Gender biases are common in television. As a result of this inclination for bias and the number of hours people spend watching television, television programming continues to be an area of concern. Studies have shown that girls watch over twenty hours of television a week, see over 20,000 television advertisements in a year and watch hours of music videos (Signorielli, 1997). Such statistics lead us to question just what impact so many hours in front of a television might have on the development and maintenance of children’s developing gender identity. It was this question that prompted Arquette and Horton (2000) to undertake their study ‘The Influence of Current Television Programming on the Maintenance of Female Gender Identity.’ In this article, the authors discuss high school aged girls and their television viewing choices, and the effects such preferences have on the formation and maintenance of their gender roles.
During the literature review Arquette and Horton (2000) discuss how gender identities and roles are presented on television. In this review, the authors mention Streicher, a researcher who found that cartoons from the 1970s were dominated by active and noisy male characters, while female characters were viewed as less capable and usually needed rescuing, and point out that the same types of characters can be seen today. They give the example of the Disney cartoon Duck Tales, a cartoon about two young male ducks and their sister. In this cartoon, the boys are told to take care of their little sister, who wears a pink bow and acts helpless. Arquette and Horton (2000) state that while it may be true that these characters are just cartoon ducks, children can acquire stereotypical messages about appropriate behaviour from an early age. When reading this, Disney movies came to mind, like Snow White, where women are portrayed to be happy housekeeping and looking after men, and as characters who need rescuing.
Stereotypes of men and women are not limited to cartoons and movies, but can also be seen in other television programs and advertisements. From their review of literature, the authors found that men’s roles tend to be authoritative while many women are seen as incompetent and unable to function as authorities. Furthermore, that women are often seen as the primary care givers, while men are given the role of the chief breadwinner, and when women are seen as working outside the home they are usually in traditional female occupations such as nursing, secretarial work, waitressing and teaching. These roles are evident in the television that I watch. For example, on Packed to the Rafters, apart from one male character who is a florist, all the men and women have gender stereotypical careers. In addition, when reading about women being displayed as the primary caregiver and occupied with domestic tasks, advertisements come to mind of women promoting cleaning products. While the accepted roles for men and women have changed in recent times, Arquette and Horton state that this is not always reflected in current television programs.
Stereotypes of men and women are not limited to cartoons and movies, but can also be seen in other television programs and advertisements. From their review of literature, the authors found that men’s roles tend to be authoritative while many women are seen as incompetent and unable to function as authorities. Furthermore, that women are often seen as the primary care givers, while men are given the role of the chief breadwinner, and when women are seen as working outside the home they are usually in traditional female occupations such as nursing, secretarial work, waitressing and teaching. These roles are evident in the television that I watch. For example, on Packed to the Rafters, apart from one male character who is a florist, all the men and women have gender stereotypical careers. In addition, when reading about women being displayed as the primary caregiver and occupied with domestic tasks, advertisements come to mind of women promoting cleaning products. While the accepted roles for men and women have changed in recent times, Arquette and Horton state that this is not always reflected in current television programs.
Television not only displays gender stereotypes, but according to Arquette and Horton (2000) women are often under represented in television. Geena Davis in her article ‘When Gender Equality is no longer a Fairy Tale’ acknowledged this problem. She stated that when watching television with her young daughter, she was stunned to see that there were far more male characters than female characters in media aimed at the youngest of children. Signorielli (1997) also identified this problem, and stated that media’s under representation sends girls subtle messages about the value and importance of females compared to males.
Because the authors found little research concerning adolescent girls and the effect of today’s programming on the development and maintenance of their views about gender, they developed a survey to determine if high school aged girls watched female programming. In this survey, girls were asked what their favourite television program was and why, and what their favourite character was and why. The top choices of television programs for the respondents were Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, Part of Five and Seventh Heaven, and the researchers watched several hours of these programs. They found that there was usually a good character that was supportive of a character in some kind of trouble. They provided an example of an episode of Party of Five, where a male college freshman tried to get through his first semester by taking easy classes and cheating on a prerequisite test. His understanding high school girlfriend was supportive when he failed, and pointed out gently what he did wrong. In this same episode, another character was found plagiarizing on a portion of her assignment. However, because she suffered from depression and supposedly did not realise that she copied an entire section of a book into her work, her husband was ready to march down to the university to defend her. Arquette and Horton (2000) state that these two subplots treat female characters differently, in that one is horrified to discover that her boyfriend cheated in a test, and the other is astonished to find that she plagiarized. Despite these differences however, both characters are stereotypical female roles, for example, one is nurturing and moral and the other depressed and incapable.
The authors conclude that by aiming such television programs at females, television producers are reproducing gender stereotypes. Signorielli (1997) also came to this conclusion, and stated that although there may be positive role models for women in the media, the media can reinforce stereotypes about their priorities and their possibilities by sending them limiting messages. So what does this mean for an educator? Arquette and Horton (2000) state that we must go beyond simply viewing televised gender images critically, but we need to actively explore curricula that includes critical media viewing skills. It is of great importance that we take an active stance in how children perceive what they watch, and how it relates to their own self-image, as this will have an impact on the adults that they become.
By Kara
By Kara
REFERENCES
Davis, G. (2010). When Gender Equality is no longer a Fairy Tale. In Summit Daily News. Retrieved 12/9/10 from URL: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100429/COLUMNS/100429803/1078&ParentProfile=1055
Signorielli, N. (1997). Reflections of Girls in the Media: A Content Analysis Across Six Media, An Executive Summary. California: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Streicher, H. W. (1974). The Girls in the Cartoons. Journal of Communication, 24, p 125-129.
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