ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH

Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802 Gender Portrayal in Children's Advertising

Judy Cohen, Rider University [to cite]:

Judy Cohen (2000) ,"Gender Portrayal in Children's Advertising", in GCB - Gender and Consumer Behavior Volume 5, eds. Cele

Otnes, Urbana, IL : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 47-68.

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http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/15675/gender/v05/GCB-05

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4?

Gender Portrayal in Children's Advertising

Judy Cohen, Rider University

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses a study of genderportrayal in children's adve rt is tngAdvertisement s were analyzed for thenttmb er af mal es rmd femal es,voiceovers and concluding voice. AIIcharucterist ics and behoviors wererecorded for 5 36 gendered charactersfrom 152 advertisernents simed towordschildren. A survey was done todetermtne whether respande,nts felt,according to the U. S. population ingmeral, each behavior/clwractertsticwas considered to be usually male,usaallyfemole, or gender neatrsl.Results showed that males predominateandvaicewers tend to be-male (evenforneutral products). With respect tobehav io n/choract erist tcs po rt rry ed,advertisers tend tofollow genderstereotypes. Afew uceptions to thisrule are noted.

Research suggests that children donotice how males and females areportr,gyed sn childrert's teleri'isisnprogramming (Thompson and ZerbinosIW7), andre fudlu€rcedby theseportrayals. This paper discusses an in-depth study ofgender portrayal'inadvertisements aimed towards children.It is dividsdinto fourparts: The fnstsection consists of a literature review,inctuding a discussion of ttre variables

that have been cxamined in prwiousstudies and the findings from thosestudies. The second section discussesthe difficulty in developing hypothesesregarding gsnder portrayal inadvertising. The third section describesan enrpiriual study. Firmliy, conclusionsare drawn and suggestions for futureresearch are given.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Severat strdies have beEn done ongender portrayal in children'sadvertising. While these studies rnake avaluable contribution to the literature,they exmrine relatively few variablss.These variables include: frequencywdl or dominance'of males versusfemales present (Doolittle and Peppert97 5; Feldstein and Fstfuein 1982;Furnham, Abramsky, and Guner 1997;MacHin "and Kolbe 1984; Moncrief 'ald

Landry 19&2;Ogletree et. al.,1990;Schwrtz ad fvlrkham 1985; Smith1994; Streicher l97\; level ofaggressi'on'ofmales versus females(Macklin and Kolbe 1984; Verna 1975:Welc,tr et. aI., t 9'19\ activqrcss versuspassiveness (Feldstein and FeldsteinI9{2; Fwme*l t994; Smitht9g4; Verna1975; Welch et. al.,1979); realism{Permell .199a); appetrarce-enhancement messages (Ogletree et. al.1990) gerder of voice-overs (Barcus1977; Fumham, Abramsky and Guntert997; Macklin and Kolbe 1'984; Ogletree

iil,, r, i ,

48

et. a|.1990; Smith l99{;streicher t974:Verna 1975; Welch et. al.1979); audio-track lou&ress (Verna t97S;Welch et.al. 1979); cinematic techniques (Welchet. al. 1979);.message content (.Rajeckiet. al. 1993); and indoor versus outdoorsettings (Smith 1994). Theresults ofthese studies indicate: males dominate.advertisements aimed towards children(although Furnham, Abramsky andGuner(1997) found that fernalesdominate), in terms of characters shown'in'the advertisements,-voice"overs, andauthority; advertisements aimed towardsboys use rrore dynamic cfuFmatictechniques than advertisements aimedtowards girls; advertisements with boycharacters tend to have practicalmessages while advertisements with girlcharacters tended to have emotionalmes$ages; and males are portrayeddifferently than females. Specificdifferences in gender portrayal include;males are more likely to be portrayedengaging in physical activity; males aremore likely to be aggressive; females arernore likely to be in ads for appearanceenhancemenq females are portrayed asbeing more passive; and girls-areportrayed as being more cooperativewhile boys were' more conrpetitive:

In order to further our understanding ofgender portrayal in children'sadvertising, more in-depth analysis isneeded. The variables that have beenstudied are important, but inconrpleteindicators of how characters areportrayed. For example, the ratio ofmales versus females shown inadvertisements is, in itself,-aninadequate measure in terms of themessage it gives to the audience. Whileone message may be that females areunimportant, this is not necessarily thecase. Consider a hypotheticaladvertisement that shows hundreds of

'males and ordy"one female. But'perhapsthe female happens to be the queen bee.Shs holds all puweq ard allthe rnalesare simply her drones. Obviously, it is'also'important to" analyze-more specificathibutes of the characters.

