Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222 DOI 10.

1007/s11199-011-0010-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Gender and Race Portrayals on Spanish-Language Television

Roco Rivadeneyra

Published online: 3 June 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Abstract Gender and racial stereotypes continue to permeate our society and one context in which these stereotypes are perpetuated are the media. Although we have a history of content analysis of gender and racial portrayals on English-language television aired in the U.S., few systematic analyses have been conducted on Spanish-language television that airs in the same country. Our team of coders analyzed 466 characters and 481 2minute intervals on 19 episodes of Spanish-language soap operas or telenovelas that aired in the Los Angeles broadcast area of the U.S. in the summer of 2002. Telenovelas were the programming type selected as they make up the bulk of Spanish-language network television in the U.S. The programs were coded in terms of how gender and race are presented on these programs by first coding the characteristics of speaking characters (including their race and gender) and then coding what actions these characters displayed in 2-minute intervals. Although females and males were represented in equal numbers, gender stereotypes abound. Physical appearance and nurturing roles were more likely to be the focus for female characters while occupational roles were more likely to be the focus for male characters. In terms of race, the overwhelming majority of characters were light-skinned and characters with darker skin were portrayed in extremes and more sexualized. These representations replicate some of the same stereotypes found on English-language television with some notable differences in terms of number of women represented.

Keywords Spanish-language media . Television . Gender roles . Race portrayals . Content analysis

Introduction Although an extensive body of work has examined how gender, and to a lesser extent race, is portrayed on Englishlanguage television (ELTV), little is known about how these are portrayed on Spanish-language television (SLTV) which is accessible not only to Spanish speakers in the United States, but also to audiences in Latin America where many of these programs are created (Davis 1990; Fullerton and Kendrick 2000; Glascock 2001; Glascock and Ruggiero 2004; Signorielli and Bacue 1999). Media portrayals not only shape societys understanding of gender and race, but are also influenced by the culture in which it is created (Dixon 2008; Ward and Harrison 2005). That is, we expect these televised portrayals to differ and reflect the culture in which they are created. The purpose of the present study is to examine how characters on Spanish-language soap operas that aired in the Los Angeles viewing area in the summer of 2002 were portrayed, specifically differences in these portrayals by gender and race. We examined these portrayals with a specific focus on common stereotypes that exist in the U.S. and much of Latin America for men, women, and individuals with darker skin such as how these characters were portrayed in terms of sexual objectification, relational/ nurturing roles, and status/power. In the introduction of this paper, I will first address the gender and racial stereotypes that exist in the U.S. Second, I will address how these stereotypes are replicated through the media, specifically on English-language television (ELTV) created in the U.S. Third, I will discuss the popularity and use of Spanish-

R. Rivadeneyra (*) Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4620, Normal, IL 61790-4620, USA e-mail: rrivade@ilstu.edu

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language television (SLTV) in the U.S. including its use as a cultural lens to Latin America. Fourth, I will present the few content analyses that have been conducted on SLTV in the U.S. Finally, I will present the focus and hypotheses of the present study. Gender and Racial Stereotypes According to the social structural perspective on stereotyping, the beliefs about groups in society are based on their position in society (Diekman et al. 2005). More specifically, social role theory posits that the roles that members of a group hold in a society are used to make inferences about the characteristics attributed to members of that group (Eagly et al. 2000). Thus, we expect women to be more nurturing because they are more likely to be in caretaking roles and we expect men to be more assertive, competitive, and have good leadership skills because they are more likely to hold occupational roles that reward these characteristics (Diekman et al. 2005). From the perspective of social role theory, it is no surprise that many of the gender stereotypes that dominate media are based on the social roles of men and women in our larger society with a focus on occupational and leadership roles for men and nurturing roles for women (Eagly and Wood 1999). Social role theory can also be used to understand the stereotypes of other groups with lower status in a society, such as those with darker skin and Indigenous and African features in societies located in the Western hemisphere (Stainback and Tomaskovic-Devey 2009). Lower status and power in a society, as is the case with these stigmatized groups, would lead to racialized stereotypes to also be presented in the media such as people with darker skin having lower socio economic status and lower status occupations. Another potential source of gender and racial stereotypes is discussed by proponents of objectification theory which suggests that the socialization experiences of girls and women leads them to think of themselves as objects to be gazed at and who are evaluated based on their physical appearance (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997). Eventually girls and women may internalize this perspective and this can lead self-objectification. Although few studies have examined this notion from a racialized perspective, some studies have found a similar phenomenon for Black men in the gay male community where they feel sexually objectified (Teunis 2007). An argument can be made that stigmatized groups may also be more likely to be objectified due to their position of less power and status in a society. Based on these two theoretical perspectives, we would expect that stereotypes in the media replicate the gender and racial expectations of their societies and in the Western hemisphere these would include three main ones for women

