Document View

This content analysis of week-long samples of prime-time network dramatic programs broadcast between the fall of 1967 and the spring of 1998 found that women consistently receive less recognition than men on television. While programs broadcast in the 1990's had more women than those broadcast in the 1960's and early 1970's, the women were still under represented in relation to their numbers in the U.S. population.

The past 30 years have been years of change-change, for example, in where and how we live, in the roles of men and women in society, and in our sources of information and entertainment. The mass media, and most particularly television, are excellent illustrations of how society has changed. Television moved from a "status symbol" in the early 1950's to a commonplace "household appliance" in the 1990's. Whereas only a small segment of the population watched television in the 1950's, today, television is the most common source of information and entertainment for the world. For most people, television viewing dominates free time. Children begin to watch before they can walk and talk. They turn to television for company when they return home after school, often watching until bedtime, with perhaps a break for dinner. These patterns continue throughout the life cycle. We watch television to relax and watch when we do other things, such as eating, chores, and all other types of activities.

The way we receive television has also changed. Broadcast network television dominated our viewing through the mid-1980's. Today, through the proliferation of cable and VCRs, most viewers have seemingly endless sources of programming. Yet, even with the penetration of cable television in the 70% range, viewers still turn to network programming for a sizable portion of their viewing and many cable systems as well as local independent stations rely upon reruns of popular network shows to fill their programming needs. Consequently, throughout the day viewers are able to watch their favorite programs from five, ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago.

Television's role in society is one of common storyteller-it is the mainstream of our popular culture. Its world shows and tells us about life-people, places, striving, power and fate. It lets us know who is good and who is bad, who wins and who loses, what works and what doesn't, and what it means to be a man or a woman. As such, television has joined the ranks of socialization agents in our society and in the world at large.

There is an underlying assumption that television's images about gender roles have kept pace with the changes in the roles, status, and aspirations of women that have taken place since the sixties. Certainly, network television programs broadcast during prime-time are in a constant state of fluxseries come and go throughout the year, with perhaps the greatest proliferation of new programming in the fall of each year. But beyond the change we find in program titles, has the world of television, in which the average person is immersed for more than 20 hours each week (Nielsen, 1990), kept pace with society's changes? Is the demography of television characters in the 1990's different from that of the programs of the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's? The answer to this question will tell us if and how today's television characters have changed. A systematic examination of programs broadcast over the past thirty years will enable us to ascertain what images viewers see today during prime time as well as what they see when they turn to venues whose programming includes reruns of programs that were popular in the preceding decades.

The research literature is filled with studies conducted during the 1970's and early 1980's examining women's roles on television and the demography of the television world (see, for example, Signorielli,1985 for a brief description of many of these studies). Most of these studies found a high degree of consistency in the television world's demography. There have been, however, relatively few studies examining network programming in the 1990's. Greenberg and Collette (1997), using TV Guide synopses and operating under the assumption that change would occur primarily in new programming, examined the basic demography of each season's new programs. This analysis found, over 27 seasons, consistent under representation of women among new characters. In addition, most of the new characters were young or middle-aged and many appeared in more traditional than non-traditional occupations. Gerbner (1993) examined the demography of both network and cable programming and again found that the patterns of under representation in broadcast programming were prevalent in samples of cable TV. Olson and Douglas (1997) studied 10 situation comedies broadcast between the fifties and the nineties and found that gender roles fluctuated over this 40 year period. They found moreover that more recent programs (Roseanne, Home Improvement) contained less positive characterizations.

This study, goes beyond Greenberg and Collette's (1997) examination of each season's new programs and Olson and Douglas' (1997) examination of situation comedies, to explore the demography of the world of thirtyplus years of network, prime time programming. The analysis examines gender-role images during the last 3 decades, comparing images in the programming of the 1990's with images in the programs of the 1970's and 1980's. The primary question we seek to answer is whether or not the demography of programs broadcast in the 1990's is different from the demography of broadcast television of the preceding decades, looking at two manifestations of characterization-recognition and respect (Clark, 1972).

