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Why do you think these types of advertisements exist ?

Is this video sexist ?

Is this video racist ?

Should companies like American Eagle be held responsible for this ?

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Sydney Sweeney accusée de promouvoir l'eugénisme pour American Eagle  - Le dessous des images - ARTE

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1) What does it mean to be a boy or a girl to you ?

2) According to the children and parents in the first video, why are boys and girls different ?

3) Could / should this change ?

4) How do the children in the second video challenge these ideas of what a boy/girl should be ?

5) Does this change with the teenagers’ testimony ?

6) What role might toys have on the way boys and girls perceive themselves ?

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Why are people racist? | What's Behind Prejudice? Episode 1 | BBC Ideas

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Doll test - The effects of racism on children (ENG)

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Stereo - a film about reversed gender stereotypes

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Audiences were furious to hear that Michelle Williams was paid eight times less than Mark Wahlberg for her starring role in "All the Money in the World" and 1,500 times less for reshoots. He was paid US$1.5 million for reshoots, while she received less than $1,000.

But has the gender pay gap for Hollywood actors been blown out of proportion from a few cases cherry-picked by the media? If there is a difference in salary between men and women, can it be explained not by sex discrimination but rather by variation in actor quality and film characteristics?

My analysis with my former student Taylor Milana of over 400 actors in more than 100 movies from 1984 to 2018 indicates the answer to both of these questions is no.

Discrimination does play a role in Hollywood salaries.

Pay inequality

A recent national comparison of average salaries indicates that women in the U.S. earn approximately 80% as much as men.

In the film industry, the gender pay gap appears to be significantly larger. In 2017, a comparison of the highest-paid male and female actors revealed an average salary of $57.4 million for men and $21.8 million for women. That means that top female actors earn 38% as much as the top male actors.

That's a striking difference that reveals a need for careful, empirical investigation.

Existing studies of actors' salaries have a few important shortcomings. Salary comparisons have usually been derived from small samples, so we can't be certain the gap would exist with a more representative sample.

What's more, a comparison of average salaries doesn't account for differences in quality that could justify earnings differences. For example, an actor who has been honored with an Oscar or with a track record of attracting large theater audiences would understandably earn more than an actor without these accomplishments.

Earnings disparities between groups are not necessarily the result of discrimination, even if the individuals are working in the same occupation. In some cases, differences in earnings can be explained on the basis of merit; in other words, factors like differences in worker skill and work intensity can influence differences in wages.

Studies disagree on exactly how much of a role discrimination plays in the gender wage gap nationally. When data is drawn from workers in many occupations and industries, discrimination appears to play a significant role in the pay gap.

However, in studies that focus on specific occupations and industries, such as corporate executives, where workers are likely to be engaged in more similar tasks, the role of discrimination appears negligible.

Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Our investigation

We believe our study uses the largest sample of actor salaries that has been compiled to analyze earnings in the film industry.

We started with the Internet Movie Database, where we gleaned all reported salaries from 1984 to 2018, as well as the actor's gender and race, along with movie budget and genre information.

We found that the salary gap is about 45%. In our sample, the average salary is $6.6 million for women and $11.9 million for men.

This wage gap is considerably larger than the national average and larger than has been previously estimated for actors using anecdotal evidence from the highest-profile actors.

Nevertheless, the unadjusted salary gap doesn't account for differences in actor quality and film characteristics. So, these figures can lead to misleading implications about discrimination.

We also collected data from Box Office Mojo, a box office revenue tracker; The New York Times; and the Academy Awards Database. Our dataset includes numerous actor and movie characteristics, including the movie's budget and genre; New York Times rank of importance in a film; the number of Academy Awards earned; and the box office revenue generated in all movies that included the specific actor.

After controlling for these differences, we discovered that, at most, 29% of the $5.3 million salary difference between men and women can be explained by actor and film characteristics.

That is, about $3.8 million, or 71%, of the difference is unexplained by the characteristics we looked at - a sign of potential discrimination.

In comparison to other studies that focused on specific occupations and industries, this is really high.

Discrimination debate

Economists disagree over how accurately one can estimate the rate of discrimination.

Some argue that certain characteristics are not observable or measured, and so the effect of discrimination will look bigger than it actually is. Others note that individuals may willingly make choices that have negative effects on their salary. For example, it's been argued that women are more likely to sacrifice salary for a job that has flexible hours, offers child care or better health benefits. Is it possible that in our setting women are more likely than men to choose roles in romance or comedy over high-budget action films?

The other side of the coin is that the unexplained component of the gap might understate discrimination. Do women sometimes choose careers because they don't think they'll be hired in the areas that they are truly passionate about, or because they have been pressured to believe that they can't be successful in some fields? Are women choosing smaller-budget films, or are they being pushed in that particular direction?

If preexisting discrimination influences the "choices" researchers observe, then the explained difference is overstated and discrimination is understated.

I think both sides of the debate have merit. But, in the end, the evidence is clear to us: Discrimination plays a big role in Hollywood.

[ Like what you've read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation's daily newsletter. ]

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Exploring the data on Hollywood's gender pay gap

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Audiences were furious to hear that Michelle Williams was paid eight times less than Mark Wahlberg for her starring role in "All the Money in the World" and 1,500 times less for reshoots. He was paid US$1.5 million for reshoots, while she received less than $1,000.

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Media that perpetuates rigid gender roles and stereotypes can affect children's sense of self, relationships, and career aspirations. Our latest research report explores the effects of gender-biased media on children's development so we can promote more positive, accurate gender representations that give kids the freedom they need to be themselves.

Our analysis of media focuses primarily on scholarly research on television and in movies. The research brief is complemented by a national survey of approximately 1,000 parents that explores parents' attitudes toward gender as it's reflected on television and in movies. Take a look at the infographic and read our blog post for highlights.

We can all support gender equity:
As part of the Gender Equity Is Common Sense initiative, Common Sense is creating new tools and strategies to promote positive role models and representations for kids everywhere. Look out for updates to our media ratings that will showcase movies and TV that defy stereotypes, as well as resources that help advance gender equity in the classroom and beyond.

As a parent or caregiver, you can ...
Talk to your children about how boys and girls are portrayed in the media you watch together, and make comments that address and counter stereotypes.

As an educator, you can ...
Bring the conversation about gender representations into the classroom. Our digital-literacy and citizenship tools and lessons help students think critically about gender bias in media.

