly experiencing body changes and it seems that

because women are birthgivers their body changes are

more extreem than males, therefore there can not be a

comparison between female and male puberty changes.

Lastly, this great change is also reason for girls to

find social groups that understand their changes.

After re-reding my post, I realized that I did not state

the article that I got my information from. But after

giving my presentation in class, I realized that the

article I used by Charles Darwin was relative as well.

Therefore, coorelated material on my research can be

found in "Gender Differences in Vulnerability to social

stress: A Darwinian Perspective," revised by Alfonso

Troisi. It can be found on reserves at the Sinclair

Library, or in pdf format at

I agree that one's culture can be a big influence on the

way adolescents grow up in society. American society

tends to focus on looks. Good looking people are

treated better in this society. This puts a tremendous

amount of pressure especially on adolescent girls. The

media also plays a big role on influencing these

adolescent girls to be gorgeous and flawless.

Adolescent girls are trying harder and harder to be like

sexy women.

Many young girls experience conflicts with their body

images. American society values thin women. In other

words, thin is in. The value of being thin in America

leads to further problems such as eating disorders and

body image disorders.

The article was very good. I think the book is

something I will pick up and read for myself and

hopefully I can recommend it to some teenage girls that

I know. I agree that adolescent is a tough age to go

through. There are so many questions and so many things

going on. I think that during those years, it is

important that they have people that are stable in their

life to guide them and to accept them for who they are.

Teenage girls often turn to the media to define who they

are suppose to be and often times, it has horrible

consequences.

I wanted to focus on what may influence teenage girls

I wanted to focus on how biology and culture influence a

teenage girl's sense of self-worth.

The search terms I used were: culture and conflict with

teenage girls; how culture affects adolescent girls.

There weren't any problems with these searches. I used

This article "How Seventeen undermines young women" by

Kimberly Phillips describes how culture affects girls.

The popular teen magazine "Seventeen" was used as an

example of how today's popular culture makes an impact

on teenage girl's lives. It stated that "Seventeen"

mainly focused on one's appearance, and how to attract

guys. It didn't have many articles on serious issues

girls may be experiencing. This article's focus is on

how culture does influence people's lives.

www.beautyworlds.com/seventeenundermines.htm

The other article "Author:Biology more than culture

affects teen girls" by Sarah Myrick, emphasizes that

biology is the main cause of a teen girl's awkward stage

in life. It mentions that culture plays a small role in

influencing a teen.

www.s-t.com/daily/02-02/02-17-02/e01li129.htm

Both these articles make a good point, but the two

apsects go hand in hand. Therefore one shouldn't focus

on one aspect more than the other.

I agree with you that biology and culture have a huge

impact on girls' feelings of self-worth and that neither

of the two should be given more importance than the

other. It's the whole nature vs. nurture debate.

Although the issue still has two sides, I think that

more people are slowly learning that the two are

inseparable. Like you said, the two go hand in hand.

I like how you presented two articles that have

differing views. It just goes to show that there is not

one definite answer.

This is regarding "Biology or culture? What is the

bigger influence?

I agree with the articles in taking culture as the big

influence in affecting teenager girls sense of

self-worth. If you look in the media and in girls

magazines, there's always a picture of a pretty, skinny

girl. You'll never see a chubby, pretty girl, or a

skinny, ugly girl. It's always a pretty, skinny girl

with perfect hair and skin complexion. Looking at these

magazines is always the same. Just the other day I was

standing in line at a store and a young girl, with her

mother, picked up a magazine and said, "Hey mom, I want

my hair to look like this". It's sad to think that

young girls want to look like people in the magazine,

but you can't help it. I'll admit it, when I was

younger (and still now occasionally) I wished the same

think. I think it's a phase that every girl will go

through, and maybe some guys, in life whether they'll

admit it or not.

I too, would have to agree that biology and culture

interact with each other. But personally, I think that

culture has a bigger influence on the way we think.

One reason is because culture has a HUGE impact on the

way we see ourselves. For instance, in most magazines

like glamour or seventeen, the girls are seen as pretty

and beautiful. We see that their hair and makeup is

flawless and wonder why can't I look like that.

Well wouldn't you agree that anyone can look good

now-a-days with technology/medicine? Girls can get

boob-jobs, liposuction, botox anything that can make

them look better or similair to the people in the

magazines. And why? Maybe because media tells/shows us

what THEY THINK beautiful is. And I capatalized (they

think) because we all think differently. And that is

just my point. We are influenced on what they think is

pretty and it affects us as individuals in society.

For this week's research message, I was searching for

anything that was related to conflicts that adolescent

girls would have today. The search phrase that I used

was conflicts in adolescent girls. The information I

needed came up at my first attempt. Therefore, I had no

problems with this search. The search engine I used to

find the information ws google. The web address of the

article is:

In this article I found that the suicide rate in

adolescents has rose since the 1960 and 1980. I was

shocked to find that the suicide rate for young females

were much higher compared with young men. Young women

are at greater risks for attempting suicide because they

are exposed to different expectations than young men,

which causes gender-role conflict. Adolescent girls also

have more pressure about body image and appearance than

adolescent boys. This may cause the young woman to feel

insecure or depressed.

This is a comment message for Gail Baracao on "Suicidal

behavior in adolescent girls":

I read the article you recommended and I found it to be

an interesting study.

As for your comment "Adolescent girls also have more

pressure about body image and appearance than adolescent

boys. This may cause the young woman to feel insecure

or depressed," I agree with you saying that women are

led to feel insecure or depressed because of society's

perceived ideal body image. I'm not a guy, but I would

think that they probably have just as much pressue

about pursuing the ideal male body image. Just as how

female models are "thin," male models have that certain

"build." However, I can understand where you are coming

from. Maybe we just know more females than males who

are affected by this pressure. Maybe just being females

make us tend to "highlight' our side of the story more

than the males. Maybe if more males admitted that they

too get affected from peer/society's pressure to look

like the advertised models, then we would get a

different perspective.

Guys, what are your comments?

I was just wondering if the suicide rate you looked up

pertains to the United States as a whole or just to

Hawaii. I'm from the Northern Marianas and the suicide

rates down there are higher for males than for females,

but it has to do more with the culture. Back home males

are often taught not to show any emotion or just to keep

it inside because that is what they are taught so males

end up killing themselves as a form of expression that

they cannot handle the pressure of their problems.

The media definately has a large part to play in the

misconceptions young women place upon themselves in

todays society. The pressure to fit a certain mold is

perpetuated daily in magazines, television commercials,

etc. My question is, can we point the finger to just one

culprit when it comes to suicidal behavior? I don't want

to down play the pressure the media puts on adolescent

girls, but I think it's important to realize that there

may be underlying factors to consider. I grew up being

the "fatboy" in elementary and intermediate school, so I

know how it feels to be ridiculed for your appearance

but not once did I ever think about killing myself for

that. As strong as the influence of the media is I feel

one's upbringing far outpasses it.

This is in regards to Sean Arakaki's reply to Suicidal

Behavior in Adolescent Girls. I totally agree with what

you said about the media not being the only influence in

today's society. There are a lot of issues that need to

be examined as well. For instance one's culture is an

important factor. There are some cultures that think

big is beautiful and healthy, and view slenderness as a

sign of poverty. Unfortunately, practically every

American girl does not agree with this view. It's tough

living in a world where there is so much emphasis on

body image and beauty. People may say that inner beauty

is all that counts, but I don't see any evidence

supporting that statement.

reply to Gail Baracao's message:suicidal behavior.

After I read the message, I checked the suicidal rate in

the US and Japan, just to see the difference. I'm so

surprised that the US has higher rate than Japan.

In our traddition, there is the tendency or already

legend?, we value on th virtue of suicide; however, the

time when suicide was idealized, there were only two

choices people had: suicide to maintain pride or live

with disgrace.

I personally don't have that chouice and I won't.

I think one of the reasons that suicide rates have gone

up is that there is a whole other world that adolescent

have to deal with today rather than in 1960. I have

seen studies that were done in the 1960's compared to

more recent studies. The studies asked teenagers what

they had to be concerned with - what were their worries?

In the 1960's it was like; being late for class, am I

going to be asked out on a date, or who is going to

drive to the drive in. The more recent studies show

that teenagers worry about; nuclear war, physical

appearance, and paying rent. These types of issues seem

to be much more "real life" than in the 1960's. Kids

now days have a lot more difficult issues to deal with.

This could be some of the reason the suicide rate has

gone up.

One reason, other than culture and biology that may have

influenced the suicide rate of adolesent girls is the

idea that girls handle problems and conflicts

differently than do boys. So it may be hard for many to

realte to the conditions under which girls precieve

things. I read on one site about an experiment in which

researchers watched a group of girls and a group of boys

and observed their discussion habits about some problem.

It turned out that girls would rather resolve a

conflict, while boys would rather forget about them.

When girls encounter a problem they tend to worry about

it, and in return they feel that it is best to reslove

the issue. This was beacuse the girls were more

supportive of each other and also that they possesed

better communication skills and were less likely to

withdrawl and or avoid their friends whom they had

problems with. Boys on the other hand tend to try to

avoid the problem for as long as possible, and hope that

all will be forgotten. This means that when a girl has

no one to turn to that she may selfdestruct due to the

fact that she was once so reliant on social support.

Another thing may be that since there is a whole new

spectrum of things for girls to worry abut today that

they have no one to turn to about all of the problems

that they have since their parents didn't experienca any

of the problems which they are experiencing today.

I found a great website through Yahoo by typing

'conflicts with adolescent girls' in the subject

heading. Www.apa.org/pilcyf/adolesgirls.html#tee is an

all-encompassing site by an organization called

Children, Youth and Families (which I had never heard of

before).

Every risk facing young women today was covered there in

depth. Actual questions on topics such as emotions,

society, sex, health and many other issues were raised

by anonymous girls and then explored and answered by

experts.

I guess it really has been a while since I was an

adolescent girl (despite the fact that sometimes we

20-somethings still feel like it!) and the questions

these youth had about issues such as rape, abuse and

other red-letter topics shocked me. I wasn't thinking

about rape when I was 14 and it hurts to think that

early-awareness really is that prevalent for a

self-defense necessity.

The initial reason I wanted to be a Psychology major was

to become a high school counselor. I've since explored

other options, but this website I found really has

elicited my compassion and I'm wondering if maybe

high-school counseling really is the right area for me.

This is a response message to Christina Larson's "G is

for Girl".

I tried the link that you suggested but the APA homepage

popped up instead...do you mind double-checking the

link? It sounds like an awesome website.

I'm not sure how the situation is here in Hawaii, but in

Hong Kong (where I'm from), two or three high-schools

share one counselor. It seems to me that students in

Hong Kong are very reluctant to go see a counselor, coz

both the kids and their parents think that seeing a

counselor means you're "problematic". I guess it's

normal for an adolescent girl to have conflicts, as long

as she can talk to someone she trusts. By just talking

is therapeutic, I think.

