When (Hello) Kitty met Bob (the builder)

A qualitative research study examining children perspective about gender and

gender neutral animation characters.

Introduction
Preschool years are considered to be a meaningful time in the process of understanding and
formatting of gender identities
. (Daitsman, 2011;
Martin & Ruble 2004
). Around the age of 3
children start to build gender based schema (
Bem, 1981).
Following common gender symbols
and stereotypes they gather from theirs everyday experiences.
According to Martin
et al.,
(2010) children start to understand gender around eighteen month of age, and start to use
stereotypes
at some point during the transition from infancy (0-2) to toddlers (2-5). At that
time, childrens choices become more affected by their caregivers feedback (or other role
models) as well as the media around them. (
Freeman, 2007).
Categorizing people into gender based schemata, is part of childrens natural process of making
sense
and organize
the world.
Understanding and creating gender identity, can help a child to
distinguish himself from others and build her identity
(
Daitsman, 2011;
Martin et al., 2004
).
However, the advantages of using mental models to create order within the flooding
information are clear, but still, there are some questions that need to be asked, for example Arent the
obvious physical differences sufficient?
Do we really need to deepen the gap between genders by creating
more pink/blue products?

Excuse me - Where is the girls shopping zoon?

Lindsey 32, who supports gender equality, and strongly believes in eliminating gender
stereotypes to the minimum, admits that when she is choosing clothes for her kids, she cant
resist all these cute little pink and she cant hold herself from adding at least one Hello kitty to
her shopping bag. When I asked Lindsey if she would consider buying the same girly clothes
to her baby boy as well, she said that she understand the importance of this action, but still, she
cant do it to him

The

Gender schema theory, which was introduced by Sandra Bem (1981) suggests that culture
plays a significant role in shaping children's perception about gender. Bem indicates the
influential power that media designers and educators have, and calls them to avoid from
providing children with an unnecessary male/female dichotomy when it is not relevant to the
product or the learning goal.

In elementary schools, for example, boys and girls line up separately or alternately; they learn
songs in which the fingers are "ladies" and thumbs are "men"; they see boy and girl paper doll
silhouettes alternately placed on the days of the month in order to learn about the calendar.
Children, it will be noted, are not lined up separately or alternately as blacks and whites; fingers
are not "whites" and thumbs "blacks"; black and white dolls do not alternately mark the days of
the calendar...The irony is that even though our society has become sensitized to negative sex
stereotypes and has begun to expunge them from the media and from children's literature, it
remains blind to its gratuitous emphasis on the gender dichotomy itself. Our society seeks to

deemphasize racial distinctions but continues to exaggerate sexual distinctions.(Bem, 1981.

p.363)

Good example for this unnecessary dichotomy can be found in almost every popular shopping
websites (i.e
Kohals

,
Amazon

, Toys R us, etc.) When visiting one of these websites, a customer

is encouraged to refine the search by choosing - Girls vs Boys. From both the seller and the
buyer sides, this option is important and full of good intentions making customers life easier
when searching for a product. However, the side effects of this segregation can be harmful,
(
Dill, & Thill, 2007)
and may discourage a child from making choices according to his/her natural
preference.
Some of these side effects are described in an inspiring article by Peggy Orenstein 2006
Whats
Wrong With Cinderella?
There are no studies proving that playing princess directly damages girls self-esteem or
dampens other aspirations. On the other hand, there is evidence that young women who hold
the most conventionally feminine beliefs who avoid conflict and think they should be
perpetually nice and pretty are more likely to be depressed than others and less likely to use
contraception. Whats more, the 23 percent decline in girls participation in sports and other
vigorous activity between middle and high school has been linked to their sense that athletics is
unfeminine. And in a survey released last October by Girls Inc., school-age girls overwhelmingly
reported a paralyzing pressure to be perfect: not only to get straight As and be the
student-body president, editor of the newspaper and captain of the swim team but also to be

kind and caring, please everyone, be very thin and dress right. Give those girls a pumpkin
and a glass slipper and theyd be in business. (Orenstein, 2006. pp14)

The current project -

Studies from the last 30 years claimed that even though progress has been made in
representation and expression of gender in the media
(
Dill & Thill, 2007)
this progress is still
limited (Bem, 1981;
Dill et al., 2007) and in some cases have artificial effect only (Bem, 1981)
Nevertheless, Im optimistic, and believe that gender equality can be achieved through
education, and by designing learning environments that can provide qualitative alternatives to
the gender based products, which are flooding the market today.
The current project evoked from my ambition to learn - how can we use the media as an
educational tool to decrease the stereotypical gap between genders?
In particular, I would like to focus on popular animation characters in educational children's TV
programs. With a specific purpose to design a guideline for gender neutral programs.
Questions that will underlying my study are 1.

What is the media role in learning first gender stereotypes at young age?

Nature vs nurture?

How the media affects the formation of gender schema in young age?

Finding and conclusion of previous studies.

2. What is already done, and what can be done better?


Who are the most popular characters today (2016)?

What are the gendered variables that characterize them?

Are there gender neutral characters that consider to be popular?

3. Children perspective about gender and gender neutral TV characters

(
I want to learn what is
missing in the gender neutral characters that are already exist, and what should be done in
order to create gender neutral characters that children will be able to identify with)

Which characteristics make a character to be a loved one?

What children like/dont like about gender neutral character?

Do children ascribe gender features to gender neutral characters?

(In other words, do they attribute gender stereotypes to gender neutral characters?)

Can children identify with gender neutral characters?

My assumption is that even though the characters was designed as gender neutral, children still
categorize them on a gender basis.

4. A list of to do and not to do when designing gender neutral program.

Guideline for gender neutral characters based on the data analysis and the literature
review.
Limitations
The study will not examine the quantitative representation of one gender in relation to its
opposite. And will focus only on programs that considered to be educational and directed to
pre-school children.

References
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing.
Psychological
review
,
88
(4), 354.
Daitsman, J. (2011). UNITED NATIONS GIRLS EDUCATION INITIATIVE. Retrieved December 27,
2015, from http://www.ungei.org/resources/index_3304.html
Dill, K. E., & Thill, K. P. (2007). Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles:
Young Peoples Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions.
Sex Roles
,
57
(11/12), 851-864.
Doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9278-1
Freeman, N. (2007). Preschoolers Perceptions of Gender Appropriate Toys and their Parents
Beliefs About Genderized Behaviors: Miscommunication, Mixed Messages, or Hidden Truths?.
Early Childhood Education Journal
,
34
(5), 357-366.
Martin, C. L., & Ruble, D. (2004). Children's Search for Gender Cues Cognitive Perspectives on
Gender Development.
Current Directions in Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell)
,
13
(2),
67-70. doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00276.x
Martin, C. L., & Ruble, D. N. (2010). Patterns of gender development.
Annual Review of
Psychology
,
61
, 353.