As a concerned citizen, you can ...
Use our Kids Action advocacy tools to take action on policies that help close the gender gap, including child care, paid leave, paid sick days, and equal pay for equal work.

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Watching Gender: How Stereotypes in Movies and on TV Impact Kids' Development | Common Sense Media

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Media that perpetuates rigid gender roles and stereotypes can affect children's sense of self, relationships, and career aspirations. Our latest research report explores the effects of gender-biased media on children's development so we can promote more positive, accurate gender representations that give kids the freedom they need to be themselves.

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La création de fausses publicités par les élèves peut être une activité d'éducation aux médias. Education critique à la publicité:
Il existe plusieurs activités de création qui peuvent participer d'une éducation critique à la publicité. Une première pratique peut être le détournement des publicités, qui se situe dans la continuité du situationnisme, et qui est pratiquée par exemple par Adbusters ou encore Casseurs de Pub. Ce sont des pratiques courantes des militants anti-publicité.

Toti, Jean-François. " Détournement publicitaire militant : quels impacts sur la marque détournée ? ", Revue de l'organisation responsable, vol. vol. 15, no. 2, 2020, pp. 17-28.

La création de fausses publicité a été plutôt pratiqué par des artivistes. Par exemple, en 2018, à Londres, un street-artiste a diffusé de fausses publicités de " Facebook " pour dénoncer le scandale Cambridge Analytica. C'est une pratique mise en oeuvre également en Italie par l'artiste Hogre.

" Il crée de fausses publicités dans la rue pour dénoncer les dérives de notre société " ( 2017). URL: https://creapills.com/detournement-panneaux-publicitaires-hogre-20171025

Cette activité consistant à réaliser de fausses publicités peut être mise en oeuvre également avec des élèves dans le cadre d'un cours d'éducation aux médias.

" Je fais ma pub " (Zone enseignante). URL: https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/zone-enseignants/liste-activites/activite/je-fais-ma-pub/

Dans une perspective de didactique-création, qui vise la conscientisation, il s'agit de révéler les informations que la publicité nous cache ou encore par exemple de s'amuser des techniques du marketing en les tournant en dérision.
Deux exemples de création de fausses publicités à partir de collages: " Même nos poubelles sont cinq étoiles: " " Cookies: Fait avec amour à l'huile de palme ":
Collage réalisé à partir d'images libres de droits.

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La création de fausses publicités par les élèves peut être une activité d'éducation aux médias. Education critique à la publicité: Il existe plusieurs activités de création qui peuvent participer d'une éducation critique à la publicité. Une première pratique peut être le détournement des publicités, qui se situe dans la continuité du situationnisme, et qui est pratiquée par exemple par Adbusters ou encore Casseurs de Pub.

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Parents Talk About Watching Gender | Common Sense Media

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Common Sense Media improves the lives of kids and families by providing independent reviews, age ratings, & other information about all types of media.

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Sex Discrimination: Crash Course Government and Politics #30

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How gender stereotypes on TV affect children

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How gender stereotypes on TV affect children

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How stereotypes in TV shows and movies may impact your child's development

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Whether in the home or in a workplace, women's work has long been overlooked. This gallery of photographs and paintings presents women at work, raising questions of equality, rights and work-life balance.

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Whether in the home or in a workplace, women's work has long been overlooked. This gallery of photographs and paintings presents women at work, raising questions of equality, rights and work-life balance.

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Hear Kids' Honest Opinions on Being a Boy or Girl Around the World | National Geographic

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17:52 to 25:20

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Video 6 : What is discrimination and why is it dangerous ?

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Video 6 : What is discrimination and why is it dangerous ?

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1:50 to 3:55

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Discrimination: Crash Course Philosophy #41

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1 - Different gender roles according to parents and children

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1 - Different gender roles according to parents and children

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A Class That Turned Around Kids' Assumptions of Gender Roles!

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Understandings of gender continually evolve. In the course of a person's life, the interests, activities, clothing and professions that are considered the domain of one gender or another evolve in ways both small and large.

Introduction
(Pour voir cette page en français, cliquez ici) (Para ver esta página en español, haga clic aquí)
This has perhaps never been more true than it is now. The data show that today's young people have significantly different understandings of gender than previous generations, with consequences for all children, families, organizations and institutions.

Dimensions of Gender

People tend to use the terms "sex" and "gender" interchangeably. But, while connected, the two terms are not equivalent. Generally, we assign a newborn's sex as either male or female (some US states and other countries offer a third option) based on the baby's genitals. Once a sex is assigned, we presume the child's gender. For some people, this is cause for little, if any, concern or further thought because their gender aligns with gender-related ideas and assumptions associated with their sex. Nevertheless, while gender may begin with the assignment of our sex, it doesn't end there. A person's gender is the complex interrelationship between three dimensions: body, identity, and social gender.

Body

Most societies view sex as a binary concept, with two rigidly fixed options: male or female, based on a person's reproductive anatomy and functions. But a binary view of sex fails to capture even the biological aspect of gender. While we are often taught that bodies have one of two forms of genitalia, which are classified as "female" or "male," there are Intersex traits that demonstrate that sex exists across a continuum of possibilities. This biological spectrum by itself should be enough to dispel the simplistic notion that there are just two sexes. The relationship between a person's gender and their body goes beyond one's reproductive functions. Research in neurology, endocrinology, and cellular biology points to a broader biological basis for an individual's experience of gender. In fact, research increasingly points to our brains as playing a key role in how we each experience our gender.

Bodies themselves are also gendered in the context of cultural expectations. Masculinity and femininity are equated with certain physical attributes, labeling us as more or less a man/woman based on the degree to which those attributes are present. This gendering of our bodies affects how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us.

Identity

Gender identity is our internal experience and naming of our gender. It can correspond to or differ from the sex we were assigned at birth.

Understanding of our gender comes to most of us fairly early in life. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "By age four, most children have a stable sense of their gender identity." This core aspect of one's identity comes from within each of us. Gender identity is an inherent aspect of a person's make-up. Individuals do not choose their gender, nor can they be made to change it. However, the words someone uses to communicate their gender identity may change over time; naming one's gender can be a complex and evolving matter. Because we are provided with limited language for gender, it may take a person quite some time to discover, or create, the language that best communicates their internal experience. Likewise, as language evolves, a person's name for their gender may also evolve. This does not mean their gender has changed, but rather that the words for it are shifting.
Language of Gender

Social Gender

Social gender is the third dimension. This includes gender expression, which is the way we communicate our gender to others through such things as clothing, hairstyles, and mannerisms. It also includes how individuals, communities and society perceive, interact with, and try to shape our gender. Social gender includes gender roles and expectations and how society uses those to try to enforce conformity to current gender norms.

