The Role Of Gender Stereotypes In Media

One would expect complete equality in today’s “modern” society. Cries for social justice are made daily, but it is uncertain if these cries are being heard and appropriate action is being taken. While there are certainly many serious social issues that deserve the public’s attention, gender issues are becoming more and more obvious. This is clear in the gender roles of people in the media, specifically songs, television shows, and video games, as they often ignore non-binary genders and stereotype the two remaining genders. Gender portrayals in media should be more diversified and appeal to all genders, not just the binary two, so that a broader audience can better understand gender and where they place on the gender spectrum. Gender stereotyping …show more content…
Undertale features a cast of ambiguous characters; these characters do not show typical signs of gender and are referred to with they and them pronouns. This has sparked a debate about the true gender of these characters with some agreeing to accept the characters’ non-binary life. While this aspect of the game may upset many, it has helped show that games can introduce non-binary characters and still be successful, which may be why some companies refuse to be so diverse. They may fear the controversy and chose to stick with the traditional and relatively “safe” genders so as to not offend and upset those who can not accept that others may live their lives differently. Bringing these discussions up may upset some, but they acknowledge the existence of a minority of people and cannot be ignored forever. In fact, discussing the differences between sex and gender and establishing a gender spectrum may help others realize that they do not have to live in the extremes—that it is common to display characteristics that are considered female and male without being singled out as strange. This concept can be explained better in a general …show more content…
Imagine two children, perhaps brother and sister, growing up in today’s society. The boy listens to music with the understanding that it is acceptable to sexualize women because his favorite singer does it, and the girl learns that this is just how society functions and that she, too, is just an object for men to enjoy. The young, impressionable girl sits down to watch My Little Pony to further develop her compassion and communication skills as women are always caring and talkative. Meanwhile, her brother is watching Transformers because My Little Pony is for girls and homosexual men. He is strong and cannot have others thinking he watches such a girly show. He learns about heroism and enjoys the violence, which he will later imitate. The girl later holds a tea party for her dolls in her room because that is what the television showed her girls do while the boy plays video games, a male pastime. He saves the princess over and over again because this is what a real man does. It is tough work, and he does not quite understand but he does it anyways because he has to in order to fit in with the other children. They hear that their is a non-binary child at their school, but they do not understand. They have never heard of this concept in their music, television shows, or games, and their parents never mentioned it because their misunderstanding of gender and sex