Research into the Influence of Media



Essay titles

Discuss the importance of social influences on gender (16)

Discuss the influence of culture and/or media on gender roles (16)

Discuss the influence of media on gender roles (16)

Discuss the influence of culture on gender roles (16)

Task 1: read through the essay and complete the following activities

This essay is shaped to the second question but I want you to think what you could add to answer the first question.

Culture refers to the shared habits of a group of people or a community. Research has suggested that culture has a strong influence on gender roles and that, although our sex is biological determined, our gender is socially constructed. This means that the society we live in will shape our gender roles. The influence of culture is supported by social learning theory, which states that gender roles are learnt from the observation of same sex role models.

Hofstede suggested that some cultures are masculine, which means gender roles are highly defined with males focused on material gain and being dominant and assertive, whereas females are modest and tender and concerned more with relationships. Such cultures include Japan and Hungary and these ideals can influence the gender roles of females and males. Feminine societies promote more equality between males and females and include Sweden and Norway. Such countries also promote a more shared approach to childcare which can influence the roles males and females have in society.

We can also look at traditional cultures such as Pakistan and India that tend to have very defined gender roles where males are focused outside the home and females operate within the home environment. Such societies can be compared to more egalitarian cultures such as the Netherlands, where roles are interchangeable. These cultural ideals and beliefs have a strong influence on the gender roles adopted by individuals.

Margaret Mead carried out research into the influence of culture on gender roles by studying three groups in Papua New Guinea and comparing these to the USA. This research was carried out in the 1920'2 and 30's and the three tribes she studied were the Arapesh, the Mundugumor and the Tchambuli.

Mead found many differences between these communities, with the Arapash promoting nurturing, caring and gentle attitudes in both males and females, the Mundugumor where both males and females showed masculine behaviours such as heightened aggression and the Tchambuli who showed reversed gender roles from Western societies. Here the women were robust and practical and the men focused on making themselves attractive.

The research of Mead shows how culture can influence gender roles and supports the role nurture rather than nature on the development of gender roles. This is challenged by evidence from the influence of chromosomes and hormones on gender which states that it is our biology that dictates our gender role behaviour and specifically the role of testosterone on pre natal brain development which is known to influence behaviour.

Williams and Best (1990) studied students in 27 different countries, giving them a list of traits and asking whether they applied to women or men. They found substantial agreement across the 27 countries. This suggests there are stereotyped views of males and females that may reflect the biological differences of the sexes and the roles these dictate. Eagly and Wood would support this and argue that there are are physical differences between men and women which help them carry out specific tasks more effectively. For example, females bear children and produce milk and males are stronger and faster.

Although Mead's work was influential, it was criticised for having an alpha bias. She exaggerated the differences between cultures and in doing so ignored the similarities across Western and non western cultures. She was criticised for misunderstanding the customs in Papua New Guinea and therefore reporting differences when thee were more similarities. This poses a problem for Western researchers studying Non-Western communities. There may be pre-existing researcher biases and expectations that influence the way behaviour is interpreted, it may also be that the behaviour of the communities studied changes because of the presence of the researchers.

It is however, widely accepted that there are traditional and egalitarian communities and this strongly influences the gender roles within the society. This is supported by Fagot et al who studied children growing up in either traditional (dad out to work and mum at home) or egalitarian households (both parents work and share childcare). Parents were interviewed and they were observed interacting with their child. When the child was four years old they tested them by asking them what toys were appropriate for boys and which ones were appropriate for girls. The researchers found that children from traditional families showed more gender-role stereotyping than those from egalitarian families. This research emphasises the role of the cultural environment on the development of gender roles.

Social Learning Theory suggests that the environment has a strong influence on gender roles and that culture is part of this influence. There is also a large amount of research that suggests the media influences gender roles and this again would be influenced by culture. Although there are some difference in gender roles across cultures it seems that biological differences in men and women cannot be ignored when looking at factors influencing gender roles and that it is these biological differences that dictate the roles that males and females adopt.

Task 1

1. First you should identify the AO1 and AO3 in the essay.

2. Pick out the research and write this up in a way you will remember it.

3. Think about any further points that could be added to the essay (it is level 4 already)

Write up one of the other essays using a similar format. Use the information below and in your packs to help you

Stevens Aubrey and Harrison (2004) carried out a content analysis to examine the types of messages children receive, about gender, from the media.

200 children between the age of six and nine were asked to name their favourite programmes and the researchers chose six of the most popular. They recorded five episodes of each and carried out a content analysis.

The researcher found relatively few gender stereotypes but there were some subtle portrayals of gender differences.

1. Male leads outnumbered females leads by 2:1

2. Boys were more likely to be active than girls

3. Female leads were more likely to be good looking than male leads

4. There were no differences in independence, assertiveness and sensitivity between boys and girls.

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Williams unitel, multitel and notel - see booklet evaluation point.

Freuh (1980) carried out longitudinal research - over 15 months and looked at children aged between 6-12 years. It was found that those children who watched 25 hours or more TV per week had stronger sex stereotyped perceptions than those who watched TV for 10 hours or less.

This suggests that..................................

Conly and Ramsey studied how women and men are portrayed in TV commercials. They found that women were shown to be flawless and more passive than men. However, Stevens et al (2004) (see above).

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Worksheet to support your understanding of the role of media and culture on gender roles. Please note that along with SLT these make up the social influences on gender.

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