Practically everything is assigned a gender-toys, colors and clothes are some of the more obvious examples. We begin to teach children about gender from the moment they are born; given the prevalence of the gender binary, children face great pressure to express their gender within narrow, stereotypical definitions of "boy" or "girl." Expectations regarding gender are communicated through every aspect of our lives, including family, culture, peers, schools, community, media, and religion. Gender roles and expectations are so entrenched in our culture that it's difficult to imagine things any other way.

Congruence

Gender congruence is the feeling of harmony in our gender:

experiencing comfort in our body as it relates to our gender

naming of our gender that adequately corresponds with our internal sense of who we are

expressing ourselves through clothing, mannerisms, interests and activities

being seen consistently by others as we see ourselves

Finding congruence is an ongoing process throughout each of our lives as we continue to grow and gain insight into ourselves. It is most often found through exploration. For some, finding congruence is fairly simple; for others, it is a much more complex process. But the fundamental need to find gender congruence is true for us all, and any degree to which we don't experience it can be distressing.

Personal Gender

While the dimensions of gender and the desire for congruence are common to us all, ultimately gender is personal. Each dimension of gender is informed by our unique intersection of identities, experiences, and personal characteristics. We are more than our body, gender identity and gender expression: we are also our race, ethnicity, class, faith, sense of geographic place, family history, and more. Our gender is personal because, while we share some of these aspects of self with others, the way that all of these identities, influences and characteristics come together is unique to each of us.

Gender Is Different Than Sexual Orientation

One final distinction to make is the difference between gender and Sexual orientation, which are often incorrectly conflated. In actuality, gender and sexual orientation are two distinct, but related, aspects of self. Gender is personal (how we see ourselves), while sexual orientation is interpersonal (who we are physically, emotionally and/or romantically attracted to).

Why is it so critical to distinguish between these two concepts? When we confuse gender with sexual orientation, we are likely to make assumptions about a young person that have nothing to do with who they are. For example, when someone's gender expression is inconsistent with others' expectations, assumptions are frequently made about that person's sexual orientation. The boy who loves to play princess is assumed to be gay, and the girl who buys clothes in the "boys'" section and favors a short haircut may be assumed to be a lesbian. These could be faulty conclusions. What someone wears and how they act is about gender expression. You cannot tell what a person's sexual orientation is by what they wear (for that matter, you can't know what their gender identity is either, unless they tell you).

Our society's conflation of gender and sexual orientation can also interfere with a young person's ability to understand and articulate aspects of their own gender. For example, it's not uncommon for a transgender or non-binary youth to wonder if they are gay or lesbian (or any sexual orientation other than heterosexual) before coming to a fuller realization of their gender identity. How we come to understand our gender and our sexual orientation - and the choices we make to disclose and express these parts of ourselves - are distinct paths. Thinking of these two aspects of self as interchangeable may, instead of helping us know ourselves and one another better, actually get in the way of understanding and communication.

What's Next?

There is a generational divide in how we think about gender. In order to bridge this gap, those of us who were raised with a more limited view of gender can take this as an opportunity to explore gender with new eyes, to read and ask questions to better understand gender's complexity. As with any learning experience, you'll learn more about the world around you and about yourself in the process.

Gender diversity has existed throughout history and all over the world. As one of the most fundamental aspects of a person's identity, gender deeply influences every part of one's life. Where this crucial aspect of self is narrowly defined and rigidly enforced, individuals who exist outside of its norms face innumerable challenges. Even those who vary only slightly from norms can become targets of disapproval, discrimination, and even violence.

This does not have to be the case. Through a thoughtful consideration of the uniqueness and validity of every person's experience of self, we can develop greater acceptance for all. Not only will this create greater inclusion for individuals who challenge the norms of gender, it will create space for all individuals to more fully explore and express who they are.

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Gender Spectrum | Understanding GenderGender Spectrum

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Understandings of gender continually evolve. In the course of a person's life, the interests, activities, clothing and professions that are considered the domain of one gender or another evolve in ways both small and large. (Pour voir cette page en français, cliquez ici) (Para ver esta página en español, haga clic aquí) This has perhaps never been more true than it is now.

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Judith Butler's Theory of Gender Performativity (Final)

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Any expectant mother or father these days is doubtless aware that items designed for baby girls are commonly pink, and those meant for baby boys are blue. But it wasn't always this way.

As recently as the early 1900s, pink was seen by many as a color that went better with boys, and blue as a color that went better with girls. Newspapers like The Sunday Sentinel in 1914 offered tips to new parents such as, "If you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention."

Above: Which is more manly?

Another paper, the Ladies Home Journal in 1918 wrote, "There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." It's also said that since pink is closer to red, it was more appropriate for boys because red is a "fierce" color, whereas blue was associated with girls since the Virgin Mary is customarily dressed in blue.

Regardless of the original connotations of the two colors, it's clear that they've now reversed their earlier meanings and that pink is much more associated with girls now, and vice versa for blue. There have been some studies that suggest that women just "naturally" like pink better, and that blue is a color that men prefer innately. Others suggest that the now current color consensus, which appears to have materialized in the 1950s, came from the Nazis branding gays with pink triangles in their concentration camps.

Whatever the reason, the two colors associations may not be set in stone. In fact, there are some indications that pink is making a comeback as a manly color, so stay tuned.

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Pink Wasn't Always Considered a Feminine Color and Blue Wasn't Always Masculine

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Any expectant mother or father these days is doubtless aware that items designed for baby girls are commonly pink, and those meant for baby boys are blue. But it wasn't always this way. As recently as the early 1900s, pink was seen by many as a color that went better with boys, and blue as a color that went better with girls.

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You throw like a girl! Telling stories about women in sport: Jos Dirkx at TEDxCapeTownWomen

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Nov 6, 2013

Close
Kate Fagan joined espnW in January 2012 after three seasons covering the 76ers for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She played basketball at the University of Colorado from 1999 to 2004.

The stories keep coming, one after another after another, like cars entering a busy intersection, at the crossroads where sports and society meet.

The latest involves the troubling situation in Miami, where Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito was suspended this week for allegedly bullying teammate and fellow lineman Jonathan Martin. Incognito appears to have pressured Martin financially and made phone calls and sent text messages laced with racial slurs and threats of violence. The final straw for Martin came last week, when he left the Dolphins after a lunchroom encounter with Incognito at the team's training facility.

