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Zenzele Barnes
09 October 2014
Dr. Nathaniel
COMM 320
LITERATURE REVIEW
RQ: Does gender play a role in creating and producing media with less stereotypical and
dynamic representations of women in television and films?
Modern Day Demographics of the Television and Film Industry
The entertainment industry in the United States touches millions of lives
everyday. Primetime television and film are an essential part to American culture and the
stories people create for themselves. These mediums are readily available to the public
both tangibly and streaming. By entering households across the country, people are
introduced into new realities and the imaginative characters they create. Behind every
personality trait, every line of dialogue, and every compositional shot, there is a person
making a decision. Directors, writers, producers, and other individuals shape the
narratives being broadcasted to audiences. This power is incredible. It affects which
populations have a voice and how their stories are being told. It is both influenced by and
reflective of the values, hopes, and dreams of a society. The dynamics of whose
narratives are being told, which ideas are dominant, and by whom they are written should
be examined and challenged in film and television.
Historically and modern day, men have dominated most aspects of behind-thescenes media creation. In terms of television, research posits, Women comprised 25% of
individuals in key behind-the-scenes roles on programs airing on the broadcast networks

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and cable channels, and available through Netflix in 2013-2014 (Lauzen, 2014).
Included in field of media creation are creators, executive producers, producers, writers,
directors, editors. In the 2012 film industry, women comprised 18% of all directors,
executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the
top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents no change from 2011 and an increase of
1 percentage point from 1998 (Lauzen, 2013). In both film and television, women make
up less than one-fourth of the individuals creating the content. Those involved in media
creation get to pick the stories told. Individuals, both men and women, have the ability to
engage larger audiences in a narrative experience. Gender, along with race, age, sexual
orientation, and many other factors will effect how these stories are created and told.
If women make up half of the viewing population in the United States, why is
there an imbalance in media creation? One factor contributing to this shortcoming is the
glass ceiling. For women, there will always be a challenge to enter a workforce that lacks
gender diversity. There can be hiring bias towards men in the male-dominated field of
media production (Puig, 1991). As media creators, women battle for the opportunity to
make creative decisions alongside men and for themselves. Additionally, there are still
prevalent ideas that women in caretaker roles will not be able to fully commit to their
careers. These ideas still dominate the reasoning behind hiring (or not hiring) women.
Other factors may be more abstract. Stacy L. Smith also looked into factors that
contribute to this imbalance. Lack of career guidance and female mentors, access to
educational resources, finances, and awareness could be exacerbating the issue (Smith,
S., Choueiti, M., & Pieper, K., 2013).

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These trends give insight into the main influencers the entertainment industry.
Largely, men are more represented than women. In this industry of imbalance, the
dominant ideologies of one demographic are responsible for the overwhelming majority
of film and television. Historically, men have dominated media creation and things are
not very different today. If the goal of television and film is to reflect American life,
values, and goals, audiences may look for this same level of diversity. With this goal in
mind, the people creating these narratives should reflect the same level of diversity. Each
gender and demographic has his or her own lens to see the world. If gender plays a role in
creating well-rounded images of women, evaluating what narratives have been told thus
far is essential.
Gender Inequality and Media Creation
Gender inequality plays a role in the dynamics of the media that is created. Across
multiple media genres, women are underrepresented (Collins, 2011). Studies have shown
that women, a whole demographic, are being left out of the larger media conversation.
With just 25% of women in media creation roles on broadcast television networks, there
is an inherent bias in who is creating the media. Even broader than who is being hired are
the production companies themselves. The bottom line has little to do with the creative
process. While television and film producers seek to create new ideas, it is also
contested space in which behind-the-scenes individuals seek to expand the range and
scope of their creative vision and the commercial forces of television seek to restrict it
(Lauzen, M., Dozier, D., & Cleveland, E., 2006). No matter the situation, there will
always be restrictions with the limitations. Broadcast companies know how to market
what will sell. If they choose to hire people that will stay in line with this hegemonic