The addition of variables such as'aggression are-important.in-giving amore complete understanding of howgendered-characters are acfually benrgportrayed. But gendered charactersengage in many'behaviors ottrer tfian -thefewthat have been studied. Kolbe(1983) rnade an admirable attempt todelve deeper into the charactersthemselves, using Bem's sex-roleinventory in his analysis of dominantcharacters. But variables such as"independent, strong personality, hasleadership abilities, and gentle" can bedifficult to measure objectively.

The present study focused on theportrayal of all males and females shownin children's advertisements in terms ofeach character's behaviors and salientcharacteristics. The behavior andcharacteristics reflected a mixane ofgender roles (e.g., it is a "male" job totake' out'the. trash) and gender identity(e.g. females are concerned withbeauty). Fischer and Arnould (1994)discuss the importance of notconfounding the constructs of genderroles and gender identity. The behaviorsand characteristics in this analysis werenot classified according to role versusidentity, because both gender rbles andgender identity can be portrayed in astereotypicalmrmer.

49

COMPETING HYPOTI{ESES

Ideally, one should have certainexpectations regarding the outcome of astudy. However, hypotheses are difficultto develop regarding gender portrayal inchildren's advertisements because theexpected outcome depends on whetheradvertisers choose the ethical alternativeor the strategic alternative. The ethicalalternative would follow the universalmoral principle ofjustice, i.e., portraymales and females the same. Theunderlying rationale for this alternativeis that children are inlluenced by thegender portrayals they see in variousmedia @avidson" Yasuna andTower1,979; Otsryant, Shirley andCorder-Bolz 1978; Scott and Feldman-Summers 1979; Signorielli 1993;Wi11iams1986.) In addition, advertisersmay choose the egalitarian route to try toaccommodate activists (e. g. Kilbourne1993) who demand equal portrayal ofmales and females in advertising.

On the other hand, advertisers also wantto be effective. Research shows thatchildren prefer toys that are typical oftheir own gender (Martin and Little1990;Stangor and Rublel 987). Advertisersrisk cognitive dissonance in viewers ifthey see an advertisement that showsgirls playing with male-stereotypicaltoys, and vice-versa. Kropp andHalverson (1983) found that preschoolchildren preferred stories with charactersengaged in sex-appropriate behaviorover sex-inappropriate behavior. Onecan hypothesize. that usingnonstereotypical gender portrayals couldmake children feel negative towards anadvertisement. On an affective level, theadvertisement might be less effective.

Nonstereotypical gender portrayal inadvertisements may conflict withm€ssages children have receivedregarding gender roles and genderidentity from other sources, includingfamily and school. Martin (1990) foundthat, among college sfudents, cross-gender behavior was more accepted ingirls ("tomboys") than boys ("sissies").If children adop this auitude, they mayexperience cognitive dissonance if theysee ads with boys portrayed instereotypical female roles. Anothermeasure of advertising effectiveness isrecall. Carter and Newbern (1984) foundchildren were less successful at aidedrecall of pictures showing females innontraditional roles than of pictures offemales in traditional roles.

An interesting recent example of theconflicting forces of the strategic versusethical decision is seen in the exampleof Toys "R'o LJs, which decided to dividesome of its stores into boys' and girls'sections (Bannon 2000). The decisionwas strategic, based on interviews with10,000 customers. However, more thana dozen organnations have protested themove on egalitarian grounds. Toys "R"

Us has succumbed to this pressure.

While no formal hypotheses aredeveloped for this paper, one mightexpect advertisers to choose thestrategically safe altemative becausetheir primary motivation is profit, notsocietal change. Still, the decision maynot be easy; as advertisers may incur theire of groups who wish to change genderstereotyping in society.