While the details are still coming to light, there is already a common thread connecting Incognito and Martin to a spate of other headline-grabbing stories that have preoccupied the sports world over the past year: How we talk about masculinity.

The hot buttons are everywhere. Last April, a video surfaced showing Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice hurling balls and vulgar language at his players during practice. (Rice was subsequently fired.) Meanwhile, the issue of anti-gay bigotry has become a familiar topic, most notably when San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver made derogatory comments before last season's Super Bowl. Then, there is the sad stream of sexual assault cases involving high school football players, like the ones in Steubenville, Ohio, and Maryville, Mo. And let's not forget the issue of concussions within the NFL, no doubt exacerbated by a culture that convinces players they must push through debilitating pain and injury, because their manhood (and livelihood) seems to depend on how quickly they get back on the field.

There is no shortage of moral indignation fueling the dialogue around these stories, and rightfully so. But in the same way we have become vigilant about eliminating racial and homophobic slurs from the public discourse, we need to do a better job of flagging the language that reinforces distorted notions of masculinity.

In sports, especially in the NFL, being a man -- a man's man, a real man, a manly man -- all too often means projecting an air of invincibility, a willingness to absorb pain at all costs, an expectation that even the most vicious insults can do no harm. Vulnerability is seen as weakness.

It is hardly surprising that some NFL executives (unnamed, of course) have said that Martin is a "coward" who "told like a kid" because he "didn't handle it like a man."

Giants safety Antrel Rolle expressed a fairly common sentiment among NFL players when he told WFAN radio, "At this level, you're a man. You're not a little boy. You're not a freshman in college. You're a man ... You need to stand up for yourself."

The implication is clear: If you're bullied and you walk away, you're weak. And how can a 300-pound NFL lineman be weak? The thinking seems to be that Martin should have somehow retaliated against Incognito, threatening violence with violence, because that's how real men handle these things. Real men escalate the situation and don't ask for help. Real men don't walk away.

In recent years, society has taken important steps (see here and here) to confront the epidemic of bullying in our schools, and the teen suicides that occur when it goes unchecked. And yet when bullying happens in sports, we engage in a dangerous game of semantics. We call it hazing, and talk about "the code" that requires athletes to handle things internally, to police themselves within the vaunted space of the locker room. We often call it by any other name than what it is -- institutionalized bullying.

How can we possibly expect to eradicate it in our schools if we insist on treating it differently at the highest level of sports? The old lessons of manhood spill downward much faster than new ones sprout up.

By many accounts, the extremity of the situation between Incognito and Martin is an anomaly in NFL locker rooms, with current and former players around the league painting Incognito as an outlier, an enforcer gone rogue. But the culture that allegedly allowed the harassment to happen (one report suggests that Dolphins coaches told Incognito to "toughen up" Martin) is the larger issue. It's a culture stained by the persistent belief that a man's worth is defined in large part by how he dominates other men (and, too often, women).

What does it mean to be a real man? Well, for starters, it means that more men in sports -- players, coaches, executives, TV personalities -- need to step forward and say, "Let's have a real conversation about this."

Until that happens, too few people will see and appreciate the real men in our midst, the ones who refuse to perpetuate this toxic brand of masculinity.

Men like Jonathan Martin.

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Fagan: So, what defines a 'real man' in sports?

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The Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito incident has again raised the question of how we talk about masculinity in sports. So, what does it mean to be a real man? For starters, it means more male athletes must step up and have real conversations about it.

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This story appears in the January 2017 issue ofNational Geographic magazine. Read the print version in stores December 27, purchase a copy by mail by calling 1-800-777-2800, or come back to read the full digital version of the issue online on December 19.

For adults, play is a break from life. For children, especially in the earliest stages of childhood development, play is life, and toys are the tools of early learning.

That includes lessons about gender. American society has made significant strides towards gender equality over the past century, but children's toys seem to be moving in the opposite direction, reinforcing traditional roles rather than expanding them. The implications are serious: The way girls play may affect how their brains develop.

There's a long history of marketing toys by gender. Sociologist Elizabeth Sweet, at the California State University, Sacramento, analyzed more than 7,300 toys in Sears catalogs from the 20th century. She discovered that gender-based toy ads from the 1920s to the 1950s pushed traditional roles: the "little homemaker"; the "young man of industry." In 1925, about half the toys in the Sears catalog were marketed explicitly to either boys or girls. Many toy advertisements appealed to boys as "young entrepreneurs," with a sales pitch to use on their parents. In 1945, with World War II winding down and many women leaving factories for domestic life, Sweet says toys were "overwhelmingly targeted at girls in a very explicit way: Your little girl will love this dish set!"

It was not always this way. With the second-wave feminist movement in full swing, the 1970s saw a near-elimination of gendered toys: Only 2 percent of toys in the 1975 Sears catalog were marketed explicitly to boys or girls. Even the small fraction of gender-specific toys-Barbie, for example-were mostly outfitted in primary, gender-neutral colors: red, yellow, blue.

But in the 1980s, gender distinctions resurged in children's goods, especially clothing. Marketers may have seen an opportunity as ultrasound technology became widely available, says Sweet, and parents could learn the sex of their babies before birth.

It also became easier to reach kids. In the 1970s, regulations limited toy companies' ability to advertise directly to children on television, but deregulation under the Reagan Administration dismantled those protections in 1984. Toys and children's entertainment became heavily intertwined, and manufacturers developed shows based on toys-like My Little Pony and Transformers -that followed niche-marketing wisdom by appealing to just one gender, says Sweet. It was a boon for the toy business: By December 1985, nine out of the 10 best-selling toys were linked to television shows, according to Diane Levin, a professor of education at Wheelock College in Boston.

The onslaught of gender-based marketing has only become more pronounced. A 2012 study by Carol Auster, a sociologist at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, examined the retail website of Disney, one of the most powerful children's tastemakers, and saw that every single toy was categorized as either "girl toys" or "boy toys." Disney now cross-lists all its toys under both girls' and boys' sections, but at the time Auster conducted her study, only 91 out of 410 toys appeared on both lists. Those that were cross-listed were all of a color scheme more traditionally associated with boys: blue, green, red, gray. Even for ostensibly gender-neutral children's toys, masculine gender coding seems to be the default.

