In today’s world, Americans are faced with many images and stereotypes that they feel they must live up too. These stereotypes are fixed and are often oversimplified images or ideas of a particular type of person or thing. They can be either good or bad; it is all left up to how our young Americans perceive them. A great example of a stereotype that many of our young boys in America face is directly linked to one of our favorite toys as a child; the GI Joe action figure. In 1964, Hasbro launch the first GI Joe. This action figure allowed young adults to enjoy countless hours of fun centered on pretend battle scenes and wild adventures. Over the years, this doll has allowed many young males to form their thoughts of the ideal man. Unfortunately, …show more content…
We live in a world that is full of lost hope and despair especially when it comes to war and the fear of war. It seems daily that the media continues to hype all the evil that the world has to offer especially when it comes to the foreign countries and all the evil that exist in those regions. Bombings, terrorist attacks, and shootings are just a minor part of TV’s daily news feeds. It was shocking to see the article on CNSNews.com entitled, GI JOE NO GREAT AMERICAN HERO. In that article, a gentleman named McIntyre said the following, “I don’t
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believe the 'good-versus-evil ' scenario is a valid reason for kids to play with G.I. Joe. He said kids learn the wrong lessons from "militaristic" toys including G.I. Joe, "that have violence as endemic to their character." He also said, “Kids tend to learn lessons from G.I. Joe and action figures that lead them to assume, "Oh, violence is the way that we solve those situations," McIntyre said. “And, that 's not a very healthy response, especially for certain developmental elements." This is hard to stomach when GI Joe is portrayed and viewed by so many young boys as being the patriotic American hero. It is becoming more and more obvious that our incredible military is being looked down upon when they are truly our patriotic American heroes and deserve the highest respect. Our military, are our true real-life examples of our