On Communicating Pride,Crying in Movies,and Recruiting Innocent Bystanders: The Effect of Sex on Communication Schemas Activated with Gay and Heterosexual Targets

Invoking social identity theory as an interpretive frame, a previous content analysis of heterosexuals' representations of imagined conversations with gay men revealed a number of communication schemas for talk with the latter (e.g., homonegativity and offense avoidance). This study explores the role of participant sex in determining the prevalence of such schemas, comparatively incorporating representations of conversations with a heterosexual target. Two hundred American undergraduates imagined a conversation with a gay or heterosexual male target. Male participants' imagined conversations with a gay target were rated more negative, indicated less evidence of relational development, and included more gay stereotyping than did females' imagined dialogues.     

A theory of self‐perception in preferences for public figures

This content analysis reveals that men and women network news correspondents differed in how they covered 4 presidential elections (1992–2004). There were fewer women than men reporters involved in election coverage, but on average, women reported more stories than men and were tonally tougher watchdogs than men. In terms of framing candidates, male reporters were strongly associated with a masculine approach that emphasized the competitiveness of campaigns. By contrast, women correspondents employed both more feminine and gender-neutral frames than their male colleagues. These findings were interpreted against the backdrop of information derived from in-depth interviews with 5 women reporters who appeared in the sampled content.     

Contested Kicks: Sneakers and Gay Masculinity, 1964–2008

This paper presents a critical ethnography of an example of fashion's mediating cultural work: sneakers and North American gay men. This rich example presents fashion with a specific garment and wearers, yet mediating work in multiple directions, exemplifying fashion's ambivalence and flexibility. I will describe three positions taken, articulated around gender, and their relations to dominant culture: (1) sneakers are feminine and rejected in opposition to dominant culture; (2) sneakers are masculine and embraced in assimilation into dominant culture; and (3) sneakers are masculine and embraced in opposition to dominant culture. Beginning from a position of ambivalence (like fashion itself), I will elaborate historical and cultural contexts, showing a particular garment, among a particular group, put to varied ends. However, multiplicity is not necessarily progressive. While there are counter-hegemonic aspects to these sneaker positions– resisting stereotypes, embracing difference, denaturalizing sex, gender, and sexuality constructions– other aspects preserve the status quo. While admiring the creativity evidenced, I ultimately question positions untaken, such as embracing femininity.     

Communication as influence: Definitional exclusion

Persuasion, influence, and power have traditionally been defined as the fundamental features of rhetoric, communication, and discourse. This tradition of definition exhibits a masculine bias that has tended to exclude and negate a feminine view of communication as relational responsibility. This essay calls for the development of a transcendent definition of communication that will include and affirm both masculine and feminine views, leading to more favorable pragmatic, theoretic, and research consequences.     

Readability and Basic Course Hybrid Textbooks in Human Communication: A Disparity of Reading Difficulty

Parents play a pivotal role in the gender development and sex-typing of children. It is important to discover whether gender role communication differences exist based on the sex of the child or parent. The present study aimed to discover differences in gender role messages communicated between mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter, and father-son dyads. Participants (n = 630) completed a modified version of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Two key results were discovered: mothers communicate significantly more feminine messages to children, regardless of child sex; and the modified BSRI identifies respondents as weak vs. strong gender identity rather than masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated.     

Depictions of Gender on Primetime Television: A Quantitative Content Analysis

To document current portrayals of women and men on primetime television, a quantitative content analysis was conducted. A 1-week composite of primetime television programming across 9 broadcast and cable networks was randomly sampled, yielding 89 programs and 1,254 characters. Consistent with prior findings, women were significantly underrepresented on primetime TV when compared with men. Analyses examined representations of gender in the realms of occupation, aggression, sexualization, and stereotypically masculine and feminine attributes, with comparisons drawn across different age groups. Contrary to popular belief, these findings suggest that the current state of primetime television does not represent a “golden age” for women. Although it appears that some gender stereotypes have declined when compared to previous decades, others (e.g., dominant men, sexually provocative women) have persisted. Implications are discussed in terms of cultivation and social cognitive theories.     

Shirts vs. Skins: Clothing as an Indicator of Gender Role Stereotyping in Video Games

This research uses content analysis to examine the portrayal of women in 47 randomly selected games from the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation console gaming systems. We suggest that video games, similar to other media forms, are sources of information that children and young adults may use to determine what behaviors and attitudes are considered appropriately masculine and feminine. This analysis revealed a significant sex bias in the number of male versus female characters found in the games and among the way in which the male and female characters were dressed. Of the 597 characters coded, only 82 (13.74%) were women. The Nintendo 64 games had the fewest number of female characters, and the majority of the female characters wore clothing that exposed more skin than the male characters.     

