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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 9

Publication Date: September 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/assrj.99.13026. Woodsmall, Z., & Hare, S. C. (2022). Gender Through the Lens of Children’s Films. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,

9(9). 1-10.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Gender Through the Lens of Children’s Films

ZoraAnn Woodsmall

Department of Sociology, Indiana University Southeast, United States

Sara C. Hare

Department of Sociology, Indiana University Southeast, United States

ABSTRACT

This content analysis study sheds light on the gender inequality in popular

children’s animated films. The dataset uses the North American theater grosses to

rank the most popular 150 animated children’s films from 1990-2020. We found

multiple patterns of gender inequality related to speaking roles, lead characters,

physical portrayals, social roles, interpersonal relationships, and even the creators

of the films. Male characters had three times as many speaking roles as female

characters and had the lead role in 80% of the films. Correspondingly, 80% of the

film creators (writers, directors, and producers) were male. Films that passed the

Bechdel test had twice as many female writers as those that failed the test. The

inequality and gender stereotyping one sees in the real world is reflected in this

study of children’s films. Animated films are a popular media outlet for children,

and this study highlights the impact that these skewed representations can have on

children.

Keywords: Children’s Media, Gender Inequality, Content Analysis, Media

INTRODUCTION

No Barbies, no Disney Princesses, no Bratz dolls or TV shows, actually no television at all. Polly

Pockets: okay. Lisa Frank stickers and coloring books: okay. As a young child, I was less than

thrilled that my parents were so concerned with the toys I played with and the entertainment I

watched. Now, as a woman, I realize how privileged I actually am in that way. My parents were

not trying to be overbearing or ruin my fun. They were simply aware of and opposed to some

of the consequences of seemingly innocent children’s entertainment. I grew up more shielded

from the influence of some of society’s senseless stereotypes and norms than the typical girl in

North America. I find that this benefited me in a multitude of ways. It is both interesting and

alarming to learn about the impact that media can have on children, women, and society as a

whole.

The amount of time that young and impressionable children spend consuming media as

entertainment has only increased over time and continues to do so. A census report from 2016

illustrates the extent to which children have access to technology, and thereby media [9].

“Households with children under 18 years old were more likely to have a computer and Internet

subscription than households without children” (p.8). The content of the media consumed

varies from mild family and relationship stories to unhealthy images of sex and violence. The

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 9, September-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

extent to which media impact developing minds and the nature of the impact has been debated

for some time now.

A Kaiser Family Foundation study [8] examined the extent of children’s media consumption.

Kaiser’s (2010) study involves a national sample of over 2,000 children aged eight to eighteen.

The study gathered extensive information about the extent of media consumed, the possible

variations in the effects on different groups, how much time is being spent on media, and more.

In all, children In the United States spend an average of more than seven hours a day consuming

media. The report found that there is a correlation between time spent on media and grades for

children and adolescents. “Nearly half (47%) of all heavy media users say they usually get fair

or poor grades (mostly C’s or lower), compared to 23% of light media users” (p.4). The report

also looked into how time consumed by media varies by age. “The jump in media use that occurs

when young people hit the 11- to 14-year-old age group is tremendous—an increase of more

than three hours a day in time spent with media (total media use), and an increase of four hours

a day in total media exposure” (p.5).

Bandura’s “Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication” [1] analyzes how we as a society

interact with and are influenced by mass media. “Seen from the socio-cognitive perspective,

human nature is a vast potentiality that can be fashioned by direct and observational

experience into a variety of forms within biological limits” (p. 266). He discusses the “social

construction of reality,” explaining how media such as television can influence and shape

personal belief systems as well as one’s very perception of reality. “Heavy exposure to this

symbolic world may eventually make the televised images appear to be the authentic state of

human affairs” (p.288). He explains how this can then affect behavior at an individual and social

level. The article briefly discusses different ideas about how exactly the flow of information

from media to human belief systems and behavior works but focuses on “dual paths of

influence.” There is not one simple pattern of social influence; instead there are multiple things

that factor in this process. “In some instances, the media both teach new forms of behavior and

create motivators for action by altering people’s value preferences, efficacy beliefs, outcome

expectations, and perception of opportunity structures” (p.286). In sum, we, especially

children, learn about society from the media we consume.