This is because girls have leeway in American society that boys do not. "We've really defined a much narrower role of what counts as masculinity," Auster says. " 'Tomboy' can mean anything from neutral to great. 'Sissy' is not meant in a positive way among kids." Children and parents alike often police masculinity in ways that can magnify gender distinctions in toys, she explains; it's hard to sell a boy a pink and purple play kitchen.

Targeting toys by gender has consequences beyond socialization. A 2015 study found that boys are more likely to play with toys that develop spatial intelligence-K'nex, puzzles, Lego bricks-than girls are. Marketing can certainly play a role, says study author Jamie Jirout, a developmental psychologist at the University of Virginia. The girl-oriented product line Lego Friends focuses on playacting rather than construction; aisles in some toy stores distinguish "building sets" from "girls' building sets."

Boys also appear to play differently. According to a 2012 study by Susan Levine, a professor of education and psychology at the University of Chicago, boys opt to play with more complex puzzles-and get more spatially related encouragement from their parents. Parents are more likely to use words that foster spatial thinking-tall, big, edge, top, and bottom-when their children play with more challenging puzzles.

These distinctions may shape later life: "Spatial skills are a piece of the explanation for the underrepresentation of women in science and tech," says Jirout. Informal activities like play are key to developing spatial skills, which, she says, are "not only important for math and science but for what we call 'executive function'-higher-level thinking." Being comfortable with certain types of toys may also shape kids' confidence in specific subjects, adds Auster.

There are signs things may be changing. Major toy retailers from Target to Walmart to Amazon are de-emphasizing gender labeling of toys. Even the oldest toy store in the world-Hamley's in the U.K., which dates back to 1750-dropped gender labeling in 2012.

Yet the toys themselves remain heavily split, the gender roles reminiscent of those pushed on kids in 1925, but more fantastical: The homemaker is the princess; the carpenter, the action hero.

"You take the pink backdrop down, but it's still a pink aisle," Sweet says of the toy sections of retail stores. In the risk-averse toy industry, where developing and marketing toys by gender is a reliable approach, companies like Hasbro divide their products into boy and girl categories on their annual reports.

Ultimately, it may be up to parents to bridge the gender divide. "Their biased views and their stereotypes might be influencing children," says Jirout. "Girls don't necessarily care about the color of their toys."

Editor's Note: The headline has been changed to better reflect the research described in the story.
The story has been updated to reflect the current status of Disney's online toy listings.

Natasha Daly is an assistant editor at National Geographic. Follow her on Twitter.

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How Today's Toys May Be Harming Your Daughter

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This story appears in the January 2017 issue ofNational Geographic magazine. Read the print version in stores December 27, purchase a copy by mail by calling 1-800-777-2800, or come back to read the full digital version of the issue online on December 19. For adults, play is a break from life.

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McKenna Pope: Want to be an activist? Start with your toys

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McKenna Pope's younger brother loved to cook, but he worried about using an Easy-Bake Oven -- because it was a toy for girls. So at age 13, Pope started an online petition for the American toy company Hasbro to change the pink-and-purple color scheme on the classic toy and incorporate boys into its TV marketing.

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The numbers are stunning: Four out of five 10-year-olds say that they're afraid of being fat. 42% of girls in first through third grade wish they were thinner. And, half of girls aged 9 or 10 claim that they feel better about themselves when they're dieting. ¹

Shocking...but how did this happen?

Where did these young children, not even out of elementary school, learn to dread being overweight? At a time when they should be able to enjoy their childhood, what's making them worry so much about dieting and being thin?

Most of all, what is this anxiety doing to their bodies as they grow older? By the time they reach high school, 1 in 10 students have an eating disorder²: an abnormal pattern of eating too much or too little food, with a potentially devastating impact on their physical and emotional health. In a high school of 2,500, hundreds of students will struggle with eating disorders. Of all people with eating disorders, 90% are women between the ages of 12 and 25.

"I found this today in my daughter's room. My daughter is seven. It was innocently sitting on the floor amongst the Polly Pockets, friendship bracelets and a variety of other crap seven-year-olds love to hoard." ( Amy Cheney - Huffington Post)

Mothers have discovered "diyet" plans penned by their 7-year-old daughters and passed around on the playground, instructing them to perform "seventeen poosh-ups" and "run up and down the driv way," while allowing them to eat "two keewee froots."

These girls have been taught that they need to diet, before they can even spell the word. When these weight-conscious little girls grow up, they become eating-disordered women with unhealthy body images, obsessed with maintaining a weight that is often low enough to be physically dangerous...even deadly.

Some may not wait to grow up. 8-year-old Dana from the UK refused to eat more than 175 calories a day, and had to be fed through an IV and admitted to a 12-week inpatient program. Hundreds more children, aged 5 to 9, have undergone treatment for their eating disorders.

The anxieties they experience are the product of a society and media culture that prizes a thin image for women above anything else, and devalues any woman who strays outside the false "norm" of a skinny body. In pursuit of that unattainable goal, they will literally starve themselves to death. They are dying to be like Barbie.

In the 1960s, toymaker Mattel released "Slumber Party Barbie," along with combs, hair rollers and a sleeping bag. This Barbie set included a scale permanently stuck at 110 lbs, and a small book titled "How To Lose Weight."

The only words written in the book were the all-capital exhortation,"DON'T EAT!." Decades later, this advice would re-emerge as the code word "I.D.E.A." used online by sufferers of eating disorders - short for the chilling slogan: I don't eat anymore.

Starting with their very first toy doll, girls are exposed to highly unrealistic images of female bodies, and are taught to model these images in their own lives. The ubiquitous Barbie doll is stated to be 5'9" tall and weigh 110 lbs -- about 35 lbs below a healthy weight for a woman of that height.

With these proportions, a woman would not have the necessary body fat to menstruate at all, and her body mass index would approach the"severely underweight" range ³.

The Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders has calculated how much an average healthy woman's body would have to change in order for her to have the proportions of a Barbie doll.

They found that women would have to grow two feet taller, extend their neck length by 3.2 inches, gain 5 inches in chest size, and lose 6 inches in waist circumference. No woman could ever hope to achieve such impossible dimensions, and yet young girls are shown that this is a body to emulate ⁴.

The impact of these dolls on the self-image and eating habits of girls is very real, and very measurable. In a psychological study, girls from age 5 to 8 were shown images of either a Barbie doll, or a more realistic "size 16" doll. Those who saw the Barbie dolls had less self-esteem and worse body image, and had a stronger desire to be thin ⁵.

