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Published by Megan Mensalvas ([email protected]) on March 15, 2015.
How do Children learn Gender Roles from Television?
Table of Contents
How do Children learn Gender Roles from Television?
Gender Roles Portrayed in Television and Movies
Gender Roles in Disney Princess Movies
Gender Roles in G-Rated Movies
Children Recognize Gender Roles Television
Children are Affected by Gender Roles on Television
A Negative Effect of Gender Role Stereotypes
What can we do to neutralize the effects of gender role portrayals on television?
Conclusion
References
Both of these images are posters of popular children's television shows in 2015. The left image is from
Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and the right image is from Sofia the First.
Based on the two television posters above, could you tell me who is more likely to watch each show? Boys, girls, or both boys and girls?
Yes, isn’t it obvious?!? Boys will watch Ninjago, and girls will watch Sofia
I think mostly boys and girls will watch either show.
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✘ Girls like ninjas and princesses, so they will watch both shows more.
None of the above.
Vote
Results
Poll Maker
The first poll answer would be the most accurate answer of the bunch. Most people can identify which
television shows and movies are more for girls and boys, and children can too! One might ask, “How do
children learn these stereotypes and gender roles?”
Gender roles are values, behaviors, or motives that are considered appropriate for members of a particular
sex than the other, and children learn them based on observations made in the world, so these
observations come from parents, peers, teachers, and even television (Kirsh, 2010; Nathanson et al., 2002;
Shaffer, 2009; & Steyer, 2014).
Televisions are everywhere. They’re in our homes, cars, gyms, and even in our classrooms, so what is the
big deal? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents should limit children’s
entertainment screen time to less than 2 hours per day, but on average, they are watching 7 hours per day
(2005). There are going to be some kind of effects on development with the excess hours spent focusing
on screens. Specifically, television can influence children’s gender role development. Research in this
field has found that television and film portrays stereotypical gender roles, and children can recognize
these stereotypes that consequently influence children’s behavior. Research also pointed out the negative
effect from gender role portrayals on television and how to neutralize their effects on children.
Gender Roles Portrayed in Television and Movies
Currently, the media is filled with gender roles, and from these on-screen portrayals, the characters
portrayed perform gender stereotypical actions that teach children about gender appropriate or
inappropriate actions and traits (see image below), so same-sex characters act as models for boys and girls
(England et al., 2011; Gerdi & Stignorielli, 2013; Hentges & Case, 2013; Nathanson et al, 2002; & Oliver
& Green, 2001; Smith et al., 2010, & Steyer, 2014).
This is an example of children learning from traditional gender roles. Young girls look up to Disney
Princesses, and they learn gender roles like being caring and loving, but they also acquire beliefs like
women relying on men to save the day based on the content of these movies. The content indirectly
teaches girls that women need a man to rely on and be happy in order to have their "happy ever after".
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Gender Roles in Disney Princess Movies
Specifically, in a study conducted by England et al., researchers analyzed movies with Disney princesses
in order to determine the number of times Disney princesses acted in stereotypically feminine or
masculine ways (See Chart 1 Below). The same were counted for their Disney princes (2011). The study
found that Disney Princesses significantly displayed more feminine characteristics than their princes, and
their princes were more masculine than the princesses (See Graphs 1 and 2 below). However, there are a
few limitations with this study. First, the study did not take account of screen time for each character. In a
Disney princess movie, princes tend to have limited screen time. Most of their screen time is them falling
in love with their princess, so that contributes to the fact that princes demonstrated almost equal levels of
feminine and masculine characteristics (See graph 3 below). A different study should compare gender
characteristics of protagonists to determine if main characters are the ones who demonstrate the most
gender stereotypes. Another limitation of the study is the fact they only looked at Disney movies. Disney
movies tend to fall on the traditional gender role portrayal side, so it doesn't truly convey that gender roles
are presented in all forms of television.
Chart 1 (top left) shows the list of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics analyzed in the
England et al. Disney princess study. Graph 1 (top right) displays that Disney Princes demonstrated
more masculine characteristics than their princesses. Graph 2 (bottom left) shows that Disney princesses
demonstrate more feminine characteristics than their princes. Graph 3 (bottom right) combines Graph 1
and 2 and shows that Princesses demonstrated more feminine than masculine characteristics. However,
Disney princes displayed similar levels of masculine and feminine characteristics.
