TV Makes Girls Feel Like Crap About Themselves, But Does Wonders for White Boys

[Luminous Animal]

Last edited Thu Jun 7, 2012, 08:25 PM - Edit history (1)

The study, which appears in Communication Research, was conducted by Nicole Martins, an assistant professor of telecommunications in the Indiana University, and Kristen Harrison, professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan. They surveyed about 400 black and white preadolescent students—aka tweens—in the Midwest over the course of a year. Instead of looking at specific shows, they focused on how much time the kids were spending watching TV, period, and how it impacted their self-esteem. What they found after they'd controlled for age, body image, and baseline self-esteem was that television exposure was responsible for a decrease in self-esteem in both white and black girls and black boys, but it led to an increase in self-esteem in white boys. Harumph.

Comments from the study:

Regardless of what show you're watching, if you're a white male, things in life are pretty good for you. You tend to be in positions of power, you have prestigious occupations, high education, glamorous houses, a beautiful wife, with very little portrayals of how hard you worked to get there.

The roles that they (girls) see are pretty simplistic; they're almost always one-dimensional and focused on the success they have because of how they look, not what they do or what they think or how they got there. This sexualization of women presumably leads to this negative impact on girls.

Young black boys are getting the opposite message: that there is not lots of good things that you can aspire to. If we think about those kinds of messages, that's what's responsible for the impact.

http://jezebel.com/5914173/tv-makes-girls-feel-like-crap-about-themselves-but-does-wonders-for-white-boys

[msongs]

1. maybe people who watch a lot of tv are not that in tune to reality? hmmm nt

[Luminous Animal]

2. Lots of children watch a lot of TV.

[exboyfil]

3. Fortunately my kids once they got past 5th

grade or so watch very little television (practically none now that they are 11th and 9th grade). We will watch occassional movies together. My younger daughter likes to watch The Walking Dead with me (she loves zombie movies). Actually it is a pretty good show for showing strong female characters (some of the best and most resourceful characters are women and next season they are adding a woman who is probably the most equipped individual to handle the zombies).

[HopeHoops]

13. Even "strong female characters" are usually sexualized.

Three examples in movies that immediately come to mind are Laura Croft, Electra, and Ultra Violet. They were excellent movies with a lot of great action and strong female characters, but physically they were the female equivalent of Ahnold - not realistic expectations. It isn't just movies and TV. Go through ANY supermarket checkout - today: "stars without their makeup", "better sex in 5 seconds", "lose 20 lbs in a month", "give him the sex he really wants", &quot some male star) caught in bed with half-naked woman", and other such things - and that's while waiting in line to pay for three items. Change the names, change the Photoshop/airbrush job, change the headline slightly, it's been like that for as long as I can remember.

I've got a wife and three daughters (youngest 17) and fortunately they are all pretty much immune to that crap, but then again we don't watch TV and they understand that makeup, CGI, and airbrushing are the standards in the media.

[upaloopa]

4. Has anyone looked into the effects of reading all those celebrity mags and reality shows and the

celeb crap that comes up on MyMSN?

The magazine racks at my grocery store have about 10 different magazines about celebs and then there are the TV shows were pool little rich girls whine because they broke a nail or something. I am no scientist but my feeling is that that stuff has some effect on a person's self image.

I think a lot of people live vicariously through those sorts of media.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. This thread promises to be a fountain of knowledgeable responses and reasoned argument!

[4th law of robotics]

6. Their comment on the roles of girls/women on TV doesn't jive with what I've seen

Turn on any show at random. Or commercial. If there are both males and females chances are it's the guy who is doing something idiotic, not the girl.

[moparlunatic]

7. I must agree

It's the men that are made to look completely incompetent in most shows and commercials I've seen.

[Bucky]

14. In other words, the center of attention & the biggest risk taker

Flopping on your face is usually a learning experience. When you see a guy being a dumbass on TV and his wife/GF/sister standing back and saying, "Gee, Tony, I don't know if using duct tape, coke, and mentos to turn your shoes into jet shoes and jumping over that barbed wire fence is such a good idea..." what you're watching is women being socialized into being non-risk takers and perpetual caretakers of men, regardless of merit.

Yes, I can see how even the dumbass antics of Homer and Family Guy and Tim the Toolman and Everybody Loves Raymond reinforces male self esteem.

[4th law of robotics]

21. Homer Simpson reinforces male self esteem?

I disagree.

Males on TV are generally portrayed as unrepentantly stupid. Not daring risk takers: borderline mentally retarded (actually mentally retarded on family guy).

Men in commercials can't figure out how to feed, clothe, or bathe themselves without their wives (sighing and rolling their eyes) coming to their aid.

Where are men portrayed as competent and sensible? At best they're fun-loving simpletons.

