This document summarizes a study that surveyed college students to determine if they could identify the gender of characters from popular comic strips based only on descriptions of the characters' actions and words, with all explicit gender identifiers removed. The study presented narratives from 4 comic strips - Monty, Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, and Foxtrot. For each comic, respondents had to determine the gender of the characters based on the provided narratives. The results showed that respondents were able to correctly identify the gender of comic strip characters 66% of the time based only on the narratives, indicating that gender stereotypes play a strong role in how characters are perceived even without explicit gender labels. The document concludes that comic strips rely heavily on gender

1. IS CHARLIE
BROWN SEXIST?
Identification of Gender Along a
Binary Through the Character
Narratives Found in Newspaper
Comic Strips
A presentation based on the paper and its collected
data
by Kevin Taschereau for ANT/LIN/WGS 672

2. METHOD
 Utilized SurveyMonkey to survey a small population of college-aged
students.
 No demographics were collected
 10 questions were asked total (SurveyMonkey’s gone capitalist)
 A description of the Gender Binary model was given.
 A sample comic was provided to provide a basis of understanding.
 Presented respondents with narratives from 4 popular comic strips
found in newspapers
 Text was transcribed outside of the comic strip
 Each panel was then described for action
 All characters in the comic were identified before hand
 All traces of gender descriptors in pronouns, name, or title found in the transcribed
text was replaced
 Respondents were asked to determine gender based upon the
provided narratives.

3. RESULTS (COMIC 1: MONTY)
Male (52.38%)
 Males are desperate to find a mate
Female (47.62%)
 Women are always on the hunt for a
commitment
Gender Breakdown
Male
Female

4. RESULTS (COMIC 2: CALVIN &
HOBBES)
Male (94.44%)
 Men don’t, or can’t, cook
Female (5.56%)
 Women are always cooking in literature
Gender Breakdown
Male
Female

5. RESULTS (COMIC 3: PEANUTS)
Male (33.33%)
 Because they were being
ignored
Female (66.67%)
 Because they are being
called “fussy”
Gender
Breakdown
Male
Femal
e

6. RESULTS (COMIC 2: FOXTROT)
Gender of Character 1:
Male (55.56%)
Female (44.44%)
Gender of Character 3:
Male (72.22%)
Female (27.78%)

7. RESULTS
 Respondents showed 66% chance of correctly identifying the
gender of a comic strip character based upon their narrative
(minus gender indicators).
 WHY?
 Stereotyping of gender plays heavily into the equation.
 Comic strips are over the top depictions of characters (including their gender)
that rely heavily on stereotypes.
 They only have 3 to 4 panels, they rely on what they assume you already know.
 Gender is performative, even when that performance is inside the speech
bubble of a comic strip panel.

8. QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
Thanks for listening, I’ve been great.