A Subliminal Argument

In “Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us,” Linda Christensen argues that there is a “secret education” being fed to children through easily available resources such as cartoons and children’s books that reinforces and continue the status quo of society; and people need to recognize this. Most cartoons, especially older ones, reinforce racism, sexism, and do not model individualism or rebellion. According to Christensen, there are patterns to these such as a lack of female presence that isn’t alluring, minorities being servants or holding ranks of a lesser power, fat people being stupid, or the bad guy being smart and ugly. 
Such cartoons also teach children values favored by the media such as consuming and violence. These subliminal messages shape what we feel and how we act as adults. Like Barbie dolls, they set an ideal standard  of how a person should look. For example, woman should be slender and curvy. She believes that her students need to be informed about these messages and imbedded ideas in order to see past them and make judgments for yourself.  These cartoons are hazardous and continue to enforce stereotypes and the culture of power. Below is an explain of such racism in Disney. This scene is from Peter Pan, where we see the Native America’s wearing big feathered headdresses, teepees in the background, and a stern, long face drawn in a frown. Images such as this become the foundation of what children think of when they think of different minorities, and such isn’t right. 
Now what I would like to know is how do you erase all the years of influential damage? As I became older and especially now, I’ve become more aware of such message encoded in materials geared towards children. But still, the fist thing most people think of when they think of native Americans, Asians, or even English people are what we were all exposed to as children. Can we even erase all the misinformation or is preventing the spread of this epidemic all we can do?