[noamnety]

26. The flip side of your post

is that women are learning that it's their job to feed, clothe and bathe men - that it's women's responsibility to be the caretaker/mom in the relationship.

[HiPointDem]

30. i don't see many shows teaching that message anymore.

[4th law of robotics]

41. I haven't noticed that

women in general are seen as the caregivers if they so choose. If not they can ditch men entirely and be just fine.

[elehhhhna]

32. The DADS are portrayed as morons. Not the single men.

Seriously. Parents are the most stoopid of all tv characters. True for the last 15 years.

[4th law of robotics]

35. Single men are not exempted from this effect

on TV.

And it's not that "parents" are the most stoopid of all tv characters. Parents on TV are typically a male and a female (not really enough homosexual couples on TV to draw a lot of conclusions). And in that the dad is an idiot, the mother is not.

Look at say the Simpsons. Homer is mentally retarded (literally, they explained that on one episode). He is fat, lazy, generally puts his concerns first, is constantly putting his family in physical or financial danger. As a person he has really no merit other than to be laughed at.

A show that portrayed the wife in such a way (fat, stupid, dangerous, horrible mother, etc), constantly reigned in by an exasperated but sensible and handsome husband, would not last long.

[Dokkie]

9. I dont know exactly

how I m going to do it but when if I happen to have a boy, there's no fricken way I am going to allow him to watch TV. Just Sponge bob and Patrick alone is going to turn him into a buffoon and that's not even mentioning the many more moron male characters in sitcoms and commercials.

You just have to wonder what TV these guys were watching before they came up with this conclusion.

[riderinthestorm]

43. We're teevee-free and its simple really. Just don't have any teevee.

I didn't start out like this mind you. When my oldest daughter was barely a toddler I desperately tried to get her hooked on teevee so I could take a bit of a break while she vegged in front of the boob-tube. Since I never watched, I hadn't paid any attention about the teevee situation until that moment.

Then I learned. I'm rural and we got 2 channels clearly: the local channel (Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls games and local news) and PBS. That was it. Sometimes if I stood with the antennae high up by the window I might get Fox but it was always fuzzy and with bad sound quality.

We were too broke to afford a dish. No way was there any cable. So I was stuck with my crappy two channels and a toddler.

Oh, I raged and hunted for solutions and tried whatever I could - I really, really WAS that shallow and wanted my kids to get hooked so I had some free time!! But then when it becomes obvious that its impossible, you begin to cope and voila! becoming teevee free becomes much easier. You go to the library/park/kids museums/free concerts and movies in the park etc. etc and suddenly its just not a part of your life.

My kids are now 24 and 15 years old, they've never had teevee and they don't miss it at all. Neither do I. We're all big readers and that totally fills any time gaps in the day. We could afford a dish now (still no cable down our rural street) but there's no way we'll ever do it.

[Luminous Animal]

12. It doesn't say anything about acting idiotic. It says simplisitic. Two entirely different things.

[4th law of robotics]

22. How can someone whose default setting is "IQ = 40" be anything but simplistic?

Watch a commercial sometime.

See if you can find a husband in one that is capable of taking care of himself.

[Luminous Animal]

24. And simplistic does not mean simple-minded.

[4th law of robotics]

42. So people who are walking stereotypes

and whose only emotions are bafflement and stupid grinning are complex?

[limpyhobbler]

8. Some day people of color will run the TV shows and then white people will see how it feels

and understand the problem.

Not talking about any person in particular.Please don't take offense. None intended.

[ZombieHorde]

11. I was going to take offense, but then you told me not to, so I didn't. nt

[Skidmore]

10. I'm so sick of those shows with male guests who try to get them to

take their shirts off. I'm equally sick of what passes for dancing that gets cheered on now. The literally simulated sex and bumping and grinding. Honestly, I don't need to see anyone in the actual act and I certainly don't care to watch it simulated on a dance floor. That takes no skill or particular talent--just a total lack of self-respect.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. And yet, teen boys are 4x more likely to kill themselves.

If escaping the real world is palliative, good for them.

http://www.teensuicidestatistics.com/statistics-facts.html

[Luminous Animal]

18. Girls are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide but use methods like cutting

or pills that have a higher likelihood of intervention. The reason why boys are more "successful" at suicide is that they use methods such as guns and hanging that leave little room for intervention.

[4th law of robotics]

23. Seems like no matter what the stats are it's always women that have it worse, huh

Next up: incredibly high incarceration rates and low high school graduation rates for boys means . . . that women are at a disadvantage since they'll have a hard time finding an acceptable spouse. Clearly we need to help women.

/many times when people try pills or razors for a suicide attempt it's because they really are crying out for attention and have no interest in actually killing themselves. Women have as much access to guns as men in this country. Choosing not to use them is evidence of a slightly different intent. So really it's a case of boys who are depressed die. Girls who are depressed get help.