When girls aged 6 to 10 were assigned to play with either a very thin doll or an average-sized doll, the children who had played with the thin doll ate significantly less food. The bodies represented by these popular dolls - the toy that every girl must have - are directly influencing how children see themselves, as well as how they feed themselves ⁵.

In an effort to better understand the reality of how far Barbie really is from the average woman, we created an infographic featuring a photo-realistic rendering of what Barbie would look like compared to an average woman, along with an apples to apples comparison of her dimensions to that of average women, anorexic women, and fashion models ⁶. Click the link button below to see our work.

In a one survey, teen girls were asked what they would wish for if they had three magic wishes. These girls could have wished for anything in the world. Their number one wish? "To lose weight, and keep it off."

What made them want this so badly, more than anything else? ⁷

83% of adolescent girls read fashion magazines for an average of 4 hours every week. In these teen and women's magazines, advertisements for diets and weight loss programs are 10 times more common than they are in men's magazines. Girls are being taught to obsess over their appearance, their weight, and whether their bodies are "good enough."

The average American woman is 5'4" tall, and weighs 166 lbs. In comparison, the average model is 5'10" tall and weighs only 107 lbs. ⁸ These are the ubiquitously thin bodies used to advertise the clothes, the products and the fashions that women are told they need to purchase for themselves.

Women are made to believe that these products, essential to their appearance, will only look good on a body that they can't have without seriously endangering their health. The clothes they want to wear are presented as being meant for someone much slimmer, and that's who they seek to become.

As the average weight of American women has increased, the weight of models has been steadily decreasing for decades. By the 1990s, idealized body images of women in the media had reached an average of 13% to 19% below their expected weight. For context, a weight 15% below expected is a major criteria for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. ⁹ These unrealistic depictions are leading women directly into eating disorders.

In a study of anorexic women in outpatient programs, many reported using fashion and beauty magazines to compare their own bodies to the thin ideal portrayed within.

These women were often able to recall highly accurate bodily dimensions and biographical details of the models featured in these magazines, and frequently pointed out specific body parts, such as long legs, that they wished to emulate. ¹⁰

Others reported seeking out the exact weight of women portrayed in magazines, and then dedicating themselves to ensuring that their own weight was lower. "I wanted to be the best anorexic," said one patient. Many would cut out images of the very thinnest women in these magazines, collecting their pictures as "motivators" for their own weight loss. ¹⁰

What many women don't realize is that the models in magazines often have bodies that are literally impossible. In recent years, the bodies of abnormally thin models have been even further distorted by the pure fiction of Photoshop. Image retouching has become responsible for the creation of body types that could not be achieved by any real woman.

When photo editors decide that a celebrity's body just isn't a good fit for their magazine, they'll sometimes cut and paste her face onto an entirely different body. The waists of perfectly healthy women are digitally pinched to an unrealistic degree, and their thighs are slimmed down to resemble sticks - the perfect Barbie doll look.

If a model's ribs are very visible due to her extremely low weight, editors will brush over them to make them appear less prominent. Women are thus confronted with the conflicting demands of imitating this emaciated look, but without displaying any of the actual emaciation.

Celebrity women themselves have often objected to how their photos have been edited in magazines. On the September 2008 cover of Elle, Jessica Simpson's hips were so dramatically pared down that her left one appeared to be entirely absent - even her hair was wider than her hips.

In an issue of Self magazine devoted to "Total Body Confidence" and how to "Reach Your Dream Weight," Kelly Clarkson's body was retouched to appear substantially more thin than she actually is, hardly an encouragement for women to be confident with their bodies. In her Glamour cover shoot, America Ferrera's arms and shoulders were noticeably narrowed, with her skin blurred and glossed into an unrealistic shine.

This was the image they chose to use for their "1st Annual Figure-Flattery Issue" - a style created not through any real options available to women, but through the utter unreality of digital embellishment. Is it any wonder that women suffering from eating disorders often feel that they can never be thin enough?

In 1995, the province of Nadroga in Fiji had experienced only one reported case of an eating disorder. ¹¹ A very traditional culture, Nadroga held values that prized a robust body and appetite, while discouraging diets and exercises meant to change body shape.

Contrary to Western societies, this was a culture that did not idealize ultra-thin body types as desirable. But by 1998, 69% of adolescent girls reported dieting to lose weight, and 74% said they feel "too big or fat." ¹¹

What happened?

Starting in 1995, television was introduced to the province. Within three years, the effects of being saturated with diet ads and images of Western models were striking. By 1998, 97% of girls in Nadroga had watched some television, and one in ten of them reported inducing vomiting to control their weight.

In comparison, no girls reported vomiting for weight control in 1995, before television came to Nadroga. In 1998, 29% of girls scored highly on a survey of disordered eating, compared to only 12% in 1995, and the girls with a television in their home were more than three times as likely to score highly for disordered eating. ¹¹

Why had their eating habits and self-perception changed so much? They were taught that dieting, exercise and a slimmer body were necessary for success and achievement in their lives. 83% of girls said that television had influenced them to feel differently about their bodies and their weight, and many said they now wanted to change their bodies to be more like the images of Western characters on television.

40% felt that losing weight would help them advance their careers or make them more useful at home. When television came to Nadroga, it wasn't alone: it also introduced anxieties about weight, an idealized image of Western thin bodies, and the idea that vomiting one's food is the path to success. ¹¹

Thin female characters aren't the only women represented on television, but they are far more common, and are treated much differently than average-weight or overweight female characters.

A study of prime-time sitcoms found that women below the average weight were overrepresented, and women were more frequently the subject of negative comments as their weight increased. ¹²

In this study, 95% of the female main characters on sitcoms were of thin or average weight, whereas only 5% were of above-average weight. However, only 31% of Americans are of average or below-average weight, and the remainder are considered overweight or obese. 14% of these female characters, largely those of average or above-average weight, were subjected to insulting remarks about their bodies by male characters. ¹²

Most shockingly, when these larger female characters were insulted by men, the sitcom "laugh track" depicted an audience laughing 80% of the time. ¹² These laugh tracks give the impression that degrading women for their weight is widely seen as comical, acceptable and praiseworthy, demonstrating to women that their society will mock and ridicule them if they can't make themselves thin.

This is the even darker side of thin bodies being over valued - the bodies of heavier women are seen as having no value at all.

These social attitudes toward weight and depictions of women's bodies have caused millions of women to develop eating disorders, yet the full extent of the damage is even more devastating. Increasingly, an online culture has emerged of women who not only admit to suffering from an eating disorder, but don't consider themselves to be "suffering" at all.