Gender Roles in G-Rated Movies
To further show that gender roles are portrayed in general, another content analysis conducted by Smith et
al., looked at the top-grossing G-rated movies from 1990 to 2005 (2010). This study used content analysis
to see if gender was related to demographics and characteristics. To assess the characteristics,
experimenters would code each character with a +1 or -1 for a specific characteristic. For example, a
character would earn a +1 rating if they demonstrated being smart and a -1 rating if they demonstrated
being dumb. They compared those ratings with the sex of each character and showed the averages of how
females and males demonstrated the trait. For intelligence, females scored .07 and males scored .02,
which shows that females are portrayed as more intelligent because they are closer to +1. (See more
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results below)
This graphic compares some of the traits analyzed in the Smith et al. study.
Results found various traditional gender roles, such as men were more likely to be single, strong and
funny compared to women, and women were more likely to be smarter, more attractive, and be in a
relationship than men (Smith et al., 2010). With movies, children tend to watch them multiple times,
especially if they own a copy at home, so if a child repeatedly watches the stereotyped content, he or she
is more likely to adopt traditional gender roles (Calvert et al, 2009; England et al., 2011; & Kirsh, 2010).
This graphic shows the results from the Smith et. al study. It found that male characters tended to be
portrayed as single and female characters as in a relationship or married (2010).
Other content analysis studies found similar results across different children’s television networks in
children’s television programming and other screen media, so children are soaking up traditional gender
role content all around (Calvert et al, 2009; England et al., 2011; Gerding & Stignorielli, 2013; Hentges &
Case, 2013).
Children Recognize Gender Roles Television
It’s one thing to have gender roles portrayed on the screen, but it’s another thing to have children
recognize and validate that certain content are aimed for boys and girls. In order to learn how the gender
stereotypical content affects gender role development, several studies used experimental methods and
found that children indeed do recognize traditional gender roles (Durkin & Nugent, 1998, & Oliver &
Green, 2001).
For example, Oliver & Green used content analysis in addition to an experimental study where 176
children watched a clip from Beauty and the Beast and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (see video clips
below). The study looked at children from a mid-Atlantic daycare ranging in ages 3 to 9 and asked them,
“who would most likely like this movie?” Their choices were “mostly boys”, “mostly girls”, or “both
girls and boys would like the movie equally the same” (2001). If a child stereotyped a clip as “mostly
boys” or “mostly girls” liked a video, the experimenter followed up with asking the child why he or she
thought the video was mostly for boys or girls. The study also used two different researchers to determine
if a child’s reasoning was considered a gender stereotypical belief (2001).
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The feminine video to the left is from Beauty and the Beast while the masculine video on the right is from
Ninja Turtles.
The study found that the children labeled Beauty and the Beast as a movie for both boys and girls equally,
and labeled Ninja Turtles as a movie mostly for boys (See graphs 4 and 5 below). Even though Beauty
and the Beast was labeled a movie for boys and girls, children were more likely to associate it with
females than males when they did associate it to one gender. The top three reasons why participants
labeled Beauty and the Beast as more appealing to girls was because the main character was a girl, it was
perceived as common knowledge, and it was a love story. The reasons why Ninja Turtles was labeled as a
boys movie was because there was fighting and violence, it was perceived as common knowledge, and it
had turtle characters (Oliver & Green, 2001). These results suggest that young boys and girls stereotype
movies for a specific gender because they acquired expectations for each gender (e.g., love stories are for
girls and fighting is for boys) and were able generalize the clips based off those expectations.
These are the results from the England et al. study in 2002. They are the frequencies of children's
responses who perceived that the clip was more appealing to boys, girls, or both genders.
One limitation of this study was that they used clips of videos that many children have been exposed to in
the past. Many children watch Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, so if a young boy actually liked
the movie from watching it in the past, he will probably not stereotype it as mostly girls liking the video,
despite all the feminine features. In order to prevent that bias, the study should have used video clips from
unknown sources and have children stereotype based solely on perceived gender roles.
Children are Affected by Gender Roles on Television
Surprisingly, not too many studies have looked at how gender roles portrayed on the screen directly affect
children, but in studies that have, they found that gender roles do influence children’s behavior (Cobb et
al., 1982; Coyne et al., 2014; & Nathanson, 2002).
