Constructing Gender Stereotypes Through Social Roles in Prime-Time Television

Using a sample of 124 prime-time television programs airing on the 6 broadcast networks during the 2005–06 season, this study examined the social roles enacted by female and male characters. The findings confirm that female characters continue to inhabit interpersonal roles involved with romance, family, and friends. In contrast, male characters are more likely to enact work-related roles. Moreover, programs employing one or more women writers or creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in interpersonal roles whereas programs employing all-male writers and creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in work roles.     

Kawaii Killers and Femme Fatales: A Textual Analysis of Female Characters Signifying Benevolent and Hostile Sexism in Video Games

ABSTRACT

Game developers potentially convey socio-cultural values about gender through design choices. This study interpreted the designs of 11 purposively selected female game characters, developed by studios located in the United States and Japan, through the lens of ambivalent sexism. This social psychological theory posits that sexism consists of hostile and benevolent attitudes about women. Two themes emerged across characterizations: bodies as objects, bodies as weapons and (in)dependence. Both consisted of empowering qualities paired with problematic beliefs about women. This analysis contributes to interdisciplinary literature by using an empirical perspective to interpret gender representations in video games.     

"Man,That Was a Pretty Shot": An Analysis of Gendered Broadcast Commentary Surrounding the 2000 Men's and Women's NCAA Final Four Basketball Championships

Current research on sports broadcast commentary indicates that the commentary type employed to evaluate athletic performance by men and women is implicated through the language of gendered assumptions about the respective athlete and the respective sport. This study analyzed the broadcast commentary surrounding the 2000 Men's and Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four tournament games to assess the prevalence and degree to which gender-based evaluations characterized athletic performance by men and women. A content analysis of 2,367 lines of broadcast commentary revealed significant differences that categorically accounted for male athletes primarily in terms of physicality and athleticism, whereas female athletes were categorically evaluated in terms of (a) positive consonance, (b) personality, (c) looks and appearance, and (d) background. Results also revealed that, irrespective of broadcast commentator sex, the men's games generated significantly more lines of broadcast commentary than did the women's games. Male broadcast commentators also significantly monopolized airtime, even in the presence of female sportscasters, across men's and women's games. The results have implications for future research in the domain of sports communication in particular, and the domain of synthesis scholarship (O'Sullivan, 1999) in the communication discipline in general.     

Effects of Immersive,Sexually Objectifying,and Violent Video Games on Hostile Sexism in Males

Research suggests that media images depicting aggression against sexually objectified women may promote hostile sexism in men. We empirically tested if such effects might occur when men commit simulated acts of aggression against sexualized female opponents in video games, and if such effects might be heightened by psychological immersion (i.e,. the sensation of “presence” while gaming). In two studies, male participants played a first-person-shooter game, with the sex and sexualization of opponents experimentally manipulated. Results indicated that game play increased hostile sexism, to the extent that players reported feeling present in the virtual environment and provided that opponents were depicted as sexualized females, not males or nonsexualized females. No effects on benevolent sexism were observed. These results suggest that the increasingly immersive nature of modern video games might amplify their influence on players, including effects that promote hostility and aggression towards women.     

Portrayals of Women in Transnational Arab Television Drama Series

This content analysis of 15 Arabic and 3 Turkish drama serials on transnational Arab television examined the gender portrayals of characters. The analysis of 743 characters found that women were underrepresented, less likely to have recognizable jobs, and more likely than men to be portrayed in sex-typed occupations, activities, and settings. The analysis also revealed that programs with female writers were significantly less gender stereotypical. Moreover, differences were found among the producing Arab countries in terms of the portrayals of women; conservative countries had more sex-typed portrayals than the more liberal Arab countries, whereas Turkish programs had similar portrayals to Arabic programs produced in the liberal Arab states. The general findings are discussed in comparison to U.S. programming, and in relation to selective exposure, identification with characters, and potential effects on Arab viewers' gender role beliefs.     

