Short Books
The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
This book is kind of saying how girls don’t have what it takes to survive, even back then. There were absolutely no girls mentioned in the entire book except for that weeping mother with ten thousand kids. That was a bit of gender stereotyping since the mom is taking care of the kids and the dad isn’t. But this story takes place in 1906 and the author was probably just trying to be realistic.
Also, the soldier didn’t help the mom, didn’t even comfort her, just patted her back and left. That’s stereotyping that soldiers back then didn’t care much about someone not in immediate danger.
There is a stereotype that little boys can’t keep secrets. Morris blurted out Leo’s secret about Leo’s gold nugget just so that he could make friends.
Propaganda that you can survive earthquakes if you’re smart. You can’t only have intelligence, sometimes you do need some strength, help, and luck.
Propaganda that there is only one bully that’s truly bad. A lot of books and movies are like that. The leader is the one that’s truly evil. Like Zira from the Lion King, Regina from Mean Girls, and like Fletch from this book.
Ms. Krup Cracks Me Up
There is a stereotype that girls are scared of bugs and dead things. There are a ton of boys who are scared of those things and girls who aren’t in the world, but in the book all the boys wanted to kill the cockroach, and all the girls were screaming and trying to get away from it.
Stereotype that kids like to eat candy. AJ and all his classmates went crazy when they found the boxes of candy beside the candy machine.
Stereotype that boys like Batman and dinosaurs. They boys got really excited when they found out there was a missing T. Rex in the museum, and AJ had a Batman sleeping bag.
Stereotype that adults snore loud. Adults the only one that snore loud. You should hear my younger brother snore, it’s almost like he’s a human tuba.
A stereotype that girls who are smart are nosy, follow rules, and like impressing people. Not all smart people are like Andrea Young in this book or Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series.
Gender stereotype that girls cry a lot and are easily scared. Emily totally freaked out when she was pinned to the ground by a dead bear.
Stereotype that boys hate school and museums, and like field trips.
Stereotype that everyone thinks Monday is the worst day.
Stereotype that adults like to drink coffee and talk about the weather.
Songs
Aqua – Barbie Girl
“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!” Since this song is comparing girls to the toy Barbie, “life in plastic,” can also refer to plastic surgery. This is saying that girls like doing plastic surgery and think it’s fantastic. I’m sure not all people think that.
“I’m a blond, bimbo girl.” This is supporting the dumb blonde stereotype, since bimbo means pretty but unintelligent.
“Dress me up, make it tight.” This is saying that girls like wearing clothes that a very tight and fit perfectly.
“You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.” This part of the song is saying that girls like making their hair look nice and change clothes a lot
“Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please, I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees.” I’m not really sure about this one, but I’m pretty sure it’s saying that boys are the ones who are in control and can manipulate the girl a lot.
Demi Lovato – Heart Attack
“Putting my defenses up, ‘Cause I don’t wanna fall in love. If I ever did that, I think I’d have a heart attack.” This is saying that when people are hurt, they never want to fall in love again out of fear of being hurt another time.
“But when it comes to you, I’m never good enough.” In relationships, it’s saying that girls always want to impress the guys, and never think they’re good enough for them, and always try to be better and better.
“When I don’t care, I can play ‘em like a Ken doll” This is saying that when girls don’t care about a guy, she manipulates him for fun.
“Won’t wash my hair, then make ’em bounce like a basketball.” “Bounce like a basketball,” can mean going away. Like how people say, “I gotta bounce.” Demi Lovato means that if she doesn’t wash her hair, the guy won’t be interested in her anymore. This is a gender stereotype because it’s saying guys are only interested in looks and not anything else.
“But you make me wanna act like a girl, paint my nails and wear high heels.” Demi Lovato is saying that there’s a boy that makes her so nervous she wants to look good. But, she says, “make me wanna act like a girl,” which makes it a gender stereotype because not all girls paint their nails and wear high heels.
“You make me glow, but I cover up. Won’t let it show.” I think this is saying that when girls who don’t want to fall in love “glow,” as in “blushing.” It can be referring to how she feels when she is around him. But she says she, “covers up,” which is saying she doesn’t let them show because she is afraid to. But that can also mean using makeup to hide her true self. That’s stereotyping that girls use a lot of makeup, and end up hiding who they really are.
Commercials
Walt Disney World Resort – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPYUo0awFOc
Propaganda that Disney World is a place where people of all ages can have fun, relax, and be happy. Disney World is more like a place for kids and teenagers than adults, but they always show adults laughing with their kids. When I go to an amusement park it’s always only my brother and I going on rides, since my mom’s too scared of everything and my dad gets sick easily.
There is also a stereotype that everyone likes fireworks. Everyone in the commercial was cheering and smiling while watching the fireworks.
Stereotype that boys like Buzz Lightyear and Star Wars
Stereotype that girls like princesses and dressing up like them.
Car Commercial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYWHsOeDf3M
Saying that boys care more about cars than girls
Propaganda that the car is so good it can get you a lot of attention and that the car has a ton of energy. Made it look like it was made by super smart scientists.
Since all of the hamsters who made the car were male, it’s a gender stereotype that only boys can be smart like those hamsters and make that car.
Also stereotyping that females dress in heels and designer clothes
Stereotyping that smart people dress with suspenders and round glasses.
Similarities
There are a lot of gender stereotypes and age stereotypes in all of these bias examples. They all portray girls as weak beings that are afraid of both tangible things and being themselves. They all portray girls as girls that are pretty or want to be pretty. But they all depict boys as people who are capable of doing a lot of cool things, like making a car or surviving earthquakes. I’ve noticed that whether it’s a boy or girl singing the song, writing the book, or appearing in a commercial, it seems to portray girls in a negative way, even though it’s a little bit. All the examples I have don’t have any kind of black vs white prejudice, just the fact that there aren’t any black people in any of the examples. That’s implying that black people can’t survive fires or don’t go to elementary. Even though they don’t really say anything bad about black people, not saying anything about them could also be and example of bias.
Differences
There are also examples that say boys as bad people to be around, since they break people’s hearts and don’t care about girls. I think songs are the ones that usually show this, since a lot of singers are girls and singer usually sing out their thoughts. Commercials and books tend to have much more stereotypes in them than the songs. Commercials always use stereotypes or other bias because they think the audience believes in those biases and will agree with them. Books also shouldn’t have so many unpopular opinions readers won’t even read them. Songs are usually just liked because of the melody, and you can’t fit so much bias in a song anyway. For the bias in books, I don’t think most of them are really intentional. Lots of authors just write and provide small details that just happen to have stereotypes in them. When they do have a lot and really big ones, most of the time it’s just being realistic.
Product
This is my product to make people aware of the bias in the world around them. For my product, I made a poster. This poster contains an outline of a man wearing headphones and having a phone, a book, a newspaper, and a print ad across his eyes, like a blindfold. This represents how bias can lead you on blindly, making you deaf and blind to the real world.
