Symbolic Reality Bites: Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Modern Film

Abstract

Criticisms of mass media productions often include a discussion of how women and minorities are systematicall y excluded and=or relegated to minor roles, or roles that match traditional stereotypes. These types of portrayals are important factors in the social construction of reality among the general public, and therefore may perpetuate racism and sexism on a larger scale. Using a content analysis of fifty popular films in 1996 the present study explores the demographic composition of the leading actresses and actors. The goal is to gauge the strength of female and minority presence and to provide an assessment of character representations through an analysis of labor force participation , sex-roles of occupation, prestige of occupation, and gender. Findings indicate that although both women and minorities have made some advancement in their film portrayals, compared to earlier studies, they still are under-represented in leading roles in Hollywood, and their portrayals are often consistent with traditional stereotypes.

Content Analysis—A Methodological Primer for Gender Research

“…Research in the arena of sex/gender roles seems to exhibit greater commitment to theoretical grounding than does research in many other areas of content analysis, possibly due to gender research's direct derivation from theories of feminism, Marxism, gender role effects, stereotyping, sexism, body image impacts, and the biological bases of sex differences (e.g., Eschholz et al 2002;Evans and Davies 2000;Harrison and Hefner 2006;Schlenker et al 1998;Smith 1999).…”

“…This often takes the form of an application of theories of message effects. For example, Eschholz et al (2002) invoked theories of cognitive effects of exposure to gender role portrayals, Dietz (1998) referenced Gerbner's cultivation theory of perceptual effects of media images, and Milburn et al (2001) cited past research to back the notion that gender stereotyping can affect self-concept, the evaluation of others, and task performance. Other important media effects theories that have served well as bases for content analyses include social cognitive theory (e.g., Cressman et al 2009), agenda setting and priming (e.g., Balmas and Scheafer 2010), framing (e.g., Pan et al 2010), cultivation (e.g., Cressman et al 2009Martins et al 2009), anduses andgratifications (e.g., Ebersole 2000).…”

“…For example, Evans and Davies (2000) used the seminal work of Bem (1981) on self-report indicators of femininity and masculinity to extract 16 traits as content analysis measures for their study of elementary school texts (e.g., aggressiveness, argumentativeness, affection, passivity). Eschholz et al (2002) also adapted elements from the Bem Sex Role Inventory, as well as the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence et al 1974) to study gender and racial/ethnic roles in contemporary American film. And Lindner (2004), in her analysis of women's images in magazine ads, adapted a set of qualitative criteria from Goffman's classic work on the subtle cues contained within advertising images (Goffman 1979).…”

“…The analysis encompassed all 195 major and featured female characters in the 20 Bond films released through 2005. Similarly, Eschholz et al's (2002) decision to define their population as the top 50 grossing U.S. films for the year of their study (1996) allowed them to execute a full census of a limited but clearly defined population of messages.…”

Perceptions of gender in young consumers of animated films.

“…When males and females are depicted, studies often find that the portrayals tend to be stereotypical and traditional, despite progressive changes in reality. Most researchers agree that media impact children's developing beliefs and values (Eschholz, Bufkin & Long, 2002;Tanner et al, 2003;Towbin et aI., 2003;Smith, 2010). Children learn about morality, social norms, and gender roles from different sources, including media portrayals.…”