Sociology of Children Final Paper PDF

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Baez, 1 Emmitt Baez Profess Corrado Sociology of Children and Childhood 20. Dec 2018 Final Paper Question 5: Disney is often considered the cornerstone of American children’s culture, but has also come under scrutiny over the past 20 years for its less than “innocent” portrayal of gender and race in its movies, among other critiques. Discuss the representation of gender and race in Disney movies over time, including how things are both the same and different in the most recent Disney films. Then, using a sociological perspective, answer the question on everyone’s minds: Are Disney movies bad for kids?

Disney, as we discussed in class, is hyped up to be this magical company that really cares for the entertainment of children. After all the discussion and readings done on Disney movies, we can clearly see how Disney only cares about the entertainment aspect of a child’s life and deemphasizes other important parts of a child’s life like family relationships, real representations of race and gender, “As sites of entertainment, Disney films work because they put children and adult in touch with joy and adventure (Giroux 2004: 170). It is hard for to see the Disney company as “innocent” because of the fact that they are perpetuating gender and race stereotypes and teaching kids knowledge that is highly skewed, all at the cost of entertainment and maintaining the “innocent” childhood of kids. Disney movies in the past show clear examples of gender and racial stereotypes of multiple groups of people. In a class discussion we were talking about movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, and many of the various princess movies that Disney owns. Ultimately these movies teach young girls what a lady should always act like. Disney

Baez, 2 movies like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, teach children that girls are suppose to be obedient and not question any authority because if they do, then they will be considered as a “bad” girl. In the movie 1992 Disney film, Aladdin , there is a scene where the princess distracts the antagonist of the movie with her body, so that her boyfriend, Aladdin, can get past and do what he needs to do to capture him and save the day. This message of girls using their bodies to make lives easier for them and their male counterparts is really wrong and it definitely sends the wrong message to children on how to get what you want in life, which can down the road in life, can lead to problems surrounding sexuality, confidence and ability to succeed in society. Disney movies also attack race is such a subtle and non subtle way. The main point that was really eye opening during our discussion on Disney movies was that the antagonist of most Disney movies are clearly darker skin tones than those who are the protagonists. In the Lion King, Scar is a clear darker shade than Simba and his father Mufasa, who are the “good guys” of the film. Racism is a powerful but subtle structuring principle in Disney's animated film Pocahontas (Giroux 2004: 175). Disney movies have portrayed for many years that “evilness” has to do with darker skin color and this can go on to create issues for children when they grow up into their adolescents and deal with real world situations. Disney movies can set up kids to be at a disadvantage in their future when discussing complex topics such as race, sexuality and class. Overtime, Disney movies have adapted to current societal norms and have showed them in their movies. Moana the movie was mentioned during our class discussion. Moana is just like the movie, Mulan, b ecause the main character is a female, who breaks their societal norms by stepping outside of their cultural boundary and boundaries put forth by hegemonic beliefs of the men of their society. Those women characters are very empowering because they show girls that

Baez, 3 it is okay to be passionate about something that goes against your culture and gender beliefs. Who knows if Disney really is trying to change gender and racial views that they once wrongfully portrayed. Although Moana can be cited as movie that break cultural and societal norms for women and girls, it is important to remember that at the end of the movie, a male saves the day; so it made a lot us question if Disney does what they do in their movies to satisfy you, while on the other hand they still have their very problematic views on race, gender and class that continue to infiltrate the minds of millions of children worldwide. The big question is are Disney movies bad for kids. According to (Giroux 2004: 169), “The question of whether Disney's animated films are good for kids has no easy answer…). As I have discussed there are some very clear negative messages in most of Disney’s animated films that got them to their status that they are in today. I believe that Disney movies will always have an aspect that can be troublesome because at the end of the day the company only worries about making maximum profit from a child’s childhood. Disney movies can alter a child’s perception of race, class and gender at such an early age that it is honestly unfair because it does not prepare the child with the proper knowledge to enter into the world. Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White and many other of their first animated films and ones that are created today, sadly do not emphasize knowledge and what's right from wrong in their movies. Entertainment and monetary profit is the goal of the Disney company. It is up to us to teach children right from wrong and understand that movies will never teach children like experience and wisdom does.

