“How Will You be Remembered after You Die?” Gender Discrimination after Death Twenty Years Later

Abstract

Obituaries in four major metropolitan newspapers (the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, and the New York Times) are examined for gender differences and compared to a study conducted over twenty years ago by Kastenbaum, Peyton, and Kastenbaum. Not unlike the original study, men receive significantly more obituaries than women in each of the four papers, their obituaries are longer (except for the Miami Herald), and they are accompanied by significantly more photographs (except for the Miami Herald). The greatest evidence of bias is found in the New York Times, where men receive 7.69 times (4.02 times in the original study) as many obituaries as women, even when controlling for more male deaths in New York City. Average ages at death suggest a possible cohort effect. Period effects, gender effects of obituary editors, and decision-making rules are discussed. The results are explained within the context of continued gender discrimination in the workplace and the home.

Celebrities’ Memorial Afterlives: Obituaries, Tributes, and Posthumous Gossip in the Romanian Media Deathscape

“…In an original study, Robert Kastenbaum, Peyton, & Kastenbaum (1977) found a 4–1 ratio in the obituaries published in two main American newspapers, The Boston Globe and The New York Times (although the same study discovered a relatively egalitarian distribution of death notices in the same sample). Two decades later, Robin D. Moremen and Cathy Cradduck (1999) found a similar ratio (78% of obituaries for men) after analyzing four major American metropolitan newspapers. Curiously, in The New York Times , the gender bias increased significantly from the original study.…”

'Is' to 'Was'

“…However, prior research has suggested that English Wikipedia articles have systematic biases against women, historic figures, and people from the Global South [6,18,34], a tendency that emulates biases observed in the selection of subjects for obituaries [17,31,37]. If this is true, we expect that posthumous editing activity will show significant differences based on the gender, and birthplace of individuals.…”

“…Editorial staff must make decisions about who to cover, what content to include, and the overall style [38,39]. Scholarship has noted journalistic bias that privileges men [31], cultures that are proximate to the newspaper [17], as well as stylistic differences across different countries [37].…”

Overcoming Ungrievability: Transgender Expectations for Identity after Death

“…Gender bias against women was observed in newspaper obituaries with women receiving fewer obits, shorter obits, and fewer accompanying photographs (Kastenbaum, Peyton, and Kastenbaum, ; Moremen and Cradduck, ). Gender bias in cemeteries was observed in frequent references to women in terms of their familial relationships (“the wife of”) and in the inclusion (or omission) of surnames (Abel, ).…”