In the study conducted by Cobb et al., the experimenters created videos that have Sesame Street Muppets
talking about a group of gender-neutral toys (see chart below for list of toys). There were three video
conditions. The female video video showed the Muppets saying that the toys were for girls because they
could care for them or look at themselves with them, and in the male video, the Muppets described the
toys as better for boys because they could punch them or race them. The gender-neutral video had the
Muppets saying that the toys were for both boys and girls. 18 girls and 18 boys from racially integrated
daycares in California were randomly assigned to either a female, male or neutral video group until 6
boys and 6 girls were in each group. After a child viewed the video, experimenters allowed the child to
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play with a variety of toys. Toys discussed in the video (test toys) were mixed in with toys not discussed
in the video (comparison toys). Experimenters tracked which toys each child played with and how long
they played with that particular toy (1982).
Gender-neutral toys used in the Cobb et al., 1982 study. The test toys were the toys discussed in the
videos, and the comparison toys were not discussed in the videos.
The study found that the videos did influence the children’s choice selection (See table below). In the
female video group, girls spent more time with the test toys, and boys spent more time with the
comparison toys. In the male video group, boys spent more time with the test toys, and girls spent more
time with the comparison toys. In the gender-neutral group, boys and girls spent nearly the same amount
of time with the test toys (Cobb et al., 1982). This study reveals that kids do pick up on the gender content
portrayed in videos, and their behaviors and beliefs are directly affected by them. A strength of this study
is that it includes a racially diverse sample, and it strongly supports that television directly affects
children's behaviors.
The table above shows the average number of minutes boys and girls played with the test and
comparison toys (Cobb et al., 1982).
A Negative Effect of Gender Role Stereotypes
The problem with television and movies is they portray traditional stereotypes a majority of the time.
They show men and women in these specific ways, so children learn to behave, feel, and develop
expectations accordingly. These types of media do not equally show non-traditional gender roles, so this
will be a problem for children because there are rarely any role models on screen that could teach them
that it’s okay to believe in or do different things outside traditional gender roles (England et al., 2011;
Gerding & Stignorielli, 2013; Hentges & Case, 2013; Oliver & Green, 2001; & Steyer, 2014). For
example, the media could portray more men being nurturing and holding stereotypically feminine jobs
like nursing, or it could show women displaying stereotypically masculine traits like being physically
strong or even holding jobs as scientists.
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Not allowing a child of either gender to be whatever he or she wants to be could hurt society because it
creates cognitive dissonance, which is the discomfort when a person believes something about his or
herself but does something against that belief (see video below). Children who don’t follow the traditional
gender role stereotypes tend to feel this way, so in order to prevent this, the media should show a child all
the opportunities he or she can become in the future, so the child can make the most of his or her abilities
and talents (England et al., 2011; Gerding & Stignorielli, 2013; Hentges & Case, 2013; & Steyer, 2014).
The video above depicts a child facing cognitive dissonance because his father told him he could not be a
Single Lady because he was a boy.
What can we do to neutralize the effects of gender role portrayals
on television?
There are a few ways society can neutralize the effect of gender roles shown in television. As stated in the
previous section, the first way society can help is by showing more non-traditional gender roles. We want
to show our children every opportunity of what they could be in the future, so if the media includes
non-stereotypical models (see video below), children will learn that it is okay to be whatever they want to
be. It could also limit the categorization of specific behaviors, beliefs, and feelings to just males or
females (Calvert et al., 2009 & Steyer, 2014).
The non-traditional gender role video above is from the PBS show, SciGirls. It shows girls engaging in
the traditionally male dominated science field.
A second strategy to combat the effects of gender-stereotyped media that the Nathanson et al. study
focused on was talking with children about stereotyped content, which is known as active mediation
(2002). Nathanson et al. set up an experiment with 83 children ranging from Kindergarten to sixth grade.
They were separated into a no active mediation, active mediation, or non-viewing experimental group.
Children in the active mediation group watched a clip from a television show with girls acting in a
stereotypically feminine way (e.g. being scared of bugs and liking makeup). An experimenter was in the
room to tell the children that those stereotypes are not true of all girls. In the no active mediation group,
they watched the same clip, but the experimenter didn’t say anything about the content. The non-viewing
group did not watch the clip or received any experimenter input. Researchers asked the children, “How
many girls in real life are afraid of bugs like the girls in the TV show?” Children could choose the
following answers: “no girls”, “some girls”, and “all girls”. These responses were coded (see graph
below).
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The study found that 82% of those in the active mediation group believed that either “some girls” or “no
girls” acted like the girls in the video, whereas 61% of those in the no-mediation believed the same thing.
Active mediation significantly reduced the number of children believing that the show and its gender role
stereotypes were representative of reality (2002).