as (1) sexual objects, (2) relational/nurturing, and (3) having low status/power. We would expect two main sets of stereotypes for people with darker skin as: (1) sexual objects, and (2) having low status/power. Gender and Race Portrayals on English-Language Television Although the focus of this paper is on gender and race portrayals on SLTV, we begin with a summary of these portrayals on ELTV as this literature is more extensive and will help couch our understanding of these portrayals on SLTV that is also aired in the U.S. In general, content analyses of ELTV programs have documented that women on television are underrepresented and both men and women are represented in gender-typed ways. On average, for every female character on television, studies have found two to three males (Children Now 2004; Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Lauzen and Dozier 2005; Signorielli and Bacue 1999). These ratios have been found across content analyses that have focused on prime-time network television and childrens programming. These numbers are obviously an underrepresentation of the actual proportion of females in the real world where the ratio is one to one and may be linked to the lack of proportionate representation of women in other aspects of society. Characters on television have also been found to be portrayed in limited and gender-typed ways. Portrayals of women on television tend to focus on their physical appearance. Women are more likely than men to be attractive, to be dressed provocatively, and to be the object of another persons gaze across different television genres including prime-time commercials, music videos, and even childrens programming (Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Sommers-Flanagan et al. 1993; Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). Women are also less likely to be presented with gray hair compared to men, an indicator that it is more acceptable for a man to show his age (Davis 1990). These findings are not surprising given societys message that part of a womans worth is based on her physical appearance (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997). This focus is particularly prevalent in the media. In addition to youth and beauty, another stereotypical role for women is centered on her role as a nurturer. These roles are highlighted when women on television have a greater focus on their roles as wives, partners and mothers across both prime-time television and childrens programming (Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Signorielli and Bacue 1999; Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). Related to being seen as a nurturer, female characters are more likely to be portrayed as emotional compared to male characters (Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). Although men are more likely to be stereotyped as experiencing anger compared to

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women, when it comes to the global term emotional women are more likely to be stereotyped and portrayed in this manner (Plant et al. 2000). According to social role theory, these portrayals are not unexpected given the roles of men and women in our society (Diekman et al. 2005). Another expected stereotype of women would be for them to be portrayed as holding lower status and power. Indeed male characters are featured in a greater variety of roles and occupations and are more likely to be employed than are female characters on prime-time TV (Glascock 2001; Lauzen and Dozier 2005; Signorielli and Bacue 1999). Only 37% of married female television characters are employed outside the home in contrast to 67% of real women in the U.S. who are employed (TV vs. Reality, 1998). Men are more likely to be portrayed as powerful, assertive, problem-solving agents whose needs and opinions are taken seriously, in particular in childrens programming (Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). The social structural perspective can also be applied to the understanding of racial stereotypes found on television as racial minorities in the U.S. are in positions of lower status (Stainback and Tomaskovic-Devey 2009). Although the number of racial minority characters has, in general, improved in the last decade or so, some groups continue to be under-represented. Most characters on television tend to be White, middle-class men (Children Now 2004). A content analysis from the 20032004 television season, found more balanced representations, particularly for African-Americans who made up 16% of prime-time characters (Children Now 2004) while making up 12% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau 2008). Whites made up 73% of TV characters which is also representative of their actual population in the U.S. of 74%. Latinos, on the other hand, were underrepresented compared to their actual proportion of the population in the U.S. Latinos made up 7% of characters on TV while being 15% of the U.S. population. In addition to underrerpesentation of some ethnic groups, stereotypical portrayals also exist, especially for Latino and African-American characters on television. These stereotypes are based on the notion of having less status/power and being portrayed as sexual objects. On English-language prime-time television programs, Latino characters are more likely than characters of other ethnic groups to be cast as having low-status occupations, including being four times as likely to portray domestic workers than any other ethnic group and having lower job authority than European-American characters (Children Now 2004; Mastro and Behm-Morawitz 2005). In addition, African-Americans and Latinos are more often represented in stories related to crime and more likely to be portrayed as lawbreakers than victims in news stories (Children Now 2004; Dixon and Linz 2000; Mastro and Behm-Morawitz

