Mass Media: Friend or Enemy?

Talking Points #2

“Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us” By Linda Christensen


Christensen opens her piece titled “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us” by stating “I want to develop [my students] critical consciousness, but I also hope to move them to action. For some the lesson does not end in the classroom. Many who watched cartoons before we start our study they can no longer enjoy them. Now instead of seeing a bunch of ducks in clothes they see the racism, sexism and violence that swim under the surface of the stories” (Chistensen, 134). Wow! Christensen has empowered students in her classroom to not only question the common stereotypes in our social but to understand and dissect the ways in which viewers like us are subconsciously taught sexism and racism even as far back as preschool. She empowers her students to look at cartoons, movies, and the media that surrounds us and to develop an opinion about it. Once we are able to see the subliminal messages about the portrayal of men, women, looks, racism we can begin to see why society has developed certain beliefs. Christensen invites her students to participate in discussions and write about their opinions on such propaganda in the media and specifically cartoons. One student remarked, “Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon? Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child’s mind?” (Christensen, 331). Chistensen invites every student and reader to take action and let their “writing be a vehicle for change” (Chistensen, 133).

By charting stereotypes within the mass media and within the context of cartoons the students became activists for change. They were no longer able to view a cartoon without pinpointing racial biases and buy a toy without thinking of how sexist or racist it really is.


Christensen like Hine encourages the reader to think about how the mass media and society’s stereotypes develop our own ideas of ourselves and other people. We can begin to understand how terms like “the wicked step mother” and the distorted image of female cartoons not as real people but “play boy centerfolds” (Christensen, 130). Each writer invites us to see how “we can pierce the surface” of these stereotypes and misconceptions within the world we grew up in and develop our own ideas about culture, race, gender and society (Christensen, 130). Christensen and Hine also encourage us to see that as we grow up we straddle the ideas between what our family teaches us as well as the conflicting ideas the mass media displays to us. However, Christensen makes a good point about the power of the mass media “these social blueprints depict the domination of one sex, one race, one class or one country over a weaker counter part.” (Christensen, 126). Children learn to “develop distorted views of people outside of [our own] racial/ cultural group” (Christensen, 126). She also raises another valid point that it can be extremely detrimental a child’s belief system if we do not grow up in a socially diverse community and the media is all that we learn from, “Many of us grow up in neighborhoods where we have limited opportunities to interact with people from our own families.” (Christensen, 126).


This great author invites us all “to see patterns in the media…and learn to decode the underlying assumptions” (Christensen, 127). We must all “unlearn the myths” and empower ourselves to think for ourselves and develop our own beliefs about people, race, gender, and society (Christensen, 127).


Question:
How much has the media really shaped our lives? Looking back to the movies we watch or the cartoons we see what are some of the main cultural stereotypes/ bias that surround us?