Excavator or Barbie?: Gender stereotypes in children's television advertising and their influence on children

Boys like cars, girls love dolls - that much is clear. But why is that, actually? Are these preferences innate? Are gender-specific behaviours 'natural' in the sense of an evolutionary, bipolar development of the sexes? Or are they the result of learning processes, or internalised, indoctrinated attributions of characteristics imposed from outside? In search of an answer, the author examines, amongst other things, what it actually means to be "male" or "female", what processes underlie these gender-specific attributions, and what roles society and the media play in this. Subsequently, drawing on current literature, the study examined which gender stereotypes are conveyed in children's television and what effects these may have on the still young audience.