2005; Mastro and Greenberg 2000). African Americans were found to be more likely to be provocatively dressed, were less professional, and were more likely to be lazy and ridiculed on prime-time TV (Mastro and Greenberg 2000). Together, these findings indicate that Latinos and AfricanAmericans are more likely to be portrayed as sexual objects and as having lower status and power. Spanish-Language Television Although a body of work has examined gender and race portrayals on ELTV in the U.S., few studies have systematically examined these portrayals in Spanishlanguage media that is also available in the United States. As Latinos have become the largest ethnic minority group in the United States (U.S. Census 2008), it is important to turn our attention to the impact of this group on the media landscape. Latinos not only have access to mainstream media in the United States, but because of language and cultural knowledge many also have access and exposure to a second television world: SLTV (Subvervi-Velez and Colsant 1993). Among Latinos in the United States, SLTV is both popular and accessible, with Univisin reaching close to 95% of the U.S. Latino audience, and Telemundo reaching approximately 84% (Subervi-Velez 1993). Moreover, evidence from advertising suggests that SLTV may hold more credibility and possibly more influence among Latinos than ELTV, although both are typically watched in equal amounts (Fullerton and Kendrick 2000). Most of the primetime programming available on Spanish-language broadcast networks in the U.S. consists of telenovelas (Navarro 2000; Nielsen Media Research 2008). Telenovelas are Spanish-language dramatic serials that are aired daily and are similar to English-language soap operas except they typically only run for about 180200 episodes, allowing for closure to the story (Lopez 1995). Another notable difference from the U.S. English-language soap operas is that telenovelas are the dominant genre on weeknight primetime viewing and are among the most popular programming available on SLTV (Navarro 2000; Nielsen Media Research, 2008). Thus, while the U.S. soap opera is marketed towards a female audience, telenovelas are marketed and viewed by both males and females (Fernandez and Paxman 2000; Lopez 1995). Telenovelas that air on Spanish-language networks in the U.S. are produced and imported from various countries in Latin America including Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil (Lopez 1995). Telenovelas not only reflect cultural values and storylines of interest to Latinos in the U.S., but also the cultural values of Latin America (Mayer 2003). Latinos in the U.S. watch these telenovelas for numerous reasons including to connect with family members, for cultural and language maintenance, and because they

