Gender in Media: Females Don't Rule

By Jan Nagel | Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 12:00 am

Actress Geena Davis (r) noticed a dearth of female leading roles in family entertainment. Dr. Stacy L. Smith conducted a study on how females are represented, and the results aren't pretty.

Gender bias in media is a topic society has been tiptoeing around since the women's liberation movement of the 1960s. Although women represent 51% of the population, a woman has yet to achieve the position of president of the United States -- though one is trying -- and for some reason the number of women represented in animation or G-rated entertainment is not even close to the number of men. Why?

Actress Geena Davis, who has portrayed moms and swashbucklers, asked that very question while she was watching TV with her then two-year-old daughter. On her fingers, she started counting girls on the screen in lead roles. Then she counted the girls in the crowd scenes. She had too many fingers left over.

"I was absolutely stunned to see the disparity in the ratio of genders. There seemed to be a lot more male characters than female characters," said Davis. "I decided I wanted to find out if this was true -- if it was across the board. I wanted to do something about it. Bring attention to it or talk to the studios."

She did just that. She formed the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media (GDIGM) and partnered with USC's Annenberg School of Communications to undertake the largest study of live-action and animated G-rated movies ever.

Powerpuff Girls -- an exception to the rule? © Cartoon Network.

Under the direction of Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Principal Researcher, GDIGM Board Member, and associate professor at the Annenberg School, and Crystal Allene Cook, director of GDIGM, a team of researchers watched over 400 top-grossing G, PG, PG-13 and R live-action and animated movies produced from 1999 to 2006, and 1,034 television shows for kids, including 534 hours of programming between June 12 and August 18, 2005.

The results were not entirely surprising, but they were still eye-opening. Male characters outnumbered female characters in all genres by as much as 2:1, not only in lead speaking roles, but even in crowd scenes. The girls and women portrayed were "hypersexualized" for the most part, and still largely fulfilled what the researchers identified as three stereotypical female roles:

the "daydreamers" -- passive female characters who possess no particular goal or aspiration, or dream only of romantic love;

the "derailed" -- leading characters that express an ambition and are broadsided by romantic love;

the "daredevils" -- protagonists that express goals and make choices that move them forward to their ambition. While the daredevil might encounter romantic love, she is not willing to accept it as the only prize or relinquish her pursuit.

The one area in which there was some equality was preschool programming. Girls and boys played similar roles and were represented in more equal numbers.

Dr. Smith and her team gathered a wealth of statistics. They compared the human form to animated figures for both males and females. They looked at hypersexuality as it pertained to both male and female characters. They even evaluated the use of female narrators to male narrators. These findings were presented at the GDIGM 2008 Conference on Children and Gender in Film and Television held at USC for three days in January 2008.

During the presentation of this paper, panelists from television and film, as well as researchers, were asked how to create parity in entertainment. No conclusive answer was given. For this article, AWN asked a few leading members of the animation community to give their opinions on the subject.

Comments

The road may be long, but the journey for women in film and...

The road may be long, but the journey for women in film and animation has been well on its way for some time. The female gender gains ground with every passing decade in the entertainment sector. As women we need to move forward, not stop and organize a wining session. (come on, Gina. Is this really helping? Are you telling us something we don't know?) We all know the numbers and the statistics, but forward motion cannot be stopped. The female executive/writer/producer/etc. is here to stay!

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(not verified) | Wed, 05/28/2008 - 23:00

Thank you, anonymous, for proving what a serious problem...

Thank you, anonymous, for proving what a serious problem this really is. I grew up with very few female heroes, because there just weren't that many around. When I look at a TV show, or a film, or even a commercial (animated or live-action) and see either only a few women or hypersexualized women, not only do I have a hard time identifying with the characters presented, but I am subconsciously being taught that women are not people, women are not important. We come to believe the stories we grow up with as being "true" to the extent that they are based in our real social structure. For example, if we're shown in TV shows and movies that only cheerleaders and the players' girlfriends go to "the big game," why would little girls want to go in real life? To study to become a cheerleader? They're being subconsciously taught "girls don't go to sporting events." This isn't intentional, I realize, but it happens nonetheless. And it's happening because the writers of these stories don't necessarily think about these things. Next time you're being entertained by a story, whether it be on TV or in the movie theater, or even on the stage, count how many integral female characters you see versus the number of male characters. There are four Turtles, one April. There are dozens of reoccurring Muppet characters, yet only one female character of note (not counting Janice), who is traditionally performed by a man. The mayor of Whoville has 94 daughters and one son, yet who do you think gets to save the day? What kind of message do you think that sends to girls watching these kinds of stories? You're not seeing the problem; a fish can't recognize the water it's living in, because it's so used to it "just being there."