These are the results of the manipulation in the Nathanson et al. study. A child who perceived the gender
stereotypes in the video clip as a likely representation of reality was coded as a higher score. Because the
mediation group scored lower, they are less likely to believe in the gender stereotypes portrayed, so the
active mediation did reduce gender-stereotyping when compared to the no mediation group.
Parents can do active mediation by directing a child’s attention to gender role violations on television. For
example, if a little girl sees a female character as a scientist or saving the day, then the adult should point
it out in order to teach the girl that it is okay for females to like science and be brave, or if a boy on
television is made fun of for crying, parents should tell their son that it is okay to show emotions and cry.
That way, the child learns that certain behaviors aren’t limited to one gender. The goal is to decrease
attractiveness of their favorite stereotyped characters by intervening because children tend to act like
characters they favor (2002).
Not every parent is going to watch what his or her child is watching, so some type of reinforcement
(reward or correction) of gender roles throughout a child’s daily life will also be very helpful. If a child
says that they learned a particular gender role, the parent should teach a child that the media is not an
accurate portrayal of reality. Role models on the screen should not limit the child, so by being
open-minded and intervening when gender roles present themselves, children will learn that they could do
and be whatever he or she chooses to be.
Allow children to be who they want to be. This image summarizes the ways to combat traditional gender
stereotypes shown on the television.
Conclusion
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Televisions are everywhere, and there's nowhere to hide from them. They are portraying traditional
gender role stereotypes much more than non-traditional ones, so children are going to develop traditional
gender roles through observation and personal experiences because they are everywhere. Children can
point them out, and they are even affected by them.
If society doesn’t intervene, children can feel limited to the gender roles portrayed in the media. However,
there are ways to combat the gender roles presented on the screen, such as showing more non-traditional
gender roles on the screen or actively mediating against the gender roles presented.
To further investigate the effects of screen media on gender role development, there should also be more
studies demonstrating how gender roles presented on television could directly influence children’s
behaviors and actions since the literature is limited. There should also be more studies focusing on
cognitive dissonance due to gender roles because none of the studies cited in this article directly asked
children or adults how creating gender roles affected them. These studies could give society a better idea
of how television could promote traditional and non-traditional gender roles to show children every
opportunity of what they could think, feel, and be in the future.
References
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2005). Media and children. Retrieved from
https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/pages/media-and-children.aspx
Calvert, S. L., Kotler, J. A., Zehnder, S. M., & Shockey, E. M. (2003). Gender stereotyping in children's
reports about educational and informational television programs. Media Psychology, 5(2), 139-162.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0502_2
Cobb, N. J., Stevens-Long, J., & Goldstein, S. (1982). The influence of televised models on toy
preference in children. Sex Roles, 8(10), 1075-1080. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00291001
Coyne, S. M., Linder, J. R., Rasmussen, E. E., Nelson, D. A., & Collier, K. M. (2014). It’s a bird! It’s a
plane! It’s a gender stereotype!: Longitudinal associations between superhero viewing and gender
stereotyped play. Sex Roles, 70(9-10), 416-430. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0374-8
Durkin, K., & Nugent, B. (1998). Kindergarten children's gender-role expectations for television actors.
Sex Roles, 38(5-6), 387-402. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018705805012
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-Meek, M. A. (2011). Gender role portrayal and the disney
princesses. Sex Roles, 64(7-8), 555-567. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-9930-7
Gerding, A., & Signorielli, N. (2014). Gender roles in tween television programming: A content analysis
of two genres. Sex Roles, 70(1-2), 43-56. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0330-z
Hentges, B., & Case, K. (2013). Gender representations on disney channel, cartoon network, and
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nickelodeon broadcasts in the united states. Journal of Children and Media, 7(3), 319-333.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2012.729150
Kirsh, S. J. (2010). Media and youth: A developmental perspective Wiley-Blackwell.
Nathanson, A. I., Wilson, B. J., McGee, J., & Sebastian, M. (2002). Counteracting the effects of female
stereotypes on television via active mediation. Journal of Communication, 52(4), 922-937.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02581.x
Oliver, M. B., & Green, S. (2001). Development of gender differences in children's responses to animated
entertainment. Sex Roles, 45(1-2), 67-88. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013012401836
Shaffer, D. R. (2009). Social and personality development (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Smith, S. L., Pieper, K. M., Granados, A., & Choueiti, M. (2010). Assessing gender-related portrayals in
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doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9736-z
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