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Who Shapes Your Child’s Identity?

Many parents believe that they are the greatest influence on their child’s identity, and in a perfect world, this truly is the case. However, recent studies in gender identity involving elementary school kids suggests that outside influences are playing a big role in many kids’ lives – namely, big business and advertising. Researchers had children respond to questions about gender identity and they found that media stereotypes played a large role in how kids viewed themselves.

Girls responded that they thought boys were emotionally reserved and that they weren’t allowed to talk about their feelings with their friends, while other girls readily shared their emotions. Many boys stated that they prefer female friends because it’s easier to talk openly with them. In a frightening discovery, researchers found that almost half of the nine year-old girls they interviewed admitted to having dieted or showed signs of having an eating disorder. That means that women are being influenced by unhealthy messages about body image from the time they are children.

Boys and girls are being taught that different traits are desirable for their gender. Boys are overwhelmed by media messages about competition, strength, and other attributes that characterize “manhood.” This is dangerous because too many of these messages promote violence, which probably explains why the majority of condemned criminals are men. On an even more disturbing note, aggression is often tied into messages about sexuality and romantic relationships that could breed domestic violence.

Besides increasingly unhealthy ideas about body image, girls today see women portrayed in the media as overtly sexual. These images are highly present in music videos, often times bordering on pornographic, though they also appear in magazines, commercials, ads and television shows. It’s not easy for girls to find role models. Young stars like Miley Cyrus (also known as Hannah Montana), admired by so many young people, are already concerned about body image. Fifteen year old Miley has admitted to thinking she looks “too fat” in photographs and that she wants to lose weight. The most prominent female stars aren’t talented musicians and gifted actresses, but junkies who frequent rehab clinics and plastic surgeons. Even the majority of female characters in movies play the “girlfriend” role while the male leads are portrayed with more humanity.

Many people don’t think that kids pick up on these stereotypes, but the fact is that they’re even more susceptible than the rest of us. It’s difficult enough for kids to form their own sense of identity without so many confusing messages being thrown at them about who they “should” become. Parents must teach their kids about harmful media stereotypes so they can develop the mental tools to combat them. Encourage your children to avoid watching, listening to or reading stereotypical media. Make sure that your kids are provided an environment where they can develop their innate traits, whether these traits are classified as “male” or “female,” without being made to feel inadequate by these false ideas.

Tags: aggression, body image, celebrities, eating disorders, gender identity, media, psychology, sexuality, stereotypes, violence