Representation of Gender in South African Television Advertising: A Content Analysis

This paper examines how gender is represented in South African television advertising. It provides a foundation upon which changes in representation over time may be mapped; contributes toward a cross-national literature that considers differences in representation; and tentatively examines how representations intersect with other key social categories. A sample of 5,803 advertisements was collected during 2003 that included 1,633 primary visual actors and 2,350 narrators. These were analysed by means of content analysis. A coding scheme was developed that was partly based on existing research, including McArthur and Resko??s (1975) influential study, but also research within non-Western contexts. Content categories included attributes of the primary visual actor (i.e., age; portrayal; race; and social class) as well as advertisement attributes (i.e., actors; primary narrator; products; and setting). Hypotheses predicted that males and females would be represented differently in television advertisements and that these differences would reflect traditional hierarchical relations in society. Findings largely supported these hypotheses. Males were represented as dominant. They were of primary focus; appeared most frequently within the socially valued public-work arena; and were represented as occupying positions of greater social authority. Females were represented as subordinate. They were of secondary focus; appeared most frequently within the socially undervalued private-domestic arena; and were most often represented as occupying positions of social subordination. This subordination was reinforced through findings that imply their sexualisation. Interesting patterns also emerged in findings indicating possible change in representations of gender. The implications of findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.     

Sex Roles in Health Storylines on Prime Time Television: A Content Analysis

This study examined the role of character gender in prime time television health portrayals. A content analysis of 1,291 health-related storylines from three spring seasons (2004–2006) of the ten most popular American television programs measured the frequency of male and female characters in prominent roles and how storylines differed with the sex of the ill or injured character. Our analyses revealed a significantly greater number of male characters. Moreover, storylines with a male ill or injured character were more serious in tone, more likely to take place in a medical setting, and had higher educational value. Proportionally, there were some similarities in storylines across the sexes, however, the absolute differences are striking and may have unfortunate effects on viewers.     

Variations in the Gender-Stereotyped Content of Children's Television Cartoons Across Genres

This study examined the gender-stereotyped content of children's TV network cartoons across 4 genres: traditional adventure (e.g., "Spiderman"), nontraditional adventure (e.g., "Reboot"), educational/family (e.g., "Magic School Bus"), and comedy ("Animaniacs"). Acting negatively, showing physical aggression, and being a victim were significantly less likely in the educational/family genre cartoons than any of the other three genres. Demonstrating romantic behavior was significantly more likely in the traditional adventure and the comedy genres than the other genres. Male characters were represented in cartoons significantly more than were female characters, but only in the traditional adventure and the comedy genres. Male characters were more likely than were female characters to use physical aggression, but only in the traditional adventure genre. Behaviors that were relatively more likely among female characters across genres included showing fear, acting romantic, being polite, and acting supportive. Most of the significant differences were also associated with very large effect sizes.     

An Analysis of the Portrayal of Gender Roles in Turkish Television Advertisements

The aim of this study was to examine gender role portrayals in Turkish television advertising. For this purpose, a content analysis of the advertisements that aired on the selected 6 television channels was carried out. Three hundred fourteen independent advertisements were coded according to general characteristics of the advertisements and demographic and attitudinal/behavioral characteristics of the primary figures. The data show significant gender differences in these 2 groups of variables. The findings are also compared with findings of other research conducted in different cultural settings.     

Performing Gender: A Content Analysis of Gender Display in Music Videos

This study investigated differences in gender display by male and female performers in music videos. Goffman??s (1976) conceptual framework of gender display was refined and expanded upon as a basis for analyzing 12 nonverbal displays associated with subordination, domination, sexuality, and aggression in music videos by an equal number of male and female lead performers. 34 music videos on U.S. cable stations MTV and MTV2 were divided into 30-second segments, resulting in 253 units that were coded for gender display. Findings revealed that significant gender displays primarily reinforced stereotypical notions of women as sexual objects, and to a lesser degree, females as subordinate and males as aggressive. Implications of music videos?? portrayal of stereotypical gender displays and their role in the construction and maintenance of the gender status quo are discussed.     

