Portrayals of information and communication technology on World Wide Web sites for girls

This study reports a content analysis of 35 World Wide Web sites that included in their mission the goal of engaging girls with information and communication technology (ICT). It finds that sites emphasize cultural and economic uses of ICT, doing little to foster civic applications that could empower girls as citizens of the information age. The study also finds that sites foster a narrow range of ICT proficiencies, focusing mostly on areas such as communication, in which girls have already achieved parity with boys. An examination of the role models portrayed in ICT occupations indicates that the sites show females mainly in elite technology jobs, reversing stereotypical mass media depictions of females in low-status roles in relation to ICT. Employing an original index of ICT knowledge and skills, the study finds that the sites that scored highest both on fostering comprehensive knowledge and skills as well as featuring civic content were general interest Web communities. Ownership (for-profit or not-for-profit) of sites was less important than editorial control: Sites that offered girls a place to contribute their own content were more likely to offer civic material and a broader range of ICT knowledge and skills. We conclude with recommendations for Web site designers to rethink their design strategies and their rationales for closing the gender gap in computing

Contemporary Portrayals of Women and Feminity. A Case Study of Lifestyle Blogs in the U.S.

This article explores contemporary portrayals of women and femininity in lifestyle blogs written and edited by millennial women in the United States. Based on a sample of three of the most popular lifestyle blogs currently in the U.S. this article attempts to identify and describe current portrayals of women to determine if they support a progressive or a conservative approach to femininity. The study we present in this paper is based on a dual methodology: content analysis and discourse analysis. Content analysis allows us to identify topics covered by the selected life- style blogs and their categorizations (sections in which they are published) whereas the discourse analysis helps determine the presence or absence of women stereo- types and how gender is represented. Results show some affinity between lifestyle blogs and women magazines with regards to topics covered although the editorial tone is more progressive in lifestyle blogs, leaning towards feminism and discarding conservative representations of femininity

Image communication and self-injurious behavior on the internet: an exemplary analysis of the images presented on YouTube, social network sites and personal homepages

As a special form of behavior a lot of public attention is drawn to self-injury as more and more adolescents are affected by it. The present paper deals with the visual imaging of self-injurious-behavior within different areas of the internet. The virtual presentations on YouTube, social network sites and personal homepages were exemplarily examined and compared, the presented visual material was analyzed via qualitative analysis. It became clear that self-injurious-behavior – also presented through authentic biographical footage – was mostly shown on YouTube, followed by personal homepages, whereas this topic didn’t appear or was only barely (publicly) dealt with on social network sites. From a media theoretical perspective, the reason for these results lies in the fact that the media and its characteristics support the showing of wounds as a promoted form of self-disclosure, or that it can be interpreted as a special form of in-group-communication that is transported via a medium

"Foreign beauties want to meet you": The sexualization of women in Google's organic and sponsored text search results

Search engines serve as information gatekeepers on a multitude of topics dealing with different aspects of society. However, the ways search engines filter and rank information are prone to biases related to gender, ethnicity, and race. In this article, we conduct a systematic algorithm audit to examine how one specific form of bias, namely, sexualization, is manifested in Google’s text search results about different national and gender groups. We find evidence of the sexualization of women, particularly those from the Global South and East, in search outputs in both organic and sponsored search results. Our findings contribute to research on the sexualization of people in different forms of media, bias in web search, and algorithm auditing as well as have important implications for the ongoing debates about the responsibility of transnational tech companies for preventing systems they design from amplifying discrimination

May the Bun Be With You: An Annotated Bibliography of Librarians and Their Image

A very real tension exists between librarians’ attempts to alter their image(s) and the popular press’ and the public’s lingering preference for Marian the Librarian similes. As the Hot Picks @ Your Library calendar indicates, librarians take creative opportunities to dissuade the public of the “image of a dourfaced matron behind a forbidding desk” (Gillespie 2003, A01). But how do librarians attempt to frame their own discussion of the classic caricature? The authors wanted to know how librarians themselves have considered and researched the impact of the stereotype on the profession. What follows is a literature review of materials published over the past 20 years. These materials span the gamut of libraries and librarians, from the real to the imagined, including materials such as students’ perceptions of academic librarians, the public’s misconceptions of librarians in Canadian public libraries, and portrayals of librarians in fiction. By reviewing materials published over a 20-year time period, the authors have captured a microcosmic glimpse of the changing image(s) of librarians

