Gender Norms of the Media

In "Escape from Wonderland" by Deborah Ross, she explains how Disney creates a gender norm by subjecting to how these wonderful childhood characters are really showing children feminine and masculine qualities. For example Ross explains in Disney's The Little Mermaid how Ariel is never really satisfied in the movie, and if you have a bunch of girls watching, how must the girls watching her feel about it. Ross gives insight to what Disney is trying to portray to our little ones. I agree with her because the media will use anything they can, even if it is a children movie, to get the stereotypes of genders brainwashed into your heads. Movies, ad's, and commercials  all have gender norms in them. For example all romantic movies show the man chasing after the woman for her love; he does all the kind gestures and treats her like a princess, which leads women to think that every man they meet has to be just like the man in the movie they saw. Ever since the production of movies came about woman want to be swept off their feet by a cute guy who treats them like a princess, but that is just a movie with actors who are paid to do it, but woman love it so much they want it to be real, so men are entered into a gender norm that they have to be this romantic, humble, and kind man so they can please woman who want this fantasy. As for Noah Berlatsky's "'Twilight' vs. 'Hunger Games': Why Do So Many Grown-Ups Hate Bella?" he explains how these two major box office teen flicks have two different kinds of leading ladies. Bella who is more of the "girly" type compared to Katniss who is more of a hard hitting independent woman, Bella would never get in any violence without any rescue because she is not tough one in the series, she seeks love and creating happiness with the one she wants to spend the rest of her life with which is the ideal feminist. While Katniss is a fighter who will fight for what she loves. She stands on her own and doesn't need a man to be by her side showing the more anti-feminist movement. Katniss goes against what women should be while Bella sticks to the gender norm. Media can be very deceiving to society; they give us pretty painted pictures which we all fall for more and more every day. Gender norms are everywhere we go; we are just so used to seeing them due to the media.