Although women make up 51.2 percent of the U.S. population (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996), minority status traditionally has been assigned to them. Clark (1972), in an analysis of the portrayal of racial minorities on television, posited that the positive treatment of minority groups in the media can be viewed as consisting of two stages: recognition and respect. The former refers to the quantity and/or frequency of appearances of minority groups in the media, while the latter refers to the types and breadth of roles in which the groups are portrayed. Hence, to be represented positively, a minority group, such as women, should appear frequently and in varied roles, not just in stereotypical activities. Specifically, the study seeks to test the assumption that women have achieved both recognition and respect on television.

In the case of recognition, numerous studies have testified to the under representation of women on television during the past fifty years. In the 1950's, Head (1954) found that while women made up more than 50% of the U.S. population, they were outnumbered by men two or three to one in "TV Land." A decade later, DeFleur (1964) found that very little had changed. Under representation continued during the 1970's (Beck, 1978; Gerbner, 1972; McNeil, 1975; Signorielli, 1974) and the 1980's (Signorielli, 1989; Davis, 1990). Signorielli (1989) found, however, a significant increase in the proportion of female characters (and a corresponding reduction in the proportion of male characters) between the late 1960's and the mid 1980's. Moreover, the number of network series featuring a female lead character and the range of women in occupational roles increased in programs broadcast during the late 1980's (Atkin, Moorman, & Lin, 1991). Greenberg and Collette (1997), as noted above, found that television's new programs typically reinforced existing patterns of representation. In short, studies conducted since the early days of television show that the TV world consistently under represents and stereotypes women. We thus posit that women still receive little recognition on television. Hi: Male characters outnumber female characters, overall and in each decade.

H2: The character population moves toward greater representation of women, from the late 1960's through 1998.

The numbers of women (recognition) found on television is only a small and rather simple piece in the portrayal of characters in the television world. A more complete understanding of how women are portrayed on television comes from examining the type and depth of the roles in which they are cast-what Clark (1972) referred to as respect. In this analysis we operationalize respect in relation to three key elements-the genre of program in which we find women and how they are cast in terms of age and occupation.

The genres of programs in which characters are cast is one way to begin to understand how much respect women are afforded on television. While people typically enjoy watching situation comedies (they are our highest rated programs), most people do not give sit-coms the same degree of respect as other program genres (for example, dramas). Consequently one could postulate that the characters who appear most often in situation comedies would not rank high in respect. Past studies have found that women appear most frequently in situation comedies and least frequently in crime and action-adventure programs (Gerbner & Signorielli, 1982; Signorielli, 1991). Moreover, given the nature of our television industry that builds more on what has been successful in the past than on innovation, and in light of the fact that the number of situation comedies continue to grow each season, we posit the following related hypotheses:

H3A: In each decade, female characters appear most frequently in situation comedies.

H3B: In each decade, female characters appear least frequently in crime and action programs.

We also posit that the degree and type of respect given to women on television is related to two key elements of their demography-age and occupation. Existing studies of age- and occupation-related portrayals consistently indicate that, on television, women have been awarded less respect than men.

First, women in prime time are almost always depicted as younger than their male counterparts who, in turn, are portrayed as older and wiser (Beck, 1978; Davis, 1990; Gerbner & Signorielli, 1982; Signorielli, 1983, Signorielli,1974). Moreover, as female characters age, they become decreasingly significant to the plot, and the few older characters who do appear, typically lack clearly defined roles (Beck, 1978; Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli, & Morgan, 1980; Vernon, Williams, Phillips, & Wilson, 1990). In addition, as characters age, the life cycle roles of males and females are different: Older males (65 or older) maintain their positions as active, settled, mature adults, while older women are more likely to be designated as elderly (Gerbner et al,1980). Thus, the following hypotheses are posited for analysis:

H4: Female characters are younger than male characters in each decade.

H5: Elderly characters are the least visible in each decade.

H6: Among characters judged to be 65 or older, more male characters than female characters, are middle-aged (rather than elderly).