This is a reply to Christina:

I know what you mean about having to think back to

adolescents and wondering what conflicts they are facing

today. I grew up all over, but mainly in Hawaii and

when I was doing this search I was wondering what WERE

the problems that teenage girls have today (besides the

eating disorders, suicide attempts, and the social

conflicts). I haven't been around any teenagers lately

so when I did my search I was not sure what I was

looking for until I stumbled on depression. I don't

remember any of my classmates being depressed at that

age and I thought it was interesting to see the evidence

behind this. I do remember our middle school counselors

having a rough time, but when I was that age, I thought

they were seeing the counselor because they were being

delinquent (the idea of depression never occurred to

me).

Aloha Christina- It is both shocking and sad that these

young girls have to think about such cruel behaviors

which could be inflicted upon them. In a perfect world

they would be thinking about their first kisses not

about rape prevention. I don't have first hand knowledge

on this subject but if female adolescence is just as

riddled with uncertainty and transition as male

adolescence than I can whole-heartedly relate. These

girls have other issues they should be contending to and

it is depressing that abuse and rape take away from

that.Bye.

I read your posting and I agree that adolescence is

hard, but I wonder why it seems to be harder for females

than males. Is it really harder or is that males are

less likely to talk about their uncomforable stage. It

seems that males would have the same pressures if not

more in school, sports, sex and ect. Are females just

more delicate? Or more open about their feelings of

discomfort. Does it have anything to do with how we were

raised, female vs. male?

This is in reply to Christina's G is for Girl. I didn't

grow up a girl so I know I had a whole different set of

problems. It's good to know that there is support set

up to help adolescent girls in such a time of turmoil.

I wonder if there's anything like that for guys.

Although we probably wouldn't listen anyway. It's sad

to think that 14 year olds think about rape but it's

better than just having it happen--then the whole world

collapses around them.

I was searching for the conflicts of teenage adolescent

girls. I used the terms "Conflicts of Adolescent girls"

& "Teenage girls' conflicts". I didn't encounter any

problems. I used www.searchbug.com as my search engine.

It was a pretty good search engine, almost quite similar

to www.google.com.

The web address of the article I found was:

In this article, it talks about "Ophelia" who is a

Shakespearean character from the play "Hamlet". As an

adolescent, Ophelia loses her sense of self. Mary Pipher

who is the author of the book "Reviving Ophelia" quotes

that "During adolescence, girls lose themselves." There

is a conflict between the true self and the false self.

Culture plays a big part of the conflicts that young

women face today. Many teenage girls are or had

experienced depression, eating disorders, body image

disorders, and attitude changes such as rebelling

against parents/authority figures. I think that teenage

girls experience conflicts in order to really find out

who they are and will become. When these conflicts go

away or are resolved, it enables these teenage girls to

be stronger.

I'd agree that attitude rebelling etc are common and

even, perhaps beneficial for teenage girls (and indeed,

for a lot of teenage boys as well.) But some of these

things - depression, eating disorders, and the like have

no apparent benefit, but rather are fairly serious

problems that seem to be ever more common in the

states. At any rate, this was an interesting

post/article.

When I started searching, I was trying to get familiar with what types of key words were

present in a different search engine, so I did a general search at first on Conflicts of adolescent

girls. I used three different search engines: EBSCO HOST, CNN online, and Google. I used different

search engines because the first two were giving me problems. The articles listed included

adolescents as a whole or problems of adolescents as a whole. So I figured I should use CNN since

they tend to be specific, but they were more focused with eating disorders and suicide issues.

So then I tried Google and it worked on my first try because I decided to narrow my search

so that I might have a better chance of getting a particular article. Here are the search

terms I used:

adolescent girls + conflicts

conflicts of adolescent girls

"adolescent girls" and conflicts

"adolescent girls" and problems

"adolescent girls" and depression not related need to change search

SU "adolescent girls" and SU depression only 3 results

CNN: WWW.CNN.COM

problems of adolescent girls 57 hits

girls and depression 136 hits

(more about drugs and eating disorders)

Google: www.google.com

young girls + depression (337,000)

-some topics on women-

adolescent girls + depression (71,000)

1. Women's Mental Health Program

DEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS

This website gives a short summary about the prevalence and

factors associated with adolescent girls and depression.

2.National Institute of Justice

Adolescent Girls: The Role of Depressionin the Development of Delinquency

This article talks about researching depression as a predisposition

for antisocial behavior that could lead to delinquency early in life. It gives

possible reasons why they think depression acts as a preliminary sign to antisocial

behavior and focuses on young white girls in the middle to upper classes.

I think it is very sad to see how much young girls today

are suffering from depression. I think girls today go

through more problems and conflicts than boys because

when they go through the puberty stage, many teenage

girls go through a self-image problem. I remember when

I was in high school, there were many girls who were

insecure about themselves, which caused them to have low

self-esteem. Pressure about school and college can also

put a great deal of stress on teenagers. I know

personally that I felt very stressed out and depressed

when I was getting ready to leave high school for

college.

I thought the article was very interesting. The only

concern I have is that the solution to adolescent

depression is psychotherapy. While therapy is very

helpful what are we doing about the many outside

influences that crate depression in young girls such as

problems at home, society, school, and the media's view

of women? All these factors have a large impact on

adolescents and while teaching self esteem and

confidence will help a young girl, when they are

bombarded with images that make them question their self

worth and appearance or reside in a home that is torn

and unsupportive what can we expect from these girls but

depression or worse. Therapy is not just a quick fix

solution, we need to take a look at the whole picture

and try to make changes where necessary. Lets have more

models that actually represent the "average" female

body, less vides with women in bikinis and as trophies,

more programs that teach consequences and empowerment

not one night stands and popularity, and finally

magazines for teens that focus on individuality and self

love not how to get that guy in 10 days or how to loose

those thighs in 5 days!

For this research, I was looking for anything to do with

conflicts of adolescent girls. The search terms I used

was adolescent girls and conflicts. I had no problems

in my search. The web address for my article is:

In this article, I found that Anorexia Nervosa almost

exclusively affects adolescent white girls (95%). The

anorexic girl becomes obsessed about her weight and body

image. Even when she is noticibly thin and underweight,

she cannot stop from starving. Reseachers agree that

the number of patients with anorexia nervosa is

increasing. They also describe anorexia nervosa

patients' families to be warm and loving on the surface,

but are unable to deal with the conflicts within the

family.

This is in response to Gail Baracao on Anorexia.

I took a Psychology of Women class last semester and we

intensively dealt with this issue. It's amazing how

much the media influences the desire for young women to

be extremely thin. Television and magazines most

especially are the main catalyst for sending out the

message that to be overweight is unaccepatable.

One fact I remember hearing from class was that within

minutes of opening a magazine a girl immediately feels

inadequate with herself based on the thin, airbrushed

models.

I hear there's a new reality tv on Anorexics. Geez, what

is this world coming to, it's like they're glamorizing

their lives and only giving them attention, even though

it is negative attention.

I took a couple of minutes to browse the site that you

had posted. Most of the information was not new to me,

but what I found shocking was the age range in which

they say anorexia will develop in American girls. It is

sad to think that girls as young as 10 years old have

such a distorted perception of their bodies that it

drives them to starve themselves. It is sad to think

that anyone, of any age or ethnicity would do such a

thing. But then again I can understand how they feel.

With the media feeding our nation horseshit about what

is "beautiful" and "sexy" it is no wonder that girls

would want to live up to those sometimes unachievable

expectations.

The issue of bullying in schools is becoming

progressively more prominent. With female adolescents

in particular, we have seen for the first time

consistantly, lawsuites against children for assaulting

other children. I decided to explore this more with

yahoo.com search engine. I used the words "adolescent

girls" and "bullies" and found an awesome site:

designed for adults to obtain information, but is

creatively designed for younger people to answer their

own questions. In addition to bullying, this website

addresses date rape, vioence in general, gangs, violence

prevention, and sexual abuse/assault. The section

specifically on bullying starts with a true story

written by a victim. It also includes tipsfor survving

being bullied, how to take action against bullies, and

even a little psychoanalysis as to where bully's

aggressive tendencies may come from. Even though middle

school was ten years ago and that's when I bore the

brunt of teasing, I definitly wish I had known then what

I know now. It's cliche and I guess you can say that

about pretty much anything, but it's true nonetheless.

I found an article called "Gifted Girls - Many Gifted

Girls, Few Eminent Women: Why?" in msn.com in the site

This article talked about how there are many gifted

girls, but when they reach the age of adolescence, they

lose their giftedness. It is not because they are not

gifted anymore but because giftedness is not viewed as

being acceptable or "cool" in adolescent girls. At that

age, they lose their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Also other feelings of discouragement and hopelessness

arises at that age in which discourages them from

pursuing their gift.

Also, girls who are smart tend to downplay their

academic skills in order to fit in. They don't want to

be known as the geek of the school. In leadership

positions, girls don't want to pursue it because they

don't want to be known as bossy.

A. I searching for information about conflicts that adolenscent girls may be encountering in today's society.

B. The search terms that I used:

1. adolenscent girls; conflits

2. conflicts of adolenscents girls in society

C. There were no problems while searching for this topic.

D. The ssearch engine I used was: Google.com

E. The web adresses:

1. www.cyc.net.org/ft-teengirlIs3.html

2. www.mainelygirls.org/reports/zones.html

F. On both websites I found a lot of information about problems that girls encounter. They both talked about

societies influences. They talked about poverty, family of color, school teachers, mothers, and friends and

how they may influences lives.

1. The cyc.net website was an article about working with adolenscent girls in treatment centres. The author

gives three case examples.

2. The mainlygirls website talks about cultivating hardiness zones. I personally liked what the author

had to say in her report. She talked about how girls need to learn to cultivate "hardiness" zones so

they can challenge the world when challenges arises. I also liked this article because of her perspective.

She looks at adolescent conflicts from many perspectives. For example, stress, that many girls experience

during their adolescent years. She says one way to look at the stress is loss of control in many areas in

their lives. When I read that, it makes a lot of sense. As a adolencent girl once, I felt like I had no control

of my life. I was controlled by my parents and in a sense, their control, at a time when I was trying

to create MY own identity was hard to do. At times, I felt I couldn't be who I was because my parents,

society, no driving license controlled what I could and couldn't do.

For this week's session I wanted to find any literature

on the conflicts adolescent girls go through as a result

of media influence. I used Google.com with the search

phrase "pressure adolescent girls". This phrase produced

a book review of "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of

Adolescent Girls". Written by Mary Pipher a Ph.d in

psychology, this book chronicles the lives of several

case studies experiencing the pressures placed upon

Twenty-first century girls. This review can be found at

www.topwritecorner.com/reviews/review26.htm. My second

search phrase was "media adolescent girls" which

produced "Reflection of Girls in the Media" a study on

how media affects gender. This study actually mentioned

positive female role modles as well as gender-biased

stereotypes. This site can be found at

www.childrennow.org/media/mc97/ReflectSummary.html. The

only problems I ran into during this session was

figuring out what search phrase to use.

A. I was searching for new information about conflicts

with adolescent girls.

