Mind-Warped - Dorothy Case

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home," and with three clicks of her sparkling ruby red slippers, Dorothy is transported back to where she feels most comfortable and accepted, at home (The Wizard of Oz, 1939). Movie lines as subtle as this satirize gender stereotypes throughout the media industry; does Dorothy only want to leave Oz, or is she longing for the comfort and satisfaction that she feels in the home? Through different mediums in society, gender roles continuously bombard the minds of today's youth. Growing up in an electronic age, it is hard to find a household without a television, radio, or other electronic devices; even print advertisements infiltrate our homes via newspapers and magazines. There is no escape from media, thus its repetitive nature creates long-lasting, sometimes even permanent, effects on the viewers. According to the textbook The Gender Communication Connection, the media has a gendering effect on society, permeating the brains of impressionable children who grow into adults and buy what they are told because they yearn for the end result the medium conveys. These end results teach children how to act and consume according to their gender: "While society, our parents, teachers, and friends influence us, the media are also influential in determining how we think about our lives and what we think about women and men. A vast amount of information and attitudes about the sexes and gender are communicated to us via the media" (Gamble & Gamble, p. 351, 2003). Film, music and music videos, and print mediums influence how women portray themselves, their attitudes toward men, and how they should fulfill gender roles set by the media.

According to a journal article about women in popular film, "Popular media images are reflections of a culture's attitudes, beliefs, and standards, as well as projections of desired realities. Whether accurate descriptions of daily living, or wishful-thinking on the part of film-makers, media tells a story that is eagerly received by consumers (Bazzini, Cook, Harris, McIntosh, Smith, p. 532, 1997). Even though images portrayed in media are skewed from the reality of daily life, women eat up the suggestive messages and attempt to live up to the impossible expectations that those messages communicate. Bazzini et al (1997) paraphrased a prime example of forced reality through film via the stereotypical leading lady, experienced as beautiful, elegant, slender, and intoxicating to men. This woman is seemingly perfect to the twelve year-old girl watching her movie, intoxicating herself with dreams of looking like her, acting like her, attaining success in her personal, social, and educated or working life just like her. Here the young girl is a victim of gender stereotyping through media. She sees the image of a woman idolized by many, including herself. The idea that a majority of people in this world don't look, act,