Study shows watching TV boosts self esteem of White male children, decreases self esteem of Black male and all female children. (x)
Boys making the transition from elementary to middle school are probably exposed to superhero cartoons, Jordan said, adding, ” ‘Superman,’ ‘Batman,’ X-Men.’ The lead characters of these shows tend to be male.”
But Jordan added, “In recent years, creators of children’s programming have worked hard to improve diversity and include strong female characters.”
For white boys, “regardless of what show you’re watching … things in life are pretty good for you,” Martins, an assistant professor of telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington, said in a statement. “(White males) 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.”
I think this is very relevant to this blog, in particular to anybody who comes to us and ask why having diversity is so important and also why portrayals of minorities need to be realistic and positive and not stereotyped. ‘Strong female characters’ need to be just characters and not defined by what men want because people (and in particular, children) of all kinds are watching.
