University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 34, June 12
Study focuses on media messages and their impact
The six types of media primarily used by teenage girls
present very similar and consistent messages and images
concerning gender roles, according to a study conducted by
Nancy Signorielli, communication.
These gender roles, according to the results of the
study, 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 study, which has received national media attention,
was conducted for Children Now, a nonpartisan policy and
advocacy organization, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, an
independent health care philanthropy. Along with portrayals
of romance and work, the study also explored the depiction
of role models and appearance.
"We have taken a snapshot of media images," Signorielli
said. "This is the first time, I believe, that these
different media have been analyzed using the same
instrumentation at the same point in time. The most
significant thing about the study is that the messages and
images across the six media are very similar."
The six types of media studied were television,
commercials, films, music videos, magazines and
advertisements.
The results, though similar across genres, 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 their problems and achieving their goals." However,
it can be discouraging that "comparatively, more women than
men focus on romance and more men than women focus on work,"
she said.
Signorielli said she hopes that the study's findings
will result in positive changes for females and their gender
roles. First, she said she hopes that the overall amount of
female representation in the media will increase.
"One of the most limiting findings was that women were
underrepresented across the general audience media, for
example, the favorite television programs of young girls,
the commercials in these programs, the movies girls saw in
theatres and the music videos," she said.
Also, Signorielli said she hopes that the media's
presentation of gender roles in relation to romance and work
will become more equally distributed. "The way men and women
are presented in terms of romance and work also could be
changed-this would be a more realistic picture of how men
and women actually function today," she said.
Specific research findings included:
* In TV shows, male characters were more likely to be
shown "on the job" than female characters: two out of
five (41 percent) male TV characters as compared to
28 percent of females, were seen working. In the
movies, the gender differences were more striking:
men (60 percent) were almost twice as likely to be
shown on the job as women (35 percent).
* Men in TV shows were also more likely to talk about
work than women (52 percent compared to 40 percent).
In movies, women and men were equally likely to talk
about work (60 and 58 percent, respectively).
* Women, on the other hand, were more likely than men
in both TV shows and movies to be shown talking about
romantic relationships: 63 percent of female
characters compared to 49 percent of male characters
on TV, and 65 percent of female characters compared
to 38 percent of male characters in the movies talked
about romance or dating.
* In teen magazines, one in three articles (35 percent)
focused on "dating," while just 12 percent discussed
either school or careers.
* Women and girls in TV shows, and especially in
movies, are shown actively using their intelligence
(34 percent of female characters in TV shows; 69
percent in movies) and acting independently to
achieve their goals (39 percent of females in TV
shows; 62 percent in movies).
* TV shows, movies and teen magazines also stress
women's and girls' self-reliance to solve problems
(35 percent of female characters in TV shows; 35
percent of females in movies; 28 percent of teen
magazine articles).
* Teen magazine articles also include a focus on
friendship (28 percent), as well as other important
issues facing young people today, though with less
overall frequency, such as self-confidence (19
percent), sexual issues (9 percent) including
sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and
unintended pregnancy, and drugs and smoking (3
percent each).
* In movies, particularly, but also in TV shows and the
accompanying commercials, women's and girls'
appearance is frequently commented on: 58 percent of
female characters in movies had comments made about
their looks, as did 28 percent in TV shows and 26
percent of the female models in the accompanying
commercials. Men's and boys' appearance is talked
about significantly less often in all three media: a
quarter (24 percent) of male characters in movies,
and 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively, in TV
shows and commercials.
* One in every three (37 percent) articles in leading
teen girl magazines also included a focus on
appearance, and most of the advertisements (50
percent) 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
also frequently used beauty as a product appeal (56
percent of commercials). By comparison, this is true
of just 3 percent of TV commercials aimed at men.
An important overall finding is the fact that fewer
women and girls than men and boys were represented in
almost all the media reviewed. Specifically:
* in TV shows, 45 percent of the characters were female
(55 percent were male);
* in TV commercials, 42 percent of the models were
female (58 percent were male);
* in movies, 37 percent of the characters were female
(63 percent were male); and
* in music videos, 22 percent of the people shown were
female performers (78 percent were male performers or
actors).
The only exception to this were the teen magazines,
which are specifically marketed to teen-age girls: seven out
of 10 (70 percent) of the models in the photographs that
accompanied articles in these magazines were women or girls
(30 percent were men or boys). The advertisements in the
magazines were even more likely to feature female models (82
percent) over male models (18 percent).
Signorielli was approached by Children Now to bid on
the project and, after submitting a proposal, was awarded
the contract.
She has been a member of the faculty in the Department
of Communication since 1987 and currently directs the
department's graduate program.
Her main research interests are television and
conceptions of social reality and mass media images. She
received her bachelor's degree from Wilson College, her
master's degree from Queens College, and her doctorate from
University of Pennsylvania.
-Jennifer Bevan and Ginger Pinholster