B. I used this phrase: "conflicts of adolescent girls"

C. There seems to be no problem when looking for this

topic.

D. I used the search engine Google.

E. The sites I found were:

1.www.averroes.cec.juntaandalucia.es/vertie/motivadores/adolesce.html

2.www.cpa-apa.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2002/june/briefComunicationPinhas.asp

F. The first website is about adolescent girls and boys

and how they resolve conflicts. A study was done on 30

adolscent females and 10 adolescent males. The

researchers observed best friends arguing about an issue

and watched how they deal with it. The results were

different styles between males and females and how they

handle conflicts. The females tried to resolve the

conflicts with their best friends by talking things out

while the males avoided talking things out.

The second website was published in the Canadian journal

of psychiatry. The title was gender-role conflicts and

suicidal behaviour in adolescent girls. The big

question that arises from this study is why girls are at

greater risk for attempted suicide. To sum up the

results, adolenscent females are learning about

themselves yet they are restricted and influenced by

societies, cultural, family, and peer expectaions of

what they should be like. In other words, there is so

much pressure on them.

One of the interesting things that the website mentioned

was that "girls are encouraged by society to identify

themsleves through relationships." I guess this might be

one explanation in why girls are more in tune to resolve

conflicts between others like the first website talks

about.

I used the search engine Infogrid to search for this

topic, however I found that the return results were too

broad and vague for me, so I decided to narrow down my

search to teenage pregnancy. I found this site:

using the search term teenage pregnancy.

The article lists commmonly asked questions that a young

girl might have concerning pregnancy like "Can I get

pregnant if I have my period?" or "He came outside my

vagina, will I get pregnant?"

It also assures the reader that she has options when she

does find out that she is pregnant. Options include

adoption, abortion, putting the baby in foster care

until she is ready to take care of it or just keeping

the baby. It also has the pros and cons to each major

decision.

I recommend this site not just to teenage girls, but to

anyone caught in an unplanned pregnancy.

I'm glad you pointed out teenage pregnancy because it

is an important issue for adolescent girls. They need to

know the consequences of such actions. At a time when

they are still trying to find out who they are, peer

pressure can have a big influence on them. They are so

vulnerable to making decisions based on what others are

doing or saying to them.

I work at a high school and I was helping out in a

freshmen class just last semester. In that class, there

were two girls pregnant. They both seemed smart; they

always did their work and participated in class. I

couldn't help but think how young they were and just

how much more they could have had going for them if

they didn't have a baby to worry about. But if I thought

they were young, I still remember when I was going to

middle school, a girl giving birth when she was in the

7th grade. Her boyfriend left her and this poses another

problem: there are many young fathers leaving their

girlfriends. If the girls have to face their situation

everyday, then the least the guys could do is face their

reality and cope with undertaking the responsibility of

helping take care of their child.

Even UH had a Condom Fair on Valentine's Day to make

people aware of safe sex and other such issues. I mean,

if college students still need to be reminded of safe

sex and related issues, what more for adolescents?

Before doing a search on this topic I already had known

that female teens are more susceptible to depression

than are male teens, and I just wanted to find out more

about why that is the case. I did not encounter any

problems with this search. I used yahoo and did a search

on the terms "female, adolescent, and conflict" and

found this site:

First of all this article says that adolescence is a

time of significant decline in self-esteem especially in

girls. It explains that conflicts with self-concept,

academic achievement, self-image, and body-image are

some of the issues that are causing problems. This

article states that adults such as parents or teachers

are extremely influential during these years, and it

also provides a list of suggested strategies that they

can take in order to support adolescent girls during

these times through encouragement and reduction of

typical conflicts.

I read this article from:

This website talks about a study of adolescents. It

says that adolescent girls would rather talk to their

best friends than their parents and that adolescent

girls have better intimate relationships with their

friends. So their supportive network are their friends.

I went to this website:

website they talk about this "girl group" that was

established for adolescent girls, so that they could

talk aobut their problems. In this group the girls

found different perspectives on problems and different

solutions for problems. They also talked about other

important day-to-day activities and things that were

important to them. I'm not sure what state this is done

in but, I think this group is a great idea.

Yes. I agree with you and the website that girls are

treated very differently in schools then boys.

Sometimes the different treatment is good but, most of

the time it's bad. Administrators always insist that

girls behave a certain way and girls are monitored more.

When a girl does something wrong it's immediately

picked up on and when a boy does something bad...it's

just a boy thing.

I think the article is right to a certain extent but,

the author must also think about what seventeen stands

for. It's giving the typically adolescent girl what she

wants. It doesn't claim to be a serious magazine of

anysort. Also, just because the author picked up one

seventeen magazine and it did not hold a serious

article, that does not mean that the magazine does not

include them in.

I have yet again utilized Yahoo.com and found that they

had a wide array of articles pertaining to this subject.

I wanted to know more about girls from other societies

so I chose an article detailing the conflicts of Korean

girls concerning commercialism and on Romani girls

concerning early marriage. The adresses are below:

www.makerere.ac.ug/womenstudies/full%20papers/kongo.html

and the one about Romani girls:

www.romove.cz/romove/teens.html

The first article related how Korean girls express

themselves by their clothes and appearence. This

expression is so important that it illicits a specific

pleasure which is driven by consumption. When they

become familiar with this pleasureable experiences they

realize the importance of money and the article contends

that they will do just about anything for the aquisition

of money. The author claims that there is not a real

negative viewpoint amoung Korean and Japanese females

concerning prostitution and that the money gained from

it justifies the means. I have never been to Korea but

my mom is full Korean and I know that her and her six

sisters are definately against prostituting oneself so I

don't know how accurate the authors' assumptions are.

Personally I think he's wrong in his comments concerning

the social outlook of Korean girls toward prostitution.

The article on the Romani girls was interesting. The

author comments that the end of a Romani girls childhood

and adolescence is when she starts her own family (no

matter what age). It is also claimed that these girls

are more ready for marriage socially compared to

biologically (avg. age of marriage=14-16). This is

because at the critical stage of adolescence, marked in

America by rebellion and defiance, these girls are

helping their mothers with her many children. This is

done to prepare the girl for her future husband. I came

away from this article feeling that a part of these

girls lives are stolen from them and that they are

forever detained in some sort of social prison. It could

be my biased Western world thinking but the fact remains

that these girls are never able to be fully

self-realized because of the constraints placed upon

them, first by their families then by their

adult(sometimes old men)husbands.

I thought that this was a very interesting article

because my mother is also full Korean. Although she is

into clothing and appearance, she would never agree to

prostitution. She always told me and my sister that we

should always respect our bodies and prostitution,

pornography, etc., is a way of disrespect. I also know

a lot of people from Korea, including my family, and

they all think that prostitution is disgusting. I do,

on the other hand, believe that many Korean people do

have a problem with being superficial. The Korean

people that I know love money and love to buy nice and

expensive things.

I found this topic interesting because I do not think

that it is just Korean girls that are overwhelmed by the

things that money can buy. I've seen a lot of really

good girls that I went to highschool with end up being

prostitutes. But it is not like these girls woke up one

day and thought to themselves, "Hey I really need money.

Maybe I should just sell my body so that I don't ever

have to worry about money." These girls had a lot of

family problems and eventually ran away from home. Then

met all the wrong guys, that introduced them into a very

appealing "party" lifestyle where they don't ever have

to worry about money. Many start off as waitresses,

work at hostess bars, then go on to be strippers, and if

they don't get all drugged out and die, they end up at

the massage parlors selling their bodies.

I'm researching for conflicts of adolescent girls. I

Used Yahoo and typed in the search terms: female

adolescent conflicts. I had no problem picking the match

I was most interested in, it read gender role conflict.

Here is the link I drew my following information from:

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry did a study that

examined how the gender-role conflict, influences the

suicidal behavior of adolescent girls. The study found

that the gender-role conflict plays an important part in

the suicidal behavior of adolescents. The study says the

suicide rate of young girls is 10.1% where as young men

is only 3.8%. Some of the reasons the female rate is so

much higher is, that adolescent girls suffer from more

depression and pychologial strssors, like difficulty

with family, peers, school or the law. I remember how

hard it is to go through adolescence and I agree that it

is a difficult time. Our bodies where changing, there

were lot's of pressure by peers, family and society. I

hated adolescence, thoes were the akward years where no

one seemed to understand.

The specific aspect of the research topic I was

searching for was self mutilation. The search terms

that I used was teenage girls and self mutilation. I

did not have any problems while searching because the

first site that came up was what I wanted. The search

engine that I used was google. The web address of the

sete is:

This article was interesting and sad because a lot of

young girls are cutting and hurting themselves. Girls

self mutilate themselves as a way of acting out or a cry

for help. It can also relieve pain they are feeling

emotionally. By cutting themselves, it makes them feel

like they are letting the paing they are feeling out.

This is dangerous because self-mutilation can sometimes

lead to death. I volunteered at Kahi Mohala when I was

sixteen years old and I read about a girl that died

because she bled to death after slicing and cutting her

arm numerous times.

I agree that this is a very important topic. Sometimes

adults forget how extreme every problem can seem to an

adolescent. Parents may ignore what they consider

trivial, but to an emotional girl it might seem like the

end of the world. I had a friend in high school who cut

herself for a long time because she said it made her

"feel something" instead of nothing. I think it happens

more than we realize and adults need to take kids

problems more seriously before they get to the extreme

of self mutilation or worse.

In my search I was looking for anything that related to

reasons for suicide attempts in adolescent girls . The

search terms I used were, adolescent girls suicide.

There were no specific problems with this search. I

found this article using the search engine

www.google.com The web address of the article I looked

This web article looks at the major risk factors of

suicide among young people today. One part of the

article that I found interesting explains how most

people think of potential suicides as sensitive, shy

people who are overwhelmed by life. When in fact the

cocky, obnoxious adolescent has exactly the potential

for suicide. This article closes off by saying that

parents must pay atteention to how their child acts and

notice any signs of long term depression.

This is such a sad subject to discuss. Teen suicide is

problem in Japan as well. I believe one main cause is

"Ijime" or nasty bully by school mates. The victims

often leave suicide notes in which they confess their

feelings of agony and anger against the ill-treatment

from bullies. In most cases, their family or teachers

are usually not aware of the situation. The solution

to this situation will be to have a good communication

between caregivers and teen children at all times.

Adolescent girls experience sooo many conflicts that I

could post a three page message simply listing them, but

instead I am concentrating on the conflict between the

cultural script of sex and what adolescent girls

romanticize it to be. The onset of adolescence used to

be hailed at 13, when a child becomes a teenager and it

used to also be about when they entered puberty. Today

girls enter adolescence at a much earlier age because

they have the knowledge and are acting like an

adolescent at an earlier age. This is in part because

girls are reaching puberty at a younger age and because

they are engaging in adult behaviors such as sex (among

other things!) at very early ages. Sex is very

important to young girls, it affects how they dress,

act, talk, and think. The problem is that schools often

send no message or destructive messages to young girls

about sex and don't address the pre-formed ideas that

girls already have about it. This creates a conflict

for girls between what their peers say and what

authority says about sex, and during adolescence they

are much more likely to listen to their peers.

