How Stereotypes in Movies and on TV Impact Kids’ Development [downloadable]

Key Findings:

• Media reinforce the idea that masculine traits and behaviors are more valued than feminine traits and behaviors, and boys who consume these media messages are more likely to exhibit masculine behaviors and beliefs.
• Media promote the notion that girls should be concerned about their appearance and should treat their bodies as sexual objects for others’ consumption.
• In adolescence, media use is associated with more tolerant views of sexual harassment and more support for the belief that women are at least partially responsible for their own sexual assaults.
• Heavier viewing of gender-traditional television content is associated with children’s gender-typed career aspirations.
• The television programs and films that children and adolescents watch reinforce traditional gender stereotypes.
• Youth of color may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of media use on gender-role development.
• Heavier viewing of gender-traditional TV and film content is linked to the expression of more rigid beliefs about what men and women do and are and how they behave.
• Accepting rigid stereotypes about the roles and attributes of women and men has consequences for development in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
• As children enter adolescence, media provide lessons on how they are expected to behave in romantic and sexual situations, and these lessons are strongly gendered.
• There are several ways to combat gender stereotypes and promote positive gender representations, including presenting counter-stereotypes, talking to children about media content, and providing media-literacy education.