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METHODOLOGY

Sample

A random sample of children'sprogramming on Safurday mornings wasvideotaped during July and December of1992 intwo regions (Mid-Atlantic andSoutheastern) of the United States. Itwas felt that both sufilmer and theChristmas season were important. TheChristmas season is short and focuses ontoy advertising. But children are likelyto pay rapt attention to advertisements tohelp them decide what presents theywant. Therefore, one Saturday from thisseason was included. The three majorU. S. broadcast stations, plusNickelodeon were included.Advertisements were considered asaimed for children based on thefollowing criteria: (l) the product wasone that children would use (e.g., toys;food). Products such as aluminumsiding for homes were thereforeexcluded; and (2) the advertisementsaddressed children directly. Forexample, if a voice-over offers a promisesuch as "your children will enjoy hoursof fun with this product" the ad wasconsidered to be aimed towards adults,One hundred and fifu twoadvertisements, which included 536gendered characters, were analyzed.Following the methodolory of Smith. (1994), each advertisement was counted;just once, regardless of number of'repetitions.

Coding and Reliability

The analysis of detailedbehaviorVcharacteristics brings with itthe possibility of subjective

categorization. For example, acommendable attempt by Kolbe (1983)to categorize characters in children'stelevision commercials using Bem's sexrole inventory resulted in a meancorrelation for the 20 scale items of .35.

In order to try to maximize objectivity inclassifuing the characters shown, thecurrent study follows the methodologyused by Rachlin and Vogt (1974).Characters were categorized accordingto specific behaviors (e.g., working,gving advice, etc.); level of activity(stationary; some movement (e.g.walking); and rapid movem€nt, (e.g.runing); type of play (athletic versusimaginative and solitary versus social);salient characteristics (e. g. scared,concern with personal appearance,physical aggession, etc.) and roles ofadults. There was no predetermined listof behaviors and salient characteristics,rather, the list was generated by viewingthe advertisements themselves. Genderof voice-overs and gender of concludingvoice also examined.

This study examined the portrayal of all(human and nonhuman) characters(except those in crowd scenes) withidentifiable genders. The decision wasmade to classiff all characters because itwas felt that subordinate characters alsoserve as role models for children; thefact that they are subordinate itself sendsa message. However, there was a trade-offbetween in-depth of analysis andtesting for reliability. Kolbe used sixjudges to analyze dominant charactersand classify them into twenty categories.In contrast, in this study, theclassification of all behaviors and salientcharacteristics (a total of 89 categoriesplus 30 categories for adult roles) for allcharacters resulted in a prolongedamount of time needed to thoroughly

r5 1

analyze each commercial. Due to theinordinate amount of time and effortwhich was required, the author analyzedall advertisements; a second researcher(a professor of early childhoodeducation) arralyzedall of theadvertisements on one videotape, inorder to determine reliability. Thevideotape included 27 advertisementswith 9l characters. Reliability wasmeasured by the number of categoriesthat both judges agreed on, divided byall categories the first researcher hadused plus all the categories the secondresearcher had used, minus overlappingcategories. The result was an average of81.3 per cent agreement. Differencestended to be due to the overwhelmingnature of the task rather thandisagreements over whether a characterexhibited a certain behavior or attribute.

In order to determine whether thebehaviors/characteristics identifi ed werestereotypically male, female, or gender-neutral, a methodology was used thatwas similar to that employed bySchwartz and Markham (1985) whodetermined the sex stereotyping ofdifferent toys. In the current study, atelephone survey was administered to aprobability sample of seventy adults in acommunity in the Mid-Atlantic UnitedStates. The respondents were given alist of all identified behaviors and salientcharacteristics. Each respondent wasasked whether, according to most peoplein this.cotmtry, each behavior or salientcharagteristic was most likely to beexhibited by males, by females, or byboth about equally.

Products shown in the advertisementswere also coded according to gender.stereotype. Schwartz and Markham's(1985) results were used. Schwartz andMarkham's study only included toys. In

the present study, products such as foodwere considered neutral.

RESULTS

Frequency of Appaarance

Table I shows the distribution ofcharacters by gender and age. Almosttwice as many males as females areshown. The most "invisible" category iswome& comprising only 20 percent ofadults. The preponderance of malescould be due to the gender ofthe targetmarket for the products shown.Therefore, a separate analysis was donenumber of males and females shown inads for neutral products (rated 4.0).(Fiffry-three percent of the products werein this category.) The results arevirtually the same. Perhaps this isbecause, Martin (1990) found, UnitedStates societal norms dictate that it isacceptable for girls to be tomboys but itis not acceptable for boys to be "sissies."

If advertisers associate boys with aneutral product, that product can be usedby girls. But if a product is associatedwith girls, the message is that it is onlyfor girls - and the advertiser loses half ofthe potential market for that product.