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Melissa g (not verified) | Mon, 05/26/2008 - 23:00

What a load of rubbish - men are portrayed as ignorant,...

What a load of rubbish - men are portrayed as ignorant, clumsy, dim-witted and clueless. Men are CONSTANTLY portrayed as bad husbands and bad fathers, ignorant, rude and useless. That fact is always conveniently overlooked by women's lib feminazis.

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ryan splint (not verified) | Sun, 05/25/2008 - 23:00

Yawn.

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tyson murphy (not verified) | Sun, 05/25/2008 - 23:00

Good female cartoon characters: ...

Good female cartoon characters: 1. All of the girls in "Avatar" - Toph, Katara, even the villiainess Azula. Strong, individual, flawed and original. Kudos to the "Avatar" creators for respecting kids' intelligence. 2. Kim Possible - sometimes a little too slick and perfect, but she's still a true heroine and the productions values of this show are tops. 3. Dora the Explorer - frankly I find her a little creepy, but she's one female character that appeals to both genders (at least until the little boys in her audience are taught that watching a show starring a girl character is sissy). 4. Wanda of the "Fairly Oddparents" - at least until the later seasons, when she was turned into a sexist "nag" stereotype in a doomed and incomprehensible attempt at humor. 5. "The Mighty B" - as Spongebob rip-offs go, this is one of the better ones. And Amy Poehler does a great voice. So it seems that when it comes to female cartoon characters, there have been some successes and failures. I do think the issue is a valid one and that the solution may be for more women to get involved in all areas of animation. I don't think it's a matter of exclusion - that's a thing of the past. Opportunities are now open to women to get involved, but it's going to take some time for them to catch up.

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Natalie (not verified) | Sun, 05/25/2008 - 23:00

I think the problem with female characters in TV toons is...

I think the problem with female characters in TV toons is that cartoon writers either fear them (I'm serious - they fear to give them any flaws, lest they be called sexist) or are contemptuous of them (have you seen what they've done to poor Wanda of "Fairly Oddparents"? Shame on you, Butch Hartman!) So, as a result, you get girl characters who are bland and boring or who are abused and insulted in a disturbing "boy's club" sort of way. But there are bright spots: Raven and Starfire in "Teen Titans" are terrific characters, as is Gwen in "Ben 10 Alien Force", and of course there is Disney's wonderful Kim Possible. Also, in the new "Barnyard" series there is the hilariously sassy Bessie. So while there have been failures, there are also some success stories. As a female viewer, I would advise cartoon writers and producers to watch the above examples very carefully in order to learn what - and what NOT - to do.

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Natalie Crandall (not verified) | Sat, 05/24/2008 - 23:00

Thanks for this needed report, and special thanks to Geena...

Thanks for this needed report, and special thanks to Geena Davis for her perception and action. Both girls and boys will benefit if the industry follows through.

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anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 05/24/2008 - 23:00

Wait until my show is on the air. ...

Wait until my show is on the air. For the first time in what seems like history, the males are actually miniority on my cast. The core male cast lies in the heroes of the show, Curly, his brother, and his roommates. But I think the strong point is in his antagonists'-PC, all female villians with wildly different personalities...and they aren't romantic, screams for help types neither... ;-) I see what you're saying-and I've tooken strong notice, even if you go back to the 40's you see there's never quite been a 'Clarabelle Cow' short for every 'Goofy' short-or a 'Minnie Mouse' short for every time she was just tagging behind Mickey. They're always dasmals in distress but...it's not the media really. It breaks down into the directors and producers. What they want. I used to be frustrated with such bias until I realized. Hey that's what (insert name here) wrote, that's what (insert name here) animated, that's what (insert name here) wanted. Not the media in general. I think what's happened is-originality is falling off the face of the Earth, and way too strongly are the same brainless hacks not thinking, "Hmm..hey what if we replaced Wild E. Coyotee with say-a female coyetee instead?" But not me (and yes I'm a straight male). My brief for my series where it stands now? *A great action packed show, with storylines that vary between drama, comedy, and action. *A strong female cast. *No bias against what situations those female characters are caught in (that means female characters know what an anvil falling out of the sky is too..:-) I think TV deserves a better glass of Cardinal, and I'm gonna give it to 'em...I'll show ya!

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Anthony Cromartie (not verified) | Sat, 05/24/2008 - 23:00

Oh my god... not THIS idiotic discussion again. Geena Davis...

Oh my god... not THIS idiotic discussion again. Geena Davis needs to find something to do with her time instead of wasting her energy on a non-issue like this. She might as well open an institute with the intent of exposing that more boys like playing 'Cowboy' than girls do... or a study to prove that boys enjoy blowing up toy cars with firecrackers more than girls do.

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anonymous (not verified) | Wed, 05/21/2008 - 23:00