Under the influence of primetime television and mainstream
1. Under the Influence of Primetime television and mainstream music Adele Whittle Sociology 235 Gender Roles: Diversity
2. Introduction I became interested in gender role stereotyping on primetime television and in mainstream music lyrics and videos because of the powerful impact it has upon an individuals own behavior. It is clearly more important for people to please others than to please themselves in this society. Because of this we make alterations and sacrifices in which we perceive as socially desirable. In general television and music present what is socially desirable.
3. Background In The Effects of Gender and Music Video Imagery on Sexual Attitudes, sexual gender representations in music videos is described as “traditional imagery”. A study was conducted upon 44 upper level college students both male and female. The students were sorted randomly and put into two groups. One group watched a video that used “traditional imagery” and the other traditional images where omitted. The group then completed an assessment that contain questions in regards to sexual acceptance, gender stereotypes, and other related topics. The results showed a significant impact upon the group that view the traditional music video, in the areas of adversarial sexual beliefs separated by gender. (Kalof,1999)
4. More Background In Gender Roles on Prime-Time Network Television: Demographics and Behaviorsa research study was conducted that evaluated the change in masculine and feminine demographic and behaviors in primetime television. This study examined whether the lead roles of women had increased from a low standpoint, and whether women presented more dominance in the television shows. It was found that men still have the upper hand in both areas, however women as main characters is beginning to increase, and women also are portraying more dominant roles. (Glascock,2001)
5. hypothesis It is evident that primetime television shows present characters that portray and validate gender stereotypes. Mainstream musical lyrics and music videos imagery also portray and validate gender stereotypes.
6. Methods: Participants In order to accurately evaluate the portrayal of gender stereotypes in primetime television and mainstream music videos and songs, I chose two primary categories from the most recent Emmy and Grammy Awards. The Emmy categories were Outstanding Comedy and Drama. The Grammy categories were Best Short-Form Music Video, and Song of the Year. In the two television categories I evaluated each Emmy Award winner and the top two nominees that followed the winner. In the two music categories I evaluated the Grammy Awards winners and the two nominees listed below the award winners. A diagram explaining this method is in the following two slides. (61st Primetime Emmy, 2009) (Grammy, 2010)
9. Method: Evaluation Criteria's In creating my evaluation criteria I compared traits from the BSRI (Kimmel, 2008) and an additional professional written list of typical gender role behaviors (Chambers,2007). I used ten items to evaluate television and five to evaluate music. Each item is worth one point in each of the two types of evaluation. If a score in television was five or higher and the gender of the traits matched the sex of the main character this meant the character upheld gender role stereotypes. If a score in music was three or higher this meant and the gender of the traits matched the sex of the artist or lead singer this meant the character upheld gender role stereotypes. An example of each of the two category evaluation charts are presented in the following slide.
11. Results The results are displayed in the following two slides: The table on the left hand side shows participants information and total score The table on the right hand side provides the determination upon whether the evaluated subject did or did not uphold gender role stereotypes. If the subjects information has been bolded and underlined this indicates gender stereotypes have been validated and upheld.
23. References Kalof, L. (1999). The Effects of Gender and Music Video Imagery on Sexual Attitudes. Journal of Social Psychology, 139(3), 378-385. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Glascock, J. (2001). Gender Roles on Prime-Time Network Television: Demographics and Behaviors. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 45(4), 656. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. 61st Primetime Emmy Awards Winners Press Release. (2009). Retrieved August 09, 2010, from Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: http://www.emmys.tv/sites/emmys.tv/files/ptemmys09winners_pressrel.pdf Grammy. (2010). Retrieved 10 2010, August, from Nominees: http://www.grammy.com/nominees 2009-2010 Primetime Emmy Facts & Figures. (2010). Retrieved August 09, 2010, from Primetime Emmy Awards, Nominees, Winners, and More Television Entertainment: http://www.emmys.com/sites/emmys.com/files/62ndemmys_nomsfacts_0.pdf Kimmel, M. (2008). The Gendered Society, Third Edition. New York, New York. Oxford. Chambers, J. (2007). Typical Feminine and Masculine Traits. Retrieved August 10, 2010, from College of Education Web Directory: http://coefaculty.csus.edu/chambersj/assets/043.gender.pdf
