Gender stereotypes in Spanish language television programming for children in the United States
Abstract
Children's television programming falling within the traditional Saturday morning time slot for four continuous Saturdays on five Spanish language networks in a southwest border city in the United States constituted the sample for this study. Each of the programs in the study was broken down and analyzed for character demographics, character behaviors and consequences received for those behaviors. Eight categories of behavior were scored, including four traditionally male behaviors (aggression, autonomy, construction, dominance) and four traditionally female behaviors (deference, dependence, harm avoidance, nurturing). The analysis of demographic data revealed male characters clearly outnumbered female characters and female characters were significantly more likely than male characters to be portrayed as having children. Behavioral data illustrated that male characters exhibited significantly more aggressive and constructive behaviors than female characters. Male characters also received more positive consequences for exhibiting stereotypical male behavior and more negative consequences for exhibiting stereotypical female behaviors. Finally, male characters received significantly more total consequences for their actions when compared to female characters, thus suggesting female characters' actions went unnoticed or were ignored more often.
Subject Area
Ethnic studies|Mass communications|Gender studies
Recommended Citation
Romo, Carlo Andre, "Gender stereotypes in Spanish language television programming for children in the United States" (2008). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1461166.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1461166