Things to Think About

Here are some things to ponder*. Do you know that...

 

• In the top box office G-rated movies from 1990-2005 three out of four characters are male?

 

• Girls of color are the least likely people to see themselves reflected in media made for kids?

 

• In media made for kids, female characters often have no goals beyond love or marriage?

 

• In the top box office G-rated movies from 1990-2005, plots with female leads often revolve around physical appearance and the ability to attract a male?

 

• That the prevalence of female characters being depicted as sexy (scantily clad, bedroom eyes, females valued for appearance rather than strength of inner character) is as high in G-rated films as in R-rated content?

 

Media literacy is a tool to help you think for yourself and ask questions that need asking. If you are media literate, you know how to represent yourself in the world.

 

* These findings were discovered by Dr. Stacy Smith and her team at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. They reviewed the male and female characters in the top 101 G-rated movies from 1990 to 2005, a total of 4,249 speaking characters (both animated and live-action film). During the summer of 2005, Dr. Smith and her researchers randomly sampled 1,034 shows across 11 network, cable, and public broadcasting outlets to build a composite seven-day week of live action and animation television programming created for children. They then coded attributes and behaviors of speaking characters using more than 75 criteria.