They believe that no matter the risks to their health, a thin body is so desirable that the pursuit of such a figure could never be a disorder - and nothing is too extreme when it comes to losing weight.

These proponents of anorexia and bulimia as a lifestyle have gathered under the "pro-ana" banner. Together, they share diet "tips" that are indistinguishable from malnutrition and starvation, encourage one another to have the willpower to deny food, and trade in "thinspiration" or "thinspo" images of models and celebrities who represent the bodies they want to have.

This disturbing movement has frequently received high-profile coverage in the media, and individual pro-ana websites and forums have often been shut down by their webhosts. Nowadays, "pro-ana" users congregate on social networks such as Twitter and Tumblr, forming a loose-knit and distributed community that's almost impossible to suppress.

Their blogs and profiles are plastered with pictures of women with spindly arms, protruding hip bones, and thighs that don't touch. Text is overlaid on a photo of doughnuts, reading: "You will live without it." Readers are asked, "Would you rather have collarbones, or sweets?", and encouraged to "drink more water" - a common pro-ana technique for satisfying hunger pains without eating.

A 50-day " Ana Boot Camp Diet" is passed around, with each day's permitted food intake ranging from 500 calories, to nothing at all. For comparison, during the Minnesota Starvation Experiment in the 1940s, volunteers in the starvation group were given 1,560 calories a day - three times the maximum amount allowed by this dangerous "diet." ¹³

The ABC Diet Plan (source)

The pro-ana community is a hotbed of potentially deadly habits and attitudes, yet its members' uniform agreement that anorexia is admirable can make disordered eating seem normal. Its effects can be seen even in people who do not suffer from eating disorders. Women who were directed to read a pro-ana website were found to experience a decrease in their self-esteem and how attractive they believed themselves to be, while reporting that they felt heavier and more conscious of their weight. ¹⁴

Yet the impact of pro-ana sites extends even further than negative self-image and weight-consciousness. In one study, 84% of people who visited a pro-ana webpage had decreased their food intake by an average of 2,470 calories over the following week. However, only 56% of them were consciously aware that they had been eating less, and 24% continued to restrict their diet even three weeks after a single visit to these sites. ¹⁴

Much like images in the media, the encouragement of disordered eating affects people without them even knowing it. For women who are struggling with anorexia, the pro-ana community can put their health in ever-greater danger at a time when they're most in need of help.

Anorexia nervosa is the single deadliest mental health condition. 5% to 20% of people diagnosed with anorexia will ultimately die from its ravaging effects on the body and mind: cardiac complications, organ failure, and even suicide. ¹

These are the fruits of a media culture that prizes dangerously skinny, digitally altered bodies over those of real, healthy women.

From underweight and anatomically impossible Barbies, to jokes at the expense of normal-weight female characters on television, women are trained to hate their own bodies from birth until death - and pointed toward starvation diets as the only way to be loved and appreciated.

In a society where a healthy weight is insulted and derided at every turn, while risking your health for an unobtainable ideal is considered normal, can we really be surprised that so many women would rather die than risk being "fat?"

While relapse is common, and full recovery can take years, it is possible to overcome anorexia. With the proper treatment, people suffering from eating disorders can achieve a healthy weight and re-learn good dietary habits.

An awareness of the influences that distorted media images and marketing have on self-esteem can help prevent eating disorders before they even begin. Know what you're watching, and know what it can do to your self-image. Don't be afraid to tell your friends: you'd rather be alive than be Barbie.

9% of the general population have a drug or alcohol addiction issue, a figure that's worrisome enough on its own. However, a staggering 50% of those with eating disorders also abuse drugs and alcohol ¹⁵, either to aid with taking weight off or to cope with body dysmorphia issues or weight loss failure. There are a number of prescription and over-the-counter medications that are used and abused to suppress appetite or inhibit fat absorption, but many women also find themselves using cocaine, crystal meth or other illicit substances for their appetite suppressing properties. When recreational use turns to habit and then into a full-fledged addiction, this deadly dual-diagnosis often leads to a whole host of other physical and psychological problems, where malnourishment becomes only one of many in a vicious downward spiral.

1. http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/

2. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/oct/07_0164.htm

3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7920962.stm

4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8556027/

5. http://www.willettsurvey.org/TMSTN/Gender/DoesBarbieMakeGirlsWantToBeThin.pdf

6. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01544300

7. http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/305/studyguide_305.pdf

8. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/bodymeas.htm

9. http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jscp.2005.24.8.1114

10. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16864373

11. http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/180/6/509.full

12. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07393180216550

13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment

14. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.1009/abstract

15. http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/070708p30.shtml

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Dying to be Barbie | Eating Disorders in Pursuit of the Impossible

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The numbers are stunning: Four out of five 10-year-olds say that they're afraid of being fat. 42% of girls in first through third grade wish they were thinner. And, half of girls aged 9 or 10 claim that they feel better about themselves when they're dieting. 1 Shocking...but how did this happen?

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Little Girl Getting Pissed Off About Pink Toys.

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3 -  Teenagers on gender roles -> Different ?

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3 -  Teenagers on gender roles -> Different ?

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Hasbro's Rose Petal Cottage Commercial #2 - For Moms

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5 things that should change in movie scenarios to make them less sexist

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5 things that should change in movie scenarios to make them less sexist

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From the "Strong Female Character" to the Cool Girl

Whenever I watch a new show, movie, or even read a book, I find myself wondering if the female characters are going to be actual, you know, characters. Even today, writers still struggle with how to portray women as real people - half the time, female characters seem to end up falling into one sexist trope or another.

I think it's fair to say that most writers don't set out to display their female characters this way - it's usually accidental, but it can still send the wrong message. Whether you're a writer looking to flesh out your characters or a critical audience member, here are five sexist female tropes you should keep your eyes peeled for:

The Strong Female Character (Who Doesn't Really Do Anything)

It might seem ironic to say that a strong female character can be sexist, but it's true. As it turns out, there are strong female characters and strong characters who happen to be female.

There are plenty of women on the screen or in books who are legitimately badass, and their actions reflect that. Consider Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games - most people would probably agree that she's a tough character. There's plenty of evidence to back that claim up: she wins a bloodthirsty fight to the death (twice) and takes down an evil dystopian government. Princess Leia is another example. Although she isn't the main character in Star Wars, she plays a crucial role in taking down the Dark Side and her actions help move the plot forward. She's certainly no damsel in distress.