Martins and Harrison [7] shared the results of a longitudinal panel study of white and black

elementary school students. They measured the children’s self-esteem, body satisfaction,

television exposure, and their demographics. The study affirmed that exposure to television has

an impact on the self-esteem of children. Martin and Harrison state, “We found that television

exposure led to a decrease in self-esteem for all children except white boys” (p. 354). When

discussing possible explanations for this, they point to the fact that the white male characters

in children’s entertainment are often presented in a more positive light than are girls or black

boys. Not only that, but media intended for children often support gender and racial stereotypes

that exist in our culture. The last possible explanation they discuss is that extended hours of

television consumption could replace experiences that may help to build self-esteem.

Knowing that television consumption has a direct impact on the self-esteem of children, we

begin to wonder what specific thoughts and ideas young people have about themselves and

their peers. Bian, Leslie, and Cimpian [2] looked at how stereotypes related to gender and

intellectual ability might impact children’s future career choices. They conducted four studies

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Woodsmall, Z., & Hare, S. C. (2022). Gender Through the Lens of Children’s Films. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 1-10.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.99.13026

with 400 children aged five to seven. They used the phrase, “really, really smart” to measure

the children’s perception of the intelligence of males and females. The study found that there is

a shift in children’s views surrounding intelligence between the ages of five and seven. There

was not a large difference in how often five-year-old boys and girls connected brilliance with

their own genders. However, as age increases there is a dramatic shift in the data. The six and

seven year old girls were much less likely than the boys in the same age groups to perceive their

own gender as really, really smart. Starting at the age of six, internalized gender stereotyping

was also reflected in the girls’ interests in activities that they were told were intended for really,

really smart children. The six and seven year old girls were less likely to be interested in these

activities than boys were at the same age.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Lauzen [5] used data from the top 100 films in 2019 to compare the way male and female

characters are presented in popular films. She focused on speaking roles, major characters, and

character demographics, as well as the actual traits and lives of the characters. Out of the 2,300

characters analyzed, females comprised only 34% of the speaking roles. Thirty seven percent

of lead characters were female, which showed a mere 1% increase from Lauzen’s data from the

year prior. Taking this data into consideration allowed me to form my first three hypothesis:

H1: Male characters have more speaking roles than female characters

H2: Films have more male lead characters than female

H3: Film titles are more likely to refer to males than females

Lauzen [6] has presented data collected from top films of 2020 that suggests the number of

women employed to create films has increased throughout the years. However, the increase

has been at a rate much lower than expected. The number of women employed by the film

industry is steadily increasing but women continue to be severely outnumbered by men in this

industry.

Yang, Xu, and Luo [11] focused on the lack of representation of women in movies and what

factors have an impact on this. They analyzed female representation in film by using the

Bechdel test, and the ratio of female to male characters cast over time. The Bechdel test was

developed to measure the presence of female conversation in film. If a film passes the Bechdel

test, it is thought to have a higher level of representation of women than a film that fails it. In

order to pass the Bechdel test, the film must have at least two named female characters who

converse about anything other than a man. As time progresses, there seems to be an increase

in the percentage of films that pass the Bechdel test. Yang et al.[11] used The Bechdel test Movie

List (with more than 8,000 movies), as well as other online movie databases. They shared that

only approximately 55% of the films in the data passed the Bechdel test. Moreover, the study

found very low rates of female filmmakers. “Only 6.0% of directors, 9.7% of producers, and

12.2% of screenplay writers are female” (p.13). While the study found low rates of female film

creators, there was a positive association between female screenplay writers and films that

passed the Bechdel Test. Based on these findings, I propose the following three hypotheses.

H4: More films will pass than fail the Bechdel Test

H5: Men outnumber women in the creation of children’s films

H6: Films that pass the Bechdel Test have a greater percentage of female writers than

those that fail