[Luminous Animal]

28. Not once did I say women have it worse. Silly me, for seeking accuracy...

Women and girls choose methods with the anticipation of leaving a prettier corpse.

[4th law of robotics]

39. Accuracy: if you were to pick a random teenager who committed suicide

that teenager would most likely be a male.

More parents are currently mourning over a dead son than a dead daughter.

[NickB79]

40. What a ridiculous thing to say.

All suicidal girls care about is leaving a pretty corpse? Wow, just...wow.

[jp11]

29. First it really shouldn't be a question of who has it worse

unfortunately there are people that like to turn it into that and sometimes through that argument dismiss whatever group they think has it slightly better or not as bad as so and so.

Next *I* firmly believe men are more successful in killing themselves because of the stigma attached to depression and attempting suicide. This is another aspect of what males are 'taught' or 'shown' to be how they should act. It is 'okay' for a girl/woman to be depressed and get help or attempt suicide but if a guy does it it is 'worse'. I think that is why guys are more likely to pick or make an effort that leaves little chance, if any, of failure.

I don't think it is as simple as girls are depressed and want help while guys don't, it is more that guys are made to feel that if they need help they aren't men, etc, ie they are better off dead. I liken it to how men often don't report being raped, or abused by a spouse, because of how 'society' is they don't feel they are allowed/permitted to do so or that acknowledging that they are victims is worse than the act.

[4th law of robotics]

38. If we're looking to fix a problem we should first identify who it is hitting

[elehhhhna]

34. stop. our kids are jacked up and yes, the media is part of the problem./

tipper was right.

kills me to say it - hated that initiative. but tipper was right.

[4th law of robotics]

37. Could you elaborate on that?

Jacked up.

How do you mean it?

[HiPointDem]

33. which tells me that boys are more likely to be serious about it.

[jp11]

16. Most of the men on TV were nothing like me

if there was anyone like me on TV I was the guy that got picked on by the guy '...in positions of power, had prestigious occupations, glamorous houses, a beautiful wife...'.

The best I got was the geeky guy who made up for being a complete coward/weakling by being smart, he could have a high education or even prestigious occupation but was often mocked or looked down on for not being a 'jock'.

Oh and here's a link, not positive this is the one you used but it seems to be.

http://jezebel.com/5914173/tv-makes-girls-feel-like-crap-about-themselves-but-does-wonders-for-white-boys

[Luminous Animal]

17. Thanks for the link. I forgot to add it to the OP.

[BlueIris]

19. I wish I could rec this twice.

It is super icky news.

[Igel]

20. The follow up study should look at what was watched.

My kids last year showed a wide range in what they watched.

A lot of high achievers had no use for some of the shows that the low-achievers watched, both male and female.

Many of the blacks and Latinos didn't watch the same shows as whites.

Some of the higher-achieving white males watched a lot of sports. They also watched movies in which the white males may have done some stupid things (think Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo for a '70s version) but in the end do really cool things.

Some of the high-achieving white females were also at a loss concerning some pop-culture referents.

The low-achieving group mostly shared the same cultural universe, with a few racial subgroups.

My kid apparently is growing up in a weird TV universe. A lot of anime, a ton of Doctor Who (and other British shows like Red Dwarf), Qubo (which is hardly a bastion of misogyny).

[Zorra]

25. "focused on the success they have because of how they look, not what they do

or what they think or how they got there."

Sexualization

Suggestion: Kill your televison.

Frank Zappa: I'm The Slime"

I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out
From your TV set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks . . .
Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor

I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go

I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor

I am the slime from your video

Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go

[AngryAmish]

27. Who decided that having high self esteem is a good thing?

And who says having low self esteem is bad?

Self esteem is poorly correlated with success in life. Most criminals have high self esteem. Yet a life of crime is pretty shitty.

Maybe having a realistic view of one's self (as the good judge said, the world needs ditch diggers too) will allow one's self to find a place in the world. I learned pretty quick that I was never going to excel at sports so I did not spend all that much time trying to go pro or even get a scholarship. I did get a scholarship to college though. I spent my time doing the things I had to do to get it.

[laundry_queen]

44. I agree, high self esteem

desperately needs to be accompanied by empathy or you just have narcissism.

However, low self esteem minus empathy can be dangerous as well. Empathy, not self esteem, is the key to a healthier society, IMO.

[progress2k12nbynd]

31. There are way more than just black and white people in this country...

Last edited Fri Jun 8, 2012, 03:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Why do studies on virtually every topic always seem to ignore that?

For instance, articles discussing bias towards minorities in standardized testing never mention the fact that Asian-Americans actually score higher than whites on average. All they ever talk about is the black/white difference.

[Egalitarian Thug]

36. Television, the drug of the nation

[Blue_Tires]

45. kick

[deaniac21]

46. Here you go

[link:|