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Impact of media on an individual
Impact of media on an individual
Media's influence on gender roles
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As time goes on a gap is created between the past generations and the current generations. This gap between men in the 1950s and the men now (2009) are similar and different in terms of the roles they play, their attitudes towards society, women and work, and their identities. The root to the generation gap in India is due to the influence of media especially television and movies have caused people to look up to the characters and strives to act like them, which reinforce gender stereotypes and identities. For example, Love Aaj Kal, an Indian movie released in 2009 is a contrast of couples in the 1980s and present day. In the movie one of the actors says, “Aaj ke ladke bauth modern aur independent ho gaye hai. Hum aare zamane mein baath hi kuch aur thi” (Veer Singh). In translation, it means that, “Boys these days are very modern and independent. In our time things were different”(Veer Singh). The following are many different ways to interpret what the actor was trying to say about men then and now in regards to roles, attitudes and their identities. From observing my grandfathers and hearing stories about them from by parents, I learned that men in general had many roles to fulfill. For example, they had to fulfill their duties as a son, husband, father, and worker and as a member of the society. In the 1950s men were the caretaker, the moneymakers, the head of the house and they were dominant. In other words what they said went there was a sense of superiority. As men, many did not help out around the house other than play with the children, the remainder of the work that dealt with the children and the house was solely up to the women. As sons many men had to take care of the family business after they finished their educat... ... middle of paper ... ...man”’ (pg. 19). This quote is true for all men American or Indian. Indian men, from what I have seen, feel very frustrated when people tell them what to do because it makes them feel as if they are not smart and childish. In conclusion, 1950s or present day, men in some aspect are similar, but are different in terms of the way they fulfill their roles, their attitudes about society, women, and work, and their identity. In India, society and family is why men in the 1950s think the way they do because they are brought up around people who believe those things and with the lack of media and television they had no outside influence to go against their parents values. However, now there is so much outside influence of the western world and media, that men can now rebel against their parents values and thinking saying that other people in the world think other wise.
With the beginnings of the cold war the media and propaganda machine was instrumental in the idea of the nuclear family and how that made America and democracy superior to the “evils” of the Soviet Union and Communism; with this in mind the main goal of the 50’s women was to get married. The women of the time were becoming wives in their late teens and early twenties. Even if a women went to college it was assumed that she was there to meet her future husband. Generally a woman’s economic survival was dependent on men and employment opportunities were minimal.
Some historians have argued that 1950s America marked a step back for the advancement that women made during WWII. What contributed to this “return to domesticity” and do you believe that the the decade was good or bad for women? The end of World War II was the main contributing factor to the “return to domesticity”. During the war, women played a vital role in the workforce because all of the men had to go fight overseas and leave their jobs. This forced women to work in factories and volunteer for wartime measures.
Like stated earlier, gender roles in the 50’s were very strict and narrow-minded. That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w...
For most of history men and women have always played roles in society. With set expectations for men it has always been hard for those that stray from the path of manhood. With a very heterosexual society the 1950’s
Indian gender roles were well defined, and men’s and women’s responsibilities were equally crucial to
The women of the 1950s struggled to fit into the mold that the American culture wanted them to be in. Women were meant to be the caretakers of the family and were expected to do whatever it would take to make sure that everything was perfect for their husbands. In a magazine article from Housekeeping Monthly that came out in 1955, there are a list of things that a woman must strive to do in order to be the ideal wife. This includes things such
During the 1950s, it was believed that creating a home and having children were one of the most important goals for most women. During their schooling years, most women attended college to get their "M.r.s." degree, or the reason most women went to college was to get married and not to earn a real degree (PBS.org, 2001, para. 3). Women also started working again, though they did not have equal benefits or pay to men. Women were also hired for jobs that tailored to their looks, not their skills (Coster, 2011, p. 35-36). They were also encouraged to have large families, but needed help when it came to managing their household. Hollywood created an image of an American mother who has a wholesome family that influenced the way women thought and behaved. Advertising and Hollywood created ideals for the perfect 1950s housewives that were unattainable. Television ads reinforced gender roles of women and the pressure of being the perfect mother and wife caused mental health issues for a lot of women during this time. During the 1950s, women had a part in education, the workforce, in the home, in television, and even in mental health that helped evolve the old 1950s mother to a new modern mother.
Gender roles and stereotypes can many times intertwine because of our western culture has taught us since the first radio broadcast show, “Father Knows Best” which was based on the father, Jim who was the ruler of the household and the wife would do whatever he said. Gender roles in the 1950’s were that the men worked hard, brought home the money, and had all the power in the home. Women were seen as the homemakers who can’t make their own decisions and are portrayed as a week. According to an article called Gender Roles in 1950’s America, “men were expected to be strong, masculine, and good decision makers, which served as a natural counter-balance for the feminine and maternal role of women” (White, Retrieved
By the 1950’s, women had gained some rights, but had a long way to go before they had the same rights as they do today. Working women were rarely seen in 1950’s film and television. Professional jobs were still largely closed off to women. The average woman only made 60 percent of what men did. In some states, women could not make contracts. They also could not sell or buy property for themselves. For married couples, rape did not exist and there were not ma...
In the 1950s, the stereotypical female was expected to fill a role that was awfully repressive and constrictive. Many standards were placed on women
Furthermore, education was treated as a bar to marriage. During the decade housewifery tasks were glorified as a "proof of a complete woman." Becoming good wife was the dream of all young women. Such stereotype was shown everywhere on TV, in advertising and in the movies. There were loving couples, embracing under the trees of the new suburban house with 3 or 4 children in the playground. That was the picture of the happy family of the 50's.
What Killermann said at the beginning really resonates with me. Growing up in Pakistan, I was taught to behave like the ‘woman’ he described. My home country is a very male dominated society. It is expected for women to remain in the household while the men pursue careers and earn all the money for the
In the 1960’s there were a change when it came to women and men working and taking care of the children. There was a Soviet Union that had a no active women’s liberation movement, but there was women that spoke up about what was going on. Women wanted to have jobs like men and wanted the men to help around the house even on their days off. The women wanted to work so that they too could bring some type of money in the house instead of it just being then men. The women it the 1960’s says it is not enough time in a day which I agree with. One ladies said it's hard to work eight hours a day, then get off work and go to the store to get what she needs to cook for supper, then get home and cook supper and when that is all done trying to relax before bed and have to do it all over again the next day.
As much as it annoys me to say, but they are huge conformist within their own community. We are raised one way… women learn how to cook, clean, and take care of the kids while the men just go to work and drink at their free time. Women are not allowed to do what they want, their lives are basically on repeat. In Tannen’s excerpt “His Politeness Is Her Powerlessness”, she explains that men put women in a lower status in our society but we do not make a big deal out of it like men do. She says, “Granted, women have lower status than men in our society. But this is not necessarily why we prefer not to make outright demands.” (Tannen 4). Although the men make it out to seem that they have it the best, it isn’t too easy for the young boys. I have a little brother and I had to raise him up until he turned twelve years old and I also have a father who takes a lot of pride into his culture. My little brother wasn’t the bravest boy in the family, he was mostly a very timid person so that gave my dad a frustrating time. I would witness my father shouting at my brother and telling him hurtful things about not being a man. I could not go one day without hearing, “Be a man cabron!”. I always wondered what it really meant to be a
"The great model of affection of love in human beings is the sentiment which subsists between parents and children." as time goes by, things change. What was popular, and normal, in the 70s has changed. The older generation always wonder what had gone wrong with the younger generation and the younger generation also wonder why parents can`t understand their needs. The don`t know how to deal with the differences between each others and that has lead to a gap between parents and children.