Jenn Hyslip Response to Children's TV Presentations

Overall, I thought that the presentations on children’s television showed a great balance of being informative and enjoyable. While most of the presentations touched on similar themes, such as the underrepresentation of females, some definitely struck me as more disturbing than others. First of all, the significance of appearance and clothing was something that I always noticed but never examined thoroughly. As someone who is interested in fashion and the importance of appearance, I took note of how apparent dress is in the children’s TV shows that were presented. In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which was discussed by Meg, Emily, and probably others that I unfortunately did not note, Minnie and Daisy are always fashioned in high-heels, and pink and purple clothing. An interesting point that Emily recognized was that Clarabelle, who appeared on one episode, was a female character who didn’t dress in pink or purple, but instead in overalls. However, what is valuable about her character is that she wasn’t well liked by the others, which negates the deviation she represents. Continuing with the appearance theme, Tina pointed out the significance of the eyelashes. In Go, Diego, Go, the camera, an inanimate object, was seen with fluttering eyelashes, imposing a “flirty” feel to the camera. 

Another element that became noticeable across all of the presentations was that lack of representation of the family in various shows. Gracie spoke of the show Max and Ruby (a show that was new to me), and examined how there was no reference to the parents. Instead, it was only the grandma that appeared occasionally. Additionally, when I think back on my experience watching television growing up, I cannot think of any set of parents that regularly appeared on a show, except Arthur. Personally, from the presentations, I believe that Arthur deems the most appropriate for children. Not only does it regularly show parents (I immediately think of the episode, My Dad, The Garbage Man), but also the parents are shown to have relationships with their children. It’s crazy to believe that the majority of shows don’t include parents more often, as these characters do live with their parents.

A few presentations, including Dakota’s and Gracie’s, included the element of commercials that they observed. I thought this was extremely useful and provided the class with a different perspective on children’s TV. While some of the commercials were directed to the family, such as on Arthur, there were other commercials that were clearly not directed to the children, such as Duracell and Crest. In the end, the presentations were awesome. They all successfully provided the class with the idea that the messages received from television shows start at a young age and outline the social constructions that are sadly engrained in many of us today. It would be interesting to further the research and look into shows that are geared to kids a little bit older, such as the Disney shows, like iCarly. Also, I absolutely loved the show The Magic School Bus, which appears to be a "learning" show; however, is this truly the case?