Sexism and Stereotypes
in cartoons
I and my friends bonded over many of our favorite shows when we were little kids. We
would even enact the incidents. Doraemon, Shin-Chan, Pokemon, Chhota Bheem, etc
always made me laugh- until they didn’t.
As I grew up, I noticed that everything was not all right. The cartoons
that I watched were steeped in prejudice and stereotypes. The cartoons that I
watched were inherently sexist and in some cases- toxic.
Take the example of Doraemon. Shizuku is a bright girl. When she is
asked by her teacher what she would like to pursue as a career, she simply
replies, “ A good wife and a good mother.”
At some point or the other, we may feel like starting a family. There's nothing wrong with that. But why does Shizuka not expect something more from life? Is a woman’s
only role to look after home and hearth? Of course, not! She is not shown to have any professional ambition.
Be it Shin-Chan or Ninja Hattori, the women are confined to the four walls of their kitchen. They are either washing the utensils, serving the family, or doing chores. Why don't the men contribute to the household chores? When the mothers are reading magazines to relax a bit, the fathers and the sons taunt them for being idle! In fact, they are shown to be angry when they don't get their food on time- served on their plates (Their ego is so bloated that they don't even bother to fetch their own plates!).
We see that Nobita is always dependant on Doraemon’s gadgets to solve
his problems. Why doesn’t he take up the initiative to improve himself?
Moreover, he is plainly nasty. Why do we see him pulling Shizuka’s
skirt or installing cameras in her room? Is this what we want children to
learn? We need to teach them about respecting everyone, about consent. It is harassment and it is not at all acceptable! I wonder
where that will go with cartoons like these.
The intention could be of inducing some laughter. However, harassment is not something to be taken with a grain of salt. Once one of my favorite movies, 3 Idiots has a scene when the audience laughs at the joke of 'Balatkaar'. It means rape. How can we joke about such a huge issue, especially in India, where one woman is raped every 16 minutes?
The next cartoon on the list is Chhota Bheem. Bheem is fair, strong, and
smart. Kalia, his rival is a dark boy (the only person of a dark complexion) who
is often shown to be dumb. So, dark people are not as good? If you ask me, that’s racist.
Chutki like her name is reduced to a damsel in distress. She makes
ladoos for Bheem so that he can eat them and save the day. Girls are often shown to be submissive and demure. Why don’t they take
the reins of their lives into their own hands? Why can't they voice their opinions as their male peers do? Why do Disney Princesses always
wait for a Prince Charming to solve all their problems?
The idea of having someone solve all your problems while you don't even lift a finger is quite compelling, I know. But my dear friends, this is not how the world works in reality.
Recent Disney and Pixar movies like Moana, Frozen, Brave are much more
empowering than the previous ones. However, they aren’t exempt from publicizing conventional beauty standards.
“I suddenly see him standing there
A beautiful stranger, tall and fair
I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face.”
- For the First time in forever (lyrics), Frozen
This emphasizes the idea that men who are tall and fair are handsome. Girls
are not the only ones who are forced to conform to nonsensical norms. Boys are
taught to be insensitive. Why are we robbing them of their humanity?
I watched some anime shows this Summer. The girls were thin as a reed! To meet the beauty standards, I'm afraid that they will continue to starve themselves! We need to stop concocting the idea of unattainable physical perfection. Everyone is different and everyone is beautiful in their own way. Period.
The list of such shows goes on and on. I believe the writers also didn’t
realize that their prejudice is reflected on screen. It is so ingrained in our
minds. But we need to unlearn and challenge the status quo.
Children are impressionable. Therefore we need stronger role models for
them who put gender equality into practice. We need characters from diverse
backgrounds including religion, race, culture, sexual orientations,
ethnicities… I have seen very few minorities and they are represented as very ‘exotic’.
We need different perspectives. So, we need more and more diverse people as
producers.
Why not bring people from the LGBTQA community to the table while making
a film about their struggles? Why not cast actors from the community? They will be able to portray the characters authentically.
I had watched ‘Wonder’. It’s a great movie that depicts the struggle of
a 10-year-old with a facial deformity. The boy who played the character had to
spend hours on the make-up. Maybe they could have cast a child who actually had
the deformity.
It’s difficult to unlearn but not impossible. I would like to see
diverse shows with diverse characters and storylines. I would like to see progressive shows which go with our 21st-century ideals and whose characters are not afraid to stand up for what is right.
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