I used the a new search engine this time, skworm.com,

because it seemed that many of my classmates were having

success with it. I found a lot of information with my

search "conflict between adolescent girls and the

cultural mold," and my favorite site was

www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/PES-yearbook/1999/gosselin_body.asp

It's a well written essay examining, among many other

topics, the content of sex education classes and how

they conflict with the ideal that adolescents have about

sex. Though the literature she refers to is from the

70's and 80's, it is still valuable and some of this

curriculum is probably still taught today. The purpose

of many sex-ed classes was to show the destructive

outcomes of premarital heterosexual sex and to encourage

abstinance through fear. The three main themes that

were entertained were violence, victimization, and

morality. Classes that focused on violence concentrated

on the occurrances of rape and coersion when an

adolescent engages in sex. They portray sex as violent,

painful, and leading to STDs. Classes with the theme of

victimization focused on a girl's vulnerability. They

portray men as manipulators who only are with a girl to

use her for sex and then drop her. It also involves the

probability of becoming diseased because the man does

not care enough to protect the girl from it. The third

theme is morality which views chaste self control as

important. They stress that a girl should deny her own

desires to grow up healthy and chaste. The problem with

these three views of sexual education is that none of

them allow for healthy exploration and understanding of

a girl's own body and desires, which is a popular view

now. Sex is natural and girls will be curious about it.

For all of history sex has been romanticized by females

and it will continue to be. For sex-ed to be effective

and solve adolescent conflict it needs to address the

views that girls have toward sex instead of focusing on

destructive extremes.

Once again I am going to say that parents have to be

responsible for their children. Why do we expect the

government to once again step into our lives and educate

kids on subjects that their parents should be? I do not

want the government in my life. These are issues that

people need to think about before having sex and

creating a child. This is the responsibility of being a

parent. We need to start educating our kids on using

their brains and thinking on their own. Kids are not

stupid. The school should have no part in this besides

giving the biological facts. Yes - puberty is coming a

lot earlier. So guess what - you need to talk to your

kids at a younger age. In high school we all know that

sex can lead to having babies. So why do so many

teenagers get pregnant? It starts with talking and

reasoning with your kids. Get off your asses and start

parenting. You choose to do an act that gave you a

baby. If you are not ready for being a parent, why are

you having kids? We have why too many options in todays

world. There is birth control, abortion, adoption, and

the morning after pill, to name a few. Use it!!! That

is what it is there for. I am getting so sick of paying

for others mistakes. If you are going to do an adult

act, then you are going to have to act as an adult. NO

EXCUSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a general search on what I could find on Pacific

Island adolescent girls. I used a search engine

mentioned by another person previously, www.skworm.com,

and it gave me good results, but i had to go back to the

search page to save the address because it displays your

results in frames.

Here were my search terms:

Pacific Islanders +adolescents (5,600 hits)

Pacific Islanders +adolescents + culture (2,140)

Pacific Islanders +adolescents + culture + girls (742

HITS)

Pacific Islanders +adolescents + culture + girls + self

(637 hits)

I found an eating disorder information sheet which

basically talks about different Pacific Island girls

that have eating disorders as well as giving tips to

parents about what they should do about it.

Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out, it's

pretty short.

www.4woman.gov/BodyImage/Bodywise/uf/Asian%20American%20Girls2.pdf

I thought this was a good article because I have done a

lot of research on eating disorders and I, too, thought

eating disorders were most common amongst white girls.

I don't know about other asian american girls, but I

know that korean girls are highly self-conscious about

their body image. A lot korean girls are raised to

believe that thinness and beauty is very important. I

noticed that this culture do not even realize that they

have issues and a preoccupation with weight; they think

it is normal to semi-starve.

Is it just Korean girls? I would think not. I believe

this is a worldwide problem. Doesn't this idea of women

being thin = beauty exist everywhere? All over the

world (with the exception of a few cultures) being a

beautiful women does mean being thin. This is a world

wide problem. How sad to think that us women seem to be

programmed as young children to be thin. There are now

5 year olds that are on diets. How disgusting is this?

The last thing a 5 year old needs to be worried about is

their weight. At that point in their life, they need

more food and calories than as an adult. It is time for

women across the world to overlook this value (beauty =

thin) and be concerned about the type of person you are.

Do you have integrity? Are you trying to solve

problems rather than create them? Are you happy with

yourself? If the women across the world would come to

together and battle against these values being ingrained

in the mind of our kids, we would have a much better

place to live in. We could have more power over our

"man" world and make this place a better place to live

in.

I used the search terms 'strict parents, teeange girls'

to search for how teenage girls dealt with strict

parents, but I didn't really find anything specific. I

did run across an article about how teenage girls were

fleeing fundamenatlist sects to avoid being a wife to a

polygamist man. I found this article on MSN at

The article talks about a girl named Caroline Cooke who

escaped from her polygamist community called

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints. The first thing she did was cut her knee-length

hair to an above-the-shoulder bob. She also traded her

full-length dresses for sleeveless shirts and shorts.

These were radical and symbolic moves for the

15-year-old who walked away from her family and her

religion, which encourages pioneer-style long hair and

long dresses for women. Cooke left because she feared

she soon would be married to a man three times her age

who already had more than a dozen wives.

It's sad that among the many other things a teenage girl

worries about, the girls from this community have to

worry about being forced to marry a man with a dozen or

more other wives. This goes back to the idea that a

woman is just a posession, subject to the wants and

needs of a man. These girls who've run away from their

communities must face being on their own because they

are no longer welcome in their families.

This story reminds me of how my parents were REALLY

STRICT with my older sister...she was really wild and

they tried everything to discipline her, but in the end

she went her way and my parents went another way...so

when I got older my parents realized that they were way

too harsh on my sister and they were worried about my

future because they didn't want me to end up like my

sister so they relaxed a bit.

I guess parents feel a need to be strict because they

feel that that's the only way they'll protect their

children, but I feel that it won't help parents nurture

their relationships with their children will be too

scared to speak up and let them know how they feel.

A. Today's searching was on alcohol use amoung teenage

girls.

B. The search terms I used were: "Alcohol abuse in

girls" and "drinking underage"

C. I didn't encounter any searching problems. However,

there are so many articles about this topic that it's

very time consuming.

D. The search engine used was WebCrawler. I really

like this search engine because it also automatically

rewords the phrases you are looking for.

E. The website: www.health.org/govpubs/rpo993/

F. I found two interesting things on this website. The

first was "puberty tends to bring higher incidence of

depression amoung teenage girls, which can trigger

alcohol use. One study found symptoms of depression in

one in four girls, a rate that is 50% higher than in

boys". The second was that teenage girls are more

likley to drink to fit in with their friends than boys.

I thought this article was kind of depressing because so

many girls go through depression and use alcohol. I

remember when I was in high school and almost all my

girlfriends were into drinking and smoking. I think

that most of them did it to "fit in" and also because of

peer pressure. It's funny now because now all my

friends are of legal age to drink and a lot of them keep

their drinking to a minimal amount. I think that in

high school a lot of girls drink to get drunk because

they think that they look cool, but when you are finally

of age to drink, it is not as exciting.

A. My search for today was on new information about how

the media's skinny females may produce negative thoughts

about how you see yourself when comparing them to you.

B. The search terms I used were: "media's influences

on girls weight" and "weight problems amoung girls"

C. While searching for today's topic, I found no

problems.

D. The search engine I used was www.findarticles.com I

would recommend this search engine because it has more

scholarly information.

E. The web address:

www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2294/2000_May/65306527/

F. This article was published in Sex Roles: A Journal

of Research. The title was Television situation

Comedies: Female weight, Male negative comments, and

audience reactions.

One of the interesting things about this article was

that it studied 18 prime television situation comedies

(two eposides each) and it examined the body weights of

37 central female actors. The results were that the

females that were underweight were overpresented while

the heavier ones recieved negative comments about her.

Also in this article, I found that only 5% of female

characters were rated as "heavy" whereas 69% if female

characters were rated "thin".

The end of this article concludes that the message sent

to female viewers is that attractiviness means being

"thin".

It was quite disturbing to read that 69% of females

rated on those shows were considered thin, while only 5

% were seen as heavy. The population of American's

growing overweight has increased therefore why do they

depict America as a nation full of skinny people? I

think the media should be more in tune with reality so

teenage girls won't have to think that they have to

comform to the false society that America's media

portrays. I liked your search topic, and I think that

America does communicate that attractiveness = thin.

My search was based on the conflicts of teenage girls

influenced by the media. I used the search engine:

using the phrase: teenage girls and their problems.

I found the site

This was a study about gender and the media. At first

it says the media provides positive female role models

for girls. Many of the women on t.v. shows are shown as

independent and solve their own problems. The study

also found that the media reinforces the female

sterotype, and emphasizes the importance of a woman's

appearance.

This study shows that the media does provide somewhat of

a role model for girls, but it also makes girls see that

the media reinforces beauty and female stereotypes.

I looked at the site about gender and the media. I

thought this site contains many interesting information.

I got the feelings that girls are more sensitive than

boys in terms of the media.

I used google as the search engine and typed "feminists

and adolescent girls" and found an article called

"Beyond Choice: Culture, Adolescence, and Feminism"

"Because adolescence is viewed as a period of rapid

maturation, girls are aware that they are expected to

undergo a transformation from girls to women, a

transformation which radically alters their conception

of self. Psychologist Mary Pipher writes that,

"adolescent girls experience a conflict between their

autonomous selves and their need to be feminine, between

their status as human beings and their vocation as

females." Femininity is defined for girls by the

surrounding culture. Images of feminine beauty bombard

girls in ads, films, television, and music. Models and

actresses define the desired body size and shape.

Passive women are sexy women. These prescribed and

warped notions of womanhood wreak havoc on adolescent

girls."

Basically, this article is about how the culture a

adolescent girl is a part of, pretty much defines her or

at least tries to mold her into a person to fit into

that society/culture and it doesn't matter what her own

concept of "self" means to her.

My searching terms were "teenage, girl, conflict." I had

no problem in finding the following article. This site

is from the Health Report Newsmagazine home page.

According to the author, Candis McLean, about three

times as many teenage girls as boys attempt suicide.

While 3.8% of young men try to kill themselves, the

corresponding figure for young women is 10.1%, one in

10. Toronto researchers focused on gender-role conflict

as a possible reason. Psychiatrist Leora Pinhas

explains, "Young girls are expected to do three

conflicting full-time jobs: they are supposed to be

caregiving and emotional as well as superwoman, and also

thin and beautiful, exercising all the time. On the flip

side, they are often restricted more than boys."

On the other hand, Retired psychiatrist Ben Wong

believes that although girls have increased freedom

today, it is more difficult to find a role with a sense

of meaning--some reason to survive.

