What gender are heroes?

Research project on the sex of main characters in children's television (IZI 1999)

On the basis of the annual " Survey of children's television 1998" 474 television programmes for children were examined with regard to distribution and gender tendencies and gender representation of the leading parts. It turned out that men or male characters dominate children's programmes. In fictional programmes 63.9% of the protagonists are male. 25.8% share the leading role with a female character and only 10.4% of the central characters are girls or women. When girls play the central role they are portrayed by two main stereotypes. They are either the cheeky red-haired girl type or they are beautiful, exceptionally slim and mostly with long blond hair.
The observation of the gender roles in children's television is continued.

Previous publications inter alia:
Götz, Maya: Männer sind die Helden: Geschlechterverhältnisse im Kinderfernsehen. (Heroes are male: Gender relations in children's television) In: TELEVIZION 12/1999/1, p. 33-35. Reprint with the title: Von Heldinnen und Helden im Kinderfernsehen. (About heroines and heroes in children's television) In: Forum Frauen und Gesellschaft 3/1999/4, p. 28-35. more...
Götz, Maya: Harte Kerle, schöne Frauen. Entwicklung der Geschlechterstereotypen in Film und Fernsehen. (Tough guys, beautiful women. The development of gender stereotypes in film and television) CD-Rom zu den Medientagen München '99. Edited by: DVB Multimedia Bayern GmbH, München. more ...

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