Sex role stereotypes on children's TV in Asia a content analysis of gender role portrayals in children's cartoons in Hong Kong

This is a content analysis of 31 randomly‐selected children's television cartoons in Hong Kong, where all such programs are imported from foreign countries. No such programs are produced in Hong Kong. The study analyzes personality and appearance attributes of 277 cartoon characters. As expected, male characters outnumbered female characters by a ratio of 2:1; however, contrary to expectations, female characters enjoyed far greater representation in cartoons produced in Japan than they did in cartoons produced in the U.S. and Great Britain. On other measures, characters tended to conform to hypothesized gender‐related stereotypes, with males being more aggressive, rough, sloppy, and strong, and females being more beautiful and feminine.     

Gender Portrayals Across the Life Span: A Content Analytic Look at Broadcast Commercials

This study investigated the role that age plays in gender portrayals in contemporary television commercials. A content analysis of 2,315 characters appearing in commercials aired during a composite week of prime-time programming on 6 major broadcast networks was conducted. The study compared images of female participants from childhood through the senior years to identify the extent to which female members of different age groups replicate conclusions drawn about images of females-in-general in advertising. The study also contrasted images of female characters from different age groups with their same-age male counterparts to shed additional light on the complexity of gender portrayals in prime-time commercials. The findings indicate significant differences among same-age gender portrayals and same-gender age portrayals. Results are interpreted within a social cognitive theory framework and directions for future research are articulated.     

Gender and Emotion Stereotypes in Children’s Television

The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of emotion stereotypes in children’s television programming, in both educational and non-educational programming. It was hypothesized that gender stereotypes of emotion would still be prevalent in both entertainment and educational programming, with females showing more fear and sadness and males showing more anger, and that all shows would have more male than female characters. A total of 8 children’s programs were included for analysis: 4 entertainment programs and 4 educational programs. Programs were coded for the total number of males and females and for the emotions displayed by each character: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Overall, the analyses revealed that the majority of shows still have more male than female characters. Males were found to portray more of all emotions than females. Educational programming did not differ much in the amount of stereotypical versus counter-stereotypical emotion portrayed. Entertainment programming showed a trend toward more counter-stereotyped emotions. Future research should explore the influence of viewing specific shows on young children’s current gender stereotypes to assess the immediate impact of such viewing.     

Sexual Humor in Hollywood Films: Influences of Social and Economic Threat on the Desirability of Male and Female Characters

After rating male and female characters in the top-grossing comedy films for each year (1951-2000), the authors predicted that during times of greater social and economic threat female film characters who joke about sex would be less physically attractive, and male characters would be lower in socioeconomic status. These qualities have been found in prior research to denote desirability in potential mates. Results were generally consistent with predictions. It was suggested that these results, paired with findings from previous studies, could be taken as support for a lowered expectations hypothesis: during bad times people feel less optimistic, and consequently even people's fantasy partners are less grandiose.     

Evening the Score in Prime Time: The Relationship Between Behind-the-Scenes Women and On-Screen Portrayals in the 2002-2003 Season

Using situation comedies and dramas airing on the 6 broadcast networks in the 2002-2003 prime-time season, this study analyzed employment of women behind the scenes and more equitable portrayals of female and male characters. In 78 separate tests, the employment of one or more women writers, creators, or executive producers was associated with reduced on-screen gender differences in leadership, occupational power, and goal-seeking behavior, when compared to programs with all-male writers, creators, and executive producers. In 5 of 9 tests, no statistically significant gender differences regarding leadership, occupational power, and goal-seeking behavior were found when women were present behind the scenes.     

HAPPIER WORKING FOR THEMSELVES?

This survey analysis of women freelance journalists is a first step toward filling a gap in the largely uncharted territory of women in the United States who leave traditional employer-based news jobs for self-employment. The findings show that female respondents were satisfied with their work hours, earnings, and ability to combine their atypical newswork jobs with raising children. However, they were no more satisfied with their work than male respondents who also worked as freelance journalists.     