Table 2 shows the distribution ofcharacters by gender and race. Thedistribution of males and femalesfollows the same pattem for whites asdescribed above, probably because thesample as a whole is overwhelminglywhite. The preponderance of whites iseven stronger among adults; 97 percentare white. The gender of black childrenwho comprised 15 percent of all thechildren shown, follows the same patternas for white children. Only three percent

52

of adults are black, and they are allmale. There are only a few Asians,Hispanics, and Inuit. All are children.

Voice-overs and Concluding Voice

Table 3 shows the gender of voice-oversand concluding voice. Voice-overs andconcluding voice are male in aboutthree-fourths of the ads. It was felt thatthis would not be surprising if theproducts were aimed towards males. Forthis analysis, neutral products wereconsidered those categorized exactly as4.0. Female oriented products wereconsidered those rated 5 or above; maleoriented products were considered thoserated3 or below ( thus designated asmoderately or strongly sex-typed bySchwartz and Markham, 1985). Inadvertisements for neutral products,advertisers had the greatest opportunityto choose the gender of the voice-overand concluding voice. However, 83percent ofthe voice,overs and 60percent ofthe concluding voices aremale. In the male-stereotyped products,it is not surprising to find that 91 percentof the voice-overs and concluding voicesare male. For female-stereotypedproducts, however, almost half (45percent) ofthe voice-overs andconcluding voices are male. Perhapsadvertisers considered male voice-oversmore appealing and/or credible, whether;the target audience was boys or girls.:

Level of activity was analyzed separatelyfor children and adults, because onemight expect a higher level of activityfor children in general. Activity was

classified into one of three categories:stationary, some movement, and rapidmovement. There was no difference inactivity level for boys and girls(stationary: boys: I 44; girls:87; somemovement: boys:60; girls:35; rapidmovement: boys:32, girls:l4; chi-square : .86839; p.6a8). For adults,however, men are portrayed as engagingin higher levels of activity than women(stationary: men:48; women:22; somemovement: men:30; women:6; rapidmovement: men:38; women:l ; chi-square : 13.37 ; p.00125).

Portrayal ofMales and FemaleB ehaviorVCharacteristic s

Table 4 shows the behaviors andcharacteristics that are displayed by thecharacters in the advertisements. Theaverage score and standard deviation forsex stereotyping ofeach behavior orcharacteristic is given, as determined bythe survey. Whether each behavior issignificantly different than neutral inindicated. Most of the behaviors andcharacteristics were significantlydifferent from neutral. Generally, themore stereotypical the behavior, thelower the standard deviation, indicatingmore agreement among respondents.

Summary scores for the portrayal of thecharacters in the advertisements werecomputed in a manner similar to thatused by Schwartz and Markham (1985).A direct application of the Schwartz andldarkfiam scoring would be as follows:the difference betw'een the number offemales minus the number of malesportrayed in each behavior/characteristiccategory would be divided by the totalnumber of males plus the total numberof females shown in that category.

53

Thus, a "+1" would indicate onlyfemales were shown exhibiting thatbehavior/characteristic; o "- 1 " wouldindicate only males were shown.However, it was felt that due to thedominance of male characters to femalecharacters, summary scores might tendtowards male portrayals in eachcategory, simply due to theiroverrepresentation in general. Sincethere were approximately half thenumber of females shown compared tomales, one would expect that in eachcategory, if males and females wereportrayed the same, there would be halfas many females as males. Therefore,the total number of females wasweighted as double their absolutenumber in both the numerator anddenominator.

The correlation between respondentratings for each behavior/characteristicand the summary scores are not stronglycorrelated (r.30a). However, 54 of 77(70 percent) behaviors/characteristicsthat are gender stereotyped do conformto that stereotypes.

The data in Table 4 are organized asfollows. First each behavior andcharacteristic is organized as "usually

male,o'"neutral," or "usually female" (asdetermined by the results of the survey).Within each of those categories, thosebehaviors/characteristics are groupedaccording to how they are portrayed inthe advertisements. For "usually malebehaviqqrs" and "usually malecharacteristics," the portrayals aregrouped according to "only malesshovm'l"both males and femalesshown":and "only females shown."Within the "both males and femalesshown" category, the data are organizedaccording to dominance of each gender,starting with mostly males to more equal

portrayal of males and females andending with mostly females. Thisorganization is reverse under the"usually female behaviors" section. Theresults are too numerous to discuss everydetail; highlights are next examined.

