Christensen: Unlearning the Myths That Blind Us Quotes

“If I want my students to wrestle with the social text of novels, news, or history books, they need the tools to critique media that encourage or legitimate social inequality” (127).

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“True death equals a generation living by rules and attitudes they never questioned and producing more children who do the same” (129).

These two quotes really stuck out to me and seemed to be about similar things. If people are not informed about this conditioning being done to children nothing can be done to stop it. Students should not just retain information, they should be able to question it and fight it if necessary. In order for the action to change, people need to feel strongly enough about it to change it. Personally, I would want my students to be able to fight for something they believe in, so it would be my job to not only teach them to do so but to give them to necessary tools to be able to analyze the text that they are given.

“We are not only taught certain styles of violence, the latest fashions, and sex roles by TV, movies, magazines, and comic strips: we are also taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how we forget the past and suppress the future” (128).

This quote shows the affects that media can have on children at an early age. They are taught all of these aspects without even realizing it. Their parents think that they are just watching a movie but in reality they are getting more of an education on the world that they do in schools or at home with their families or friends. Children are taught these societal values and then act upon them without realizing where they come from. Some are harmful and some are good. I did an entire psychology presentation on dolls (specifically Barbie) and their effect children. The results were astounding. Mothers found notes in their daughters’ rooms on how they could keep thin and have the ideal Barbie image. A lot of what the children are learning is aspects of SCWAAMP. Straightness, Whiteness, and able-bodiedness, 

A not that a mother found in her seven year old daughter's bedroom next to her Barbie dream house

  

“I don't want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after." I don't want my female students to see their "sisters" as competition (or that scarce and wonderful commodity _ men” (133).

In every fairy tale and Disney princess movie that I can think of, it’s about a girl getting a guy, even if it’s not the mail story line. Women are taught at a young age that they are to get married and have children. Even if they have a career and another life, it is expected that all women are to love children and want to start a family with their “only reason for existence”-her husband. Sisters in these tales never seem to get along-up until Frozen was released in 2013. There is no sibling competitions in this movie, but prior to that there was much rivalries between siblings-especially step siblings. The evil step mother is also a major role. It teaches children that if a parent was to remarry, their stepmother will be evil and horrible. There are many misconceptions about life in Disney films and fairy tales. I actually took the Grimm and Glitter first year seminar and we did a lot of comparing and contrasting with original Grimm tales and Disney's take on them. We also noticed all of the common themes within the tales. It was a great class to take.

Reading this I remembered that a Cinderella was made with primarily dark skinned characters and it was my absolute favorite movie when I was little and I remember thinking that something was different about it, but it never really "bothered" me and I didn't put too much thought into it,