Sex roles and soap operas: What adolescents learn about single motherhood

Larson, Mary Strom

doi:10.1007/bf01548177

Cited by 45 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Content analyses of soap operas, however, show substantial divergence from real life in a number of aspects; for example, there is an over-representation of professional occupations, divorce, expensive products, serious illness, crimes, and jail (e.g., Buerkel-Rothfuss & Mayes, 1981). A number of studies have documented heavy soap-opera viewing to be related to overestimates of these aspects in the population (e.g., Larson, 1996;Shrum, 1999), in accord with cultivation theory's contention that the constant depiction of certain values, types of people, and themes powerfully influences conceptions of reality. Although thin ideals for women (and, increasingly, muscular ideals for men) are depicted in many television genres in addition to soap operas (e.g., Fouts & Burggraf, 2000;Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986), the "reality" of soap operas makes them uniquely positioned to offer the more complex cultural schemata that appearance and thinness (or muscularity) are vital to success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Television and Adolescent Body Image: The Role of Program Content and Viewing Motivation

Tiggemann¹

2005

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology

150

107

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Television and Adolescent Body Image: The Role of Program Content and Viewing Motivation

Tiggemann¹

2005

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology

150

107

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“…Not only does this depiction distort the reality of women's lives, it also affects how adolescent girls perceive single motherhood. Larson (1996) found that teenage girls who were heavy viewers of soap operas were more likely than lighter viewers to underestimate the relationship between single motherhood and poverty and to overestimate the percentage of single mothers in high-paying jobs.…”

Section: Images Of Welfare Mothersmentioning

confidence: 96%

Media Images of the Poor

Bullock

Wyche

Williams

2001

Journal of Social Issues

205

138

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This article provides a comprehensive overview of research that has examined the content and prevalence of stereotypic media images of the poor. Research examining televised images and print media are reviewed. An analysis of media framing as well as classist, racist, and sexist imagery is provided. Additionally, to assess media depictions of the poor in the wake of welfare reform, 412 newspaper articles about poverty and welfare published during a 3-month period in 1999 were content analyzed. Although most articles were neutral in tone and portrayed the difficulties facing welfare recipients and the poor sympathetically, they did little to contextualize poverty or illuminate its causes. These findings are discussed in terms of their context and political function.The media are omnipresent in our everyday lives. Cable television provides viewers with a growing number of channels to choose from; videotapes provide easy access to films; and the Internet, newspapers, and 24-hour news radio and television programs provide round-the-clock coverage of current events. In their many forms, media have the potential to educate, raise consciousness, and shape public attitudes (Kinder, 1998).

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“…Ward [15] found that primetime network television was replete with traditional scripts, including those showing women being judged for their physical attractiveness and their sexual propriety, and men aggressively pursuing sexual activity to enhance their masculinity. Moreover, evidence of gender role stereotyping, sexist language, and sexualized imagery of women's bodies in music videos [16,17], soap operas [18], and commercials [19] is robust.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%