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This collection compiles and analyzes many articles and readings dealing with parental investment and differences in gender roles. This collection further delves into this topic by examining differences in parenting between non-human animals and humans. This collection also hopes to analyze the impact that media representation has on society’s comprehension of animal parenting and families.
Topics examined include human parenting and idea of a nuclear families, pop culture depiction of animal nuclear families, and animal parenting that follows the stereotype. In today’s society, there are many stereotypes regarding the human belief of the mother parenting while father abandons the child in the animal kingdom.
Another goal of this collection is provide examples of breaking the animal mother/father parenting stereotype by exploring what species of animals break this stereotype. The target audience are the individuals who grew up watching classic animated animal movies and TV shows that portray animal parenting stereotypes, and those who are interested in how the media affects perceptions in society.
According to one principle in science, males are more likely to have a higher reproductive success because they invest less in reproduction than females. This means that in order to be the most successful, the male adopts a 'love-em-and-leave-em' strategy, impregnating as many females as possible. This is accepted as a general tenet of science and it is applied to many species even if they may use different strategies. As an example, birds are often portrayed as the female providing most of the care while the male mates with several females. This approach is used by many bird species, but a large number also use different strategies that will be discussed in the following tabs.
Check out some of Sarah B. Hrdy's work to see these principles in action!