Homemaker to Seductress: A Content Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Online Embedded Advertisements

Countless studies have documented and analyzed the presence of gender stereotypes in print and television advertisements, but very few have been performed on online advertisements. While the World Wide Web is no longer an exciting new domain for us, researchers are only beginning to analyze the vast number of gender stereotypes that are presented to viewers on a daily basis. The proliferation of gender stereotypes (specifically female stereotypes) is obvious in print advertisements and television advertisements, but do they also abound in online advertisements? In my research, I performed a content analysis of online embedded advertisements, specifically in three types of informational websites (fitness, health, and parenting). The coding was performed using the representations set forth by Hyun Jung Yun et al (2007). I found that online embedded advertisements seem to follow the same stereotypical trends that print and television advertisements use. The majority of the advertisements portrayed women in traditional roles and decorative roles. There were a few advertisements that portrayed women in non-traditional roles, as well as one advertisement that presented a woman in a neutral way, with no apparent stereotypes

Media portrayals of athletes in televised sports: a content analysis of ice hockey broadcasts during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympic Games are probably the best time for casual sports fans to watch women\u27s ice hockey at its finest, and the commentary of sports broadcasters can greatly shape viewers\u27 impressions of the sporting event. This study explored ways in which the NBC broadcasts of the 2010 Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament differed based on the sex of the ice hockey players including differences in production value, the use of gendered language, and the commentators\u27 portrayals of female and male ice hockey players. The primary method for ascertaining differences was content analysis using a mixed-methods approach to analyze the descriptions of athletes. Chi-Square analysis was used to compare category frequencies between female and male athletes. Results showed similar levels of production value other than the use of the telestrator in which all uses were during the men\u27s games. Gendered language was also present. For example, the women\u27s competition was gender marked frequently as women\u27s hockey, there were many references to female players with male-gendered terms such as defensemen, and commentators named female players by just their first names. Finally, the coding of the informative, descriptive, and evaluative commentary showed that female athletes were portrayed as athletes first with the top-ranked description being their fine technical skills. However, commentators also focused on the female players\u27 emotions and personalities indicating that these aspects also contribute to their success and thus perpetuating that gendered stereotype in sports

The Context of Current Content Analysis of Gender Roles: An Introduction to a Special Issue

The aim of this paper is to provide context for the quantitative content analyses of gender roles that are to be included in both parts of this special issue. First, a timeline of historical uses of the content analysis methodology is presented. Second, research objectives that frequently drive content analysis of gender roles are described; these include: to support feminist claims, to compare media with real life, to predict effects on audiences, and to detect effects of media producers on content. Third, previous content analyses published in Sex Roles and other gender-focused journals are reviewed and categorized in terms of medium, genre, time span, gender, and nationality. Finally, contributions of each of the articles in this special issue are outlined

Gender Bias In The Technical Disciplines

This study investigates how women are affected by gender bias in the workplace. Despite the increasing numbers of women in the workforce, women are still under-represented and under-valued in workplaces, which, in part, is due to their gender stereotype. This study demonstrates how gender bias in the workplace has been proven to limit women in their careers and potential in their occupational roles. The media’s negative depiction of women in their gender stereotype reinforces and perpetuates this image as a cultural norm in society. Women both conform and are judged and evaluated according to their weak and submissive gender stereotype. Women face challenges and problems in the workplace when they are evaluated and appraised by their female gender stereotype. Women have been prevented from acquiring jobs and positions, have been denied promotions and advancements, failed to be perceived as desiring of and capable of leadership or management positions, as well as typically receive lower paid than their male counterparts. Furthermore, women’s unique, indirect, and congenial conversational methods are perceived as unconfident, incompetent, and thus, incapable in the masculine organizational culture of most workplaces. Through the investigation of gender bias in the workplace, professionals and employers will gain an awareness of how gender bias and socially-prescribed gender roles can affect the workplace and interfere with women’s success in their career. Technical communicators and other educators will have a better understanding of how to overcome gender stereotyping and be encouraged to teach students on how to be gender-neutral in their communications in the workplace, perhaps striving for a more egalitarian society