Broadcast use by a Latin American professional and technical group

This study analyzes visual production techniques in NBC's 2004 Olympic track and field coverage using Zettl's applied media aesthetics approach. Track and field coverage is worthy of analysis in relation to gender because of the sport's perception as “gender-neutral” in comparison to other sports such as gymnastics (feminine), or U.S. football (masculine). Men's coverage was presented as more visually “exciting” than women's—it used more shot types, camera angles, and motion special effects per minute. These differences may contribute to perceptions that women's sports are inferior or “naturally” less interesting than men's, reinforcing men as the symbolic authority in sport.     

Gay On-Screen: The Relationship Between Exposure to Gay Characters on Television and Heterosexual Audiences' Endorsement of Gay Equality

The current study, grounded in the parasocial contact hypothesis, employed a survey of emerging adults to investigate the relationship between exposure to gay characters on television and heterosexuals' endorsement of gay equality. A positive relationship existed between exposure to on-screen gay characters and gay equality endorsement. The relationship was stronger for racial minority participants than for White participants, and for participants who had no or few interpersonal relationships with openly gay individuals than for participants who had more than three respective relationships. Results are discussed in terms of the parasocial contact hypothesis and television as an agent of social change.     

Sexual References and Consequences for Heterosexual,Lesbian, Gay,and Bisexual Characters on Television: A Comparison Content Analysis

A content analysis was conducted to examine sexual references and consequences among lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB), and heterosexual characters on television. The sample was composed of programs portraying an LGB lead or reoccurring character. Results showed that heterosexual and LGB characters engaged in sexual talk and behavior in similar contexts. When discussing LGB sexualities, however, heterosexual characters were disproportionately likely to make jokes; LGB characters were disproportionately likely to discuss coming out. LGB characters depicted in sexual references were more likely to be in dialogue with a heterosexual character than another LGB character. Sexual consequences were more common for heterosexual characters than LGB characters. No gender differences existed in frequency of sexual references or consequences among LGB characters, evidence that the sexual double standard found in previous research may not apply to LGB characters. Results are discussed in terms of potential effects of exposure.     

“Nobody Really Wants to be Called Bossy or Domineering”

This article examines talks given by 12 female media professionals at a Southern US university’s center on women in communication between 2013 and 2015 to identify the influence of hegemonic masculinity in industry speak about women and professionalism in the fields of journalism, advertising, and public relations. This paper applies a feminist critique of discussions about “work–life balance,” “leaning in,” “emotion,” and language about the role of technology and innovation in women’s careers, to argue that inherent in these discussions about media professionalism are traits that perpetuate binary notions of feminine–masculine traits of the workplace. As a whole, these messages fail to account for notions of intersectionality and perpetuate inequality and masculine power for future professionals.     

Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media

In recent years, the gay man/heterosexual woman couple configuration has become a genre unto itself in mediated popular culture, resulting in unprecedented mainstream visibility for gay men. Major mainstream films, such as My Best Friend's Wedding, Object of My Affection, and The Next Best Thing, showcase this combination as their centerpiece, as does the highly rated prime-time network situation comedy, Will & Grace. In this essay, I assess this particular performance of gay identity in order to discern what qualities render it – as presented in this configuration – not only acceptable but popular, given the heteronormative sensibilities that characterize the mainstream audience to which it is directed. I argue that, in these texts, homosexuality is not only recoded and normalized in these representations as consistent with privileged male heterosexuality but is articulated as extending heterosexual male privilege. In so doing, blatant sexism is reinvented and legitimized, and gay male identity simultaneously is defined by and renormalizes heteronormativity.     

Negation and Validation of Self via the Media: Israeli Gay Men s (Dis)Engagement Patterns with Their Representations

Forty-five Israeli gay men unfolded their life stories in order to delve into their media reception patterns. Overall, they prefer to disengage themselves from a discourse that symbolically annihilates them or negatively constructs their representations. Absence from the mediated reality as well as social invisibility are perceived to reduce ontologically the gay individual. On the other hand, these narrators exhibited intentional consumption of texts that refer to gay issues and figures. The gay individual who regularly senses that his self is being negated attributes great value to images that can validate his existence, and hence allocates resources in their consumption. Both patterns of reception complement each other and shed light on the complex dialectics between marginally situated, muted co-culture members and the public sphere.     

Absurd Masculinity: Will Ferrell’s Time-Bending Comic Persona

The key to Will Ferrell’s success is his genuinely likeable comic persona that relies on overdetermined and excessively masculine and feminine traits. Accordingly, this article argues that despite criticism surrounding Ferrell’s comedic films, they actually have a great deal to tell us about masculinity and comedy in the new millennium. By discussing Anchorman, Elf, and Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the author asserts that Ferrell’s films map changes to masculine identity in the post-9/11 era by their representations of absurd masculinity embodied in Ferrell’s comic persona.     