Second, the degree of respect afforded to women, compared to men, on television is reflected in the types of occupations in which they are cast. Studies of network programming of the 1970's and 1980's consistently found that fewer women work outside the home and that these characters are cast most often in the traditional "female" occupations (e.g., as secretaries, nurses, teachers). Not surprisingly, men are almost always depicted as employed and in higher status occupations than their female counterparts (Beck,1978; Davis,1990; DeFleur,1964; Gerbner & Signorielli,1982; Signorielli, 1983; Signorielli, 1974). Vande Berg and Streckfuss (1992), for example, found that women appeared far more frequently than men in household occupations and as students, while men were seen more frequently than women in the occupations of manager, service, military, and lawbreakers. Furthermore, male characters were depicted as working in public administration industries (e.g., court systems and law enforcement) significantly more often than female characters, while more women than men were portrayed in the areas of retail and service. Lastly, women were less likely than men to occupy upper level professional staff positions (e.g., doctors) and more likely to hold lower level staff positions (e.g., nurse). Given these findings, we posit that:

H7: Fewer female than male characters have an occupation outside the home in each decade.

H8: The percent of female characters portrayed as working increases by decade.

H9: Males and females have traditional gender-typed occupations in each decade.

The last hypothesis builds on the relationship between aging and the degree of respect given to characters. It posits that occupational status is related to a character's age, much like it is in reality. Building on Gerbner et al.'s (1980) finding that older males typically maintain their positions as active, settled, mature adults while older women are more likely to be designated as elderly, we posit that older men will be more likely than older women to remain in the work force. Specifically:

H10: Fewer older female characters than older male characters work outside the home, in each decade.

This study thus will examine the degree of recognition and respect given to characters on television in relation to the genre of program in which they appear and how they are represented in relation to age, aging, and occupation. One of the major considerations will be to ascertain whether or not there have been changes from the end of the 1960's (the start of the women's movement) to the end of the 1990's in how the characters of prime time are cast. As we move toward the end of the 20th century, this study provides a base of information about gender roles on television that can be used to continue to monitor changes (or stability) in the demographic makeup of the television world.

METHOD

This study analyzed major/leading and supporting characters in 36 week-long samples (Sunday through Saturday) of prime-time (8-11:00 p.m. EST) television drama broadcast between the fall of 1967 and the spring of 1998. The 1967 through 1992 samples2 were analyzed as part of the Cultural Indicators Project; the 1993 through 1998 samples were analyzed as part of an ongoing class project at an east coast university. There were six samples of winter/spring programming (1975, 1976, 1990, 1993, 1997, and 1998); the rest of the samples were of fall programming. There were two samples in the 1975,1976,1993, and 1997 calendar years-one collected during the winter/spring and one during the early fall. The weeks sampled were not selected during a sweeps period and only network programming (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX3, UPN and WB4) was included. The weeks were not selected randomly. All programs, except sporting events, such as Monday night football, were included. Numerous tests to assess the validity of using week-long samples of programming have found that a week of programming gives a fairly accurate description of the television world while being cost and time effective (Signorielli, Gross, & Morgan, 1982).

Data were generated by trained coders. Training consisted of discussions to explain coding schemes as well as hands-on coding of programs that had been specifically selected and pre-coded for the training process. The Cultural Indicators data collection procedures used paid coders who underwent a month-long training session. The university data were collected as part of annual semester-long class projects in which upper-class communication majors5 received approximately 20 hours of training from the principal investigator. These students were highly invested in the data collection procedures because one of their major assignments was to write a research paper using the data collected as part of this class project. The recording instruments used in all phases of the data collection, although not identical, included many of the same coding schemes. The variables used in this study had identical coding schemes.

The television program and the major/leading/supporting character were the units of analysis. The programs consisted of television plays, feature or made-for-television films, and some animation (e.g., The Simpsons) that were classified by genre into situation comedies, action-adventures, and dramas. The data collected between 1993 and 1998 included reality, news/information, and award type programs. The news/information and awards programs were omitted from this analysis and the reality programs, whose content typically is crime and/or action-adventure oriented, were grouped with the action-adventure programs. The major/leading and supporting characters were those roles that were essential to the story line. The analysis did not differentiate between major/leading and supporting characters.

