Most everyone has seen the movie 10 Thing I Hate About You. This is the perfect example of the myth being played out in the media. You have the older sister, Kat, the responsible daughter who doesn’t care what people think. She spends most of her time on her studies determined to get into the college of her dreams, Sarah Lawrence. And then there is the younger sister Bianca. The popular girl at school that spends most of her time thinking about boys and the rest of it figuring ways to get around the strict rules that her father set, rules that Kat graciously follows. These characters fall right into the stereotypes that go along with the myth, the academically driven oldest child and the loveable wild younger child.
Need more proof? How about Full House. I know that everyone has seen this show and can pinpoint right off the bat how each daughter portrays these traits. Let’s start with the youngest for a change. Little Michelle Tanner. Who didn’t love her and her catch phrase “You got it dude”? True she was about 5 when the show ended and there is no way to not love a toddler, but still, you loved her. And how about Stephanie. It may be coincidence that there weren’t many shows centered around her. If you’re like me then all that you imagine when you think of her is the cute little curly haired blonde going around saying “how rude.” Later in the show she didn’t stand out much either, though. Probably because of the peacemaker quality associated with the middle children, if there was no conflict for her, she was shown much. And then there is DJ. Good ole DJ with her huge bangs. Cleary the oldest child always taking control and looking out for her sisters. And when they got into mischief, almost every episode, it was DJ that came to the rescue and solved the problem.
Maybe neither of these portrayals on purpose or perhaps they were. Either way, it feeds into the myth that there are set personality traits for each child.
Oh my goodness, that brings back memories! I used to watch full house a lot, and recently my younger sister has been given the dvd set, so I'm quite familiar with the show. Anyway, if you've seen later seasons, DJ grows up and is shown less, Stephanie steps into the role of oldest, Michelle becomes the conflict resolving middle child, and the twins, Nicky and Alex, are the youngest.
ReplyDeleteAlong those lines, I was wondering what the myth says about children's personalities as the oldest grows up and leaves. Do the roles shift accordingly, or are they set?