Analysis of the representation of women in Ukrainian media content in the conditions of a full-scale war

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of gender imbalance in the Ukrainian media. Despite the fact that the problem has resonance both in social practice and in scientific discourse, after two years of full-scale war, the situation regarding the balance of media content and representation of women remains complicated, has signs of regressive dynamics and requires careful research. The aim of the study is to analyze the peculiarities of the representation of women in the content of Ukrainian national and hyperlocal media in the conditions of a full-scale war. The main method is a comparative analysis of all-Ukrainian national and hyperlocal media’ monitoring data for the first quarter of 2024. Regular media monitoring shows that the domestic media publish materials with signs of sexism and gender stereotypes. Data analysis showed that the monitoring results have certain differences in quantitative and qualitative indicators. During the monitoring period, in national media, women were experts in 17% of materials, heroines – in 22.5%, in hyperlocal media – in 39.5% and 33.5% of materials, respectively. Despite certain differences in the data caused by different research approaches and methodologies, the results of both monitorings indicate a gender imbalance in the domestic media in favor of men, especially in the coverage of the topic of war; the national media landscape is characterized by an indirect reflection of gender inequality existing in society. This requires a thorough study of various aspects of this problem: social, historical, psychological, etc., and is a promising direction for further research.