Messages reinforce sexual stereotypes - study finds media portrays stereotyped sex roles - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Dec, 1997

The six types of media primarily used by teenage girls---television. commercials, films, music videos, magazines, and advertisements-- present very similar and consistent messages and images concerning gender roles, a study by Nancy Signorielli, professor of communication, the University of Delaware, Newark, revealed. These roles direct women and girls to be more concerned with romance and dating, while men are depicted as more concerned with their occupations. However, the media also presents a positive image, in the form of women and girls frequently using intelligence and exerting independence.

The results yielded both encouraging and discouraging messages and images for young women. According to Signorielli, "It is encouraging that both men and women are equally likely to be self-reliant in solving problems and achieving their goals." It can be discouraging, though, that "comparatively, more women than men focus on romance and more men than women focus on work." Specific research findings included:

* In TV programs, male characters were more likely (41%) to be shown working than female ones (28%). In the movies, the differences were more striking: men (60%) were almost twice as likely to be shown on the job as women (35%).

* Men in television programs also were more likely to talk about work than women (52 40%). In the movies, women and men were about equally likely to talk about work (60-58%).

* Women, on the other hand, were more likely than men in both TV shows and movies to be shown talking about romantic relationships: 63% of female characters compared to 49% of males on TV, and 65% of females compared to 38% of males in the movies.

* In teen magazines, 35% of articles focused on dating, while 12% discussed either school or careers. . Women and girls in TV shows (34%) and especially in movies (69%) are shown actively using their intelligence and acting independently to achieve their goals (39% of females in TV shows; 62% in movies).

* TV programs (35%), movies (35%). and teen magazines (28%) also stress women's and girls' self-reliance to solve problems.

* Teen magazine articles include a focus on friendship (28%), as well as other important issues facing young people today, though with less over-all frequency, such as self-confidence (19%); sexual issues (nine percent), including sexually transmitted diseases. contraception, and unintended pregnancy; and drugs and smoking (three percent each).

* In movies, particularly, but also in TV shows and the accompanying commercials, women's and girls' appearance frequently is commented on: 58% of female characters in movies had comments made about their looks, as did 28% in TV shows and 26% of the female models in the accompanying commercials. Men's and boys' appearance is talked about significantly less often: 24% in movies, 10% in TV shows, and seven percent in commercials.

* Of the articles in leading teen girls' magazines, 37% included a focus on appearance, and 50% of the advertisements used an appeal to beauty to sell their products.

* The commercials aimed at female viewers that ran during the TV shows most often watched by teen girls used beauty as a product appeal 56% of the time. By comparison, this is true of three percent of TV commercials aimed at men.