Sex Roles

Shawcroft, Jane E.; Coyne, Sarah M.; Zurcher, Jessica D.; Brubaker, Pamela Jo

doi: 10.1007/s11199-022-01273-6pmid: N/A

Depictions of gender in media are often scrutinized for stereotypical patterns. Disney films are of particular interest, as they are often watched by children and may play a role in children’s gender socialization. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to assess gender depictions of characters in animated Disney films (released between 1937 and 2019; 61 films with 323 characters total), and second, to explore depictions of gender in Disney animated films coupled with an analysis of the gender of those involved in the production of these films (producers, directors, and writers). We found a significant difference in the number of male and female characters (roughly 60% male, 40% female), which did not significantly differ by decade. Female characters were more consistently depicted as attractive compared to male characters, although character’s intelligence, ability, popularity, activity level, family role, story role, and romantic engagement did not differ by gender. Male characters were more often represented as parents or children in films written by women, and female characters were more often represented as the antagonist in films written by men. Male characters were over-represented as overly active in films produced by women, and female characters were over-represented as grandparents in films produced by women. These findings revealed few stereotypical gendered depictions of characters in Disney films over nine decades and that the inclusion of women in the production process resulted in more nuanced depictions of both male and female characters.

Kincaid, Reilly; Sennott, Christie; Kelly, Brian C.

doi: 10.1007/s11199-022-01275-4pmid: N/A

Emphasized femininity plays a key role in maintaining gender inequality. Yet, classic conceptualizations of emphasized femininity render it static and inflexible, and obscure women’s agency in reconfiguring their gender performances to fit different contexts. Based on interviews with college women in the United States, we demonstrate that when faced with hookup cultures’ expectations of casualness and emotional detachment, women move between two styles of emotion work to either “do” or “redo” emphasized femininity, stretching its boundaries without disturbing the gender hierarchy. In interactions with undesirable men, women do emphasized femininity by displaying emotional sensitivity, while in interactions with desirable men, women redo emphasized femininity by deploying “hegemonic casualness”—performances of emotional disinterest that provide women greater control over social impressions and allow them to construct empowered social images, but ultimately legitimate men’s privileges to pursue women. Our findings highlight women’s creativity and agency in navigating gender inequality and demonstrate an underrecognized flexibility within emphasized femininity. We discuss implications for gender theory, conversations around post-feminism, and campaigns that seek to promote gender equality in sexual relations on college campuses.

Streck, Hannah; Nishen, Anna K.; Kessels, Ursula

doi: 10.1007/s11199-021-01270-1pmid: N/A

Gender differences in school are often discussed in reference to a particular type of masculinity, negative masculinity, which is often conceptualized as detrimental to success. Another type of masculinity, instrumentality, has rarely been studied in schools even though instrumental characteristics are often exalted outside the academic context. The current study focuses on potential benefits that students may reap from instrumentality. The extent to which an instrumental self-concept is directly and indirectly associated with achievement motivation and self-esteem was examined for adolescent boys and girls in a structural equation model (SEM). A sample of German ninth graders (N = 355) completed self-report measures pertaining to their gender role self-concept, hope for success, fear of failure, and global and academic contingent self-esteem. The SEM revealed that instrumentality was associated with lower fear of failure and higher hope for success for both male and female adolescents. High scores in instrumentality were associated with greater self-esteem and lower academic contingent self-esteem. The association between instrumentality and global self-esteem was stronger for adolescent girls, and the indirect association between instrumentality and fear of failure through global self-esteem was significant only for girls. Results indicate that instrumentality can be an asset for students and that female students especially reap the benefits of an instrumental self-concept. The results are discussed in reference to the dangers of emphasizing solely the association between negative masculinity and academic failure, and the importance of studying relations with gender role self-concept separately for male and female adolescents.

Chen, Lihua; Li, Tongxiaoyu; King, Ronnel B.; Du, Hongfei; Wu, Kehui; Chi, Peilian

doi: 10.1007/s11199-021-01272-zpmid: N/A

Adolescent students' educational aspiration is a crucial predictor of both concurrent academic achievement and educational attainment later in life. Past studies on educational aspiration have mostly focused on the role of individual factors and the immediate context but have neglected the role of the broader societal environment. The current study examined (1) how gender inequality shaped adolescents' long-term educational aspiration and (2) whether gender inequality affected boys and girls differently. We used the longitudinal data of the China Family Panel Studies (2010–2014), which included a sample of 3,464 adolescents from 25 provinces in China (49.5% girls; Mage = 12.56, SD = 1.74). Multilevel analyses showed that adolescents in provinces with higher levels of gender inequality reported lower educational aspiration four years later. This association remained significant after adjusting for baseline educational aspiration and multiple provincial and sociodemographic covariates. The effects of gender inequality did not differ between boys and girls, suggesting that gender inequality was detrimental for both boys' and girls' long-term educational aspiration. The current study highlights the important role of gender inequality in education and underscores the importance of looking beyond individual factors and the proximal context in understanding adolescents' educational aspiration. Our findings suggest the importance of reducing socio-structural gender biases and institutional impediments (e.g., expectations to perform gendered role, women's underrepresentation) which constrain both girls' and boys' educational aspiration and development.

Jean, Elizabeth A.; Neal-Barnett, Angela; Stadulis, Robert

doi: 10.1007/s11199-021-01269-8pmid: N/A

The presence of stereotypical images of Black women in media has been well-documented throughout the literature. Existing evidence has indicated that these images contribute to a wide range of negative psychological and behavioral consequences for Black women and girls including decreased self-esteem, poorer interpersonal relationships and adverse mental health. However, despite the prevalence of stereotypical portrayals of Black women perpetuated in the media, evidence suggests that many Black adolescent girls are often resilient to the media’s effects. Prior research contends that this may be due to the individual’s appraisal of these images suggesting a need to investigate individual difference factors that may serve to shape appraisal. The current study is an examination of the relationship between exposure to stereotypical media images and appraisal in a sample of 66 adolescent Black girls. It was hypothesized that increased exposure to stereotypical media images of Black women would be associated with a negative appraisal of these images and that the relationship between frequency of exposure and appraisal would be moderated by racial identity. Results indicated that more frequent exposure to these images was in fact associated with a more negative appraisal and this relationship was moderated by racial identity.

Scheibling, Casey

doi: 10.1007/s11199-022-01274-5pmid: N/A

In our media-centric age, stories and commentary about children’s gender socialization are exchanged online. Yet we know quite little about how fathers interpret the gender and sexual identities of their children and share those interpretations with others via social media. In this article, I present findings from a qualitative content analysis of blog posts about children’s gender and sexuality (n = 122) written by American and Canadian fathers (n = 36). I apply Kane’s (2012) “gender trap” typology to analyze how dad bloggers support and/or challenge heteronormative gendered identities, behaviors, relationships, and activities for children. Most of these fathers present anxious accounts of experimenting with gender-neutral parenting, imagining their children in future roles and relationships, permitting nonconformity in girls versus boys, and connecting childrearing to broader social inequalities. I develop the concepts of sticky essentialism—to demonstrate how essentialist logics permeate fathers’ explanations for gendered childhoods, and ambivalent (de)gendering—to explain fathers’ mixed feelings toward heteronormative gender socialization and accountability. To conclude, I discuss risks and benefits of fathers blogging publicly about children’s gender and sexuality.