The Rights of the Child
The media have responsibilities to tamariki, they are required acknowledge and respect the United Nations rights of the child, they have guidelines they are to follow when reporting or advertising. But unfortunately a right to discover one’s own gender identity is not yet in The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 8 talks about respecting the child’s right to preserve his or her identity, in terms of nationality, name and family, but no mention of their right to freedom from external influences when building their identity.
Providing tamariki with the “right to individual expression that can be demonstrated through cultural, gender or sexual identity or personal physical image” (Ransom, 2007, p. 7) can insure they have minimal confusion while discovering their identity.
In the sense of gender identity the media has a responsibility to ensure they are not influencing the way tamariki discover their gender identity, for example adverts that want to target girls guarantee lots of pink, with girls having fun. This then reflects into the girl’s identity as they are trying to discover their own identity. During our tamariki survey we asked what their favourite colour was 86% of girls said pink, and when asked what they want to be when they grow up or what their favourite toy or cartoon was we got lots of different Disney princesses as responses, when asked why they had answered pink or the princess the answers went along the lines of ‘they are pretty, pink is pretty’. Where did they learn that all these cartoon princesses with very similar features are pretty or what makes pink more pretty to them than another colour?
The Media and Culture
- A New Zealand Perspective
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Media and culture
It is not only gender identity that gets influenced by the media in order to entertain or make money; but cultural identity also.
Having cultures, gender, sexual orientation, disability or any stereotype portrayed in a certain manner that the majority feels it should be, gives our tamariki a lot to contend with as they discover their values, morals and identity.
Recent research has found that Māori are portrayed in main stream media as the criminal’, ‘the dole bludger, ‘the solo parent’, ‘the ungrateful winger’. Where the tikanga Māori programs/media are placed in sections of the media that are classed as “the least powerful slot for shaping the perceptions of the public, that is, in the newspapers, television and radio” (Mereana, 1996, p. 22)
This giving the media power to portray Māori as they wish to the majority of the public, for example in mainstream TV a movie portraying a Māori family’s life to be rough, violent or disfunctional will get a prime screening slot because it is entertaining to the majority; but a purely tikanga piece of media will be placed in a lower rating slot or on the Māori channel out of mainstream medias way; as more than likely it does not fit the ‘image’ that sells advertisements.
Adding social media to this mix can both give the minority cultures a platform to express their culture and give an opening for companies to buy and control advertisements people on social media see; it is very unlikely there will be a media who do not want to shape the majorities way of thinking so it is our responsibility to teach our tamariki how best to filter it.
It is not only gender identity that gets influenced by the media in order to entertain or make money; but cultural identity also.
Having cultures, gender, sexual orientation, disability or any stereotype portrayed in a certain manner that the majority feels it should be, gives our tamariki a lot to contend with as they discover their values, morals and identity.
Recent research has found that Māori are portrayed in main stream media as the criminal’, ‘the dole bludger, ‘the solo parent’, ‘the ungrateful winger’. Where the tikanga Māori programs/media are placed in sections of the media that are classed as “the least powerful slot for shaping the perceptions of the public, that is, in the newspapers, television and radio” (Mereana, 1996, p. 22)
This giving the media power to portray Māori as they wish to the majority of the public, for example in mainstream TV a movie portraying a Māori family’s life to be rough, violent or disfunctional will get a prime screening slot because it is entertaining to the majority; but a purely tikanga piece of media will be placed in a lower rating slot or on the Māori channel out of mainstream medias way; as more than likely it does not fit the ‘image’ that sells advertisements.
Adding social media to this mix can both give the minority cultures a platform to express their culture and give an opening for companies to buy and control advertisements people on social media see; it is very unlikely there will be a media who do not want to shape the majorities way of thinking so it is our responsibility to teach our tamariki how best to filter it.
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/6/1/18615414/579152.jpg?334)
Culture and gender identity
Many cultures have their own gender roles within them, protocol that requires men and women to do specific things. For example Women in most iwi may not perform the haka, usually will not speak in welcoming ceremonies but will perform te karanga to welcome manuhiri, and are then to sit at the back during protocol.
It is something that may happen at marae or may not it depends on the opinion of the kaumatua and other rangatira as over time iwi are starting to allow their wahine to partake in certain tikanga protocol that a in the past are strictly for tāne. This means our tamariki need to support in their decision; whether they are to decide to follow cultures past or evolve their culture to fit their current world, in saying this thought there are always going to be challenged by the media on it quest to make money and win minds.
Many cultures have their own gender roles within them, protocol that requires men and women to do specific things. For example Women in most iwi may not perform the haka, usually will not speak in welcoming ceremonies but will perform te karanga to welcome manuhiri, and are then to sit at the back during protocol.
It is something that may happen at marae or may not it depends on the opinion of the kaumatua and other rangatira as over time iwi are starting to allow their wahine to partake in certain tikanga protocol that a in the past are strictly for tāne. This means our tamariki need to support in their decision; whether they are to decide to follow cultures past or evolve their culture to fit their current world, in saying this thought there are always going to be challenged by the media on it quest to make money and win minds.
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/6/1/18615414/285519.jpg)
Treaty of Waitangi three principles
The three Treaty principles - partnership, participation and protection have
the tamariki whānau, hapū, iwi, and family group as participant in the making of decisions affecting that child or young person, and accordingly that, wherever possible, regard should be had to the views of that family, whānau, hapū, iwi, and family group accessible to media or technology?