Global Kids. Modernization and the gender values of children in an age of globalization

Research project P 14498 Global Kids Cheryl BENARD 09.10.2000 The modem media and the modern marketplace have created a global youth culture that contains more elements of uniformity than was the case in any earlier age. On the level of what they consume, what they desire and aspire to, and what messages about life, work, love and money they hear, contemporary youths clearly spend part of their lives. in a new, shared virtual community of modernity. However, this development raises basic questions. Are we witnessing nothing more than an international marketing triumph, a globalization of mostly American consumer goods, fads and fashions, or is the middle class of tomorrow experiencing something like a shared childhood while being socialized into new sets of attitudes? While terms such as "global village" tend to have a positive connotation, inasmuch as common cultural elements are expected to provide a basis for better transnational communication, this development is viewed with alarm by some. Educators, parents and opinion leaders in many locations see this development as a threat to the more traditional socialization they would prefer for their children and youths, or they object to some of the social and ethnical messages they believe this culture conveys. The global impact of pop culture is seen by many as a threat to community values and/or criticized as an undesirable homogenization at a qualitatively low common denominator. One area that often creates particular anxiety, social conflict and stress concerns challenges to traditional gender norms and sex roles. Global youth culture here conveys values that are in some important respects at odds with tradition or local norms. Do young people view these norms purely as entertainment or are they significantly influenced by them? To make an assessment concerning the socialization impact of global youth culture, this project will study the impact of modem gender and sex role images as conveyed in global youth culture on the perceptions and values of youth in six countries: Germany, Austria, Turkey, Sweden, India and Slovakia.