“Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?” is an article in where author Sarah Boxer addresses inequality in gender by uncovering the anti-mother hidden message in the enigmatic trend of motherless kids’ movies. “The same pattern held, but with a deadly twist. Either the mother died onscreen, or they were mysteriously displaced of before the movie began: Chicken Little, Aladdin… The fox and the hound… Ratatouille… Mr. Peabody and Sherman.” By going over the number of kids’ movies with the same pattern of dead mothers, Sarah Boxer is demonstrating how this trend is more sinister than just a coincidence. Sarah asserts that the mothers in these movies are killed so fathers can take over. “… As the reviewer noted, the only purpose of her life was
…show more content…
Boxer specifically concludes. “To quote Emily Yoffe in The New York Times, Writing about the perfection of the widowed father…”He is charming, wry, sensitive, successful handsome, a great father, and most of all he absolutely adores his wife. Oh, the perfect part? She’s dead.” What makes this an important quote for the author to refer to is that it exploits the motive of making so many motherless movies. Sarah Boxer connected the dots and determined in order for the father figure to prosper, the mother must have no character development. “Quite simply, mothers are killed in today’s kids’ movies so the father can take over.” This is the hidden anti-mother/women lesson that the author is identifying. Her objective is to call out the unequal treatment of mother in children’s entertainment. The author understands that these movies may be detrimental to kids view of women and …show more content…
For example, Ms. Boxer highlights the fact that,” …67% of U.S households with kids are headed by married couples, 25% by single mothers and only 8% by single fathers.” Sarah Boxer does not just subjectively support her claim toward motherless kids’ movies; she backs her findings with objective components as well. By doing so she is demonstrating that, although this is fantasy, there is no inspiration whatsoever that could explain why this motherless world would exist. Furthermore, in a close investigation into specific movies, this hidden hostility towards mothers is greatly revealed. An example of this as Ms. Boxer points out that in Barnyard, a popular kids movie, “… Barnyard’s bulls have bizarre phallic teats…” and as the police chase the main protagonist bull Otis he shouts, “milk me!” “Could udder envy be more naked”, Sarah exclaims. The author interprets this action as a very rude innuendo and an insult to female
Boxer specifically concludes. “To quote Emily Yoffe in The New York Times, Writing about the perfection of the widowed father…”He is charming, wry, sensitive, successful handsome, a great father, and most of all he absolutely adores his wife. Oh, the perfect part? She’s dead.” What makes this an important quote for the author to refer to is that it exploits the motive of making so many motherless movies. Sarah Boxer connected the dots and determined in order for the father figure to prosper, the mother must have no character development. “Quite simply, mothers are killed in today’s kids’ movies so the father can take over.” This is the hidden anti-mother/women lesson that the author is identifying. Her objective is to call out the unequal treatment of mother in children’s entertainment. The author understands that these movies may be detrimental to kids view of women and …show more content…
For example, Ms. Boxer highlights the fact that,” …67% of U.S households with kids are headed by married couples, 25% by single mothers and only 8% by single fathers.” Sarah Boxer does not just subjectively support her claim toward motherless kids’ movies; she backs her findings with objective components as well. By doing so she is demonstrating that, although this is fantasy, there is no inspiration whatsoever that could explain why this motherless world would exist. Furthermore, in a close investigation into specific movies, this hidden hostility towards mothers is greatly revealed. An example of this as Ms. Boxer points out that in Barnyard, a popular kids movie, “… Barnyard’s bulls have bizarre phallic teats…” and as the police chase the main protagonist bull Otis he shouts, “milk me!” “Could udder envy be more naked”, Sarah exclaims. The author interprets this action as a very rude innuendo and an insult to female