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Amber Jones
D. Watkins
Composition II MW 1:30
02/26/14

The Media Says So
Media and popular culture influences our society in many different ways, and often have a
lasting effect on the way we believe we should behave. I believe there are pros and cons to this ongoing
process of the media establishing gender roles. The media and individuals that make up the popular
culture world dictate gender roles. Gender roles are one of the many ways the media conditions us to
behave as individuals. Commercials demonstrate little boys pushing around Tonka trucks, and little girls
baking pies in their kitchen sets. From a very young age, children are expected to fulfill their gender role.
Is it a natural occurring instance that girls/boys are held to different standards in the way they should
behave, or is the media filling our heads with expectations of roles for corporate gain? Lets explore this
question.
Humans are born with a natural intuition to fulfill their gender role, and it is driven from birth
into adulthood. Lets address a few general stereotypes to compare and contrast men and women as if
they could fit into two separate categories. Men are more aggressive than women, and women are
more nurturing than men. These are very basic stereotypes, but for the most part they generally hold
true. Naturally, men are eager to participate in strenuous activity, such as playing sports, and working
outdoors. I believe men could all agree that they would rather mow the lawn, than bake cookies.
Basically, it is safe to say, men are very different than women when it comes to their natural tendencies.
Women are naturally caring and nurturing. Women usually adopt the privilege of the domestic duties of
the household. We would much rather take on the responsibility of caring for children, because of our

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natural ability to be nurturing. The masculine energy does the hunting, or the earning, so to speak, and
the feminine does the receiving and the nurturing (Sidel). I dont want to confuse the fact that women
and men are only supposed to participate in these activities. Women are obviously capable of mowing
the lawn, and men are obviously capable of taking care of children. I am simply stating that men and
women seem to gravitate towards those individual activities due to natural intuition.
Introducing the media conditioning phenomenon, where no one is out of reach of the media
training you on how to fulfill your gender role. These schemes are responsible for defining the essence
of our worldview and have a significant influence on social cognition understanding, anticipation,
situation and emotion control (Walska). Influential commercials, such as the Fisher Price commercial,
displaying the little girl in the kitchen cooking and cleaning is one of the many examples the media taps
in to the minds of young girls. The commercial appeals to the natural intuition of the young girl, and
conditions her to think that having a kitchen set is a way for her to express her nurturing tendencies.
The same can be said for the little boy. The Tonka Truck commercial portrays a couple toddlers rolling
around in a truck, and hauling dirt around. The commercial switches to a scene of a dad and his Ford
truck doing the same activity. In the young boys mind this is extremely appealing. It is appealing for two
reasons: the little boy is channeling his manly side through the tough truck, and he gets to be just like
his father. The media is just getting started at this point. I believe the media nurtures these ideas, just
like a mother nurtures her child. The media captures the child at a very young age, raises the individual
up through teenage years, and continues to influence the adult throughout their life.
Now, to compare the two ideas of how humans have a natural intuition, and how the media
trains to fulfill a gender role. I believe it is a perfect scam for corporate gain. For example, here are two
very different individuals, and corporate America takes full advantage. No way could a boy and a girl
have the same colored pajamas, or the same color of a toy. If television is found to influence children's

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concepts of gender, then not only does it reflect upon the influence that television might have in other
areas, but it may also have implications for the children in so far as what they come to expect as the
norm, and the types of behaviour and attitudes they exhibit and expect others to (Ingham). The media
makes it seem as if it is silly for a boy to play with a doll, and for a girl to play with a GI Joe. In reality,
they are both dolls. One doll is wearing a dress, and the other is wearing a uniform. This is simply a way
for corporate America to double their sales. The media has specific commercials for girls, and specific
commercials for boys. Hardly ever will the media have a commercial that appeals to both boys and girls
together. For the most corporate gain, the media has to portray boys and girls as two separate
categories. In my opinion, the media plays off of the natural intuition in all of us.
Recognizing the fact that media plays off of our natural intuition is the very beginning. As long as
men are intrigued with big bad trucks, and women are excited about new ways to use their crockpot, we
will forever be influenced by media. It is an ongoing phenomenon, and I dont see the media letting up
anytime soon. We can only embrace the fact that media and popular culture will always be around. We
have to adjust, and should act accordingly to the medias portrayal of gender roles. We have the choice
to go along with the conditioning that the media provides, or to ignore them.


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Ingham, Helen. "Children, Television and Gender Roles." Children, Television and Gender Roles.
Aber, Apr. 1997. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Sidell, Holly. "You Want Me to Pay for What!? (The Dance Between the Masculine and
Feminine)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 Oct. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Wolska, Malgorzata. "Gender Stereotypes in Mass Media. Case Study: Analysis of the Gender
Stereotyping Phenomenon in TV Commercials." .Krytyka.org. Prawa Autorski, 09 Jan. 2011. Web. 24 Feb.
2014.