It does suck, it seems that being born female

automatically puts us at the disadvantage. We have

multiple roles as mother, wife, employees, etc., that

we're all supposed to balance and be good at. Just

thinking about this reminds me of my boyfriend whose mom

seperated from her husband because she had all these

roles that she was expected to excel at, the pressure

was just too much and she had to get away. I feel like

this and I'm not even married. I hate having to come

home from school, then work and have to cook for my

boyfriend and having to do homework after........it's

just so draining.

I did a search on teen girls and the influence of

society. I search under yahoo (under society & culture,

issues and causes)and used the phrases, "teen girls

influenced by society" and "teen girls and society". No

troubles at all.

I found a good article at

www.womensenew.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/868/context/archieve

It talks about the 'Teen Voices' magazine that was

created by Alison Amoroso. Its a magazine that's

written by and for teens. The content of the magazine

is to try to change the society's view of teenage girls.

The interesting about this magazine is that 95% of the

editors are african american, asian or latino, and

nearly 60% of them have learning disabilities. Not the

typical magazine you will see. Also, every cover

features a racial mix, rather than caucasian.

Some of the recent articles that were published were,

"Being adopted by my family" and Because you're more

than just a pretty face". Not the typical article's

you'll see.

I thought this a good way to start changing the views of

society. By seeing a variety of people in magazines

will not limit teens to stick to the pretty, teen image.

I'm glad that you pointed out that in one way - having a

magazine that caters to diversity, not the

stereotypical

made-beautiful-through-computer-retouching images and

superficial stories - can start changing society's

views. These magazines that are more "real" can

definitely boost up the confidence in women who do not

possess the looks that are commonly portrayed in the

media. They will also relate more to "serious" stories

that pertain to "real" life.

I remember being a teenager. I was never part of the

"popular" crowd in school, but I always heard girls

talking about magazines, magazines, magazines - whether

it be about a cute guy on TV, quizzes on how to win

over a guy, blah blah blah. Personally, I was never

into it, but I can see how the influence of magazines

persist through the years. It's ridiculous and quite

pitiful that some girls are made to feel they have to

have the body the models in the magazines have. Even

just looking at some of the types of clothing in

magazines makes me wonder what the magazine editors

want girls to think - buy this outfit and you'll look

cool, but of course, you would have to lose weight

first to fit into it or waste your money to buy all

these "in" things? It's ironic that some magazine

editors and the like make a living trying to make us

"lose" something, whether it be weight, money,

un-cool-ness?

when thinking about one of the things that really

weighed on my mind, as an adolescent male (around 13 or

14)...i find that a common topic of talk at that age was

girls...and more specifically...sex, with girls.

i know it sounds young, but its true. and when looking

at the web site:

me that it must be very difficult for girls at that age

to grow up, and function, with horny little boys like me

running around. i'll be the first to admit, one of the

only things that occupies a little boy's mind around 14

or 15 is "sex." this pressure constantly coming from

boys must be a terrible load for a young girl to endure.

and we don't realize it at the time, until you're in

your early-mid 20s, doing a psychology class and

researching the topic on the internet.

i just hope that i, when i do become a father, can

communicate effectively enough with my son or daughter

about the topic so that they are not pressuring, or

feeling pressured about sex, and being sexually active.

This was a very interesting topic. But in response to

your openness and honesty, not all girls have the

pressure of sex. Despite the fact that I knew that most

of the boys that I dated just wanted to have sex, I

never gave in let alone even kissed a guy. I think it

has a lot to do with how your parents raise you. I was

taught to respect myself in all ways especially

sexually. Even without the guidance of my parents, I

would never have let a guy have the best of me unless I

was in love, which would be after high school.

I never knew that sex was on boys minds at such a young

age, but I'm not surprised. I mean they probably saw

adults having sex on television already.

As for your comment on the pressures of sex, I don't

think, or can't remember facing such a pressure as a

teenager. I personally, think that boys face more

pressures about sex then girls. First of all, men like

to brag and stuff about their sexual encounters to their

friends. So maybe it's like a competion for boys at the

age? --Who can get "laid" first. As for girls, it's

suppose to have meaning so waiting is easy. But I don't

know, everyone is different!

I agree with the Gail and Alicia, who have already

posted their comments to your discussion message. I was

never faced with such sexual pressure. I also think

that boys, more often than girls, seem to face more of

that pressure. I remember hearing guys talking about

"scoring" with girls and my Social Studies teacher

asking us why teenagers use the analogy of baseball

(reaching bases, etc.). And I used to hear guys

bragging about having sex, too. For instance, there was

a football player who told his fellow buddies that he

"did it" with so-and-so; he even showed them her

underwear.

Anyway, I think you brought up a good point about

communicating effectively to your children (in the

future, when you are a father) about the pressures of

sex. For a time, wasn't it a controversial issue -

about sex education being taught in schools? Well, I

think that parents should make sure that their kids

know about it and that they shouldn't give in even

though they are being pressured. I mean, I would hate

my children to learn about sex from watching tv; we all

know that tv isn't always credible. Also, their own

peers might mislead them. I know that it might be

difficult to discuss the topic, especially when they

are teenagers, but it's better to have parents express

their concern about the pressures of sex rather than

find out one day that their teenage daughter is

pregnant or that their son impregnated someone.

For this research I was searching for anything to do

with teenage girls and self image problems. The search

terms that I used was "conflicts in teenage girls." I

did not encounter any problems with this search because

there was more than enough information. The search

engine that I used was Google. The web address is:

In this article I found that many young women are

strugling with bulimia nervosa. The symptoms are not

always visible because unlike anorexia, bulimic patients

tend to be of normal weight. The disorder, however, is

deadly. There are many internal symptoms such as:

kidney and liver failure, ruptured esophogus, and loss

of electrolytes.

I used the search terms "teenage girls, conflicts" at

google.com, I wanted to find examples of problems that

adolescent females experience. I didn't have a hard

time finding this site.

The article talks about Girlsport a new program that

enhances communication and understanding of the issues

that affect teenage girls enjoyment, involvement and

progress in sport and physical activity. One goal is to

increase participation of girls in sports to encourage

teenagers, and the adults that influence them, to share

ideas and problems associated with the conflicts that

often occur as girls approach and experience puberty. By

raising awareness and tackling these issues it is hoped

that less young women will drop out from sport and

physical activity at this crucial time.

The workshop aims to challenge some of the

misconceptions and misunderstandings that often exist

and encourages everyone to find solutions to many of the

challenges that teenage girls face.

I think this is an excellent program for teenagers. I

read somewhere that girls who participate in sports have

higher self-esteem than girls who don't. I can see how

this works because sports teaches individuals about

teamwork, getting along with each other, and also

produces healthy competition. Girls can also feel

competent in their ability to play a sport and keep

their bodies fit.

I wanted to find out more about acculturation issues for

immigrant teenagers, not necessarily just the

experiences of females per se because it affects both

females and males. I have been working with the ESL

(English as a Second Language) department at a public

high school for four years now and I have seen students

grow and change in many ways throughout the years.

Their clothing style changes; many opt to wear what

they see on TV. They change the way they talk, trying

to use terms they hear other students say, including

swear words. The bottom line is that they face

pressures to "fit in," but sometimes I think some of

them try too hard or change for the worse.

Using the search phrase "acculturation + immigrant" in

Google, I had no problems retrieving relevant articles.

There are five stages of adaptation: silent stage,

uprooting stage, culture shock,

acculturation/assimilation and mainstream stage.

2)

nt.html

In regards to first generation immigrants (the ones who

immigrated to America), the authors state, "It is their

offspring, the second generation, whose successes and

failures will set the mold for their ethnic groups,

determining patterns that will last for generations to

come." They also say that "...rapid acquisition of

English is 'language loss,' what others see as fitting

in is 'premature Americanization,' and the most

effective methods of teaching English and American

values are so much 'forced-march acculturation.'"

I used the searching terms, "rebellious stage." I had no

problem in finding the following article with Google

searching engine.

The article written by White presents a four-level

ecplanation of teenage aggressive feelings and behavior.

Level 1: antisocial anger Level 2: Social anger Level

3: passive resistance Level 4: goodness

Adonescent anger can be shown in an antisocial way, in a

passive way, ina healthy way, or not at all. In

addition teenagers, like adults, have a choice in how to

respond to and take care of angry feelings. One of the

advantagees of anger is to provide a way of breaking the

bond with mother and father, thereby allowing a new

sense of independence.

I looked up this subject under www.aol.com. I entered

the keywords adolescent girl conflicts. I found an

found this article very interesting because it gave the

perspective of a different culture. The Tongan's have

not had a lot of American culture until the past few

years. This bombardment of sexual and violent images is

having an impact on their own culture. This poses a

problem for their society as it is influencing and

changing the way they live. Tongan adolescents have

usually ben the quiet ones in society and are now

behaving in more outrageous ways. This is particularly

interesting to the topic because it provides a study

environment where an experimenter can assess the

difference before an after the influence of television.

I liked how you took this topic into the perspective of

another culture. I think this really does proove how

television and the media can greatly affect people.

It's sad how these images are changing the youth in

Tonga. If there were stricter policies on what is shown

in television, movies, etc. then things could be

different. Obviously the invasion of the mass media in

Tonga did influence people. The people who create these

violent programs should realize how influential they can

be.

One of the commonly know conflicts of children and

adolescents is sexual abuse. I wanted to find some

statistics about sexual abuse in adolescents and

children. I found an informative site:

lists many stats. on sexual abuse such as: "67% of

victims of sexual assault were juveniles ( under

age 18); 34% of sexual assault victims were under age

12; 1 of every 7 victims of sexual assault were under

age 6; 40% of offenders who victimized children under

age 6 were juveniles (under age 18).

An average of 5.5 children per 10,000 enrolled in day

care are sexually abused, an average of 8.9 children out

of every 10,000 are abused in the home."

I also wanted to know of any centers that help people

who have been abused locally in Hawaii. Oahu does have a

sex abuse treatment center located in Kapiolani Womens

and childrens hospital. Their site is:

some of the servies offered are: 24-hour crisis hotline:

524-7273. Specialized medical examination available 24

hours a day. (Must be done within 72 hours of the

assault.) Legal evidence collection. (Must be done

within 72 hours of the assault.) Pediatric medical

evaluation for non-emergency situations. They also

provied couseling and community outreach programs.

Today I was searching for information about girls and

typing in the phase girls and drugs. I found one

article that was very interesting. Here is the

While I was searching google, I encountered no problems.

I found that there are many issues dealing with

teenagers and drugs.

On this website it says, "young girls and women are more

easily addicted to drugs and alcohol, they have

different reasons than boys for abusing substances and

may need single-sex treatment programs to back their

additions."

Apparently, there are many reason for women to get

"wasted" or "high". These reason moslty consisted of

escaping problems. On this website, they also link to

the national center of addition and substance abuse.

When I began looking for information about why men enjoy

sexist jokes, I didn't find exactly what I thought I

would. I found sooo many sexist jokes that it was

impossible to read them all. The ones that I found

funniest, even though I'm a girl, were too offensive to

print here, so you can just imagine. I searched google

using "reasons + men + sexist" and I found this website:

www.theory.org.uk/mensmags.htm

They discussed a general theory of mens magazines and

the sexist humor that is often found within them. They

claimed that it developed from a reaction to feminism to

regain their lost power. It is an attempt to return to

a "pre-feminist masculine ideal." I think this is a

little extreme, but it is one of the reasons out there

as an explanation of why.

