SLT Explanations - Media

Question 1

What does the media influence?

Answer 1

The acquisition, shaping and maintenance of gender roles

Question 2

How are males portrayed?

Answer 2

Male are more represented in most TV programmes, including children’s programmes
Males are also portrayed in a wider range and higher-status roles than females

Question 3

How are both genders portrayed?

Answer 3

In gender-stereotypical ways and even within shared formats, gender roles are apparent e.g. in pop groups females seen as singers and males as musicians

Question 4

What does the media provide children with?

Answer 4

A constant source of information as to which gender behaviours to imitate
Children who ‘consume’ the most media develop stronger and more extreme perceptions of gender roles

Question 5

What do media influences such as social networking sites suggest?

Answer 5

That they are more female dominated yet still reinforce traditional gender roles
However there is contradictory evidence that social networking sites can help break down traditional gender stereotypes

Question 6

What was Hutson and White’s research into the media?

Answer 6

Found that in US TV programmes males almost always outnumbered females, especially in children’s programmes, with men shown in dominant roles and higher occupational status, with women in a narrow range of inferior roles and less able to deal with problems, illustrating the difference in gender role presentation

Question 7

What was Bee’s research into the media?

Answer 7

Found that books, including picture and early read books are gender-stereotyped and that boys TV commercials are fast, sharp and loud compared to those for girls which are slower, gentle and quiet, suggesting that media gender-role portrayals and influence differ for boys and girls from an early age

Question 8

What was Gunter’s and then Huston’s research into the media?

Answer 8

Found that children categorised as ‘heavy’ viewers of TV hold stronger stereotyped beliefs than those who watch less TV
Huston didn’t find this surprising as by 18 the average American has spent more time watching TV than in a classroom, demonstrating the potential strength of the media influence on gender

Question 9

What was Kivran-Swaine et al’s research into the media?

Answer 9

Examined the relationship between language and gender on social media by analysing 78000 twitter messages and found that women use more emotive language and had higher use of emoticons, especially when communicating with other females
This shows that gender influences styles of communication on social media
Martinez-Aleman and Wartman found similar with Facebook

Question 10

What was the Pew Research Internet Project research into the media?

Answer 10

Found that unlike other social media sites, LinkedIn was male dominated (63% male users) This may be because the site caters for more male-dominated professional occupations
Yet females had created 70% of the links between users, suggesting greater involvement and this led to a perception that women were more knowledgeable than their male counterparts

Question 11

What is a weakness of the evidence found about ‘heavy’ TV watchers?

Answer 11

The fact that ‘heavy’ TV watchers hold stronger gender stereotyped beliefs is merely correlational evidence and does not necessarily mean that TV is the cause of such attitudes

Question 12

Why is the view simplistic?

Answer 12

It is too simplistic to see children as passive recipients of the media messages regarding gender. Children actively select which media they consume which suggests more cognitive impacts than SLT suggests

Question 13

What is a problem with the view?

Answer 13

Much gender development occurs before the age of four when the media influence is weaker

Question 14

If media influences do have a negative effect what should it also be able to do?

Answer 14

Promote non-gender stereotypes
Johnston and Ettema showed 12 year olds a programme designed to counter gender stereotypes and both sexes showed reduced gender stereotyping after

Question 15

What was the aim of Steinke et al’s study?

Answer 15

To examine gender stereotyping in portrayals of scientist characters in TV programmes popular with middle school children

Question 16

What was the procedure of the Steinke et al study?

Answer 16

Fourteen popular TV shows watched by 12-17 year olds with a scientific element to them were selected
8 episodes of each show broadcasted April-May 2006 were randomly selected for analysis (112 episodes)
Criteria for identifying scientist characters were constructed e.g. conducting experiments and 2 raters used to establish inter-rater reliability
196 scientist characters were identified and the following characteristics were listed; sex, race, age, scientific status, marital status and parental status
Each characters behaviour was coded for gender stereotypical and non-gender stereotypical behaviour

Question 17

What were the findings of the Steinke et al study?

Answer 17

113/196 were male and 83 were female
Male scientists were no mire likely than female ones to be portrayed as high status
Of 42 married scientists slightly more were male
Female scientists were not more likely than male to be portrayed with feminine qualities of being caring etc
Male scientists were more likely than females to be portrayed with masculine qualities of independence and dominance

Question 18

What can be concluded from Steinke et al’s study?

Answer 18

Popular children’s TV shows portray more male than female scientist characters
Male scientist characters were more likely to be portrayed with gender appropriate behaviours than female characters

Question 19

What is the evaluation of Steinke et al’s study?

Answer 19

Progress has been made in presenting scientific characters in children’s TV programmes in a non-biased way as earlier studies like Steinke and Long found that females were more likely to be portrayed as the assistant to the scientist rather than the scientist
Most programmes featuring female scientist characters were educational ones funded by the National Science Foundation - implying that mainstream media providers are more to blame for gender-stereotypical portrayals.