The behaviors designated as usuallymales, with only males shown, includeseveral behaviors refl ectinginterpersonal interactions. Theseinclude threatening otlers, tauntingothers, being noisy while observingothers, contradicting another person, andchastising others. These can all beconsidered negative types ofinteractions. Domestic types ofbehaviors porhayed only by malesinclude taking out the trash and doinghousehold chores in a mocking way.The usually male behaviors that areportrayed both by males and femalesinclude several behaviors dealing withindependence, including working at ajob, making decisions, and problem-solving. However, these are stronglydominated by males. One behavior thatmay be associated with independence,riding a motorcycle, has equalrepresentation of males and females.Another behavior associated withindependence, portrayed only byfemales, is supervising others. Twousually male behaviors that wereportrayed only by females deal withnegative interpersonal interactions.These were teasing others and stealing.

Two characteristics designated asusually male, and portrayed only bymales, also relate to negativeinterpersonal interactions, includingrejecting affection and acting tricky.Other characteristics portrayed only bymales deal with hostility, i.e., beinganry and physical aggression against anobject. The other two male

Ffltl

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characteristics portrayed only by malesare closely related - being a 'know-it-

all' and being self-confident. Theformer has a negative connotation,thouglg while the latter relates more toindependence or autonomy.

While both males and females are shownexhibiting several ottrer characteristicsthat can be considered negative types ofinterpersonal interactions, males aremore heavily represented. Thesecharacteristics include physicalaggression against people, being noisy,and acting rude. Not surprisingly,mainly males are shown portraying themacho characteristic of acting tough.Males are consistently shown beingwinners.

Among neutral behaviors, more malesthan females are shov,'n playing alone.Although respondents perceived this as aneutral activity, in fact solitary play ismore likely among boys than girls. Forusually female behaviors, only femalesare shown in a number of domesticactivities, including sewing bathing ababy, doing laundry, and bathing a pet.Females are shown more often thanmales engaging in several behaviorsrefl ecting positive interpersonalinteractions, including nurturing others,serving or offering food, and playingwith others. However, more males thanfemales are shown listening to others.Two behaviors portrayed only by malesrefl ect positive interpersonalinteractions, i.e., helping others andcheering others. Two domesticbehaviors that are portrayed mainly oronly by males include housecleaning andcooking/preparing food. It should benoted that the food preparation wasgenerally nothing more elaborate thanputting an Eggo waflle in a toaster.

One usually female characteristic that isportrayed only by females is the desire tobe popular with the opposite sex. Thisreflects the importance of positiveinterpersonal relationships for females.Related to this characteristic, andportrayed mainly by females, is thedesire to be beautiful. The oppositecharacteristic, lack ofconcem for one'sappearance, is considered to be usually amale characteristic and is portrayedoverwhelmingly by males. Whilefemales are dominant in the portrayal ofthe characteristic "being artistic," theinclusion of males in this categoryindicates that males are not onlvdepicted in physically-oriented pursuits,although they do dominate in thebehavior of engaging in athleticactivities (rated as a gender neutralbehavior in the survey.) Interestingly,one female is portrayed as failing atathletic activities, perceived as being ausually female characteristic. Males aremainly or only shown portraying several"usually female" characteristics thatreflect lack of power or self-confidenceincluding seeking advice, being scared,being the target of aggression, beingtricked, and being sad. Being scared andbeing the target of aggression may havebeen considered usually female because,in the survey regarding genderstereotypes, age of the males andfemales were not designated. Amongchildren and adolescents, males may bethe target of aggression by other males(and therefore be scared), while thesecharacteristics may be considered to bemore likely to be present in adultfemales. It is interesting that only malesare shown being sad. Agairq thedesignation of this characteristic as"usually female" by the respondents tothe survey may reflect the fact thatwomen are more likely to get depressedthan men. The survev did not ask

) 5

specifically about children oradolescents.

