Introduction
Discussing the issue of gender representation, it would be relevant to refer to the modern social cultures’ trends that define the difference between such notions as gender and sexuality. It is also necessary to discuss the following problems within this context: common attributes that are used to determine femininity/ masculinity; the evaluation and distinguishing of behaviors that are appropriate for men and for women; people’s attitude toward based such norms and values of behavior and the way they are exposed to in people’s daily cultural lives.
Main body
Another issue under consideration lays in the social perceptions changed historically about gender, sex, and sexuality, both in American culture and in other cultures throughout the world. In order to be able to analyze the above-mentioned problems, it is necessary to refer to the following resources that trigger the audience’s thoughts on the function and role of representation in popular culture: “Never Just Pictures” by Susan Bordo and children’s television show “Avatar”.
Gender is a key category that is used to identify and characterize human beings, and, generally, it is basic criterion when discussing the issue of representation. It is important to outline that such characteristics as an understanding of one’s identity, and other people’s identities and basic features are usually referred to as concepts of gender. Here raises the essential question of what determines feminine or masculine features, characteristics, and representations.
With the regard to the above-mentioned facts, it is necessary to note that not only human beings, but also various objects that are used by them and surround them, are represented by media resources as the distinctive features of boys or girls only. This, particularly, happens in advertising and television shows for children. Thus, it might be stated that people grow up convinced and insured of what is “appropriate” and “socially required” characteristics for each gender.
Carrying on the topic of the discussion, it is important to point out that television indeed influences the learning of specific social concepts, the behavior of its characters teaches the audience indirect lessons. With the view to this, the problem of gender representation has been a continuing concern as television frequently presents basic images of masculine and feminine, even in such progressive and popular among children television shows as “Avatar”.
Following this, it is such a well-known fact is worth mentioning: in given children’s show, as well as in entire television, male characters indeed outnumber females two or three to one. Female characters usually play stereotypic roles; they tend to be represented as less active. Children’s television programs and shows might are sex-stereotyped with female characters basically underrepresented, and, as a rule, less central to the show.
With the regard to the above mentioned, it must be said that there exists a certain connection between children viewing such television shows and having a stereotypical understanding of gender roles. This happens because of the children’s desire to be alike sex television characters. But here raises a great possibility to operate with counter stereotypical images that may successfully combat gender and sexual stereotypes.
Referring to Susan Bordo’s “Never Just Pictures” and to “Avatar”, it should be pointed out that the media as a whole, and television, particularly, shapes social and cultural criteria of what it means to be a boy or girl, male or female. In everyday life, people, especially children, encounter various male and female role models in the course of television’s information consumption.
Although such role models may seem, at first, to be different, they do not represent the meaning of ordinary male and female characters. This leads to the stunting individual growth of a person. Here happens a situation, when by accepting role models, as recognized criteria, people, especially children, exalt them and regard them as desirable to be. Here must be provided some basic issues generally related to gender criteria; typically masculine ones might be listed as follows: tough, brave, hard, and sweaty; feminine ones might be described as follows: fragile, thin, soft, beautiful, and fragrant.
Following this, it would be relevant to cite Bordo’s point of view about the above-mentioned problem: “Children in this culture [modern culture with its twisted values and social conditions] grow up knowing that you can never be thin enough and that being fat is one of the worst things one can be. One study asked ten- and eleven-year-old boys and girls to rank drawings of children with various physical handicaps; drawings of fat children elicited the greatest disapproval and discomfort, over pictures of kids with facial disfigurements and missing hands” (Bordo, 2002, p. 265).
Taking Bordo’s viewpoint on this problem into consideration, it is necessary to that twisted modern trends and beauty ideals established by fashion designers and their models and encouraged greatly by media, led to the eating disorder among young girls and women (and even young men). This disorder, and other problems connected to it, became a widespread and common form of cultural perception.
Discussing the above-provided information, it is worth mentioning that while representing women, media resources focus mainly on their physical beauty, missing and excluding other values of women. It should be also pointed out the lack of powerful female characters on television and the unnatural portrayals of them. All these lead to false admiration from the audience and misguiding perceptions as such portrayals have no relation to the real women’s lives and experiences.
Speaking of men, it is necessary to mention that they are finding it as hard to live up to their media representations and descriptions as women are to their ones. It might be stated that media representations of male ideals came in a great force when men’s audience had been targeted with fashion’s product promotion As well as women, men are encouraged to strive to be alike models from magazines, to look and behave in a similar way. But such an aim is considered really hard to achieve. And as well as in the case with women, such striving leads to different disorders, social perceptions, and problems.
Following this, it would be relevant to say that there is a complex connection between those problems and cultural perceptions and images. It might be stated that body ideals perpetuate people’s anxieties, fears, and insecurities. Such glamorous images and ideals cause painful feelings and envy attitudes of those people with not perfect bodies and appearance toward “ideal” models.
But, there might be also represented another explanation of this. The above-mentioned, perfect images draw up some imaginary solutions to people’s anxieties, fears, and insecurities, so they can fantasize about who they could be, but not, actually, are. This fact explains the power of those ideas and images, their unconquerable position in the media sector through the years. Bordo, referring to Freud, regards this problem in the context of “death fashion”, which represents release “from anxiety over not having one’s needs met” (Bordo, 2002, p. 269).
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it should be outlined that problems of gender representations, sexuality, artificial division on feminine and masculine lay, actually, deeper than just fashion trends, ideal images, and their influence on people. It is necessary to outline within this context that cultural images play here a great role, as they are deep themselves and supported by those who gain huge profits from twisted fashion concepts and trends selling their products and goods.
Works Cited
“Avatar: The Legend of Aang”. By Michael Dante Di Martino. Nickelodeon, 2005.
Bordo, Susan. Never Just Pictures. “Every Day, Everywhere: Global Perspectives on Popular Culture”. London: McGraw-Hill Humanities Social, 2002, pp. 265 – 269.