The recording instruments isolated numerous dimensions of content. This analysis used the variables of program genre, as well as gender, age, and occupation. Two measures of age were used-chronological age and social age. Chronological age was the coder's best estimate of the age of the character (not the actor portraying the character). Social age defined the character's age according to stages in the life cycle. Characters were categorized as (1) children or adolescents, (2) young adults with few responsibilities, (3) settled or middle-aged adults who had career and/or family responsibilities, or (4) elderly. A character who was seen in more than one phase of the life cycle, for example as a child and as an adult, was classified as "cannot code" for these two variables and excluded from the data analysis.

Data for characters' occupations are available from 1973-1998.6 Occupation was coded in several steps. Coders first described each character's occupation and placed it in one of the 68 categories of the primary coding scheme. These occupations were then regrouped into three different sets of categories for these analyzes. First, occupations were grouped by working, not working, or unknown. Second, they were grouped by the type of job-professional, white collar, blue collar, law enforcement, criminal, not working, and unknown. Finally, the occupations were categorized by the authors into four stereotypical job classifications: (1) traditional male jobs (police, doctor, lawyer, construction, etc.); (2) traditional female jobs (housewife, secretary, social worker, nurse, teacher, household worker, clerical, etc.); (3) neutral jobs (unemployed, artist, journalist/author, student, airline personnel, etc.) and (4) unknown. Overall, 40 different occupations were classified as "male" jobs,10 as "female" jobs, and 18 as "neutral" jobs. The occupation analyses were conducted only for characters who were judged to be 16 or older. Characters who had two or more jobs during a program were classified in the "other" occupation category.

Although the trend analyses were conducted on a year by year basis, most of the analyses combined the data by decade-the 1960-1970's,1980's, and 1990's. The data from the 1960's and 1970's were combined because there were only three samples in the 1960's.

Most of the programs (three-quarters or more) in each of the samples were coded by two independent coders to provide a test of reliability. Reliability was measured for each variable in each sample by Krippendorff 's alpha. All of the variables used in this analysis met Krippendorff's (1980) standards of reliability. In each sample Krippendorff's alpha for gender was very close to 1.00, chronological age and occupation typically had agreement coefficients of .90 or above, while the coefficients for social age ranged from .66 to .80.

RESULTS

The sample gathered between 1967 and 1998 consisted of 8,293 characters-34.5% women and 65.5% men. Table I presents the distribution of men and women by program genre and decade. The most noticeable finding is that the distribution of men and women changed by decade. Women made up 28% of the sample in the 1960's-1970's, 34% of the sample in the 1980's, and 39% of the sample in the 1990's. As expected, the results of the Chi Square analyses provide support for Hl-male characters outnumbered female characters in network prime-time programs in each decade. There were, however, significant changes in the degree of under representation as illustrated by the findings of the trend analysis. As seen in an earlier study (see, Signorielli, 1989), this analysis provides support for H2-the character population has continued to move toward greater representation of women. There is a statistically significant linear trend (F = 89.91; df = 1,34; p < .001)-the proportion of women increased significantly and steadily between 1967 and 1998-moving from 24% of the characters in 1967 to a high of 43% in 1996 and down to 38% in the spring of 1998.

Table I also indicates support for H3A and H3B. The row percentages (percent of each gender in each genre of programming) in Table I show that women appeared most often in situation comedies and least frequently in action-adventure/crime programs. The findings for H3A were consistent across the entire 30-year period as well as in each of the three decades of programming, while H3B was supported overall and in two of the three decades of programming. More than 40% of the women in the 1960's-1970's (42.7%) and in the 1990's (48.9%), and close to 40 percent of the women in the 1980's (36.7%) were found in situation comedies. Similarly, the smallest percentage of women was found in action-adventure/crime programs in the 1980's (28.2%), and the 1990's (21.7%). In the 1960's-1970's fewer women were found in dramas (20.3%) than in action programs (37.0%).

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

We find further support for H3B in all three decades of programming by examining the column percentages (the percent of men and women in each genre of programming) in Table I. These figures show a greater degree of under presentation of women in action-adventures than situation comedies or dramas. In the 1960's-1970's the ratio of men to women was 4 to 1; in the 1980's the ratio was 3 to 1; while in the 1990's there were 7 men for every 3 women. Examination of the male-female ratios shows that in the 1990's, women have had the greatest increase in being cast in dramas-the distribution of men and women in dramas is very close to equal-53.7% men and 46.3% women. By comparison, in dramas, the malefemale distribution in the 1960's-1970's and the 1980's was about twothirds men to one-third women. Situation comedies, which in the 1960's1970's and 1980's had the overall greatest percentage of women, have a slightly less balanced male-female distribution (57.6% male and 42.4% female) in the 1990's. The programming of the nineties has the most even male-female distributions in dramas, followed by situation comedies.

