It's a boy's world in cartoonland, and two University of Dayton communication professors said Tuesday the children they interviewed are very aware of that fact.
Professors Teresa Thompson and Eugenia Zerbinos analyzed 171 episodes of 41 television cartoon shows to determine the number of boy and girl characters used, who got the most roles and lines and whether stereotyping occurred. They then interviewed children about their favorite shows.The researchers found many more boy cartoon characters portrayed in the cartoons than girls. However, they also found cartoons produced after 1980 tended to include more female roles and fewer stereotyped female characters.
"It seems children were able to pick up and describe the stereotypical aspects, Zerbinos told United Press International "But the boys didn't notice the same kind of behavior the girls did. The girls talked about boys teasing girl characters and noticed the taunting a little bit more. But boys noticed girls liked to chase boys."
Zerbinos said the study might have an impact on children's programming.
"Cartoon producers might become more aware of the stereotypes they are putting into their shows," she said. "But I'm not very optimistic. Producers are very aware that boys dominate Saturday morning cartons since they know boys don't like to watch cartoons that have girls as lead characters. But girls will watch cartoons with male lead characters."
Although the professors noted there is a trend in more recently produced cartoons to portray females in a less stereotypical way, Zerbinos said she was upset with a new Fox TV-produced cartoon.
"I think it's called `The Chick,' " said Zerbinos. "The show has a female lead character, but she wears a French maid's costume and stiletto heels. The producers say she needs the stiletto heels because they are used as weapons. Can you imagine a woman trying to run on stiletto heels? I think the whole thing is outrageous."
Thompson and Zerbinos presented their findings last month during the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications in Atlanta.