In comparison, there's Black Widow from The Avengers. Even after several movies, she's not nearly as fleshed out as her male counterparts. She occasionally kicks ass, but when it's time to move the plot forward or develop a character, she's never front and center. Even in her skin-tight catsuit, she still fades into the background. Yet, the audience is still expected to consider Black Widow to be progressive female representation even though she rarely steps into that role.

The difference between characters like Leia or Katniss and Black Widow is depth. Katniss and Leia are both strong, but their entire personalities aren't built around that stereotype. At the end of the day, they're meant to be real characters with all the same flaws and emotions as anybody else.

Black Widow, on the other hand, seems to lack the same range as her male counterparts. The Marvel franchise has been so focused on making her an idealized form of "strong" female representation that they've forgotten to make her a person at all.

This is where this trope falls flat. Audience members, specifically women, aren't interested in seeing "strong" female characters who feel like cardboard cutouts. I'd much rather watch Katniss become terrified, or confused, or show any kind of emotion than watch Black Widow beat up a bunch of bad guys with the same blank expression.

The "strong female character" trope can sometimes have good intentions, but the message it really sends is that real, ordinary women aren't interesting enough - they must lack flaws and weaknesses in order to be worth watching.

Every Girl Just Wants To Be a Bride and a Mother

This sexist trope tends to rear its head in television shows (especially sitcoms), where we follow a character's journey for several years. Consider the TV show, Friends. At the end of its tenth season, the show's three main female characters are all saddled with a man or baby. Phoebe is newly-married, Rachel has a child and leaves her dream job behind to be with Ross, and Monica has just adopted twin babies with Chandler.

There's nothing wrong with letting a female character have a child or get married, but it's easy for writers to make that a woman's primary goal in life. You'll notice that there are plenty of sitcoms or TV shows that don't end before their women are married off (and possibly toting a baby around).

For example, both Pam and Angela from The Office get married, Robin and Lily from How I Met Your Mother also both end up hitched, and even the women of The Big Bang Theory are starting to pop out kids. Some of these are great sitcoms with interesting characters, but they still end up following a disturbing pattern: a woman's journey isn't done until she's married or has a kid.

Male characters can also end up married or fathering children, but it isn't an unspoken rule. Nobody blinks an eye when a character like Joey from Friends ends the show without getting hitched or knocking anyone up.

The Angry Black Woman

This trope can sometimes overlap with the "strong female character", but it exclusively applies to women of color. Even more so than white women, female black characters are often pushed to the side or used as props for the plot. When they do get screentime, they might get portrayed as "angry" or "irrational" in comparison to white characters.

The Angry Black Woman trope dates all the way back to the 1930s with programs like Amos 'n Andy and characters like Mrs. Sapphire Stevens. Not only is the "Angry Black Woman" trope poor representation, but it also sends the racist message that black people are ill-tempered, hostile, or even ignorant.

The "You're Not Like Other Girls" Girl

If a man in a movie or book ever tells a woman that she's "not like other girls", it's usually a sign that sexism is afoot. On the surface, this phrase sounds like a compliment.

She's not like other girls. She's cool. She's one of the bros. She probably likes video games and beer and watches sports instead of dumb reality TV shows. Cameron Diaz's character from There's Something About Mary is the embodiment of the cool girl. Megan Fox's character from the Transformers movies is another great example.

These women denounce "feminine" things in favor of masculine hobbies or interests. However, despite liking masculine things, these characters are still meant to be male eye-candy. Megan Fox's character in the Transformers might be interested in fixing cars and talking about sports, but she's going to do it in a skimpy tank-top, not a baggie hoodie.

The message that this trope sends out is troubling. Not only does it usually objectify women, but it argues that traditionally feminine hobbies or interests are wrong. To grab the attention of men and separate yourself from the pack, you have to denounce anything that makes you feminine.

Fat women can never just be women

Although any plus-sized character in movies or TV shows tends to get a bad rap, fat women have it particularly bad. Consider Melissa McCarthy's character in almost everything she's done or Rebel Wilson in Pitch Perfect. Not only are they sidekicks, but their entire personality is obsessed with their weight.

If you took a shot every time Rebel Wilson made a self-deprecating fat joke in Pitch Perfect, you'd probably end up with alcohol poisoning.

Fat female characters don't always get character development, but when they do, it's usually related to their weight. Fat characters rarely get to just be people who have all the same hopes and dreams as any thin person.

It's fair to say that the way fat characters are treated in movies and TV shows can send a sexist message. It preaches that only certain body types are worthy of romantic love while others are only worthy of being the comic relief.

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5 Sexist Female Tropes We Need to Stop Writing

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Whenever I watch a new show, movie, or even read a book, I find myself wondering if the female characters are going to be actual, you know, characters. Even today, writers still struggle with how to portray women as real people - half the time, female characters seem to end up falling into one sexist trope or another.

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The researchers searched for language cues indicative of gender bias. For example, male characters having more forceful lines in a movie ("Show me the money!") compared to women having more passive lines ("Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope").

Do male characters more often get roles where they have power over women, like being a boss or captor?

Do the female characters control their own destiny (for example "Thelma and Louise")?

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26 Sexist Ads That Somehow Actually Saw The Light Of Day

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These unbelievably sexist ads from decades past and present reveal both how far society has come and how much further we need to go.

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1° Questions :
Q1: Ideas about how guys and girls are “supposed” to act are called gender norms. What are some examples of gender norms?
Q2: What are some examples of how you DON'T follow gender norms? Example: I *love* fantasy football!
Q3: How might a person who doesn’t follow gender norms feel when they see gender stereotypes on TV, in movies, and online?
Q4: Where do these ideas about how boys and girls are "supposed" to feel and act come from, besides advertisements? (example: ever been to a baby shower?)

2) Hobbies activity
- Name 5 hobbies on post-its.
- Categorise the hobbies into masculine feminine or neither.
- Discuss

3 ) Advertisement activity
- Analyse the advertisements printed and come explain them. Is there a stereotype ? Role ?

4) Film analysis (at home)
- Is it sexist ? (worksheet with list of questions)

5) Toys and cartoons

6) Sports

7) Bodies and beauty

8) Across cultures ? Or something else to branch out - ex. matriarchal societies ?

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"Jamais la même histoire" on feminism

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Quick hits of history answer humanity's biggest questions: How did we get here? And where are we going next? Watch trailers & learn more.