In summary, ffiffiy of thebehaviors/characteristics deal withinterpersonal interactions. Behaviorsdesignated by the survey respondents asbeing usually male tend to be portrayedby males. They also tended to benegative. BehaviorVcharacteristics thatrefl ect interpersonal interactions anddesignated as usually female tended tobe positive and are only or mainlyportrayed by females. However, thereare notable exceptions, including onlymales shovm helping others andcheering others. In the area of domesticbehaviors, portrayals usually refl ectstereotypes. Two exceptions are thatmales only are shown for the female-stereotyped behaviors of housecleaningand preparing food. In the area ofindependence/power/self-confi dence,results are mixed. Many, but not all,male-stereotyped behaviors/characteristics are portrayed only bymales. However, several characteristicswere considered to be usually femalesbut portrayed mostly or only by males,such as being scared and the target ofaggression. Behaviors/characteristicsdealing with hostility were considered tobe male stereotyped and portrayed onlyby males. Finally, in the domain ofphysical versus cultural, portrayalsreflect, stereotyped female behaviors.lnterestingly, while the survey indicatedthat athletic activities are gender neutral,males dominate being portrayedengaging in athletic activities.

It can,be concluded that advertisers arevery cautious in the portrayal of malesand females in advertisements aimedtowards children. Most portrayalsreflected gender stereotypes. Therewere a few exceptions. For example, the

one individual shown supervising otherswas a female. On the other hand,advertisers seem to be adhering tooutdated stereotypes in their portrayal ofmainly males engaging in athleticactivities.

Portrayal of Male and Female AdultRoles

Table 5 shows adult roles by gender.Sixty-three percent of the women whoare shown in specific roles are mothersor other relatives. Only nine percent ofmen are shown as fathers and none asother relatives. OnIy 2 (of 19) womenare shown as workers, compared to thirdof men. While most of the maleoccupations (e.9., gym teacher, cowboy,ranger, sailor, construction worker, andvan driver are not what most (middleclass American) parents would considerexcellent career aspirations for theirchildren, the ads show that men dowork. Almost nine percent of men areshown engaged in athletic activities; nowomen are.

Products as Models ofBehaviors/Characteri stic s

Not only characters in ads but someproducts themselves model behaviors orcharacteristics. These products areusually dolls or "action figures", but theymay also be characters in a board game.Table 6 shows the number of males andfemales that appear in advertisementsfor such products. Females are almostnonexistent in advertisements forproducts that model violent adventure,and males are almost nonexistent inproducts that model personal

56

appearance. Advertisements forproducts modeling otherbehaviors/characteristics also tend to bepolarized, with a preponderance ofeither male or female characters.

Summary and Conclusions

Advertisements aimed towards childrenpoltray males and females differently.Males predominate in absolute nu.brrr.are likely to do the voice-over andconcluding voice. Male adults areshown with higher levels of physicalactivity. Generally, men work; womenare mothers or other relatives. There issegregation of the sexes with respect toproducts that model behaviors orcharacteristics. One area that showssome nonstereotypical portrayals is inthe area of behaviors and salientcharacteristics. While the majority ofgender portrayals do follow genderstereotyped nofins, there are a number ofexceptions to this rule

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONSFOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This study had several limitations. Itdoes not demonstrate that children areinfluenced by the gender porhayal of thecharacters they see in advertising.However, as discussed above, otherstudies that focus on this issue indicatetlat advertisements, as do other media.db present role models for childrenengaging in social learning.

The fact that this study does not usehigh+echnology methodology may alsobe considered a limitation. For example,Rajecki et. al.'s (1993) study, whichused computer analysis of verbal content

of advertisements, made a valuablecontribution to the literature. However,the strength of low-technology methodssuch as used in the present sfudy is thatthey closely imitate the behavior of theviewers themselves.

A third limitation of this studv is that thedataareseveral years old. H6wever, thesocial climate regarding gender issueshas not changed significantly in theUnited States in the period since theadvertisements were broadcast. Thepresent study offers an exlremelythorough analysis of all behaviors andcharacteristics of all gendered charactersin advertisements. By asking anindependent sample regarding genderstereotyping of each behavior andcharacteristic, this study was able tomore thoroughly examine the extent towhich advertisements use stereotypicalgender portrayal. This study can serveas a benchmark for future studies. Futureresearch should replicate this study tooffer comparisons and determine trends.

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Thompson, Teresa L. and EugeniaZerbinos (1997), "Television Cartoons:Do Children Notice it's a Boy's World?,"Sex Roles, 37 (Septemb er), 415 432.

Vema, MaryEllen (1975), "The FemaleImage in Children's TV Commercials"Jour nal of B roadcast ing, 19 (Summer),301-309.

Welch, Renate L., Aletha Huston-Stein,John C. Wright and Robert Plehal, R.(1979), "Subtle Sex-role Cues inChildren's Commercials," Journal ofCommun icat ion, 29 (Summer), 202-209.

