Maya Götz

Gender portrayal on children's television – deep-rooted change or stagnation?

Television is a normal part of girls' and boys' everyday life. Depending on the specific social context, biography and individual theme, the young people adopt the media and integrate them into their daily life. In doing so television becomes the material from which individuals remove certain parts and include them in their everyday life as boys or girls. Even though the adoption is highly individual, all in all the programme does have a power of definition which takes effect especially in the societal construction of the category of gender. By the repetitive presentation of figures which are identified as men or women by their appearance and integration into the programme, ideas of masculinity or femininity arise and establish themselves. This does not mean that people are helpless when faced with these constructions. They can consciously dissociate themselves from them, although initially the standards of "typical femininity" and "typical masculinity" are established.

The relevance of this problem, especially for children's television, is obvious, even if the surprised question of a responsible female producer "What, that's still an issue?" is certainly not an isolated case. It is particularly in the matter of gender stereotypes that television seems to be in a clear state of deep-rooted change, and the findings of the relevant study (Weiderer, 1993, 1994), which showed that women and girls are clearly underrepresented and portrayed as stereotypes, now appear to be dated. The latest quantitative study "Who speaks in television?", carried out by six European stations on their own productions and prime time programme, does sum up the under-representation of woman that still exists. Only in the children's programme and in religious transmissions are there some indications of a quantitative adjustment (Dijck, 1999).

So are changes taking place in children's television, too?

In an annual random sample¹ 438 programme hours of nine television channels² on three days (Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday) from 6.00am to 11.00pm in 1988 were recorded and, incorporating the GfK's use data, were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. It is the aim of "The Stocktaking of Children's Television" to enable this data corpus to be used to make statements on such areas as the children's preferences, learning-oriented programmes , current discussion (eg chat shows), individual use patterns or the presentation of gender stereotypes.³

Gender-specific tendencies in the children's programme

Of the 1,396 recorded transmissions in the 1998 random sample 474 are in children's areas labelled as such (tivi, K-RTL, Trick7, Kinderkanal etc). Here the gender proportions in the main roles aredepicted relatively clearly:

Total of transmissions: 474

In the fiction area 63.9% of the central figures are male. In 25.8% the main role is shared with a female figure and in only 10.4% are girls or women the central figures. In the non-fiction-area the presenters are mainly male, namely 64.3%. 29.5% of these share this task with an actress, and in only 6.2% of the broadcasts do women alone guide viewers through the programme.

The positive tendency towards an equal number of female and male figures in the children's programme, which seems to be on the way in the ZDF's own productions, cannot be confirmed for the overall programme. Heroines and independent female presenters who perform without male accompaniment are clearly underrepresented.

Men are the heroes of the children's programme

This is already clearly indicated in the titles of the series: small or larger men are at the centre of the plot. They overcome everyday problems, face dangers and have adventures.

Table: Examples from Stocktaking in 1998:

Figures in the children's programme are, of course, male

In the minor roles and the extras further qualities of male dominance become clear, as figures that do not explicitly belong to a gender have male first names. Such is the case, for example, with the Mainzelmännchen (ZDF): non-sexualised creatures are naturally male:

Some "classic" examples:

In many children's programmes with predominantly male main and minor figures female characters also appear, for example in the Smurfs (Pro 7). Although the Smurf is actually male, there are two exceptions: Smurfette, the beautiful blond, and Sassette, the saucy girl with the red-brown pigtails. So women here are not symbolised as the 51% of the population that they actually are, but as the rare deviation from the norm – which is naturally male.⁴

Femininity as a characteristic

But in the case of the Smurfs there is even more to learn about gender portrayal. For the basic principle of the Smurf is that his typical feature or role is reflected in his name: Grouchy Smurf, Lazy Smurf, Stupid Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, Papa Smurf (the leader) and then Smurfette and Sassette. The particular characteristic of the last two is to be feminine, the former as an erotically attractive woman, and the latter as a smart girl with red hair. Here masculinity and femininity are no longer contrasted, since femininity is only another feature to be found in a few appropriate stereotypes.

As far as content is concerned, the female figures often take over roles that are "not male": the helpless victim, the coveted woman, the caring mother or the understanding grandmother. In this sense they serve to provide "non-male" attributes such as caring, silliness, moodiness, fright, touchiness or importunity. Male figures tend to be individuals, while female figures tend to display "non-male characteristics".

Outwardly the deviations from the "male norm" are fitted out with such special attributes as bows and skirts. This characteristic often slips into sexism. Thus the female snowman (among twelve male ones) is given two snowballs on the chest⁵. A corresponding parallel, for example knots between the legs, is not to be found.