Reconciling Hall with discourse,written in the shadows of ‘“Confederate” and Rainbow Flags

ABSTRACT

This essay addresses Stuart Hall and discourse theory, focusing on his essay “Signification, representation, ideology.” Reflecting upon recent events involving representation and identity—US legalization of gay marriage, murders at a gay nightclub, removal of the “Rebel Flag” from the South Carolina state capitol, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign—I attempt to destabilize the counterproductive dualism of material/discourse in Hall’s critique of poststructural discourse theory. Finding amenability between Hall and Foucaultian discourse theory, I describe Hall’s utility for discourse scholars, such as his perspectives on ideological practices and generation of new discourses as an interventionist act.     

“I LOVE TO PLAY THE BIMBO SOMETIMES WITH ATHLETES”

This article analyses the professional interactions between female journalists and their sources, key moments in the information production process, and explores, in the context of the Swiss daily press, one of the most masculine journalistic universes: sports journalism. It illustrates that because of the specific mode of recruitment into this journalistic speciality, women are confronted with various constraints—a lack of knowledge in the domain of sports, overwhelmingly male sources, and tensions linked to the fact that they are women—and with expectations from their chief editors that they will develop a “feminine” view of sports news. They are required to adapt and adjust to their role in a way that severely constrains their interactions with their male sources. Thus, controlling their appearance, language, and attitudes, these women make intentional use of certain stereotypes associated with femininity—“women as object of seduction” and “women as weak and inoffensive”—for professional goals, when the interaction warrants. They believe that those strategies allow them to have easier access to their sources and to create interactions encouraging the exchange of information that they judge to be sincere, authentic and more private, that would permit them to write deeper and more “human” articles.     

“Masculine” vs. “feminine” strategies in political ADS: Implications for female candidates

This study explored several research questions concerning strategies typically said to be beneficial for female political candidates. Six 60‐second videotaped political commercials were produced featuring a female “candidate”, each containing either a “masculine” or a “feminine” strategy. The strategies were aggressive, nonaggressive, career, family, ambitious, and nonambitious. Each political commercial was inserted into a set of four locally produced, nonpolitical ads. Six groups of students were randomly assigned to each of the six treatment groups. After viewing the commercials, subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire to measure response to the candidate and to the ads through semantic differentials and Likert‐scale questions. Results from the study indicate that the “aggressive” strategy worked better in comparison with the “nonaggressive” strategy and the “career” strategy worked better in comparison with the “family” strategy. Few significant differences were found between the “ambitious” and the “nonambitious” strategies. Several implications for female candidates are discussed.     

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS IN BRITAIN

Controversy concerning the issue of homosexual rights and practiceshas intensified in Britain over the last decade. Despite thisincrease in intensity, however, the question of mass publicopinion in relation to homosexual rights and practices has receivedalmost no empirical investigation. In an effort to remedy thissituation, this article focuses on both the role of respondents'gender as well as their perceptions concerning the gender ofparticipants in a homosexual relationship (both sexes versusgay men) in distinguishing their attitudes toward the publicacceptance of homosexuals and the adoption rights of lesbiansand gay men. Using nationally representative data from the BritishSocial Attitudes Surveys, we found that, whereas both respondents'gender and the gender of participants in a homosexual relationshipdemonstrated a significant influence on attitudes toward thepublic acceptance of homosexuals, they were unrelated to theadoption rights of lesbians or gay men. Even in relation tothe public acceptance of homosexuals, however, gender was notthe only, or even the most important, attribute in distinguishingindividual opinion in this instance. Other stronger and moreconsistent influences were education, age, and attitudes towardeither pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relations. The implicationsof these findings for both policy makers and homosexual activistsare discussed.     

Does a gender-neutral name associate with the research impact of a scientist?

Women have long suffered in both academia and industry from lower status, underrepresentation, unequal treatment, and other challenges based on gender. This paper explores whether a gender-neutral name is associated with the research impact of a scientist by examining three years of citations. The data for this study are derived from publications indexed in ISI's Web of Science (WoS) database from 2009 to 2015. By assigning a name neutralization index score to each author, we investigate the relationship between the neutralization index and citations and find the following results: (1) generally, the more neutral the name, the more citations the publications received; (2) the neutral effect was more pronounced for authors with feminine names than for authors with masculine names.     

Beverly LaHaye and the double bind: Rhetorical strategies on a conservative women's radio show

All female speakers must deal with the societal “double bind” that insists both that they be feminine and that they be effective speakers, when effective speaking is usually defined by masculine norms. The conservative woman speaker feels the double bind most acutely, because she generally has even less option to appear unfeminine. This paper examines the rhetoric of one conservative woman rhetor: Beverly LaHaye, president of Concerned Women for America. LaHaye's daily radio show is the focus of this examination, which explores the rhetorical strategies she uses to deal with the double bind and some potential implications of those strategies.