The influence of media on gender roles

• General

  • The media provides role models with whom children may identify and want to imitate. Children are likely to select role models who are the same sex as they are and engage in gender-appropriate behaviour.
• Rigid stereotypes

  • The media provides clear 'rigid' gender stereotypes.
  • Bussey and Bandura say that men are represented as being independent and ambitious whereas women are represented as being dependent and unambitious
  • Furnham and Farragher - men were seen as more autonomous within the media, in professional context. women were seen in more domestic roles.
• Self-efficacy

  • There is evidence that children who have more exposure to popular forms of media tend to display more gender stereotypical views in their behaviour and attitudes (Mcghee and Frueh).
  • the media does more than confirm gender-typical behaviour, it may also give information to males and females in terms of the likely success (or not) of adopting theses behaviours.
  • Seeing others perform gender-appropriate behaviours increases the Childs belief that they are also capable of this - Bandura calls this as self-efficacy = seeing other people perform gender-appropriate behaviours increases a Childs belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours in the future.
• Challenging rigid stereotypes

  • Mitra et al - analysed attitudes of people in India who watch a programme. It was designed to challenge deep-rooted stereotypes. Detective drama which ran for 78 episodes. Girls who had watched the programme were more likely to see themselves as capable of working outside the home.
• AO3 - strength - supported by cultivation theory - suggests that the more time people spend 'living' in the media work, the more likely they are to believe that it reflects reality.

  • For example, Bond and Drogos found a positive link between watching Jersey Shore and having permissive attitudes towards casual sex. This effect remained even when other influences like religion and parental attitudes were taken into account.
  • This shows that the media can 'cultivate' peoples views about the world, including gender roles, and therefore influence gender-related behaviours.
• AO3- Limitation - the idea that people - children- passively absorb media messages without thinking.

  • Durkin argues that even young children aren't just passive and uncritical. Their gender attitudes are also shaped by their family and social environment. Media messages are more likely to be accepted if they match what the child is already exposed to at home. If they don't align, the media messages may be ignored.
  • This means that media is only one influence among many, and may not be the main cause of gender role development.
• AO3 - Evidence that media can challenge traditional gender stereotypes through the use of counter-stereotypes - characters or adverts that go against typical gender roles.

  • Pingree found that when children saw TV ads with women in non-traditional roles, their gender stereotypes were reduced.
  • However the study also showed that older boys sometimes reacted in the opposite way their stereotypical views became stronger. Pingree suggested this 'backlash' might be due to a desire to rebel against adult messages.
  • This shows that while counter-stereotypes can be effective, their success may depend on the age and attitudes of the audience.