Television,Japan, and Globalization

Prime-time network programs broadcast between 7 993 and 2002 underrepresent elderly characters. More women between the ages of 50 and 64 were classified as elderly, rather than middle-aged. The age distribution of minority men resembles that of White women, while minority women are typically cast in younger age groups. The world of work on television is one of diminished options for the elderly. Television celebrates youth while it neglects and negates the elderly.     

Marital status in television drama: A case of reduced options

Married and single male and female prime‐time televison characters are presented very stereotypically and traditionally while formerly married female characters are presented less traditionally but somewhat more negatively.     

The influence of journalists' gender on newspaper stories about women Cabinet members in South Korea

This study examined whether there were differences in news reporting of women's subjects in South Korea due to reporter gender. The findings reveal that, in covering the women Cabinet members in South Korea, female reporters used a more positive tone, emphasized conflict news value less, used fewer stereotypical references to women, and employed more gender-sensitive perspectives than did male reporters. Our analysis also reveal that there was not a significant difference between the female-friendly newspapers and the female-unfriendly newspapers in terms of the story's tone, gender-equity tendency, and use of conflict news value in their news stories about women Cabinet members.     

Journalist and Source Gender in Australian Television News

Content analysis of 450 news stories broadcast by five Australian television networks over a period of one week indicated that men were generally over-represented as presenters, reporters, and expert sources. Female reporters predominated only in low-frequency, lower-ranked subjects. Although expert sources were mostly male, male and female reporters did not differ in their use of male or female sources. Despite increased participation of women in journalism, findings indicate a lasting association of men with higher status stories, source authority, sport, and hard news.     

Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters

Children aged 7 to 12 were interviewed about their favorite TV character. Nearly all boys and about half of the girls selected same‐sex favorites. Regression analyses used perceived character traits (attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior) to predict wishful identification and parasocial interaction with characters. For male characters, wishful identification was predicted by intelligence and (for girls only) humor; parasocial interaction was predicted by intelligence, attractiveness, and (for boys only) strength. In marked contrast, for female characters (chosen only by girls), attractiveness was the only significant predictor. Although girls rated female characters as more intelligent than male characters, this trait apparently was not an important determinant of attraction. Interpretations of the findings and implications for socialization effects are discussed.     

The Influence of Female Lead Characters in Political TV Shows: Links to Political Engagement

This study examined political television dramas with lead female characters, proposing a model that links viewing of these shows with political engagement. A survey revealed that regular viewers of Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, or Scandal reported feeling transported by these programs’ narratives and parasocial relationships with the main characters (i.e., women in positions of political leadership). These responses were also related to increases in political interest and self-efficacy, with interest predicting real-world political participation. The findings illustrate that these political dramas have prosocial implications, including the non-stereotypical representation of women as well as increased political engagement among viewers.     

Male and Female Sources in Newspaper Coverage of Male and Female Candidates in Open Races for Governor in 2002

This study assessed how capital city newspapers used male and female experts and nonexpert, uncommitted sources in covering open races for governorships in 2002. It examined 4 states with a female nominee and 5 states where both major candidates were male. Regardless of the candidates' gender, the overwhelming majority of nonpartisan sources cited were male. Female nonexpert sources appeared far less than their proportion in the population. The story proportion of women experts even intensified the gender imbalance of experts recommended by university news bureaus. Female reporters, however, had a greater tendency than their male colleagues to cite female nonpartisan sources.     

Controversial Rap Themes,Gender Portrayals and Skin Tone Distortion: A Content Analysis of Rap Music Videos

A content analysis of rap music videos aired on BET, MTV, and VH1 examined the occurrence of controversial themes, gender differences, and skin tone distortion. The results of this study found that current rap music videos have placed an emphasis on themes of materialism and misogyny. Additionally, men and women in the videos differ in their portrayal of these themes. Specifically, female characters are significantly more likely to appear as objects of sexuality. Men and women also differ in their appearance with more African American females appearing to have Eurocentric features. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.