And here is my FIFTH blog on sexism in food!
Sorry, people, but these images are EVERWHERE. They tell kids that boys do stuff and girls don’t. Males are important while females are invisible.
Check this link to the 30 Greatest Kids Cereals of All Time sent to me by Lori Day.
Are there any kids’ cereals with female characters? I know there’s that dieter, her greatest accomplishment EVER, on Special K, but I suppose that’s a woman’s cereal.
The giant Fred Flintstone on Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles are especially disturbing since the cereals were named after a female character. Apparently she’s good enough to have cereals named after her, but not good enough to be pictured on the box?
laurakqb,
great point
MM
I think it’s a little unfair to claim that these boxes all have 100% male characters when quite a few of the cereals (Life, Alpha-Bits, Cheerios, Golden Grahams) don’t even have mascots. And Wheaties had a female athlete on one of their boxes as early as 1934. True, it was the back of the box, and the first woman didn’t appear on the front until 1984, but that’s still something.
Either way, most of those cereals with the male characters are probably not even the healthiest options for children, anyway.
Hi L.S.,
You’re absolutely right. I should’ve written: 100% without female characters except for the female athlete on the back of the box in 1934.
MM
HeeHee
Well, and the many other strong female athletes that have appeared on the front from 1984 on.
I just figured that, instead of pointing out the obvious flaws in the system, it doesn’t hurt to dig a little deeper. Yes, it sucks that so many male characters are imbedded into our system without any female figures to go along with them, so it’s important to celebrate the victories. Or, even better, acknowledge the ones that manage a bit more gender neutrality over-all.
Hi L.S.,
I agree that Life has promoted female athletes, I”ll look at the male-female ratio. I’d also love to know what they are getting paid for endorsement, I’ve written about the pay gap for female/ male athlete spokespeople before. It tends to be huge.
What I am really interested in is female versus male imaginary characters, created for kids. Are there any females? I just looked in my cupboard and thought I found one: Annie’s Homegrown Fruity Bunnies. It shows a bunny. But then I looked at the back where it reads: Breakfast with Bernie and shows the bunny again. I’m pretty sure Bernie is the bunny.
If there are female characters, they are way to hard to find.
MM