Growing Up in a Media Culture
This assignment was to write about how media had an affect on our personal lives. I chose to approach it from my early childhood years, explaining different types of movies I watched and really focusing on how my parents played a role in guiding what I watched to make sure it was appropriate. I took this approach because I believe it is important for parents in particular to control what their children have access to, especially when it comes to media since it is so distorted.
Growing Up in a Media Culture
Growing up in a culture that is so influenced by media has affected my life a lot. I always loved Disney Princess movies and strived to be more like them as I was growing up. My parents were very supportive of all of my aspirations, but always made sure that I knew being princess-like was not all there was to life. The values my parents instilled in my life shaped the media I had access to; therefore, the media had a positive impact on me.
During my childhood, I really admired Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, and Sleeping Beauty’s characters. I always strived to be more like those princesses. Pocahontas was even my imaginary friend. I really liked that she fought for someone she loved. I also admired how perfect her hair was while blowing in the wind or in the water. I even tried to get my hair to be like hers when I took a bath. My mother and father always made sure that I knew that just because I was not like the Disney princesses, I was still a princess to them.
If there was no form of media at all when I was younger, I think it would have changed my life a lot. I am not sure if my standards for boys would have been as“movie-like” if I had not grown up watching Disney movies and wanting to marry someone just like Prince Charming. I have found that I tend to be drawn to guys who are very chivalrous. For example, my father always made sure that he modeled an all-around good man so my sisters and I would know what to look for in a spouse. When I was in preschool, I was very interested in weddings and marriage. I would “marry” my dad, uncle, cousins, and grandpas countless times. It was rare in my house for an evening to go by without there being a wedding ceremony of some sort. That meant a lot to me, looking back on it now. I know that in my spouse someday I would love a man who would do the same thing for his daughter, no matter how tiring it would get, just to see a smile on her face.
My parents were always adamant in making sure the media my sisters and I were exposed to was very appropriate. My parents had restrictions on how much television we could watch in a day. Our limit on TV shows were usually two hours while we could watch movies in our room if we so wished. It was usually not a problem because my sisters and I always liked to play with Barbie, house, or like we were having a wedding instead of watching television. I believe I reacted well to the policies they set since they had those since before I was very interested in media at all.
When I did want to watch television shows or movies, my parents made sure they were appropriate for my age. My mother was a stay-at-home mom throughout my entire childhood and monitored what shows I watched during the day. She had parental control so we could only watch Disney or Nickelodeon. When there was a movie that my sisters and I wanted to watch that they were not quite sure about, they would always watch it first or do some research before making a decision about whether or not we could watch it. They did this with the intentions of keeping us from being exposed to inappropriate scenes and underlying messages in television shows and movies.
My parents raised me so that the media does not affect my self-image or beliefs. It makes me feel sorry for the people who have such a low self-esteem that the media does degrade. The media and my parent’s views on media have typically made me very skeptical about what is true and what is a lie. It has made me not easily trust what I hear, especially from news networks. I do believe, however, that things such as Disney movies and some television shows have showed me some things I would like in my life such as values in some relationships and to be a hard worker. This alone did not do everything, of course, it had a lot to do with how I was raised and the beliefs my parents instilled in my life.
Growing Up in a Media Culture
Growing up in a culture that is so influenced by media has affected my life a lot. I always loved Disney Princess movies and strived to be more like them as I was growing up. My parents were very supportive of all of my aspirations, but always made sure that I knew being princess-like was not all there was to life. The values my parents instilled in my life shaped the media I had access to; therefore, the media had a positive impact on me.
During my childhood, I really admired Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, and Sleeping Beauty’s characters. I always strived to be more like those princesses. Pocahontas was even my imaginary friend. I really liked that she fought for someone she loved. I also admired how perfect her hair was while blowing in the wind or in the water. I even tried to get my hair to be like hers when I took a bath. My mother and father always made sure that I knew that just because I was not like the Disney princesses, I was still a princess to them.
If there was no form of media at all when I was younger, I think it would have changed my life a lot. I am not sure if my standards for boys would have been as“movie-like” if I had not grown up watching Disney movies and wanting to marry someone just like Prince Charming. I have found that I tend to be drawn to guys who are very chivalrous. For example, my father always made sure that he modeled an all-around good man so my sisters and I would know what to look for in a spouse. When I was in preschool, I was very interested in weddings and marriage. I would “marry” my dad, uncle, cousins, and grandpas countless times. It was rare in my house for an evening to go by without there being a wedding ceremony of some sort. That meant a lot to me, looking back on it now. I know that in my spouse someday I would love a man who would do the same thing for his daughter, no matter how tiring it would get, just to see a smile on her face.
My parents were always adamant in making sure the media my sisters and I were exposed to was very appropriate. My parents had restrictions on how much television we could watch in a day. Our limit on TV shows were usually two hours while we could watch movies in our room if we so wished. It was usually not a problem because my sisters and I always liked to play with Barbie, house, or like we were having a wedding instead of watching television. I believe I reacted well to the policies they set since they had those since before I was very interested in media at all.
When I did want to watch television shows or movies, my parents made sure they were appropriate for my age. My mother was a stay-at-home mom throughout my entire childhood and monitored what shows I watched during the day. She had parental control so we could only watch Disney or Nickelodeon. When there was a movie that my sisters and I wanted to watch that they were not quite sure about, they would always watch it first or do some research before making a decision about whether or not we could watch it. They did this with the intentions of keeping us from being exposed to inappropriate scenes and underlying messages in television shows and movies.
My parents raised me so that the media does not affect my self-image or beliefs. It makes me feel sorry for the people who have such a low self-esteem that the media does degrade. The media and my parent’s views on media have typically made me very skeptical about what is true and what is a lie. It has made me not easily trust what I hear, especially from news networks. I do believe, however, that things such as Disney movies and some television shows have showed me some things I would like in my life such as values in some relationships and to be a hard worker. This alone did not do everything, of course, it had a lot to do with how I was raised and the beliefs my parents instilled in my life.