Think about your favourite tween (8-12岁青少年) TV shows. Is there a girl on them who isn't pretty, or who doesn't worry about what she looks like?
According to a recent study, tween TV shows send the message that girls should be beautiful, no matter what other abilities or talents they have.
The American researchers studied 40 different popular tween TV shows from 2011. They found that most of the man or boy characters on the shows looked normal, but more than half of the female characters on the shows were described as “very beautiful”. The girls on the shows also worried more about what they looked like.
The researchers say this difference suggests (暗示) that “boys with common looks can still be a part of the story, but if you are a girl, you must be beautiful. ”
Some of the female characters on these shows were talented or acted bravely. But even if girls can do everything boys can do, they still have to look pretty.
Tweens are at an age when they are forming ideas about who they are and how they should look and act. It means these shows are likely to make them develop a very narrow (狭隘的) idea.
The researchers suggested that parents should help reduce the negative (负面的) influence of these shows by watching TV with their children and talking to them about what they see.