Information and messages about health
• Many young women say they get a lot of their information on health from the media, including magazines and entertainment TV (In Their Own Words: Adolescent Girls Discuss Health and Healthcare Issues, Commowealth Fund, 1997). However, editorial content in magazines can be influenced by what the magazines advertisers like, so it’s hard to know whether what’s written (or not written) about health is really in the best interests of girls and women, or whether it’s influenced by advertisers' profit motives (New York Times, 5/4/98; Magazine Marketing Raises Questions of Editorial Independence, by Robin Pogrebin).
• While teen girls account for a large part of smokers and new smokers, movies starring teen idols and aimed at teens often show "cool characters" smoking. For movies rated PG-13, 82% of movies show characters smoking. And its very rare that a movie would show any negative consequences for smoking (Substance Abuse in Popular Movies and Music, Mediascope, 1999).
Hate and violence directed at women
• Words expressing hate and disrespect towards girls and women are used frequently in popular media, and especially on TV and on radio. Use of words derogatory to girls and women like "bitch," "slut," "whore," "ho" can be heard on many TV and radio programs, especially those watched and listened to by kids, including WWF (wrestling) programs, That 70’s Show, and Boston Public, as well as on the radio.
• Advertisements from some segments of the fashion industry use images of violence against a woman and try to make it fashionable or erotic. An ad for jeans in Elle shows three men physically attacking a woman; an Italian edition of Vogue shows an ad with a man pointing a gun at the face of a naked woman wrapped in plastic; from an American skateboard manufacturer; an ad aimed at young men shows a man pointing a gun at the head of a female, along with the slogan "bitch" (Jean Kilbourne, Can't Buy My Love, 2001).
Stereotypes and double standards, especially for age, onscreen
• Stereotypes can be seen in many areas of TV, movies, videogames, and other media. Although the 80’s and 90’s have seen more female characters, especially on TV, in tough action roles before reserved for men (Buffy, Dark Angell, Witchblade, Lara Croft, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), still, the tough gal usually has to fit the stereotype of being gorgeous, young, and usually white. (To be fair, a lot of male protagonists have to be gorgeous, too, with some exceptions…which leads us to…)
• Ageism: Male leading actors have longer careers than females, as leading male actors over 40 are hired roughly 60% more than female actors over 40, according to the Screen Actors Guild, 2000. That’s a difference of about 7,000 jobs and millions of dollars/year. (Think Gene Hackman, 71, Sean Connery, 71, Jack Nicholson, 65, Robert Redford, 64, Danny DeVito, 57…and lots more. On their own series or features on TV, think Dick Van Dyke, 76, James Garner, 73, Regis Philbin, 68, or Dick Clark, 72. Quick; name a female action hero, host of a TV show, or series lead, over 60 years old . . . ??? . . . ).
• In a study of prime time TV and daytime TV, roles for older men outnumber those for older women, women are made older sooner, and an older woman who is cast is more likely than an older man to be stereotyped as bad, or "evil" (Casting the American Scene, 1998, Dr. George Gerbner, for Screen Actors Guild).
• According to one study of video games, African American female characters are predominantly portrayed as victims of violence, rarely as heroic winning characters; a Latina character almost never exists, though Latinas/Latinos are now the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. (Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Videogames, ChildrenNow, 2001).
Female characters, women in the industry, news, sports . . .
