The importance of gender in Western culture is illustrated throughout almost all forms of popular communication. From nursery rhymes that provide children with lessons on what boys and girls are made of, to bestsellers that claim that men and women are from different planets, media images are thought to reflect and, in some instances, perpetuate or exaggerate differences between the sexes. The important role that the media play in representing and affecting attitudes and beliefs about gender has been documented in a long history of research that has explored not only the ways in which gender is portrayed, but also the ways in which viewers respond to and are influenced by images of males and females.

Gender Portrayals in Media

Although portrayals of gender have shown considerable changes over the years, media content continues to feature disparities in the ways in which...