Reflection: Talking points #1 on Christensen

 In the first paragraph of “Unpacking the Myths that Bind Us” Linda Chrsitensen writes, “I cleaned the dwarves’ house and waited for Prince Charming to bring me life…” As little girls we internalize the images we see. In my history class we were looking at an image of a family. I noticed that one of the little girls was holding a doll and cradling it as if it were a baby. In the class we discussed how society impacts the behavior of women. What I drew from that is from a young age we are told how to act and that little girl was trained to become a future mother.

In the media young girls are shown images of other little girls playing with baby dolls. The little girls watching subconsciously take it in. They may just want to buy it because it is a toy. The media and television ads have an effect on young people today. As little girls we sometimes emulate our mothers and want to help and clean.  Growing up we watched movies like, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and we subconsciously thought that was how a man and woman should act. Christensen writes of how the stories really affect us, “As Tatum's research suggests, the stereotypes and world view embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge” (127 Christensen). In one of my classes we watched The Little Mermaid. Until I took that class and we really analyzed the movie I never second guessed the images projected. As a child we watch for fun not to take what we watch apart. We tend to carry these images with us even as teens and never question them because we believe them to be true. As we grow older we do not believe “prince charming” brings us life. As women we must live our lives.
Source(s
Christensen, Linda. Raby. 5/12/ 2011. Journal of Youth Studies"A Tangle of Discourses :Girls Negotiated Adolescence."126-137. 2003.  Helin Library Catalog.