Content Analysis of Television Drama Programs

Three seasons of television characters: A demographic analysis

“…Studies in the early 1950s by Smythe and Head reported up to twice as many men as women. 6 Levinson, Long and Simon, and McArthur and Resko all documented the disproportionate quantity of males on television, and Gerbner et al recently reported that women comprise less than one fourth (23%) of all major characters. 7 Female roles have had a more limited scope than male roles; Levinson and Long and Simon reported that the status of women was primarily defined in terms of their relationships to males.…”

Feminism, femininity, and the television series: A content analysis

“…7 In 1952, Head found that 68% of all major characters were males. 8 More recent studies, by Gerbner 9 and Tedesco, 10 cited figures of 75% and 72% respectively. Tedesco further noted the relative overrepresentation of males in serious roles.…”

Breaking the Fourth Wall and Sex Role Stereotypes: An Examination of the 2006–2007 Prime-Time Season

“…Historically, prime-time television has featured more male than female characters. Studies conducted as early as the 1950s found that females accounted for approximately one-third of all characters (Head 1954). Subsequent studies of portrayals in the 1970s (Signorielli 1982;Tedesco 1974) through the 1980s (Davis 1990) found the ratios of female to male characters remained remarkably stable.…”