Contributions to the Content Analysis of Gender Roles: An Introduction to a Special Issue

This special issue on gender-related content analysis is the second of two parts (see Rudy et al. 2010b). The current special issue is more diverse than was the first in the number of countries that are represented and in the variety of media genres and content types that are included. The primary aim of this paper is to outline some of the contributions of the individual papers in this second special issue. Some of these advancements and innovations include (a) examining underresearched measures, countries, time spans, sexual orientations, and individual media programs; (b) addressing both international and intranational differences in gender-role portrayals; (c) comparing multiple content formats within the same media unit; (d) updating past findings to take into consideration the current media landscape; (e) employing established measures in novel ways and novel contexts; (f) uncovering limitations in established intercultural measures and media-effects theories; (g) suggesting variables that could predict additional differences in gender-role portrayals; (h) adopting virtually identical methods and measures across distinct content categories in order to facilitate comparisons; (i) conducting multiple tests of a given hypothesis; (j) examining, from multiple perspectives, the implications of racial differences in gender portrayals; and (k) examining the implications of underrepresentation of women and the perspectives that women hold. In addition to the original content-analytical research presented in this special issue, two reviews, one methodological and the other analytical, offer recommendations of procedures and perspectives to be implemented in future research.     

A Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Children's Television Advertisements

Two sets of television advertisements were video-recorded from weekend children's television in London and New York and were coded by two white women in terms of their gender-role portrayals. The advertised products covered by this analysis included snack and fast food, toys and breakfast cereal. Each advertisement was coded according to nine criteria including the ethnicity and gender of the people appearing, gender of central figure and of any voice over in the commercial, presence or absence of music, and other sales-related content. In general, males were more numerous than females in both American and British advertisements. There were more similarities than differences between the two national markets in terms of the nature of gender-role portrayals, with males generally occupying more central and authoritative positions. Only two analyses yielded significant differences. Girls outnumbered boys in American commercials, but the opposite was true of British commercials. Hispanic males were present in American commercials but not in British commercials.     

The Context of Current Content Analysis of Gender Roles: An Introduction to a Special Issue

The aim of this paper is to provide context for the quantitative content analyses of gender roles that are to be included in both parts of this special issue. First, a timeline of historical uses of the content analysis methodology is presented. Second, research objectives that frequently drive content analysis of gender roles are described; these include: to support feminist claims, to compare media with real life, to predict effects on audiences, and to detect effects of media producers on content. Third, previous content analyses published in Sex Roles and other gender-focused journals are reviewed and categorized in terms of medium, genre, time span, gender, and nationality. Finally, contributions of each of the articles in this special issue are outlined.     

Women Are On, But Not In, the News: Gender Roles in Local Television News

This investigation examined 580 news stories in the top three local television news programs in a Northeastern U.S. television market for a two-week period. Content analysis was used to determine whether or not there were gender differences in the prevalence of reporters and anchors and in the type of stories they reported. Analysis of newscasts revealed that female reporters were more likely to present human interest and health related stories, while males were more likely to present political stories. Analysis of news sources revealed that male experts were used significantly more often than were female experts as news sources. There was no relationship between time news stories were presented and gender of the reporters or anchors.     

Gender Differences in Physical Education Textbooks in Spain: A Content Analysis of Photographs

The aim of this paper is to show how gender differences are portrayed in images featured in Physical Education textbooks for secondary schools in Spain published between 2000 and 2006. The sample was composed of 2,724 images published in 36 textbooks by 10 Spanish publishing houses. A content analysis was carried out through the elaboration of an ad hoc coding scheme. The development of the coding scheme followed: two trial tests, two consultations with experts, and triangulation with three observers. The variables of the study were: gender, type of physical activity, field of practice, space and level. The findings showed a noticeable imbalance between male and female representation in which the male model is clearly predominant. In addition, these images portray males and females in stereotypical roles and depict certain activities or sports as more appropriate for one gender or the other. These findings further highlight the need to increase awareness regarding the image content in textbooks and the necessity to work in order to overcome traditional gender stereotypes connected with physical education and sport.     

