Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children's Television Programming in Japan

Abstract

Television viewing is a pervasive activity among Japanese children, yet little is known about the effects of television on their gender role attitudes and behaviors. One step in understanding television's contribution to such outcomes is to examine the messages conveyed through the medium directly and indirectly about gender role values. Unfortunately, most gender role analyses have ignored the programs most heavily viewed by Japanese children, namely, children's programming. In the current study, the gender role portrayals of 279 characters from a select sample of children's programs were analyzed. Results revealed that Japanese television programming for children is highly sex-typed. Males were overrepresented and were portrayed more often than females in professional occupations. Attributes descriptive of females were characteristic of relatively weak, younger, less mature individuals, while attributes descriptive of males were associated with powerful, older, likeable, mature persons. Males more than females were sex-typed and reinforced for sex-appropriate behavior. The implications for such portrayals on children's gender role concepts are discussed in the context of children's processing of televised information and the broader context of Japanese society. Suggestions for future research are offered.