Unlearning the myths that bind us

The author, Linda Christensen, argues that within all children’s cartoons, movies and literature, there is a “secret education” being taught to young ones and teaching them how to act, live and dream. This “secret education” portrays society in a specific way, usually favoring one particular race and sex, and gives children a false sense of how they should view the world they live in, specifically on culture, race, and gender role issues. Christensen goes even further in her argument by saying that there can be no change unless we “dissect the dreams” and teach kids how to recognize these injustices and take public action to enlighten others about these inequalities in children’s media. Most importantly, Christensen has a hidden agenda of her own, she is teaching her students how to rebel.

First, I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article. This topic always sparks my interest. When this issue is discussed in classes I feel like we never spend enough time with it. I love that the author based the article around her students, using their quotes and feelings. The whole reason for her writing this article is to not only teaching her class how to detect these inequalities in our children’s media but to get them to act out outside of the classroom to really make a difference. Before watching any cartoons, Christensen has her class read the preface and first chapter of Dorfman’s book. She has them write responses to questions that she poses and keep track of them in a journal. Her reason for picking this particular reading is that Dorfman is very controversial and really gets to the students, makes them sort of angry. He basically says that all media is constantly teaching us how to act and think. It teaches us about violence, fashion, sex roles, also how to love, succeed, buy, conquer and more than anything, we are taught how not to rebel. She then shows old cartoons and gets them to recognize inequalities and stereotypes in these cartoons by filling out a chart that she has put together for them. The students quickly point out the obvious things that they see and jot them down. They soon start to notice the not so obvious “secret education” hidden within the cartoons. Some of the main things that the students noticed were that men usually held leading roles. When women were involved, they looked like playboy centerfolds, or they had to become beautiful to get the man and live happily-ever-after. Other cartoons depicted money and material things as being the most valuable possessions. They also noticed that violence was portrayed as having no negative outcome. People of “inferior” race were seen as servants or as violent thieves. Just as women were limited to any power and had to be beautiful to be “happy”, the roles of men are also limited. Only men with good looks and strength were viewed as worthy and powerful, otherwise they were old or used for “good-natured” humor.  Even when they read the retelling of Cinderella, titled Cindy Ellie, they noticed it was still very unfair. Even though a woman of color and different culture was the main character of the story, she was only recognized after she was transformed. Her role as a woman did not change, she was still viewed as a man’s property and that she could only be happy after saying “I do”.  While we may not want to hear it, media has tricked us all and it follows us into our adult life. It teaches of how to females and how to be males. It teaches us that money is the key to a happy life. Violence is glorified. We are taught how to view other cultures and races. We are taught how to dress properly, how to talk, how to act, all to fit in with society. Even as adults we never get away from this “secret education”. Christensen’s whole lesson is to teach us how to rebel, how to tell the media we don’t care what they say, we have our own minds and can think for ourselves. Christensen is also trying to teach us that we will never be able to change this negativity if we do not speak up, and act out publicly. She wants to provide the opportunity to make a difference.

I personally do not think media is completely responsible for how we think and feel, but I will admit that it definitely has affected me in some ways. I definitely am afraid to rebel in some ways because I am scared of what others will think. Media totally can affect a person’s self esteem and build insecurities, especially for young girls and women. I’m curious as to how many people catch themselves being “handled” by media. How does it alter the way you think today? Does it have any affect on what you buy or how you dress? Are people afraid to rebel and be “different”?