电视广告中性别角色定型研究述评

文章首先介绍了性别角色定型的相关概念和广告中性别角色定型研究的理论基础,然后从内容分析和受众反应两个角度回顾并总结了有关电视广告中性别角色定型的研究。内容分析的结果表明：虽然经过了20多年的女权运动,电视广告中的性别角色定型并没有减弱;电视广告中的性别角色定型具有国际普遍性。受众反应的结果表明：受众对电视广告中的性别角色定型的反应是一个复杂的过程,会受到多种因素,比如性别、年龄、受教育程度和女性主义意识等的影响     

A Content Analysis of Prime Time Commercials: A Contextual Framework of Gender Representation

For this content analysis we recorded a sample of 1,337 prime time commercials from the 3 major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) in 1998. There were 5,473 primary and secondary characters identified. Each character was coded for gender, age, acting role, and product being advertised. The findings were then compared to Bretl and Cantor (1988), the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 population statistics, and Mediamark Research and Simmons syndicated marketing services. The commercials' producers cast their female and male characters much the same way as was done in the 1980s. Although women make most purchases of goods and services, they are still underrepresented as primary characters during most prime time commercials except for health and beauty products. Women are still cast as younger, supportive counterparts to men, and older women are still the most underrepresented group. Television commercials perpetuate traditional stereotypes of women and men.     

Recognition and Respect: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Television Characters Across Three Decades

This content analysis of week-long samples ofprime-time network dramatic programs broadcast betweenthe fall of 1967 and the spring of 1998 found thatwomenconsistently receive less recognition than men on television. While programs broadcast in the1990's had more women than those broadcast in the 1960'sand early 1970's, the women were still under representedin relation to their numbers in the U.S. population. There has been, however, somechange in the amount and degree of respect given towomen on prime time. While women are still categorizedas younger than their male counterparts, over the past 30 years more women are presented as employedoutside the home and the percentage of women cast inmore prestigious occupations has increased considerably.Whereas in the 1970's about a quarter of the women were depicted in traditionally femaleoccupations such as teachers or nurses, during the1980's and 1990's a smaller portion of the women werecast in these jobs. In contrast, the percent of women intraditional male or genderneutral jobs increasedsignificantly from the 1970's to the 1990's.     

Gender Roles and Self-Esteem: A Consideration of Environmental Factors

Much empirical research has examined the psychological well-being of individuals with varying gender role orientations. This research has typically shown masculinity to be a strong correlate of self-esteem and femininity to be relatively unrelated to self-esteem. This research has often failed to consider the relative environmental influences impacting this process. This study examines the relationships of masculinity and femininity to self-esteem and environmental presses for each of these sets of behavioral characteristics. Results indicate a stronger press for masculine characteristics than feminine characteristics. The person-environment interaction suggests that a masculine environment may place women who are low in masculinity at particular risk for low self-esteem. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.     

Gender Stereotypes in Japanese Television Advertisements

The aim of this study was to reveal gender portrayal types in Japanese television advertisements through content analysis. Five hundred and thirty-one adult main characters were coded for sex, age, ethnic background, credibility, role, place, dress, background, persuasion type, camera work, camera angle, product type, target, and sex of voice-over. Five types were found by performing quick cluster analysis: beautiful and wise housewives, young ladies attracting people's attention, young celebrities, middle- and old-aged people enjoying private time, and middle-aged worker bee. The first three were mainly women and the latter two were mainly men. The results indicate that in Japanese television advertisements men and women are portrayed differently, and the differences correspond with traditional gender stereotypes.     