Williams, Tannis M. (1986) The Impactof Television: A Natural ExperimentinThree Communities, New York:Academic Press.

59

Table I

Distribution of Characters by Gender and Age

ALL ADVERTISEMENTS ADS FOR NEUTRAL PRODUCTS ONLY

Ase Male Female Male Female

child 236 (63%) 136 (37o/o) 130 (640/0) 74 (360/0)adult 116 (80%) 2e (20%) 84 (81%) 20(19%)undetermineda 14 (74%) 5 (260/o) 14 (93o/o) | ( 7%)Total 366 (680/o) 170 (32%) 228 (7ro/o) 95 (29%)& some gendered nonhumans, mainly animals, were of indeterminate age.

Fllrfri1i,

RaceTotal

60

Table 2

Distribution of Characters by Gender and Race a

CHILDREN ADULTS

Male FemaleMale Female Total

whiteblackAsianHispanicInuit (Eskimo)

r?!\61w rr3 (37%) 307 (83o/o) 6s (7s%) 23 (25o/o) sz (s7%)3g \6s%) re (3s%) 55 (r1W tlioootoj o i oxi g i zy,i5(80%) r (20%) 6 (2o/o) o 0 or(so%) l(50%) 2 ( .5o/o) 0 0 ol(r00%) a(0%) I ( .3%) 0 0 0

a omitted from this analysis were those characters whose race and/orage couldnot bedetennined, e.g. most gendered nonhumans.

6t

Table 3

Gender of Voice-overs and Concluding Voice

Voice-over Voice-over ConcludingGender

All adsmalef-emalemixedTotal

Ads for NeutralProductsmaleftmalemixedTotal

Adsfor Male-StereotypedProductsmalefemaleTotal

Adsfor Female-StereotypedProductsmalefemaleTotal

8 12 l

I103

1072420

15 lb

72o/ot 6r2

69%l 02 l

9 t%9

79o/o20

I

558

t 780

346I

4 l

t 0I

l l

1 0I

1 l

46%54

l lt324

9l 120

83%l 502

9lo/o9

45%55

a not all advertisements had a voice-overD one advertisement, the gender of the concruding voice was unclear

f, 62

Table 4

Sex-Stereotype of Behaviors and Characteristics as Rated by Respondents andas Portrayed in Advertisements

Behavior/ summarycharacteristic meana sD sig males females score

Usually Male BehaviorsOnly males shownshoot a gunthreaten othersperform magtctake out trashpollute the environmenttaunt othersrelaxbe noisy while observing

otherscontradict another

personchastise othersask rhetorical questionshousehold chores-mockery

Both males and femalesshownMore males thanfemaleswork at ajobmake decisionsengage in athletic

activitypoblem-solvingeatdescribe somethingEqual representationride motorcycleMorefemales than malesmake sexual innuendobe served foodOnly females shownstealsupervise otherstease others

1 . 0 1 . t 21.07 .3121.16 .409t.23 .5591.26 .4421.3 .577t .4 l .714r .56 .813

r.s7 .791

1.65 .7681.67 .847

not askedsee"house-cleaning"

t .34l .4 lt . t 7

1.771.831.65

1.01

1.031.26

t . t 9t .22r.36

.634

.648

.382

.904

.706

.872

. 1 2

. t 7

.606

.43. 5 1 I.664

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.002

.038

.045

.001

.0

- .72- .43- .34

- .31- .28- . 1 5

0

I22224I2

00000000

- l-1- l- l-1-1- l- l

-1

-1-t-1

4 2

l 02 06 0

2 4 25 145 11

.0

.0

.0

1 9 553 155 l t 9

2 l

t 2 . 61 1 . 3 3

0 l l0 t l0 1 1

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

63

Table 4, cont.

