Christensen- quotes- Blog 4

“Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us” written by Linda Christensen was very thought provoking for me. The article discusses how our society teaches children from a very young age that people who are different from us are not “normal” and teaches young children to judge other people.

“Our society's culture industry colonizes their [students] minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream. This indoctrination hits young children especially hard” (Christensen 126). This quote sets the stage for the rest of the article and is very important. Christensen says that our society’s culture teaches young children how to dream and that is such a good point that I have never thought of. Children want to follow in the steps of the people around them and if the people around them are not having very different lives or careers, children will only know those few things the adults do. I think it is very important to expose young children to the outside world so they grow up without prejudices

“Children's cartoons, movies, and literature are perhaps the most influential genre "read." Young people, unprotected by any intellectual armor, hear or watch these stories again and again... The messages or "secret education," linked with the security of their homes, underscore the power these texts deliver. As Tatum's research suggests, the stereotypes and world view embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge” (Christensen 127). I have never thought about how the books I read and the movies I watched growing up had an affect on how I viewed other people and viewed the world but they have a huge impact on a child’s view of the world. Christensen mentions this because she later discusses “Peter Pan” and other media and how media is influential in a child’s life because it affects how they will see things for the rest of their lives and that is very important.

“She [Kenya] wrote: "Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon! Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child's mind?" She ended her piece: "Women who aren't white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess." Kenya's piece bristled with anger at a society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty of women of her race. (Christensen 131). There are many disney princesses and the large majority are white. There are exceptions of course but disney princesses are mostly white. Young children often want to be what they see in the media and non-caucasian children rarely see themselves represented by disney and that could hurt their self-esteem or future goals.

There was a petition going around to change how Princess Tiana looked in another disney movie because her skin seemed much lighter.

In class, I want to discuss disney and how whitewashed it is. I think everyone has seen disney movies and it would be interesting to hear which characters people identified with as young children and if other people think disney movies can be harmful due to lack of representation.

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