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thinking, the narratives being broadcasted are already skewed. This power of constraint is
a hindrance to representative and diverse narratives.
The homogony and consistency of hiring the same demographic (namely: white
men) has put television and film in an odd position (Robertston, 2010). On one hand, the
audience that connects with the dominant narratives is satisfied. They become
complacent and desensitized to one type of representation of women. Representation can
be defined as the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities,
experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective (UMN
Moodle). Often, that image strongly plays into gender roles or is hyper sexualized
(Robertston, 2010). This system lets those with media control keep power over their
audiences. An audience who never seeks representation stops questioning the dominant
values in the media. Consistently imbalanced media encourages affirmation of a norm
created by the few to represent the many. It causes other points of view to be seen as the
other in comparison.
Within the mediums of film and television, the genres are varied. On television
some categories include sitcoms, dramas, action, horror, animated shows, and more.
Films have similar categories. The representation of women in these creative spaces
varies between different genres. Dr. Martha M. Lauzer found that in 2012 films women
were most likely to work in the documentary, drama, and animated film genres. They
were least likely to work in the action, horror and sci-fi genres (Lauzer, 2013). It can be
postulated either that there is a lack of interest or lack of opportunity. Lauzer in an earlier
2006 study found that genre matters. By examining reality television as well as scripted
television, Lauzer found that the employment of one or more women writers, creators,

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or executive producers was related to fewer on-screen gender differences in leadership,
occupational power, and goal-seeking behavior, in comparison with programs with allmale writers, creators, and executive producers (Lauzen, M., Dozier, D., & Cleveland,
E., 2006). This shows that women make a difference in media creation. Just by including
more dynamic characters, women behind-the-scenes add to a fuller scope of narratives on
television. Across the board, both men and women being part of media creation is
important but it is clear that it may be even more so depending on the genre. The complex
nature of texts in the film and television industries makes representation complicated.
There is a wide range of material and approaches to media creation in both mediums.
Each producer, director, and creator brings a new perspective to any project. The
perspective of women is one context that still has yet to be fully explored in these
mediums.
Representational Trends of Women on Television and Film
Media representation is important for everyone, especially young women. Ashton
Gerding and Nancy Signorielli found that cultivation theory and peoples concept of
reality is influenced by television (Gerding, A., & Signorielli, N., 2013). This especially
holds true of adolescents and young adults. If images shown on television or film are
distorted, people will see it as the norm. In fact, if television presents stereotypes or a
distorted image of reality, those who are heavy viewers will have conceptions of actual
reality based on what they see on television. These images are particularly relevant in
terms of gender roles (Gerding, A., & Signorielli, N., 2013). In the same field of
studying childrens media Stacy L. Smith explored a number of elements in the way
women are portrayed on childrens television. Smith determined the degree of

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stereotyping with three categories, demographics, domesticity, and sexualization. Finding
that women were more likely than men to fit the image of young, sexy, and domestic
(Smith). This limited view of women on television keeps women from being dynamic
and complex characters. From this standpoint, womens roles on television exist only as
visual objects. Audiences, as explained in cultivation theory, absorb these narrow
representations of women. Euan Robertston explored the influence of television on
audiences and similarly found that young women are high consumers of media
(Robertston, 2010). This sensitivity to media messages makes it important to review
which images are chosen over others.
This stereotyping does not just exist for women. Though it is more pronounced
with women, men are stereotyped on television as well. Standards of hyper masculinity
for boys and men are paired with femininity for girls and women. Julia Wood found that
aggression and dominance lead personality traits for males on television for all ages
(Wood!). For women, those shown are television were younger and thinner than the
average population. (Wood). This lack of accurate representation is damaging to males.
Basing judgment off of television can provide an unrealistic and unhealthy standard of
behaviors. One difference is in this regard are male characters on television
encompasses 61.1% of all speaking characters (Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Prescott, A., &
Pieper, K., 2012). Even though both genders are shortchanged in the media, women
continue to play catch-up.
Another element that is overlooked on television (and film) is ethnicity. On the
broadcast networks in 2013 the racial demographics left something to be desired. Lauzen
found that 74% of female characters were white, 14% were African-American, 5% were