Behavior/ summarycharacteristic meana sD sig males females scoJgUsuallyMaleCharacturtsficsOnly males shownbeing a "know-it-all"

being self-confidentrejecting affectionphysical aggressionagainst objectbeing angryacting trickyBoth males and femalesshownMore males thanfemalesphysical aggressionagainst peoplebeing a winnerlack of concem for one'sappearancebeing noisyacting toughacting rudeEqual representationbeing sarcasticlooking foolishMorefemales than malesbeing a leadernot wanting to dohomework (for students)

Neutral BehaviorsBoth males and femalesshownMore fiales thanfemalesanswera questionplay aloneobserye silentlygive informationOnly females shownmake a mistake

1.25t.27r.451.48

1.501.77

.553

.536

.738

.779

.676

.843

. t69

.38

.s26

.743

.169

.531

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.025

l 02 02 06 0

-1- l-1- l

- l- l

2 0l l 0

1.03

r . 1 71.25

1.471.031.32

1.641.80

t.20t.25

- .67- . 6

1 9 1

l 0 11 6 2

.0

. 0

.0

- . 8 1

- .56- .43- . J J

.0

.0

.0

l 03 0

2 .334 .33

754

26

24

557

25

I

III

.747

.778.0.034

.499

.500.0.0

2 .17t.93r .8 t1.91

1.99

.798

.869

.889

.847

.653

.077

.488

.085

.4

.854

6l 7t754

0

- . J J

- . 2 6- . 1- . M

I

Table 4, cont.

fl64

Behavior/ summarycharacteristic meana sD sie males females sgore

Neutral c haracteristicsOnlymales.shownbeing boredOnly females shownacting disgusted

Usually FemaleBehavior

Onlv females shownsewbathe aba;Wdo laundryscream in excitementbe informedcomplainbathe a petBoth males aJrd fem4lesshownMorefemales than malesnurture othersserve or offer foodexclaim (e.g. "wow")

sing and/or danceIaughplay with othersplay "pretend"

take a walkask for informationEqual representationbe helped by othersMore males thanfemalesgive advicereadlisten to otherscpok/prepare foodOnly males shownhousecleaningspek advicehelp otherscheer others

Behavior/

t .99

r.94

3.002.952.932.572.572.532.39

2.9s2.992.572.912.442.222.502.462.80

2.74

2.232.272.872.93

2.992.842.792.39

.752

.849

.874

.575

1 0 - t

0 1 1

0.204. 3 1.7t4.581.717.691

.266, 1 2.672.329.735.73.6r I.557.s28

.56

.854

.612

.4t4

.259

.266

.439

.413

.771

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.028

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

IIIIII1

.76

.6

.49

.45a a

. J J

. 1 9

. 1 6

. t4

. 1 2

0

- . 1 4- . 2- . J J

- . 5

- l- l- l- l

summary

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

0000000

IJ

I9t 227883J

l t

I216I2I

l l2t3l62575727

0000

2

868

- 6

I42I

I

aJ

22I

Table 4, cont.

UsaallyfemalecharacteristicsOnlv females shownfailing at athletic

activitiesdesire to be poputar withopposite sexBoth males and femalesshownMorefemales than malesgtgglingbeing artisticdesire to be beautifulbeing surprisedbeing relievedMore males thanfemalesbeing scaredbeing the target ofagetressionOnly males shown

2.58

2 . 1 9

.673

.692

.0

.027

0 l l

0 6 1

2.932.642.662.572.48

2.U2.64

.3t2

.591

.6t l

.527

.633

.404

.727

.76

.4

. J J

.33a n

. J J

- .43- .71

.0

.0

.0

.0

.0

662II

2272II

2I

t0t2

.0

.0

being sad 2.90 .403 .0 Z 0 -1being tricked 2.62 .Sgg .0 2 0 _la coding-was as follows:

-l: mostly male behavior/characteristic; 2=nales and femalesabout equally; and 3=nostlv female.

66

Table 5

Adult Roles by Gender

Males Females Role Males FemalesRole

Relationshipsparentalrelative, not parentboy/girlfriend(mainrole)General identitywizard/magicianclownpiratecaveman

athletecowboyroyaltymonsterbarbarianmember of singinggouptrain conductorherovillainwitchventriloquist

700

000

00000

II

J

)

1

I2J

2aJ

60

1 02I

0000

Occupationscaptain of shipgym teacherrirnger

van driversailorsports castermail clerkprofessionalentertainerhard hat workercafeteria worker

Temporary identityengaging in recreationPatient of physician

TOTAL

2426

7IIII2

I270I

00000I

001I0 1 98 1

67

Table 6

Number of Male and Female Characters inAdvertisements for Products which Model

Behavior/Characteri stics

number of male number of femalecharacters in ad(s) characters in ads

Product model

friendshipviolence to othersnonviolent adventuredomestic activityprofessional singerreoreationnurturingshoppingdatingpersonal appearance

aJ

2880020042

0III)

J

46

1 8

tr