Women in kids’ TV-shows are thin

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 25/09/2024

Women and girls are slim in TV-programmes for children. In both new and popular programming, female characters are less likely than male characters to be fat. This means reinforcing  the notion that the ideal feminine body type is thin, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media says in a new report about programs for children ages two to 11. The study is made in the US but relevant also internationally considering the dominance of US-programming.  

“Unrealistic body types in the media lead adolescent girls to struggle with body-image concerns as early as five years old. We need more diversity in the types of bodies on screen for more balanced representation”, the report says.

In 2023 all popular programming, new and older. male characters outnumber female characters by 13.4 percentage points (56.7% male characters compared with 43.3% female characters). This is nearly identical to 2022, when 56.9% of all characters were male and 43.1% were female.

There has been a slight improvement of the gender balance in new children’s programs. Key findings 2023:

• In 2023 new programming and among leading roles, female characters hit a record-breaking high of 47.8%. This is a 3.5-percentage-point increase from 2022 (44.3%), and a 7.4-percentage-point increase from 2019 (40.4%).
• In all roles, 55.5% of all characters are male, compared with 44.4% female and 0.1% nonbinary. This is nearly identical to 2022, when 55.5% of all characters were male.
• Among minor roles, 41.7% are female characters, up slightly from 38.9% in 2022.
• Female characters are significantly more likely than male characters to be married or in a committed partnership (6.9% compared with 4.3%).
• In 2023 new programming, characters of colour hold 63.4% of leading roles, an increase of 7.3 percentage points from 2022 (56.1%).
• In total, 56.9% of all characters are people of colour, an increase of 5.6 percentage points from 2022 (51.3%).
• White characters are significantly more likely than characters of colour to be married or in a committed partnership (10.2% compared with 5.2%).
• Fat characters are significantly more likely to be male than female (65.1% compared with 34.9%).

Apart from recommending  more diversity in body types, the report has also other recommendations:

• Prioritise achieving gender parity in leading roles. Continue to write stories with female leads in new programming made for kids. Since 2018, male characters have consistently held the majority of leading roles, with 52.2% in new programming and 56.2% in popular programming in 2023. 
• Show variation in the types of jobs characters have. Characters’ jobs and occupations are an opportunity to showcase leadership, skills, and ambition. It’s also an opportunity to challenge existing stereotypes that certain groups dominate certain occupations. 
• Develop more nonhuman female characters. Currently, nonhuman characters—such as monsters, goblins, or ghosts—are predominantly portrayed as male. This contributes to the overall gender imbalance in children’s programming, while also reinforcing the idea that boys and men are the default gender. 
• Write stories that reflect the diverse experiences of nonwhite racial groups. While this report finds a large share of characters of colour on screen, some racial groups are less visible: There is little representation of Native and Middle Eastern or North African groups, and Latinx representation is low in new programming being made for children. Greenlight stories that authentically represent the diverse experiences of various communities of colour so that people from all racial groups see themselves on screen.