Cultivation theory is a strong-effects social theory which states that the images we see in the media affect our perception of reality. If all we are is the sum of our experiences, and a large amount of a normal American's experience is watching television programming that shows repetitive societal images, cultivation theorists believe that the viewer will begin to perceive these images as representative of reality. This almost existential theory assumes that the given viewing block is a passive audience who does not critically distinguish false images from reality.
Early television sitcoms from the 1950s such as I Love Lucy perpetuated images of women as belonging in the home, cooking, sewing, or otherwise supporting her husband and family. However, these shows only reinforced the messages of an even earlier media source: the Bible. In the website linked below, "Momof9" writes extensively about her belief that women belong in the home, but offers no rational explanation for her thinking, only references to various verses and passages that establish the image of a woman as a homemaker. Clearly, this woman, through constant exposure to this Biblical "reality" (and probably programs like I Love Lucy), has come to believe that this image is reality, and is happy to embrace this role which she has mentally cultivated in her life.
http://www.momof9splace.com/homemaker.html
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