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Using Critical Lenses to Deconstruct Media Representations

A dominant system of representation is the weakness of girls in children’s cartoons. However, this representation started to shift in the 90s as cartoons started to create more powerful girl characters. Considering the lens of “Reel Injun”, the movie expresses how the media has power to be detrimental or improve the image of a certain group. Likewise, the increase of intelligent female characters in cartoons can positively effect how young girls see themselves. Stack and Kelly state, “The media system, like the education system, is one of society’s key set of institutions, industries, and cultural practices.” (pg. 6). Therefore, entertainment like children’s cartoons influences the social and cultural practices of how girls think they are meant to behave. For example, in the 90’s The PowerPuff Girls featured three lead female characters, as superheroes with diverse personalities. The show demonstrated that girls can be leaders, tough and compassionate. Moreover, the dialogue of cartoon female characters was becoming more confident, characters like Lisa Simpson and Daria reflect those traits. The lack of girls in lead roles in cartoons, or only being used as a romantic interest, was also starting to change.

Today, children’s cartoons like Adventure Time and Steven Universe have females in powerful roles. These shows also reverse stereotypes about girls through the show’s dialogue and imagery. For example, in Adventure Time there is a character called Princess Bubblegum, who appears to represent stereotypical femininity, she is pink, soft, and literally made of gum, but she is also a scientist and a ruler over a kingdom. Also, her dialogue is always authoritative over the main character, Finn, a human boy. Furthermore, Finn is surrounded by strong female characters as his role models, and so is Steven in Steven Universe. Stack and Kelly believe, “…marginalized groups invent oppositional interpretations of their needs and interests, in strategic resistance to the power of dominant institutions whose ideologies are accepted as common sense in public spheres.” (pg. 10) Adventure Time and Steven Universe have invented interpretations about girls personalities that diverge from constructed Western gender roles. Ultimately, the representations of gender in cartoons influence both how boys and girls establish their personalities and these images need to be critiqued. As Stack and Kelley argue,“Because it [pop culture] is a prime arena where ideas circulate and identities are produced.” (pg. 16).

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