Age as a Representation of Respect

The results of the t-tests presented in Table II indicate that the women were always judged to be about 4 years younger than the men. Further support for H4 is found in Table III-the distribution of characters' social age across decades. We find in this analysis that while the settled adult group was the largest for both the men and the women, there were fewer women than men categorized as settled adults, and proportionately more women than men categorized as young adults. This was especially true of the women in the 1990's. In these most recent samples 40% of the women were categorized as young adults and 47.9% were placed in the settled (middle-aged) adult category. In the two previous decades, proportionately more women were classified as settled adults.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

H5 (elderly characters will appear the most infrequently) was also tested by the data in Table III. This analysis found, as have previous studies, that in each decade elderly characters, both men and women, appeared very infrequently-typically only 3% of the characters were categorized as elderly or old.

H6 (proportionately more male characters [65 years of age and older] than female characters [65 and older] are categorized as middle-aged [settled adult] than as elderly) was tested by comparing data relating to chronological and social age. For this analysis chronological age was combined in five categories: 18 and younger, 19 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64, and 65 and older. To simplify the presentation Table IV reports only the data for characters 65 and older and gives the percent of these characters who were classified as settled adults (middle aged), or elderly. There was support for this hypothesis in all decades. For example, during the 1990's, 34% of the 65 or older men were classified as middle aged (settled adults) compared to only 16.1% of the 65 or older women. More than 8 out of 10 of the 65 or older women were seen as elderly, compared to only two-thirds of this group of men. While there has been a slight decrease in the proportion of women seen as elderly, the male-female differences are still quite considerable.

Occupation as a Representation of Respect

As in previous studies, while television characters appear in a variety of different occupations (see Table V), they are more likely to have jobs classified as professional or white collar than blue collar. Table V provides support for H7-more men than women are categorized as working outside the home. The data from the 1990's do not differ from that collected during the 1980's and are only slightly different from the portrayals found during the 1970's. The programs of the 1990's show that about 4 out of 10 women did not work outside the home. Nevertheless, there are smaller male-female differences in the programming of the nineties. The difference between the percent of men and women who were seen as employed was 15% in the 1990's, compared to 30% in the 1970's and 20% in the 1980's.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

There is, however, not much support for H8 (the percent of women working outside the home will increase in each decade). Although the data in Table V show that the percent of women working outside the home increased from the 1970's (55.1%) to the 1980's (60.2%), it remained stable in the 1990's (60.1%). Moreover, the results of a trend analysis for women revealed a difference in the percentage of women working from year-toyear (F = 1.64, df = 1,28, p < .05), but no statistically significant linear trend. The percentage of women shown working went from a low of 43% in the Spring of 1973 to a high of 76% in 1985, and averaged between 55% and 66% throughout the 1990's. There is, however, support for H8 when looking at the percentage of female characters cast as professionals-21.3% in the 1970's, 22.2% in the 1980's, and 29.6% in the 1990's. There is also a statistically significant linear trend for these data (F = 14.00, df = 1,28, p < .001). Interestingly, while the number of women in law enforcement occupations remained stable over this 30-year period (between 6% and 8% in each sample), the percent of men in law enforcement jobs decreased from a high of 22.2% in the 1970's, to 17.7% in the 1980's and 15.8% in the 1990's. This linear trend analysis was statistically significant (F = 20.58, df = 1,28, p < .001).