Female figures do the reproduction management of the contents

The contents of most stories cannot do without female figures completely, as the male heroes have to save or protect someone and need a framework in which they can experience their adventures. In this way the female figures enable the hero to prove himself, to learn or to free himself. They thus carry out the necessary reproduction management for the contents in order to make the plot sensible and credible. Their position is defined mainly by their importance for the male heroes.

Examples:

Girls are also involved – girl figures in mixed-gender groups

A group that cannot be overlooked is made up of children's programmes with male and female protagonists. The spectrum of variation that is conceded to the female figures here is in some cases far greater. The girls are not just used as a characteristic feature or for work to reproduce the contents but as individuals acting independently. It is, however, noticeable that the girls are in the minority in all the mixed-gender groups.

Examples:

In a number of children's series a boy and a girl are at the centre of the action. In the typical features and in the hierarchies within the relationship of the two children, new variants and facets of the image of the girl seem to be emerging in the children's programme.

Examples:

Ocean Girl, Shirley Holmes and Sailor Moon – new girl figures in the children's programme

Even though they are greatly outnumbered, it is hard to imagine the programme without certain series in which female protagonists are at the centre of the action. These series can often boast enormous success in viewing ratings and market share. They are examples of girl figures in positively produced roles, which were once certainly the bastions of male protagonists such as Sherlock Holmes or Zorro. The roles by no means yet cover the breadth of variation that is found in male protagonists. Even so, directions can be seen here in which the successful children's programme is developing and in which girl figures also present achievement-oriented, caring and fighting aspects and prevail in a world in which women naturally also play leading roles.

Sympathetic girl figures are beautiful, slim and usually have long blond hair

Although girl figures may appear pleasant and new at first sight, certain aspects remain the same. For whether it is Sailor Moon, Ocean Girl or Marie, all sympathetic girl figures on television are absolutely beautiful, markedly slim and have mostly long blond hair. Body proportions that do not correspond to the ideal weight (or a few pounds less) or facial features which deviate from the uniform ideal of beauty are not to be seen – unless as a problem and a subject of the plot. Many female figures in animated films also follow the "baby schema", and the rounded head is characterised by a little nose and big wide-set eyes. (Cf Mühlen-Achs, 1995, 31). The sexualised representation of the body, stressing long slender legs and exaggeratedly narrow waist, are further features of many female figures in the children's programme. Here the "beauty myth " (Wolf, 1991) is repeatedly corroborated.⁷ In the very successful series Sailor Moon (RTL 2) this is taken to the extreme. Sailor Moon's blond pony-tails reach down to the hollows of the knees of her slender legs, which account for a good three-quarters of her body. A quarter of her face, its nose hardly visible, consists of her big wide blue eyes, which in view of Japan being the country of production is given special prominence. As is usual in Mangas, Sailor Moon is extremely sexualised and by far exceeds Barbie in the unattainable proportions of her body.

Deep-rooted change or stagnation in gender portrayal?

In many areas, including gender portrayal, children's television is undergoing deep-rooted change. In the mainstream, however, men remain the heroes of the programme in which normally male figures act, and femininity appears as a characteristic which chiefly serves the purpose of content reproduction management. Programmes that are extremely successful with young audiences and in which female figures are at the centre, but also in the mixed gender groups, promising prospects are emerging which justify the perception of a potential change. These programmes, however, are concentrated on a few channels, of which the principal representative, Nickelodeon, is in the meantime no longer on the German market. It used to broadcast almost 40 per cent of the programmes in which girls play the main role. Further points of emphasis are to be found on RTL 2 (through the Japanese productions) and, to a lesser extent, the public-service stations.

But even in the case of the "new girl figures" certain aspects remain, such as their being modelled on a narrowly-defined stereotyped beauty, continue to exist or are highly exaggerated. In detail gender portrayal in the children's programme very largely remains rooted in long established "patriarchal conditions", even though the latter remain far behind the real-life diversity of girls and women.

An analysis of the non-fiction area is all the more blatant. Especially in learning-oriented programmes, one thing becomes clear: it is men who explain the world to children. Here there are two stereotypes, firstly, the dynamic and knowledgeable elder brother in his early twenties and, secondly, the understanding and self-seeking father-figure in his mid-forties who also wants to learn. With the exception of Logo (ZDF, Kinderkanal), where a man and a woman take it in turn to present the children's news programme, in the non-fiction area women remain restricted to announcing, mediating and perhaps explaining social problems. They are, however, not thought sufficiently competent to explain the world.

To this extent a deep-rooted change in gender portrayal in many areas of children's television has still not occurred.

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