Sex, Gender, Sexual Orientation REFERENCES

Miller, 2018

lead roles in top 100 films of 2017 - males 70%, females 30%

This is seen cross culturally

Collins, 2011

Women on screen are sexualised, in a subordinate position, focused on relationships, homemakers

Kang and Hust, 2022

Two thirds of characters aimed at children are male

Shawcroft et al., 2022

Divide in character gender representation in Disney films - Male = 60%, Female = 40%

Fought & Eisenhauer, 2015

In Disney princess films, females speak an average of 20% fewer words than males, there are 9 few speaking roles per film

England et al., 2011

Looked at gender roles depictions in early, middle, and latest Disney releases

In all categories, females showed more feminine than masculine characteristics, however, across time princesses displayed more masculine characteristics

Further research found that children viewing 'newer' movies did not change their perception of princesses in general - suggests that representation alone is insufficient in changing perceptions

Towbin et al., 2004

Analysed 26 Disney Films

Themes related to being a boy/man = using physical means to express emotion, naturally strong/heroic, non-domestic

Themes related to being a girl/woman = appearance valued more than intellect, helpless and in need of protection, domestic and likely to marry

overweight characters have negative characteristics, are ugly, unpleasant and unmarried

Miller, 2018

In all behind the scene positions there are disproportionally more men

Shawcroft et al. 2022 (behind the scenes)

Looked at gender involved in production.

When written by women, male characters were more likely to be parents/children, and more well rounded

Dill and Thill, 2007

Content analysis of gaming magazine characters

Male characters more likely to be portrayed as aggressive (M=83%, F=62%)

Female characters more likely to be sexualised (F=60%, M=1%)

Bystrom et al., 2001

female politicians more likely to be linked with social policy (education, family) than finance or foreign policy

Jacobs and Meeusen, 2021

content analysis of TV news about LGBT people over 30 years

- no increased visibility

- coverage still mostly negative, but fewer stories blaming LGBT people directly

Raley and Lucas, 2006

content analysis of 80 prime time TV shows - only 7.5% had a recurring lesbian/gay characters

Uncertain if these characters were properly part of the community or just token additions

Borgerson et al., 2006

''straightening'' effect = heterosexual viewers often interpret LGBT imagery as heterosexual

Coyne et al., 2014/2016

measures mother reports of child's behaviour at 2 time points a year apart.

- looked at superhero exposure, male-stereotypical play, weapon play

Higher superhero exposure = higher levels of male stereotypical play in boys, and higher levels of weapon play in both boys and girls

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Playing with Disney princesses linked to more female-stereotypical behaviour a year later

Hamilton and Dynes, 2023

Asked gender preference in different activities

- kids showed gender preference

- active/masculine traits by contemporary princesses valued by both boys and girls

Wright and Tokunaga, 2016

looked at mainstream pornographic content exposure e.g on TV/magazines

frequency of exposure to content that objectified women predicted more objectified cognitions about women, and predicted attitudes supportive of violence against women

Fischer, 2006

Men who listened to misogynous song lyrics = more aggressive towards female confederate, than those who listened to neutral lyrics - behaviour towards male confederate didn't change

This was also the case for females listening to the songs and aggressive behaviour towards the male confederate

Bond et al., 2009

72% of sample reported using media as their primary means of gathering information during their coming out process

Craig and Mclnroy, 2014; Craig et al., 2015

online media supports LGBTQ youth identity development, offers resources, safe identity exploration, community

- people can 'come out' digitally, which can later transfer offline

Use media to cope through escapism, feel stronger through role models

Azeem and Ruffman, 2022

over 3 weeks children shown either stereotypical or counter stereotypical clips

- those in counter stereotypical group showed less gender-stereotyped attitudes

Greitmeyer et al., 2015

listening to music with pro-equality lyrics is causally associated with positive attitudes and behaviours towards women

Bonds-Raacke et al., 2007

participants asked to recall any memorable gay/lesbian characters

- found that recalling positive gay characters led to more positive views of gay men, while recalling negative portrayals reinforced stereotypes

Laporte, 2024

271 children watched a gender focused TV episode, followed by a class discussion

- reduced gender essentialism and increased acceptance of gender-nonconforming peers. extra classroom discussions did not strengthen this effect

Laporte and Eggermont, 2025

mother and child pairs watched Tv episode with a positively represented transgender character either alone or with their mother

- watching TV lowered gender essentialism, but didn't impact willingness to befriend, or acceptance of gender-nonconforming peers

Shows a disconnect between level of understanding and putting it into action

presence of the mother didn't impact findings

Lindgren, 2019

first 24 hours of #MeToo saw a wave of positive trajectory, shortly followed and taken over by a predominance of negative comments

Dejmanee et al., 2020

Online movements can be polarised, supportive and opposing groups shape public discourse

Sun, 2020

responses to #MeToo in Chinese people overseas

- doubted victims

- challenged creditability

- suggested they should keep it to themselves

Szekeres et al., 2020

#MeToo reduced dismissal of sexual assault for both men and women, with effects lasting 6 months.

effects influenced by belief in social dominance