Here is a website made an important distinction in what

society considers sexist.

www.animal-law.org/commentaries/cyberpost10.htm

If a man makes a derrogatory comment towards women, it

is considered sexist. BUT, if a woman makes a similar

comment, it may be viewed as crude or wrong, but not

sexist. If we wonder why men enjoy sexist jokes, it may

be because we consider their jokes sexist on the basis

that they are men. It seems we find sexist jokes in male

magazines because it is considered a popular form of

entertainment. If you just look at how many websites

are dedicated to telling the same sexist jokes over, and

over, it's obvious. Personally, I think the majority of

men and a large percentage of women enjoy sexist jokes

because they are usually so outrageous that you have to

laugh. A person doesn't have to be sexist to enjoy

them, or tell them. One of my male friends often teases

his wife by asking her why she isn't barefoot and

pregnant in the kitchen. Why? Because it's fun.

i agree that everyone enjoys sexist jokes, some more

than others. in my experiences people use these jokes

as an icebreaker. its great because people who are not

as open can laugh because it affects people in a more

personal manner, especially if it is funny. For some

though they perhaps do not appriciate a good joke or it

is too obscene for their liking. people today are so

concerned with proper attitudes in certain places i say

relax and have a laugh once in a while.

In response to Stefen--I think your attitude about relax

and have fun is destructive. One thing we really need

to consider about humor is why we laugh at others'

expenses. What is funny to us involves hurting others.

From "Tom and Jerry" when we were kids to today when

sitcoms have husbands and wives pick on each other to

gain a laugh from a fake audience. The real message is

that when there a joke about a person or group of people

and those people say it's not funny, then it's time to

give it up and shut your mouth.

i think that what really needs to happen is that

everyone needs to relax. i agree with stefan in that

aspect. however, i also agree that we should be more

conscious about WHY we are saying things. if it is for

a hurtful purpose, then we shouldn't say them. but, at

the same time, if you can't laugh at yourself, or what

you are doing...no matter what that is...then you aren't

living life for what it was meant for...and that is to

enjoy it. its not about "shutting" anyone's mouth, as

it is to "opening" people's minds, and making people

realize that if you take yourself too seriously, you're

going to die of a heart attack, or an ulcer or

something. that would be just a complete shame, wouldnt

it?

After reading this response to sexist jokes and why men

love them, I agree with the author. I, too, think that

most people, male or female, enjoy sexists jokes at one

time or another. This is because they are usually so

ridiculous that both sexes can laugh at them. I know

that many mens' magazines print sexist jokes to

entertain their male readers. Maybe that website that

attempts to explain this is correct. Maybe men like

sexist jokes to keep women down in their equality

movement. Perhaps that is the underlying, unconcious

role of these sexist jokes. However, on the surface, it

seems to me that these jokes are purely for

entertainment for everyone, and we may be looking too

deep into this topic for answers.

I think that sexist jokes are a lot more common among

men than women because men tend to be more graphically

insensitive to these meaningless jokes. Men seem to

love crude sexist jokes. I hear guys on campus make

sexist comments all the time. Personally it doesn't

really bother me, but there is a thin line to draw.

Sometimes sexist jokes can be offensive depending on the

person who is receiving the jokes and how they take it.

Sexist jokes are definitely shocking at times. These

jokes are a form of entertainment and we choose to take

it seriously or not. Men tend to be more direct than

women, so they don't find these jokes shocking. Sexist

jokes are also usually about putting women down. To a

certain extent I agree that sexist jokes are for

repressing increased feminine power. 10 years from now,

men will have the same problem complaining about women

and their "sexist jokes".

I think that it is possibly true that these jokes stem

from a deep down urge to keep "us" on top...look at

jokes about races. As innocent as it seems, portuguese

jokes, asian jokes, caucasian jokes...they all are very

innocent seeming, but perhaps this is just a way to keep

"us" (the race telling the joke) on top.

But...I also have a synical view in that...survival of

the fittest...and...whatever works...works ;)

I completely agree with you when you say that most of

the women out there do like some sexist jokes. I think

this is very healthy. We should be able to laugh at

anything. Remember IT IS A JOKE! I think in today's

world people have gone way over board on trying to be

"politically correct". We need to lighten up as a

society. Now days, people get sued over a few comments,

people get sued b/c of hand jestures, and McDonalds get

sued for "making" someone fat. Give me a break. I as a

woman do believe in equality. I think women need to get

paid the same, women need to have the same opportunities

that men are offered, and the responibilities around the

home need to be equal. Because I feel this way does not

mean I can not laugh at a joke. I have jokes about

neanderthal men also. If people would laugh more this

world would be a much healthier place.

I too, as a female, would agree that sexist jokes are

funny! I laugh at the jokes about females. And so

what. I laugh at male jokes too. What's the big

problem?

If males use it as a way to put females down that

doesn't mean it really does. It doesn't put me down but

if it did I wouldn't cry about it.

Some people are so uptight about J-O-K-E-S. Maybe they

should just relax.

I wish more women had such a healthy attitude towards

jokes regardless of how sexist they may seem because

what it all comes down to is laughter. Granted not all

jokes should be shared in certain circles, but I think

jokes in men's magazines like Maxim are purely for

laughter and never degradation. Society took a turn for

the worst the day someone got slapped with sexual

harassment lawsuit for telling a blonde joke. To me, a

blonde woman who can enjoy a blonde joke has a healthy

perception of herself and realizes that a joke isn't a

personal attack. I commend you for your open mindedness.

I agree that you don't have to be sexist to enjoy a

sexist joke, but as they say, there is a shred of truth

in all jokes. There are many parallels between sexism

and racism, and therefore parallels between sexist and

racist jokes. What sexism and racism are about is

putting yourself inherently above another group, thereby

boosting your self-worth. Men enjoy sexist jokes

because it makes them feel better about themselves and

promotes comaraderie. I'd be curious to see if there's

been a study concerning whether repeated exposure to

sexist jokes increases the amount of sexist thoughts and

actions. Citing my own experiences, I'd definitely say

there is a connection. I have very sexist friends, and

I'm definitely more sexist as a result. Even though I

full-heartedly believe women and men are absolutely

equal, it changes thought patterns and gives us less

aversion to shouting at girls on the street or checking

out a girl's ass for entirely too long. This is my

personal experience.

I'm fully aware that this is a complex interface of

thoughts, actions, and emotions, but to me there is

undeniably a link between sexist (and racist)

jokes/comments and sexist and racist behavior.

I hear a lot of sexist jokes all the time. Although at

times they are offensive, many are just an extreme

exaggeration of how things really are. I realize that

there are a lot of guys that say really offensive jokes,

but many of these guys are just too immature to realize

that what they are saying is not just making people

laugh, but is also hurting others.

well, i just had a good laugh. i typed in 'sexist jokes

and men' in yahoo and boy, did i get a lot of sexist

jokes. it wasn't until i typed in 'sexism jokes men'

that i got some actual quality material such as site

europrofem.org/06.actio/wrc_rib/ewrc_en/08wrc_en.htm.

the intent of this page was to teach men to behave in a

pro-equality, anti-sexist, anti-violence manner in a

variety of situations. some of their advice was to stop

supporting magazines depecting women as objects or to

'boo' at a comedy show with sexist jokes. there were

several other ideas as well. actually, what i found most

interesting were the amounts of sites against women's

sexism against men that came up. although it's not as

stereotypical (a big danger, causing us to overlook

actual problems), it does seem to be fairly rampant.

and isn't it just as stereotypical that there is a

discussion forum labeled 'sexist jokes and men' and not

'sexist jokes and women'? or just 'sexist jokes'? this

will hardly be taken care of any time soon. i guess my

question is why? it's generally believed that people

make fun of others to make themselves feel bigger or

better, in a sick way. males, as the socially dominant

species for so long as objectified women FOREVER. now

are women objectifying men as means of retaliation,

equal rights or to make themselves feel better? i don't

know. or, do we use humor to deflect things we don't

understand or don't want to deal with? yes, i think so.

so does that apply in this situation? what do you all

think?

I think that you're right. Those sexist jokes are funny.

I had cramps from laughing so hard, then there were the

jokes that were plain out degrading toward women and

just made me sick. I think we use sexist humor when we

need to feel that power over the other sex. We have to

put them down when they hurt us. I think it's all about

having the power and feeling better about ourselves.

is about sexual harassment and sexist jokes. It explains

that this form of sexual harassment isn't about sex but

about having power.

i think that people do use humor to make themselves feel

better. I think humor is great no matter what kind of

joke. the problem i have is with the person or context

in which they use the joke in. a profrofessional

comedian can make just about anyone laugh at any joke

becuase the people know that it is all in fun and no one

is being the target. Not everyone are comedians though

and is where the problem lyes. People use these jokes

to put them "above" others. it may work for a little

while but in the end they usually get whats coming to

them

I agree that people use these jokes to make them feel

better or more powerful over other people, but I also

think there is another side to it. I think that we are

able to laugh at these jokes because there is a grain of

truth to the stereotypes that we sometimes recongize in

ourselves and may be funny when it is blown out of

proportion. It is also disturbing that these can be so

funny when they put women down. I like the point

brought up that the title of the forum is sexist jokes

and men. I think this might be due to the views of the

professor.

In this search, I specifically looked for the reasons

why men enjoy sexist jokes. I used the search term

reasons+men and sexist jokes. I didn't encounter any

problems with this search. I used www.google.com for

this search. This was the site I used:

In this short article, I found that Men who tells sexist

jokes are trying to build themselves up at the women's

expense. Many sexist jokes are targeted to women or in

some situations gay men. Sexist jokes cause pain and

even violence among women and gay men. In this

situation, I don't agree with supporting sexist jokes.

If the sole purpose of sexist jokes was to entertain,

then it would be OK. Unfortunately sexist jokes may give

rapists or sadist men out there inspiration and

motivation to rape women or abuse them. In this

case....quoted from the article: "We don't need a laugh

at that cost."

I agree that it is ok to tell jokes if the sole purpose

for it is to make people laugh. But like you said,if it

is directed toward someone or a group of people with the

intent to hurt or discriminate, then it becomes a

problem. When a man tells a sexist joke and it is

intended for entertainment, and a woman or anyone else

for that matter takes offense to it, then I think it is

time for him to think twice before telling it again. I

believe that there are people in the world who are more

sensitive on certain subjects, than are others and we

need to take their feelings into consideration. However,

I also believe that those ultra-sensitive people need to

lighten up a bit and laugh more because life is just too

short to get pissed at people who are ignorant.

I enjoyed this search because i gave in to temptation

and read many of the sexist jokes that were dangling in

front of me on my computer screen. At first I used

Google with the search phrase "sexist jokes and men".