Baez, 4 4. Whether symbolically or IRL*, children are confronted with consumerism and taught about consumption from a very early age. Discuss how children are taught to be consumers, and are taught about consumption, by various agents of socialization throughout their childhood. What messages are children being taught? (Give examples to illustrate each of the messages you discuss) How might we better prepare children to be smarter consumers from a young age?

I would have never thought and learned about the strong correlation between consumerism and childhood if it was not for this class. This class introduced me to the harsh realities and sadness that is the marketing industry. I say this because at the cost of money, marketing companies are willing to be proactive in the process of making children have blurry knowledge on life. What I mean by this is that marketing industry does not care about a child’s age or level of mental stability. Children are taught to be consumers as soon as they can open their eyes as babies. According to Schor, “Kids can recognize company logos by eighteen months, and ask for brand name items the age of two (19). In the movie, Consuming Kids, the term cradle to grave marketing came up. It is sickening to know that marketing companies try to get your dollar from the very moment you are born until the day you die. It makes the quality of human life so low and does not create a positive environment for children to prosper. Children are taught about consumption through their everyday lives. A child in today’s world sees so much TV time and most times on that TV, there are countless advertisements playing. Children are taught to be consumers in order to get most of the money from their parents. According to (Zelier 2002: 374), “Because the consuming child has attracted greater media attention than the producer or distributor...", we clearly see that children who are consumers tend to get more attention, as a result of this we see how the growth in abundance of advertisement geared towards children in the recent years.

Baez, 5 These marketing companies are teaching children life lessons that cause struggle in their lives. Advertisements companies love to make a child’s favorite cartoon into a food product, to then sell in mass quantities for max profit. Often times these food products are not healthy and can be extremely detrimental to a child’s health. Schor, mentions “At age one, she’d watching Teletubbies and eating the food of its promo partners Burger King a nd McDonalds” (19). Marketing companies that handle the sells of children’s toys, team up with big food corporations like Burger King and McDonalds to make more money by selling food that peaks the interest of a child because he/she sees a cartoon on it. This can cause detrimental health to a child’s life. Normally food that is promoted along with a favorite cartoon is not good for a child’s health. In the move Consuming Kids, the company Kraft was being mentioned and how their “Spongebob Mac and Cheese” was their best seller due to the fact that so many people bought it because of the fact that a very popular cartoon character was on it. According to Schor, "Children eat excessive quantities of adversired food products and not enough fruits, vegetables and fiber” (34). Children obsessing over the food of their favorite cartoons can most certainly lead to health complications later on in life. Children are also taught about materialism through their encouraged consumerism by the marketing industry. Consumerism teaches children that to be happy in life you must have many materialistic items in store. According to Schor, “Children’s top aspiration is to be rich...” (37). Kids aspirations for being rich is a result of all the advertisement they witness on a daily basis. The marketing industry making children obsessed with materialistic items takes away from their ability to become an athlete, intellectual, artist, actor, or any other title that is desirable by society. The issue of over consumption needs to be addressed and solved over time for the sake

Baez, 6 of children's future. According to a one of the few large national surveys on children’s materialism, found that more than a third of all children aged 9 to 14 years of age, rather spend their time shopping for things than doing anything else (Schor 37).

Baez, 7 Cited Sources “Are Disney Movies Good For Your Kids.” Kinderculture: the Corporate Construction of Childhood , by Shirley R. Steinberg and Joe L. Kincheloe, Westview Press, 2004. Adriana Barbaro, Jeremy Earp. "Consuming Kids" https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/consuming-kids/

Schor, Juliet. Born To Buy : the Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. New York :Scribner, 2004. Print.

ZELIZER, V. (2002). Kids and Commerce. Childhood, 9(4), 375–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568202009004002...