GIRLS, WOMEN + MEDIA PROJECT

GET THE FACTS

Media is all around us, all the time. Ads, news, magazines, movies, games, tv, music, websites, social media-- we take for granted the amount of and types of content that surround us 24/7.  But with the amount of media we're exposed to today, and the fact that so much of this reaches our brain on a subliminal level, we often dont realize its impact on us. Developing critical thinking skills to analyze and evaluate media information, and our own media use, empowers us to think for ourselves, make the best decisions for ourselves, to lead our best lives. 

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While media impacts both men and women, girls and boys, The Girls, Women + Media Project focuses on ways media affects and represents girls and women. The effects of media messages on girls and women are especially significant when it comes to physical/emotional health, body image, self-esteem, values and goal-setting, and economic habits and outcomes. For girls and women to achieve true equality and success, understanding how the media affects us, and developing critical and independent thinking around media (also known as Media Literacy) is key.

Lots of commercial media content is produced to get us to think and behave a certain way, and especially to get us to spend our money in certain ways. There can be both positive and negative effects from media use. 

Below are just some of the statistics on media use, media content, and media effects focused on girls and women.
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How much media are we using ?
▪The average child between 8 and 18 spends roughly 7.5 hours daily interacting with various media.
▪75% of children under 8 yrs old have access to a smartphone or tablet, most 2 yr olds use a mobile device on a daily basis, and 92 % of one year olds have used a mobile device to access media.
▪50% of ' tweens' and teens say they are ' addicted' to their smartphones.
​[American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Children, Adolescents, and Digital Media, 2015]
See also Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, "Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 Year olds" ( 2010)

▪The rate of media use for African American and Latina children is significantly higher than for white children. CommonSense Media, 2015.

Advertising
▪One study by Media Dynamics Inc., a market research firm, using 2014 data, estimated that the average American sees over 5,000 advertisements and ' brand exposures' each day.

​A survey cited in Adweek in 2017 indicates:
▪a majority of women say a company using positive images of women in their ads can influence that woman's decision to buy a product (positive images were referred to as ones that portray women as intelligent and break gender stereotypes)
​▪almost half of women are also more likely to follow a brand or share with a friend if a woman-positive image is used in the company's ads
▪94 % women felt using using images of women primarily as sex objects was ' harmful'
"The Stats Prove Femvertising Works", by M. Castillo, Adweek October 10, 2014

▪African American children are exposed to 'junk food' advertising substantially more than white children; these companies that often specifically target their ads to black children and teens.
[Rudd Center for Food PolicyPolicy & Obesity, Univ.of Connecticut: "TV Food Advertising Viewed by Preschoolers, Children and Adolescents Contribute to Difference in Exposure for Black and White Youth", November 2016]

▪A study of advertising by the plastic surgery industry shows that 94 % of cosmetic surgery ads show and target women, (even though men too have alot of issues around weight and signs of aging.) Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 107-110, Jan. 2016 , "An assessment of gender differences in plastic surgery patient education and information"


Women & News Content
▪A study from 2016 showed that women are represented substantially less frequently in new stories as sources or topics, but are more frequently used in images . "Women Are Seen More Than Heard in Online Newspapers", http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148434

▪According to reporting from the Womens Media Center, at 20 of the top U.S. news media outlets, women produce approx. 38% of news stories while men produce approx. 62%. Female reporters receive only 36% of bylines. But women comprise a majority of journalism students and graduates. www.womensmediacenter.com


Girls, Women & the Entertainment Industry
▪According to the research of Martha Lauzen, Ph.D, women comprise only 7% of directors of top Hollywood films, 13% of writers, 17% of executive producers, 24% of producers,17% of editors, 5% of cinematographers, and just 3% of musical composers in the top movies for 2016. Report: "Its Man's (Celluloid) World", http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/research/
(Women in independent films and documentaries do somewhat better.)

▪In top movies, female characters are protagonists ( the central character of the story) in less than one third of top films. And female characters are less likely to be seen as leaders, as having jobs, and are younger than male characters, ( which gives less work opportunities for mature actresses and more for older men.)

▪Women creating movies face more obstacles in getting funding for their films. Anecdotal evidence suggest that when men control the production and distribution in the film industry, they are more likely to approve and promote stories that reflect a 'male vision.' Producers Guild of America/Womens Impact Network, www.msfactortoolkit.com

▪According to a report by Common Sense Media, "Watching Gender: How Stereotypes in Movies and on TV Impact Kids Development" ( 2017), television and movies are filled with content that reinforces gender stereotypes . Heavier viewing of television which contains gender stereotypes can be linked to people having more rigid attitudes about what men and women should or shouldn't do, more limited career opportunities for girls and women, views about parenting and housework, and desired character traits .

▪"Watching Gender" report also cites the high levels of sexualization and objectification in popular entertainment media, and the links to self objectification in children as young as five years old. Girls are especially likely to internalize the media's messages of idealized beauty, and are more likely to think less of their own bodies. Those attitudes can lead to depression, anxiety, lack of self-confidence and poor academic performance. [See also Report of the American Psycholgical Association, (APA) Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (2007]

▪Black women (and men) face unique challenges being exposed to great amounts of media that include rigid, historically entrenched stereotypes of Black women which have potentially harmful consequenes for Black women and men. "Subordinates, Sex Objects, or Sapphires? Investigating Contributions of Media Use to Black 
Students’ Femininity Ideologies and Stereotypes About Black Women", Morgan C. Jerald, L. Monique Ward, Lolita Moss, Khia Thomas, and Kyla D. Fletcher, Journal of Black Psychology, Jan. 2016, 1-28.

Social Media
▪Studies show that social media has positive effects for young people, who report an increased sense of connection and support from social networking. However, studies show that use of SNS for more than 2 hours a day can be linked to negative emotional health and distress. Girls use social media more often, and appear to be more likely to experience negative emotional effects.
[American Academy of Pediatrics, The Impact of Social Media on Children & Familes, 2015; Kaiser Family Foundation "Generation M2", see above; RSPH, #StatusofMind, see below.]

▪One study showed that comparing different social media platforms, using 'the Gram'( Instagram) produced the highest levels of body image dissatisfaction among teens and young adults. Royal Society for Public Health: #Status of Mind: Social Media & Young People' s Health and Wellbeing (2017), www.rsph.org.uk

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Gaming [under construction]

Coverage of Womens Sports & Athletes [under construction]

Music Industry & Representations [under construction]

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