This search resulted in an enormous amount of web sites

dedicated to sexist jokes. I browsed through about five

or so of the pages, but then remembered my task and

changed my search to "sexism and jokes and men". This

was a better search phrase because it yielded many pages

that would help me find out some reasons for sexist

jokes. However, after seeing the frequent web sites

dedicated to women's sexist jokes about men, I wanted to

find a site that would address this issue. I found one:

site was written by a man and railed the females who

protest against male jokes about women that they feel

are sexist. He cites the many web pages that are

created by women for jokes about men that are

derogatory. He noted that the online book "The Dumb

Male Jokebook" was selling at an all time high. The

creator also discussed a chain letter he received about

women joking about men in a sxist manner, and a CBS

report about reverse sexism.

In response to Sean........

Reverse sexism was bound to happen. Women, have been

the butt of jokes for so long, it's about time a whole

book of men jokes came out. Women are capable of

dogging men just the same as when men dog women.

All in all , I think it's done just for the laughs, the

reason why it's so funny to read them is because there's

a bit of truth behind it regradless if it's jokes

towards men or women.

I agree that if a woman does not want a man telling

sexist jokes about her she should not tell them either.

Unfortunately we all usually result to children's

mentality and think "anything he can do I can do better"

or play a form of insulting tag. And then we play the

blame game, "well he/she started it!" For some the

jokes are harmless but to others, mostly women they are

a reflection of stereotypes and insults. But aren't

most jokes a put down of someone or something. You are

laughing at someone else or in some cases yourself.

That is just how jokes are. But granted some are

tasteless and unnecessary but for the most part we all

tell or laugh at jokes aimed at others but when the

laughing arrow is pointed at us we are a lot more likely

to want it pointed somewhere else.

I have to admit that I have received some of those jokes

about me but the difference with those emails was that

both men AND women were the butt of the joke. I did

laugh when I read them and I didn't feel that they took

on a derogatory connotation. I know there are other

jokes that are extreme and I would have to oppose those

types because everyone knows that men and women are

different. Let's just leave it at that.

Hey Sean wassup man I didn't know you were taking this

class. I haven't checked out any websites concerning

this topic but think that any controversy pertaining to

sexist jokes should be squashed. When people begin to

attack humor you know this world is getting way to

sensitive. It's good that women are coming back with

their own brand of sexist jokes and all of this (both

side of the joke issue) should be taken with a

tongue-in-cheek mentality. People have to able to laugh

and when thinking back to the jokes I've heard in the

past,it is the sexist part of the joke which makes the

joke funny! Men tease women and vice versa, this has

been going on since the hannabadda days so all of these

people with certain ill reactions toward these type of

jokes I got something that will cure your dilemma, it's

a chill pill. Later.

No it is not only men who make sexist jokes. Women to

are just as bad as men. At work, I here women talking

about men and making jokes about them. There is a

stereotype that men are scum, that they only make fun of

the opposite sex, NOOOOOO Way.

Women talk about men all the time like the size of there

you know what, as well as how syupid we are. In times of

sexist jokes, women take these things to court, men do

not. This is why people think only men do it.

Using Yahoo as my search engine and the phrase "sexist

jokes and men", came up was all sexist jokes about

women. I had trouble finding a resource page that didn't

have sexist jokes. Finally I used "sexist jokes against

women" and clicked on the forth option:

Although I believe some sexist jokes about women can be

funny, I'm sure not all women would agree and would take

offense. This article called "Challenging men to end

violence against women and children" by the Good Apples

Project had a different perspective on sexist jokes

about women. The article states "Learn to recognize the

signs of sexual harassment in your workplace" and that

sexual harassment can take on less obvious forms (e.g.,

like sexist jokes or sexist language) and that this type

of sexual harassment isn't about sex but about power.

I'm assuming that they are implying that sexist jokes

told by men correlates to violence against women and

that these sexist jokes are all about having feelings of

power over women. I would have to agree that some (not

all) men do sometimes use sexist jokes about women

because they feel inferior to women and that by telling

these types of jokes, they feel better about being a man

and somehow they are the more stronger or better sex.

Regarding Sherry's "Sexist Jokes Against Women",

We all agree that jokes are sexist, but it's all for fun

and humor. That's what makes a joke so funny. There is

always someone that's going to be unhappy or feel

inferior, but that's life. Like Donna was saying, jokes

are jokes--just let them go and ignore it.

I always would have thought that jokes directed

towards the female have been around since the caveman

days when our grunts were first given meaning. It does

make sense though that we, as males, can use something

as trivial as a joke to give ourselves a sense of

superiority.

You can't really put all the blame of this

chauvanism on males. It's a vicious cycle of mass media

putting this type of message into our heads and males

enjoying it enough for the media to keep on doing it.

I think that jokes are jokes and while some go out of

the ball park the most of it are fine. I would rather

not have them but, they are there.

I used google searching the terms "psychology sexist

jokes". I originally was searching for why men like

sexist jokes, but most of the evidence I found was the

mindset of ment who like sexist jokes, and the way women

react to them. I had no problems in my search.

The first site I found was

postulated that even mild forms of sexism in the

workplace (e.g. comments and jokes) have negative

effects on female employees, and even "can cause

significant psychological distress".

The second site was

which cited a troubling university study. It said that

women were far less likely to enjoy sexist jokes, and

were less likely to tell them than men. By far the most

disturbing finding was the following: "The enjoyment of

sexist humor was positively correlated with rape myth

acceptance, adversarial sexual beliefs, acceptance of

interpersonal violence, and the self-reported likelihood

of forcing sex in men." It also said that the

likelihood of male enjoyment of a sexist joke was

diminished by a disgusted female in the room.

The third site was

which gave a differing view. It stated that joking in

the workplace led to less stress and monotony. However,

the article said sexist jokes could work as a

double-edged sword, lightening the mood in some

situations while offending people in others.

You know, i really wonder sometimes...if we put too much

emphasis on this whole sexist thing. is it possible

that we are blowing it up to be worse than it really is?

when i read these articles i think, man, that IS

horrible...but i think it because someone brings it to

my attention. perhaps if we all just stopped with this

"trying to make it all equal" or "politically correct"

stuff...and just had a good laugh, and continued working

that everything would be so much smoother?

ya think?...just an idea

Because I feel that it's unfair to say that men get most

of the heat of sexism jokes, I wanted to research on

sexism against men. I search under Google using the

phrase "sexism jokes and men" and found two good

websites. No problems that stood out.

The first one was www.jokesbyemail.co.uk/c-mu.shtml and

it just has funny sexist jokes. It has different joke

categories and one especially for men and women. If you

like these types of jokes, this is a pretty good site,

however, some are nasty (just to worn you).

The other site was really good

(surreally.net/fullbleed/new archives/000270.php). It

talks about how men claim that they experience

discrimination because they're a MAN and THAT'S SEXISM.

It then goes on to say that men don't experience sexism,

but recieve negative affects by sexism, and gives

examples of them. One example, a man will suffer when

he chooses a women that dosen't fit the "ideal women"

image that's define by sexist society. So men are forced

to stay in a range of what's "sexy" and "attractive". I

totally agree from that only because I have male

friends and the first thing they look for in a girl is

if she's skinny, then looks.

I decided to research men and sexist jokes. I had no

problems today, I used Yahoo and was successful. I used

the search terms: men, sexist, jokes; sexist jokes. I

was hoping to find some data supporting the idea that

sexist jokes are offensive and are childish. What I

found was interesting. I found that as far as sexist

jokes, there are just as many sexist men jokes as there

ae sexist woman jokes. Here are some of the web sites I

visited:

My favorite of the sites, is the last one. I really find

the men jokes not only funny but true. As far as the

jokes that men find funny...well let's just say they're

tasteless and stupid, but what else can you really

expect. Although I don't agree with sexism, the jokes

are equally sexist and are just for a good laugh. The

problem is, that there is a time and a place for jokes

like these. Places like work and school they can be

concidered harassment, and although the jokes are just

for fun you never know who may take offence to it.

I started with yahoo and ended with google in my search

for what others have said about how men benefit from

telling sexist jokes about women. I used the keywords:

benefit and "sexist jokes" in both searches. I found an

article at

by a man (James A. Autry), this article discusses

telling sexist jokes specifically in the workplace. He

tells readers about, although men and women usually

always agree on when a sexist joke is being made, that

women should be "flattered" or be able to recognize and

laugh at the derogatory joke because it is, after all,

"just a joke." The most intelligent observation made by

Autry is how men have difficulty, when they see a woman

in a skirt or something (not that it matters what she's

wearing), separating a woman's desire to be attractive

and have a sexual identity with her desire to maintain

sexual privacy. This means no gestures, looks, jokes,

comments--NOTHING. As a woman, I know that it is so

important to be able to go through your day without

men--young and old alike--degrading me in some fashion.

I don't think I've had a day without this since I was 11

or 12 years old. That's a long time people. I think we

need to look at every single joke made and ask ourselves

who is at the expense of the punchline. Autry also

points out that for too many men, a woman's sexuality

can exist only in the context of being a commodity for

men. This article addresses some important issues

about men's power issues and predatorial cores and I

suggest having a look.

i couldn't find the page...clicked the link, but nothing

came up.

something i would like to comment on is what it sounded

like you were saying. it seems to me that this site,

and your post, are talking more about the issue of

sexual harrasment. i think that there is a difference

between sexual harrasment, and a sexist joke. sexual

harassment is a comment or "joke" that is directed or

fashioned about a specific person, normally one in the

area. (hooting and hollaring at a female, or male,

joking about someones attractiveness...etc) i agree,

these are not joking matters, especially in a

work/professional environment. they are degrading, and

are not intended to do anything other than that!

however, i still believe that the sexist joke (ie: men

are dumb, watch sports and drink beer....or....women are

moody, and emotional) can have a valuable insight to the

other sex. while they are jokes, and many of them

pretty cruel, they are also based on an exageration of

the truth. no, not all men are dumb, beer drinking,

couch slugs...and not all women are moody and

emotional...however, its funny to hear about the people

who are. and if you aren't one of these people, why

sweat it. even if you are...dont take yourself so

seriously. laugh, relax, and have fun...but

remember...if you're going to joke about others, be

prepared to be the butt of someone else's joke too!!

i found this site through google.com. I had a

relatively easy time finding the site once i got through

the garbage jokes. I used the words Sexism and jokes to

search.

The article i found was part of a thesis paper written

by a woman about how sexist jokes may seem funny to some

but the affects of them echo throughout that persons

life. Those jokes begin to affect working conditions,

communications and hurt the persons overall selfworth.

Jokes are for the most part are good things but people

can use and abuse them as with anything else. Jokes are

a powerful part of socialization and can be used to get

groups to believe they are higher or better than others

which can affect peoples perceptions of any one

individual.

Reading your posting I just had to laugh, come on "jokes

can be used to get groups to believe they are higher or

better than others"? Please, that is ridiculous. Jokes

are just that a joke, something that is supposed to be

funny and taken lightly. Maybe those people who seem to

take offence to them should lighten up and discover that

the joke is not a way to make someone feel superior, but

a way to make someone smile. Although I agree that there

is a time and place for every thing, choose wisely!

yes, jokes are funny becuase that is what they are meant

to do, but the whole reason that they are offensive is

because people don't see how humiliating they can be.

