Quantifying Gender Stereotypes? Visually Assessing Stereotypes of Women in People Magazine

Abstract

The results of a quantitative content analysis of photographs from People magazine using two different common methods for the measure of gender stereotypes—submissivism and faceism—are presented using images that contain both men and women. The results of the content analysis are mixed. Data from the submissivism analysis and the faceism analysis were congruent; however, the faceism effect was subtler. Photographs in People magazine reinforced heteronormative gender ideals in some ways yet challenged them in other ways. Both frameworks used in this study are over thirty years old, and comparing their findings provides insight into their similarities and differences and suggests associated future areas of study.