LITERATURE REVIEW:

Stereotypes regarding women usually define females as coward, talkative, of lower status then men, dependent upon men etc. We know that social institutions are the biggest source of perpetuating these stereotypes. In the recent era media has become a very important part in the process of socialization. Our cartoons films, dramas hence every source of entertainment has the same purpose and they project the same so called expectations of the society and stereotypes. Cartoons are very important because children start watching cartoons at a very early age and prefer watching them all the time. A lot of research has been done on gender representation in cartoons and much more is taking place. It is a fact that most of the cartoons show male dominant characters. Many researchers such as (Merskin, 2002, Strenglenz & Serbin , 1974, Thomson and Zerbinos1995, 1997) are of this point of view that cartoon world is a male world. In a study Streicher (1974) also described male as dominant in cartoons and she categorized them as "chase-and-pratfall”. Male characters in the cartoons are shown as strong and powerful and the female characters are weak, helpless and dependent. (Blackmorep, Berennaum and Liben) in their book Gender Development claim that new cartoons are less stereotypical than the old ones. Their claim lies on this notion that men are being shown in domestic roles in the new cartoons. This claim doesn’t look much realistic. Females are usually rescued by the males. As discussed above cartoons target a specific age group i.e. is children ranging from age of 2 to 18. This age group is very important because this is the developing part of life. Children are unable to differentiate between reality and fantasy during this time period. Stereotypes developed among the minds of children during the early years are more everlasting than the stereotypes developed in old age. Till now the research taken place in this field depicts that cartoons are portraying high stereotypes. These stereotypes have a very negative effect on the young viewers. Gender representation in cartoons does not only produce gender differences but it creates a lot of other problems. Cartoons are also producing violence among children. Cartoons characters such as Slapstick (Road Runner and Tom & Jerry) are an example of this. Cartoons have a great use in business and advertising industry. There are many cartoons logos in which Male cartoon characters are always in dominance. A lot of research has proved this that male characters always outnumber female characters. Carter in 1992 has reported in a research, "Children's television has always been male dominated". A research at American Psychological Association has exposed that most of the cartoons are strengthening the gender stereotypes. Dr. Spicher and Dr. Hudak at APA selected 118 cartoons for research and they found that all cartoons had male characters in excess. Male characters were shown as dominant, strong, powerful and aggressive. The researchers also concluded that male characters are not only portrayed powerful and strong but female characters are shown as very weak and underrepresented. They have said in their research that: “These findings are disappointingly consistent with past research showing that the portrayal of gender roles on television in general, has been stereotypic, and that female characters have remained under-represented,". We know that cartoons not just only represent gender differences but they are also a role model for children. They create an image that forces the females to believe that they are weak and not as capable as men. Dr. Hudak says "Cartoons, in their current state, are depicting significant differences in the status, behavior and capabilities of female and male characters. Thus cartoons tell cultural stories that can't help but inform young minds about who they are to become". Society has defined functions for females and males. Such functions state that women are always the housekeeper and their duty is cooking, washing and caring for their children while men have only to work outside their home. Kelly Eick adds in his research article “Gender Stereotypes in Children's Television Cartoons” that “Male characters were also portrayed in a stereotypical manner. They were routinely placed in positions of power, such as policemen, superheroes, and scientists. They were never shown crying, cleaning, cooking or performing any role that could be seen as feminine.” This shows how cartoons create gender differences and gender discrimination and how cartoons assign different roles to different genders. Generally in cartoons males are shown dominant and they enjoy a higher status and jobs while female are shown with low status with jobs like cleaning cooking etc and they are shown very weak and dependent on males. According to the work done on cartoons by Zach, he said that mostly in cartoons we see that ‘you don’t need luck; you just need to believe in yourself’. This is quite common in cartoons. We can have anything happening in them. But he suggested that “Confidence, without talent and ability, just as useless as luck”. So anything unreal can easily be shown in cartoons which create fantasy among children. A study held at American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) states that “Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see”. Researchers identified three potential responses to cartoon violence in children, particularly girls, are much more likely than boys to be portrayed as victims of violence in cartoons, and this can make them psychologically fearful and afraid. Some of the most violent TV shows are children's cartoons, in which violence is portrayed as humorous or good gesture. And realistic outcome of violence are seldom shown. This can be especially true of young children, who are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior after viewing violent TV cartoons.