Gender On Television: Is It Still A Boy’s
World?
Jennifer B. Williams
Pensacola State College
February 23, 2015
Introduction
Aside from providing the average
American citizen anywhere between two and seven hours of information and
entertainment daily, television is
also a powerful and surreptitious agent of socialization, especially
considering the media-rich world we now live in (Ferris & Stein, 2014).
Through television we all subconsciously absorb messages and ideas about several
aspects of our culture, including (but not limited to) race, gender, and
perceived gender roles. Television has an especially great impact on children and
tweens because they consume it while their identities are being formed, and has
been shown to affect children’s early self-concepts and gendered behavior (Myers,
2013). Though it may be surprising to some given that it is, after all, the
year 2015, previous research of popular 'tween' programming in America has
indicated that gender inequality is still alive and well, with males
outnumbering females in most television shows and stereotypical gender roles
still being adhered to. In my research paper, I will examine popular 'tween'
television shows for further evidence of gender inequality.
Review
of the Literature
In their content analysis of the
portrayed gender roles and stereotypes of tween television programming, Gerding
and Signorielli set out to show that, in at least two main genres, it is still
"a boy's world.' They hypothesized that males would outnumber females and
that females would be presented more stereotypically than males, both in terms
of attractiveness and in the portrayal of gender roles. In order to achieve
their study they watched 49 episodes of 40 popular American tween television
shows and coded them for variables, including the number of males vs. female
characters and the gender role portrayal of characters in terms of appearance,
behaviors, and personality traits. Gerding and Signorielli's results revealed
that females were underrepresented in the Action-Adventure genre that is
marketed towards a male audience, but that gender distribution was more even in
the Teen-Scene genre that is geared towards a female audience. Also, overall,
females in both genres were more attractive and aware of their looks, and also
received more comments regarding their appearance than male characters.
In her study of popular
tween television shows in America, Myers sought to show that, despite the
success of the feminist movement, the prevailing underlying messages of popular
programming remain anti- or post-feminist, meaning that they ostensibly support
feminist messages but often undermined them in the end. Myers and a colleague
systematically watched 45 total episodes of Disney and Nickelodeon Networks’
most popular tween-girl shows and coded them for variables including gender
distribution of characters and anti-feminist messages through dialogue and body
language. Her findings revealed that the programs all celebrated beauty and
heterosexual coupling while demonizing strong and/or unattractive women. A
regular and reoccurring message of the programming was that girls are more
valuable if they are beautiful and desired by boys, and that girls must attract
and attach themselves to boys in order to achieve status and satisfaction. The
protagonist or lead female character would often “taken feminism into account,”
while simultaneously dismissing the idea through words or actions. Myers also
found that anti-feminist messages were being overtly broadcast in all analyzed
programs at an alarming rate of every 2-3 minutes in a 22-minute program,
making them hard to miss.
Research Method
The following
study is a contents analysis of an existing source, namely tween
television shows. I systematically watched and recorded data
from eight episodes of three top-rated tween programs on the Disney and ABC
Family networks. The shows analyzed in this research all fall under the ‘teen
scene’ category and included three episodes of Disney Channel’s ‘Jessie,’ three
episodes of Disney Channel’s ‘Girl Meets World,’ and two episodes of the parent
show to ‘Girl Meets World,’ ABC Family’s ‘Boy Meets World.’ Although ‘Boy Meets
World’ ended in the year 1998, it is still shown regularly throughout the week
in syndication and has recently gained newfound popularity with today’s tween
generation due to its immensely popular spin-off show, the aforementioned ‘Girl
Meets World,’ which premiered last year.
The variables I
based my research on included keeping detailed notes on the gender distribution
of the recurring cast members, the sex of the characters with speaking roles
per episode, the sex of the main character of each show, and whether or not
characters made or received comments about their body or appearance, as well as
watching for gender role stereotypes. Aside from being interested in the
results, seeing as how my husband and I are hoping to start our own family
soon, I decided to study tween programming because I felt that it would be too
easy to manipulate other genres of television; for instance, if I wanted to
prove a hypothesis of gender equality, I could simply choose television shows
with strong female leads, and vice versa. Not knowing anything about today’s
children/tween programs may have removed any potential researcher bias.
Results and Findings
As stated
above, I viewed episodes from two tween programs on the Disney Channel and one
on ABC Family. All of the television shows were of the ‘teen scene’ genre, which typically center around interpersonal
relationships, romance, and generally less physically intense activities, and are marketed towards a
female audience (Gerding & Signorielli, 2013). Although two thirds, or 67%,
of the programs analyzed had a female lead, only 41% of the shows’ total
recurring cast members were female. At 40%, a slightly lesser number of females
had speaking roles. An unsurprising, though disheartening, 86% of comments regarding
physical appearance were made or received by female characters, seeming to
suggest that one of the most important ways for a girl or woman to receive
attention is for outward beauty or the way they look. In short, females can do
anything males can do, as long as they look pretty while they do it.
Except, can
they really? An especially unsettling observation I made in viewing these
programs was the often-blatant stereotypes regarding gender roles. Supporting,
or background, female characters were often pigeonholed in roles such as
waitresses, maids, or the oft demonized, “strange” old neighbor next door,
while male supporting characters were most often portrayed in affluent
positions of authority, such as lawyers, talent agents, and college professors.
In one episode of Disney Channel’s ‘Jessie,’ the title character made the
decision to go back to college, however once she arrived to class her professor
was male and disapproving of her and every single classmate was male, sending
the subconscious and extremely negative message to young girls that higher
education is not for them.
Conclusion
At the start of
this research I set out to prove that we still face gender inequality on
television and, rather unfortunately, I was correct. Males vastly outnumber
females both in terms of characters and speaking roles, sending the inherent
message that males are more important (Gerding et al., 2013). Females are also
oftentimes stereotyped according to perceived gender roles, which in turn feed the
minds of the youth who consume these programs. It is said that television shows
are a reflection of our culture, but an argument could also be formed to show
that television may also be contributing to the creation of our culture. This research is important because
television and mass media are increasingly becoming a prime socializing agent
and viewers, particularly young ones, may be at risk for developing skewed
conceptions about limiting gender roles.
REFERENCES
Ferris, K., Stein, J.
(2014) The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. New York, NY: Norton &
Company.
Gerding, A. a., &
Signorielli, N. (2014). Gender Roles in Tween Television Programming: A Content
Analysis of Two Genres. Sex Roles, 70(1/2), 43-56.
Myers, K. k. (2013).
Anti-feminist messages in American television programming for young girls. Journal
Of Gender Studies, 22(2), 192-205.
*Note: This was a research paper I recently wrote for a Sociology class, which my professor then asked if she could use as an example in future classes. I decided to throw it up on my blog for a friend skeptical of gender inequality in these types of programs to peruse. Have you noticed any unsettling trends or patterns in television programs? Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day!
