“Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us"

Hyperlinks

            In Linda Christensen’s article about “Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us,” it focuses on children’s cartoons. Are young kids being taught the right message from cartoons? Or are they learning about the roles people play? Are they learning that black people should be servants or men have more power than women? I did some research and found some interesting articles that tell us why cartoons send the wrong messages.

The first hyperlink will lead you to an article titled “Superheroes send out ‘wrong message’ to boys.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7941690/Superheroes-send-out-wrong-message-to-boys.html

In this article it talks about superheroes such as Iron Man and Superman. Richard Alleyne, the author of this article said “these villains may not be the best image for boys to see if society wants to promote kinder, less stereotypical male behaviors, they claim.” Starting from a young age boys will have the impression they need to be tough and have control over people, especially women. Richard also says, “the new breed of Hollywood superheroes are aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speak about virtue of doing good for humanity.” The superheroes today participate in a lot of violence this will send the wrong message to young boys.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-128111-Effects-of-cartoons-on-children’s-psychology-&-behaviour-patterns

In this next hyperlink the author gets more into cartoons and the effects on children. “Children watching too much cartoons often fantasize about the kind of life that various characters are living.” Like any television show children of all ages will find a role model. Is the role model in the cartoon a good or bad model? Children will start dressing like them. A mother of a 7-year old daughter shared her experience in this article. Her favorite cartoon was ‘Winx Club.’ She said her daughter “Creates a lot of fuss every time we go shopping as she insists on having the same wardrobe the characters in the ‘Winx Club.’” The character wears a strapless frock and does ball dance. But the mother of this young girl says that “these programs are putting a negative impression on the innocent minds of children.” They also live in Pakaistan and the impressions these character’s are giving children are not encouraged in their culture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/arts/television/disneys-doc-mcstuffins-connects-with-black-viewers.html?_r=0

The last Hyperlink I wanted to share with you guys is an article about a cartoon where the main character is a black doctor. The article is titled “Disney Finds a Cure for the Common Stereotype With ‘Doc McStuffins.’” Disney channel has found a cure so that colored children can fit in and feel better about themselves while watching cartoons. It also shows how the colored doctor is very helpful towards her patients. It also teaches students that there are different types of people. This quote also comes from this article, “It truly warmed my heart and almost brought tears to my eyes when my 8-year-old, Mikaela, saw ‘Doc McStuffins’ for the first time and said, ‘Wow, mommy — she’s brown.’”