I'm sure that if you had a really good racist joke about

Native Americans, a really dirty one, you wouldn't tell

people that joke if there were any Native Americans

around. The same thing goes for sexist jokes. If you

know a joke but it is so bad that you wouldn't tell

someone, who the joke is aimed at making fun of, that

specific joke, then you know it isn't always just for

fun. Tell all of your friends because they will think

the joke is funny, but not everyone who hears jokes,

especially those who it is about will think that it is

funny at all.

For this research topic I used the search engine google.

I used google because I am always able to find good and

useful information relevant to my topic. The search

phrase that I used was "sexist jokes." I did not have

any problems with this search because I found a good

amount of links on my first attempt. The web address

for the site I used is:

In this article I found that men who tell sexist jokes

are usually trying to build themselves up at the expense

of women. I was shoked to learn that sexists jokes may

give rapists men more inspiration and motivation to rape

and abuse women. I think that it is pathetic how some

men need to make sexist jokes just to feel better about

themselves. That just goes to show how shallow some men

can be.

Regarding Gails search:

I don't agree with the article about how men who tell

sexist jokes are trying to build themselves up at womens

expense. Men tell jokes because they are funny AND

women tell jokes for the same reason. Majority of my

male friends who tell sexist jokes are good guys. They

just tell them because they read or hear it from

somewhere and thought it was funny. Infact, my female

friend knows more male sexist jokes than my male friends

knowing female sexist jokes.

The kind of men that need to degrade women just to get a

laugh or boost their own self esteem are sick. I think

that some men take it too far. It is shocking to hear

that sexist jokes are reasons why women are abused and

raped out there.

lol...did none of your searching turn of sexist jokes

about men, and thus lead to how "shallow" women can be?

This is a great topic to explore both sides of, I'm

willing to bet that sexist jokes are almost as

prevelant, if not equally prevelant, among men as women,

we just tend to be a heck of alot more vocal about them.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share a joke I received on an email.

Enjoy (OR NOT)....

> > A language instructor was explaining to her class that

> > in French, nouns, unlike their English counterparts,

> > are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine.

> >

> > "House," in French, is feminine-"la maison."

> > "Pencil," in French, is masculine-"le crayon."

> >

> > One puzzled student asked, "What gender is computer?"

> > The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French

> > dictionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups,

> > appropriately enough by gender, and asked them to decide whether

> > "computer" should be a masculine or feminine noun. Both groups were

> > required to give four reasons for their recommendation.

> >

> > The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the

> > feminine gender ("la computer"), because:

> >

> > 1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic. 2. The

> > native language they use to communicate with other computers

> > is incomprehensible to everyone else

> > 3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for

> > possible later retrieval

> > 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending

> > half your pay check on accessories for it.

> >

> > The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be

> > masculine ("le computer"), because:

> >

> > 1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on; 2. They

> > have a lot of data but they are still clueless 3. They are supposed to

>

> > help you solve problems, but half the time

> > they ARE the problem

> > 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited

> > a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

> >

> > The Women Won

I had read this before and it made me laugh,reading it

the second time around doesn't make it less funny. I

believe that these sexit jokes do have some truth and

that's why they're funny.

I used MSN and search words: Why are sexist jokes funny.

The only problem I had was finding the majority of

jokes sites but not enough on why we tell and find

sexist jokes funny. I finally came across a BBC artilce.

The address is

While it touched on the many types of jokes sent the

main focus was on how companies are becoming more strict

with e-mail which will lead to lesser sexist jokes being

rotated. The article also discussed the dangers for

companies and examples of companies being sued. "Oil

giant Chevron had to pay out $2.2m - at £1.3m, three

times the amount Norwich Union paid for libel - after a

female employee complained of sexual harassment when she

found sexist jokes under the heading "why beer is better

than women". There were also plenty of sites that

suppored sexist jokes not only for men but for women

also. Claiming it is harmless fun. Some sexist joke

When I searched this topic I found alot of sites with

sexist jokes. There was know sites that explained why

they were funny. The only information found was hundreds

of sites dealing with male and female jokes.

I think they are funny because society makes them funny.

Men and women like talking about the other sex

I guess sex is a "touchy" subject in American.

Therefore, I don't want to speak my mind about sex

because someone may find it be offensive and sue me

since people can and are sueing each other for

anything!!! hehe.

I started my search in the American Psychological

Associations Monitor web based publishing databank.

After that I went to Google and typed in jokes+sexual

harrassment. The results were enormous and had to be

sifted through to get rid of sites that were just

composed of jokes. In the APA Monitor,

has found that men telling sexist jokes affects them

directly by the influence it has on the whole work

environment.

For a different point of view I found a site that

has a posting board for stories and emails.

contained a story about a woman who encountered

workplace harrassment. It was interesting because even

though she was in the process of pursuing actions, she

sounded like she has already lost.

My topic is on why men think sexist jokes are amusing.

used the phrase:why do men like sexist jokes? I found

an article that supports that men tell sexist jokes just

as a form of entertainment. There was no problem in

finding this article.

The title of this is "Don't take sexist jokes so

seriously." The man who wrote this is a humor columnist

and he thinks that women shouldn't be offended by sexist

jokes because it is only a joke. He address that men

don't get worked up when a male sterotype is used

because they don't take it personally. On the other

hand he goes on to state that women are a different

matter. Women do get offended and he thinks it's petty

and meaningless to take jokes about women seriously.

My second search was a contrast to the first. I used

the same search engine above, but this time using the

phrase:men against sexist jokes. No problems occured in

this search as well. I found this site

The White Ribbon Campaign (Men working to end men's

violence against women). Subsection #5 deals with

sexist jokes and men. It encourages men to challenge

other men using sexist language and jokes which are

demaning to women. The site says that sexist jokes and

language could be one of the many catalysts that leads

to violence against women.

Both these articles give their view on this matter.

Although some women won't get offended by these jokes

there are always going to be one's that do. This should

make men become more sensitive with what they say around

women.

Regrading Marie's search:

I would have to agree with the first article. Most

jokes that do happen to be sexist are just for laughs.

Some women do need to relax because the jokes itself is

not directed to any particular women. But of course,

there are some occasions where males do take it a little

far and has nothing to do with what females do.

When we speak about Sexist jokes, depending who you

are, you may react differently. Me? I couldn't care

less because it doesn't affect my view of women. Why?

Morals and Values. You might say I was taught well and

had a good upbringing. But it goes beyond that, I make

the conscious choice to stick to my own morals and keep

all of my values in line. For most of those jokes

that piss feminists off all of the time, I laugh. Why

laugh if you know it's wrong, you might ask? I laugh

BECAUSE I know it is wrong! And I understand.

Understanding is the key. Understanding any joke makes

the joke funny. If you have to explain it, then it's

not a joke and not as funny. Understanding what is

right and what is wrong is another thing that should be

required, but this is the issue at hand.

There are things that play against it. You know,

anything bad in our lives. These little things that

keep us in line, keep us going. These things are Morals

and Values and countless other constructs. Fantasy/

simulations, videogame violence, cartoon material, road

rage, naughty jokes-- you name it. The truth lies in

the conscious decision to follow what you were

taught,what you know, and laugh at what you are not.

For those who don't know of what I speak, I don't expect

you to understand.

Morals and values anyone? Oh you don't need to

know how it all pans out statistically. Using logic you

should know that if everyone (or at least the majority

of the population) lacked morals and values then we

would all be dead. Or suffering at the least. The few

rotten apples out there do ruin the bunch, sometimes.

Sometimes some people don't understand.

i mean it...laugh! i'm very interested in why it is

that people cant take a simple joke about themselves, or

a group they belong to, and just laugh. if there's one

thing that we have in hawaii, it is diversity. and with

that diversity comes "generalizations" and jokes about

those "generalizations." fillipinos can't match

clothes, portugese talk too much, and chinese are tight

with their money. we all laugh at these jokes, but when

it comes to the "sexes," everyone seems to get very

touchy. why?...its FUNNY!!!

look at this site:

it is just one of the many sexist jokes it has, against

both men and women. this particular one is against

men...its a training schedule for men, and how to

"domesticate" them. its true, some, if not most, men

don't understand how to do these things. thats why its

funny...but if we cant laugh at ourselves, then our

civilization is on its fast slope towards it end.

laugh...its healthy for you!

this article was both funny and interesting. i found

while searching on google. i used the words meaning of

I got a site from a womens handbook that helps everyone

understand each other in a creative and humorous way.

This is quite an interesting site. The contents are

mostly jokes but it deciphers them in to how each sex

things about the words they are using. The language we

use is to most of us trying to hide the truth of what we

as men really want to say. this site puts in to comedic

terms which i think is a great way to decipher why men

make these jokes towards women. It also gives woman a

view that may make them understand the base of mens

jokes and help them as well as the men to understand

what each other means when they say silly jokes.

Hi Stefan,

I agree with you that the article was "funny and

interesting." It was pretty long, but it was worth it to

go through most of it. I guess it made me laugh because

I could relate to some of the things listed.

I think being able to relate/identify with things makes

these situations/conversations involving males and

females funny. That's why many sexist jokes are funny -

because we can relate to them or think of someone who

does.

I was searching for information on the effects and

prevalance of sexist jokes towards women in our society.

I used Google(suprise!) to search for sexism+joke+men

and was rewarded with multiple results with exactly what

I was looking for(boy im gettin good at this).

site was an article from a feminists point of view on

sexisst jokes and what steps should be taken by women to

protest these types of jokes.

The second discusses the power trip that some men tend

to get around women; rape and sexist jokes are

supposedly part of this.

Personally I think sexist jokes are hilarious,even those

made about men. Its a good way to discover all the

stereo types of both genders, plus a good way for guys

and girls to share a laugh among themselves. The first

article tells that "Sexist jokes are the number one way

to drive women out of any group, and they are more

common than many people realize." This article is

written by a feminist, so it may be a tad more hardcore

than most women."Women keep silent when we see sexist

jokes because if we protest, we will immediately be

attacked for being over-sensitive, uptight, or a

"feminazi." This is not totally true, I for one realize

that some sexist jokes may be quite offensive to certain

women and if a woman asks me not to tell them I am more

than happy to comply The second article says that

"...men could be brought in from all over the world, and

they would have nothing in common, except that they feel

superior to women...This male cultural phenomenon is

taught while men are young..." Some men do feel superior

to women, but I do not believe they think they are

better than women, merely that men are on average

physically stronger than women.

I looked up sexist joes on www.yahoo.com. Most of the

websites that came up were jokes for men about women.

There were very few jokes for women about men. This in

itself shows the bias that men find these jokes more

humourous, they seem to be obsessed with them. I found

one website that has an article about not taking sexist

jokes so seriously. It is written by a man, telling

women to not get angry about these jokes, but to throw

out jokes about men in retaliation. You can view this

article at