H9 posited that both men and women would be cast in gender-typed occupations. Table VI shows that there is no support for H9. While males are cast in traditional male jobs (at least half of the men in each decade), more females are found in gender neutral than traditional female jobs. These differences, moreover, have increased over time. There are also interesting male-female differences. First, the percentage of women in gender-typed occupations has not remained stable during the past 30 years. In the 1970's almost one-quarter of the women (23.7%) were cast in traditional female jobs. This percentage, however, deceased to a little more than one in ten women (11.4%) in the 1980's, but increased to 17.1% during the 1990's. On the other hand, the percent of men in traditional male jobs decreased consistently going from 63.8% in the 1970's, to 57.6% in the 1980's, and 49.8% in the 1990's. The largest increases from the 1970's to the 1990's were in the percentage of characters, both male and females, who were cast in "gender-neutral" jobs. The men went from 22.5% in the 1970's, to 28.9% in the 1980's, to 33.4% in the 1990's while the women went from 31.0% in the 1970's, to 29.7% in the 1980's, to 39.0% in the 1990's.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

There is also support for H10-on television, older men, those 65 and older, are significantly more likely than older women to work outside the home. Table VII indicates that about six out of ten of the men categorized as 65 or older compared to about a quarter of women over 65 are cast in a specific occupation. While there have been some differences from the 1970's to the 1990's, the changes are not overwhelming. Even in the 1990's, almost half of the 65 and older men compared to a little more than a quarter of the 65 and older women were working outside the home. Interestingly, the largest proportion of men over 65 who were working were found in programs broadcast in the 1970's.

DISCUSSION

The world of televison is formulaic-driven, designed to appeal to the widest possible audience at the least possible cost. What has attracted an audience in the past is typically repeated each season in a similar iteration. Consequently, stability often is the key to success. It is thus not surprising that gender images and representation during prime time have been remarkably stable during the past 30 years.

As expected, the results of these analyses show that women still receive less recognition than men on television. Beginning in the 1980's and particularly during the 1990's, however, there has been some change in the amount and degree of respect given to them. The television world is over-populated by men; across genres, male characters outnumbered female characters, overall and in each decade. Today, women are least likely to be cast in action-adventure programs and most likely to be cast in dramas and situation comedies. This sends a clear message to audiences: Women are not as important as men or are only important when viewed in the narrow confines of situation comedies. We may thus conclude that Tuchman's (1978) analogy of the "symbolic annihilation" of women on television still exists, although not to the degree that it was true during the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

Images about aging reinforce previous analyses (see, for example, Gerbner et al., 1980). Women are still younger than men and the very young and the elderly are still practically invisible. Television places great value on young adults-with the greatest emphasis on the youthfulness of women. This sentiment receives further support in the overall dearth of elderly characters on television-less than 3% of the characters are old. Moreover, the negative message of aging, particularly for women, is even more pronounced when we look at the characters who are categorized as 65 years of age or older. On the one hand, 65 year old men are significantly more likely to be categorized as middle aged rather than elderly. In addition, they still have jobs and consequently are granted more respect. On the other hand, most of the women over the age of 65 are seen as elderly (not middle-aged) and they do not continue to work outside the home. Women, thus are not granted as much respect as men. The message of earlier decades is still quite clear in the 1990's: A woman's value is in her youthfulness.

The focus on youthfulness is not limited to television. A study of women in the top grossing films from the 1940's to the 1980's also found that while women of all ages were under represented, the differences were most apparent for women over 35. Moreover, in film, older women are presented with more negative characteristics than older men (Bazzini, McIntosh, Smith, Cook, & Harris, 1997). Similarly, older adults, especially older women are under represented in television commercials, although this may vary by the product advertised (Ray & Harwood, 1997).

Nevertheless, on television women are not totally lacking in respect. Over the past 30 years more women on television were seen employed outside the home and the jobs in which they are found are a little more prestigious today. For example, the percent of women cast in the professions increased from the 1970's to the 1990's. We find another important change in the portrayal of employment-women's occupations on television are less stereotyped today than they were in the 1970's. Whereas in the 1970's about a quarter of the women were depicted in traditional female occupations such as teachers, nurses, secretaries and clerks, during the 1980's and 1990's a smaller portion of the women were cast in these jobs. In contrast, the percent of women in traditional male jobs or in gender-neutral jobs increased significantly from the 1970's to the 1990's. Overall, men still appear most frequently in traditional male occupations; however, in the 1990's, compared to the 1970's and 1980's, even the men are somewhat more likely to be cast in gender-neutral jobs. In all decades, nevertheless, practically no men were found in traditional female jobs. In short, women's occupations on television today are not as gender-stereotyped as they were in past decades.

