Harmful stereotypes
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Publicado: 20 de junio de 2010
Harmful Stereotypes: When stereotyping takes over your life
Ever thought that a Barbie doll was a good gift for your daughter,
Well, think again, these kind of “harmful” gifts are one of theleading causes
In anorexia, and other self-image related diseases.
Cristobal Baraona
The Guardian, Sunday 13 June 2010
Opinion Column
A little girl is playing with her brand new gift, an Islandprincess version of the well-known Barbie doll. His father, thinking he gave his daughter a fantastic gift is watching television. Out of the blue, the girl says: “I wanna be like this when I grow up”.The father didn`t even heard her. Years later, that little girl isn`t little anymore, in fact, she is now a teenager and she has developed an eating disorder which makes her feel uneasy with her ownbody.
This kind of stories is not rare to hear nowadays, most of us have probably heard of a relative or friend who has suffered of an eating disorder or suffered from depression. In fact, expertshave come to believe that this kind of illness associated to self-image have tripled since the boom of media communications. I am not saying that media are the only ones to blame, but I do believe theyare an important factor is this raise.
Media have a really important task, which is to educate and create conscience, but as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Every time we seein ads and propaganda muscular man hanging out with beautiful and skinny women enjoying all the greatest things in life, our subconscious gets the message that only them can enjoy of those things,that only beautiful people are entitled to good thing and most importantly that the only way to be beautiful is to be skinny and muscular. This kind of stereotyping makes people feel bad about them, andit promotes a culture of shallowness in which the physique is all that counts.
Media probably doesn`t intend to create this kind of stereotyping but the thing is, that they do, and that is why...
Ever thought that a Barbie doll was a good gift for your daughter,
Well, think again, these kind of “harmful” gifts are one of theleading causes
In anorexia, and other self-image related diseases.
Cristobal Baraona
The Guardian, Sunday 13 June 2010
Opinion Column
A little girl is playing with her brand new gift, an Islandprincess version of the well-known Barbie doll. His father, thinking he gave his daughter a fantastic gift is watching television. Out of the blue, the girl says: “I wanna be like this when I grow up”.The father didn`t even heard her. Years later, that little girl isn`t little anymore, in fact, she is now a teenager and she has developed an eating disorder which makes her feel uneasy with her ownbody.
This kind of stories is not rare to hear nowadays, most of us have probably heard of a relative or friend who has suffered of an eating disorder or suffered from depression. In fact, expertshave come to believe that this kind of illness associated to self-image have tripled since the boom of media communications. I am not saying that media are the only ones to blame, but I do believe theyare an important factor is this raise.
Media have a really important task, which is to educate and create conscience, but as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Every time we seein ads and propaganda muscular man hanging out with beautiful and skinny women enjoying all the greatest things in life, our subconscious gets the message that only them can enjoy of those things,that only beautiful people are entitled to good thing and most importantly that the only way to be beautiful is to be skinny and muscular. This kind of stereotyping makes people feel bad about them, andit promotes a culture of shallowness in which the physique is all that counts.
Media probably doesn`t intend to create this kind of stereotyping but the thing is, that they do, and that is why...
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