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Latina, 6% were Asian, and 1% were of some other race or ethnicity (Lauzen, 2014).
Disparages in ethnicity in television create a whole new set of complications and
representative issues. If an audience is looking to connect with characters and stories,
ethnicity can be a level of connection separate from gender. Julia Wood found that based
on television demographics:
White males make up two-thirds of the population. The women are less in
number, perhaps because fewer than 10% live beyond 35. Those who do, like
their younger and male counterparts, are nearly all white and heterosexual. In
addition to being young, the majority of women are beautiful, very thin, passive,
and primarily concerned with relationships and getting rings out of collars and
commodes. There are a few bad, bitchy women, and they are not so pretty, not so
subordinate, and not so caring as the good women. Most of the bad ones work
outside of the home, which is probably why they are hardened and undesirable.
The more powerful, ambitious men occupy themselves with important business
deals, exciting adventures, and rescuing dependent females, whom they often then
assault sexually (Wood, 1994).
In no way is this representative of the American population. Audiences ability to see a
broad range of personalities and relational dynamics in film or television can change their
reality.
Effects of Diversifying Media in the United States
Women have a unique set of experiences and understandings of American culture.
It has been proven that the way represented in film and television is just one narrow
understanding of an entire gender. One way to diversify these images is to diversify who

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is involved in media creation. One context to observe where women are more prevalent
in media creation is documentaries. At the Sundance Film Festival, one of the most
highly regarded film festivals in the United States, is one arena where women have
gained more representation. Between 2002 and 2012, 41% of directors in the Sundance
Documentary Competition were female (Smith, S., Choueiti, M., & Pieper, K., 2013).
The highly competitive nature of Sundance gives filmmakers from all backgrounds a
chance to display their work to a select audience. One advantage to showing at Sundance
(and other festivals) is the recognition and opportunity for future connections into
mainstream media. It may be easier to penetrate the field of independent film because
whats accepted is more open-ended. While the film industry has proven to choose
narratives they know will make money, independent filmmakers do not necessarily hold
this end goal over everything else. Having the conversation about the ways that gender
behind the scenes in filmmaking and television starts the what now? conversation.
Narratives of women in power are being put into conversation and coming to the big and
small screen. Creators and producers including Emily Kapnek, Chris Nee, Tina Fey, Jenji
Kohan, Mindy Kahling, Rebecca Sugar, and more are creating primetime and childrens
programming with new narratives for all genders. Both television and film are slowing
moving from less male-centered narratives to those that are more balanced or femalecentered (Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Prescott, A., & Pieper, K., 2012).
Diversifying media can have many effects on society. For one, it creates new
opportunities for anyone who doesnt identify with the majority to create their own
narrative. Stereotypes can be harmful to everyone, including the majority. Being invisible
in the media can also affect the self-image of the public. In order for media to diversify,

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everyone must be welcome to the table. Largely, the media is still male-dominated and
the power dynamics have not shifted even within the past ten years (Gross, 2010). An
audience being able to connect with narratives closer to their own is important. There are
still a lot of obstacles for female media creators and challenging the dominant texts.
However, through the fights of others, media representation is slowing coming for a new
generation.

Sub-questions: Which demographics of people contribute most to the production and

writing process of modern-day primetime television shows? What are the trends
historically? What is the range of character traits given to women on shows created by
women compared to those that are not? How to gender roles and stereotypes on television
affect audiences perceptions of women?

Hypotheses: Shows created by women show less stereotypical representations of women

but overall, the portrayal of womens characters on television is limited.

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