Mediale Geschlechterstereotype

Abstract

News represent gender in a manner that continues the process of the symbolic, social, and cultural construction of gender. In Western countries, masculinity and femininity have traditionally been conceptualized as being polar opposites. Although this dichotomous conception still influences all areas of life, nowadays masculinity and femininity are represented in mass media in a more multifaceted way—despite some stable patterns of construction. Moreover, national cultures differ with respect to single attributes of masculinity and femininity as well as to the degree of stereotyping. To identify national differences as well as transculturally shared patterns of gender stereotypes, we analysed gender representations in three countries: Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. In order to gain representative results, a quantitative content analysis was conducted. The study tries to approach gender representations in an innovative way—not only by considering different national cultures and different types of newspapers, but also by avoiding, due to theoretical considerations of deconstruction, to measure gender attributes in dichotomized form. All in all, the results are ambiguous. On the one hand, gender representation is still in line with traditional gender stereotypes—even in times when role models actually change. On the other hand, some aspects depicted new patterns in press coverage and more multifaceted gender representations. To explain these differences, studies should investigate journalistic patterns of selection regarding gender representations, in particular in a comparative longitudinal perspective.