Women, on television, thus are found in a greater variety of occupations. However, it is important to note that these findings may be influenced by the fact that the world of work on television is dominated by jobs classified as traditional male jobs. In fact, only 10 of the 68 job categories were classified as traditional female, 18 were neutral, while 40 were traditional male occupations. The overabundance of male occupations in comparison to female and neutral occupations is a telling fact of the television world. This does, nevertheless, reinforce the major finding that has dominated this area of study for the past 30 years-television is largely a man's world.

This analysis just begins to tell the story of gender recognition and respect in prime time broadcast television. Other factors such as marital status and race may provide even more information about the degree and type of respect given to characters in prime time. Past research has shown that women, particularly women of color, are more likely than men to be cast as married and that occupational status is also linked to whether or not characters are married, divorced or single (see, for example, Signorielli, 1982). Future analyses of this data set will take these demographic characteristics into consideration.

The images we have discussed in this analysis are important for the overall understanding of the role of television in our lives, and especially in the lives of our children. These messages are especially important in the continuing socialization of our young people The young, often turn to television, intentionally and unintentionally, to learn about the world in which they live. As they become teenagers and young adults, television provides easily accessed information about the world they will soon enter. Often the images they see, for example about jobs and work, are at odds with what they will experience when they enter the work force. Signorielli (1993) found, for example, that high school seniors who watched more television had more unrealistic conceptions about work. They wanted to have high status and high paying jobs (the ones they often saw on television) while having lots of vacation/free time and not very much work to do (again, perceptions that are consonant with the way work is seen on television).

The results of this study thus support the large existing body of research on gender role images on television. The results, however, indicate that while there has been some change, there is still considerable stability. While the women on television are given somewhat more respect today than they were given in past decades, they still receive less recognition than their numbers in the U.S. population would warrant. The world of television and its cast of characters is still more likely to be driven by the narrow confines of formulaic writing than the need to go beyond stereotypes and what has always attracted an audience in the past. In short, until women are shown frequently and in numerous roles representing the full gamut of their capabilities and experiences, the effects of television on conceptions of gender roles will remain deleterious to true social equality of the genders.

[Footnote]

1To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Communication, University of Delaware, 250 Pearson Hall, Newark, DE 19716-2534.

Gerbner, G., & Signorielli, N. (1982). The world according to television. American Demographics, pp. 15-17.

Greenberg, B. S., & Collette, L. (1997). The changing faces on TV: A demographic analysis of network television's new seasons, 1966-1992. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 41, 1-13.

Head, S. (1954). Content analysis of television drama programs. Quarterly of Film, Radio,

and Television, 9, 175-194.

Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. McNeil, J. (1975). Feminism, femininity and the television series: A content analysis. Journal

of Broadcasting, 19, 259-269.

Nielsen, A. C. (1990). Nielsen report on television. New York: Nielsen Media Research.

Signorielli, N. (1989). Television and conceptions about sex roles: Maintaining conventionality and the status quo. Sex Roles, 21, 341-360.

Signorielli, N. (1983). The demography of the television world. In O. H. Gandy, P. Espinosa, & J. A. Ordover (Eds.), Proceedings from the Tenth Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Signorielli, N., Gross, L., & Morgan, M. (1982). Violence in television programs: Ten years later. In D. Pearl, L. Bouthilet, & J. Lazar (Eds.), Television and behavior: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties. Vol. 2. Technical Reports. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Tuchman, G., Daniels, A. K., & Benet, J. (Eds.). (1978). Hearth and Home: Images of Women

in the Mass Media. New York: Oxford University Press.

Vande Berg, L. R., & Streckfuss, D. (1992). Prime-time television's portrayal of women and the world of work: A demographic profile. Journal of Broadcasting, 36, 195-208. Vernon, J. A., Williams, J. A., Phillips, T., & Wilson, J. (1990). Media stereotyping: A comparison of the way elderly women and men are portrayed on prime-time television. Journal of Women and Aging, 2, 55-68.

[Author Affiliation]

Nancy Signorielli1

University of Delaware

Aaron Bacue

University of Arizona