Gender construction and the media

The construction of gender

• Gender and sex are closely related but not identical– Gender is the socially recognized/assigned/

enforced set of behaviors tied to sex– While the basics of sex are biologically

universal, gender (sex roles, etc.) vary from time to time and culture to culture

– You are born with your sex, but must (for the most part) learn your gender

Learning your gender

• The teaching begins early– Girl babies are pink, boy babies are blue

• Why?

– Girl babies are treated differently than are boy babies

• They receive different toys

– They do not seem to be all that different in their behavior without coaching

Toddlers and preschoolers

• Parental sex-role modeling

• Parental reactions to children’s actions

Media for preschoolers

• Are the gender treatments in media for preschoolers stereotypic?– Yes and no

• Many educational TV programs are pretty gender neutral

• However, certain biases remain– Overrepresentation of boys

Grade schoolers

• Teacher expectations

• Group support

• Parental expectations

See Jane Key Findings

• In the 101 studied G-Rated films, 1990-2004, there are three male characters for every one female character

• Fewer than one out of three (28 percent) of the speaking characters (both real and animated) are female

• Fewer than one in five (17 percent) of the characters in crowd scenes are female

• More than four out of five (83 percent) of the films’ narrators are male

Of the 3,039 individual speaking characters found across the films28 percent (n=851) are female, and 72 percent (n=2,188) are male.This is 257 males for every 100 females.

• When looking at characters that comprise groups, an even more distorted picture emerges. Out of the 1,210 characters shown in groups, 83 percent (n=1,010) are male and only 17 percent (n=200) are female. Gender bias also is found in narration. Only 17 percent of storytellers are female.

SeeJane (Smith)

What about boys?

• Male characters in G-rated films are only half as likely (34.6%) as females (66.3%) to be identifiable as parents. They are about half as likely (31.9%) as females (60.7%) to be identifiable as married or in a committed relationship.

Males are single

Male roles by race

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Aggressive/violent characters

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Aggressive

• “Children are influenced by what they see around them, and the repeated viewings of these movies make them a powerful force in shaping children’s developing ideas about gender. Research conducted in the 1970’s showed that when young children see someone on the screen that looks like them but engages in non-stereotyped activities, they are more likely to try out those activities themselves.”

• Lawrence Cohen, PhD, psychologist and author of Playful Parenting

Teens

• Midriff and Mook (Frontline)

• http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/positiveads.html

Most common gender-related concerns

• Gender-stereotyping of occupational roles– Doctor/nurse– Teacher– Businessman– Political leader

• Responsibility/role within the family

• Roles in sexuality/love relationships– Who is the more active/dominant partner?

• Who has the right to look/evaluate the other?

• What is the role/responsibility of physical attractiveness?

– What do the partners seek in the relationship?– What are the acceptable behaviors of the

partners?– What is the role of sex/sexuality? Of what type?

• Presentation of behavioral/personality characteristics tied to gender– Strong– Assertive– Dominant– Tough– Emotional– Nurturing– Intuitive– Submissive– Intelligent– Task-oriented– Ditzy

What is a man?

• Boys will tell you:– Strong– In control– Tough

What do men do?

• Wide range of activities, occupations• Often engage in violence• Dominate women• “Chase” women in order to conquer them

sexually (and then move on)• Are cool and collected

– Don’t show emotion (and certainly don’t cry)

Men are authorities

• Commercial voice-overs

• Occupy positions of power– In population– In media representations

TV Fathers (2004-2005)

• 86.5% have a father figure involved in their lives (up 3.6%)

• 50% live in a traditional family, with their married biological parents (down 2.8%)

• 14.8% are being raised by single fathers (up 10.7%) • 13.8% do not live with any kind of father figure (2002-

2003 season)• 12.9% do not have an involved father figure (2002-2003

Season)– Source: Parents Television Council review of every original series airing during

prime time (8:00-11:00pm ET/PT) on the broadcast networks during the 2004-2005 television season. (106 shows depicting 195 children). The last study on TV father figures was conducted for the 2002-2003 television season.

• "These (PTC) findings reinforce the importance of not only developing programming suitable for all families, but producers endeavoring to show committed, responsible fathers involved in their children's lives. Too many TV shows today tag fathers with the ‘3D' image - dumb, dangerous and disaffected. Such images must be reversed to demonstrate to viewers that fathers are there for their children and/or need to be," said Roland Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative.

• Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.

• While the presence of father-figures on prime time network television has increased over the years, it is not accurately reflecting current trends in American culture. According to U.S. Census data collected in 2003 and provided by the NFI, the number of children living in two-parent families is 68.4%. Children being raised by single fathers measures 4.6% and children being raised by single mothers measures 23%.

Identifying stereotyping

• Does a trait (usually demographic) of a character predict that character’s role or behavior?– Does that behavior follow culturally supported

expectations?

• Do characters from a certain group vary in their: – occupations, – social roles, – personality traits– behaviors?

• Are intergroup relations influenced by group memberships?– Are family roles, dating relationships, etc.

gender typed? Fixed or fluid?– e.g., do the men make the final important

decisions? Is it only the males who ask someone out on a date?

– Is Jay Leno correct in his assessment of what men and women want?

• How is violation of the stereotype treated within the narrative?– Are sexually active women punished while

sexually active men get off scott-free?