Gender Representation in Television Commercials: Updating an Update

Sex Roles - We replicated the studies of O'Donnell and O'Donnell (1978) and Lovdal (1989) to analyze trends in gender representation in television commercials. A total of 757 commercials in...     

Gender Representation in Philippine Television Advertisements

This study analyzed 254 unduplicated primetime Philippine television advertisements from 2010 for differences in gender representation. Two coders independently coded the entire sample and achieved an intercoder reliability of greater than .700 for each reported variable. The findings are based on chi-square analyses and indicate a high prevalence of gender differences and stereotypes in Philippine television advertisements. For example, more males were shown in the workplace (17.9 % vs. 7.4 %), whereas more females were shown at home (45.9 % vs. 24.5 %); males were generally fully clothed (88.7 % vs. 44.6 %), whereas females were often suggestively dressed (52.7 % vs. 6.6 %); more males than females delivered voiceovers (46.1 % vs. 35.0 %); and product categories were stereotypically associated with gender. The only exception to these traditional, stereotypical gender portrayals was the predominance of female primary characters in television advertisements (58.3 % vs. 41.7 %). Overall, such stereotypical portrayals do not accurately reflect Philippine society, which is considered to be one of the most egalitarian Asian societies with regard to gender. By analyzing Philippine television advertisements, this study intends to close a gap in the still under-researched area of gender representation in developing countries, which could provide a more complete picture of this topic from an international perspective. The similarities and differences between this research and previous studies on this topic in developing and developed countries are examined. The possible effects of such representation on audiences are discussed based on social cognitive theory and cultivation theory.     

Gender Stereotypes in Portuguese Television Advertisements

This study examined the portrayal of men andwomen in a sample of Portuguese television commercials,attempting to replicate and extend past investigationsdone in America, Australia, Britain, and Italy. The aim was to update Portuguese research andto compare findings across cultures. Three hundred andfour evening commercials were content analyzed by tworaters, one male and the other female, to check reliability. The attributes of each of theircentral figures were classified into 11 categories:gender, mode of presentation, credibility, role,location, age, argument, reward type, product type,background, and end comment. Strong evidence of differencesin the presentation of male and female characteristicswas obtained. The implications of results for thedevelopment and maintenance of gender roles arediscussed.     

Gender Stereotypes in Spanish Television Commercials

The objective of the present study was an analysis of gender stereotypes in television advertisements in Spain. For this purpose the content analysis method was used to analyze 400 advertisements broadcast during prime time over the three national television channels with the largest audience. A series of variables common to similar investigations were coded in order to allow comparisons with other countries. The data show significant gender differences for all variables. Comparison of results with those of other researchers shows that television advertising in Spain reveals gender stereotypes very similar to those found in advertising from countries with a geographic or cultural proximity.     

Gender Roles in the Arab World: Development and Psychometric Properties of the Arab Adolescents Gender Roles Attitude Scale

Scant research has been conducted on gender in the Arab world; one explanation is due to a lack of Arabic measures on gender-related issues. To advance scientific work on gender in the Arab world, we developed the Arab Adolescents Gender Roles Attitude Scale (AAGRAS), the first known reliable and valid Arabic measure of gender-role attitudes. To develop this measure, we conducted two studies based on data collected from 776 high school students 15–19 years-old from the state of Qatar. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis produced 12 items divided equally into two subscales. One subscale assesses traditional gender-role attitudes, whereas the other measures egalitarian gender-role attitudes. Our findings indicate that young men are more likely to resist gender equality than young women are. Moreover, those who hold traditional attitudes are more likely to disapprove of women occupying positions of authority. The AAGRAS is a useful assessment tool that policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and educators can use to study gender-role attitudes in the Arab world and to develop educational and intervention programs that encourage adolescents to identify, confront, and avoid prejudice and discrimination against women and ultimately adopt more egalitarian gender roles.