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identify with the characters and plotlines (Mayer 2003; Rios 2003). With the availability and popularity of both SLTV and ELTV, Latinos in the U.S. are exposed to gender and race portrayals from both types of programming. In fact, previous work indicates that there is a positive correlation between exposure to both ELTV and SLTV and holding more traditional gender role attitudes among Latina adolescents (Rivadeneyra and Ward 2005). These relationships between greater exposure to ELTV and SLTV and traditional gender role attitudes are independent from each other, meaning that watching both types of programming may be compounding to the gendered messages that are found in both genres of television. Although their effects were similar in this particular study, we also expect differences in the portrayals of race and gender to exist between ELTV and SLTV. Television programming not only impacts individuals within a society, but is itself impacted by the society in which it is created. The sociohistorical context in which the programs are created impacts its themes, plotlines, and characters. As much of the programming that is aired on Spanish-language networks in the U.S. is created in Latin-America, we expected that the way gender and race were portrayed in these programs would represent these countries perceptions of race and gender. Although some similarities exist between the countries in the Western Hemisphere in terms of cultural constructions of gender and race, differences abound as well. In terms of gender, in the past there has been much made about the concepts of Machismo and Marianismo as the prevailing gender constructs in much of Latin America (De la Vega 1990). Machismo is the concept that men are encouraged to be dominant, strong, rational, virile, and controlling, while Marianismo is the expectation of women to be submissive, obedient, self-sacrificing, and chaste (Raffaelli and SuarezAl-Adam 1998). Some researchers have found Latinos in the U.S. to be more traditional in their gender role attitudes than European-Americans (Mirande 1997). However, these traditional cultural norms describe ideals and not actual behavior of all group members and scholars have challenged the assumption of more traditional gender roles in Latin America (Toro-Morn 2008). Indeed, studies have found that endorsement of these values among Latinos diminishes with acculturation, and that even in Latin-America, these values are changing (Diekman et al. 2005; Mirande 1997). According to a cross-cultural study examining the dynamic stereotypes of men and women in Chile, Brazil, and the United States, the perception of women was changing to include more traditional masculine characteristics across all three countries (Diekman et al. 2005). Differences were found with perceptions of an increase in masculine traits among men only found in Brazil and Chile. Thus, although gender roles

are changing across the U.S. and Latin America, we do expect some differences to exist across the Americas. Cultural constructions of race are also complex and varied across the Western Hemisphere. Many of these ideas are rooted in historical events that continue to impact the meaning of race. Many of these conceptions are based on each nations experiences with slavery and colonialism which contributed to very different ways of conceptualizing the notion of race and racial categories (Skidmore 1993; Wade 1997; Wright 1994). While in the U.S. the one-drop rule of racial categorization lead people who were considered to have one drop of African ancestry to be considered Black, in Brazil, it was almost the opposite, with one drop of European ancestry the individual was considered to be White (Skidmore 1993; Wright 1994). Historically, in the U.S., individuals have had to choose one race or ethnic group to belong to. In fact, it was not until the 2000 census that the U.S. government began to allow individuals to indicate more than one race on their census form (Grieco and Cassidy 2001). On the other hand, in many parts of Latin America, there are concepts and labels for a wide variety of interracial individuals including the terms Mestizo (people of Indigenous and European descent) and Mulato (people of African and European descent). In addition, some parts of Latin America such as Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Columbia have large numbers of people of African descent while other parts of Latin America such as Mexico have much smaller numbers (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). In addition, some countries have a stronger focus on the nations indigenous backgrounds, while in others these populations were all but wiped out (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). Therefore, each country and culture has its unique set of circumstances and history that have lead to wide variability in its conceptions of race. It is because of these differences in the conceptualization of race that it is important to examine how race is portrayed on SLTV as it may be different than was has previously been found on ELTV. Gender and Race Portrayals on Spanish-Language Television Although we have a body of literature examining the portrayals of gender, and to a smaller extent race, on ELTV, few studies have systematically examined the portrayals of gender and race on SLTV programs that air in the U.S. In one of the only studies of its kind, Fullerton and Kendrick (2000) analyzed gender role portrayals in 92 different commercials on Univisin, the most popular Spanishlanguage network in the U.S. (Nielsen, 2008). Stereotypical depictions of women and men pervaded Spanish-language commercials just as they do on ELTV, but with some notable differences. The main difference was a more

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significant female presence (53%). Beyond this, however, the profiles remained similar. For example, 84% of the commercials featuring primary characters were found to portray women or men in stereotypical roles. Men were more likely than women to be cast as a professional, and women were more likely than men to be portrayed as a homemaker, as responsible for the home, as performing household chores, and as a parent. Glascock and Ruggiero (2004) examined representations of gender and race on Spanish-language telenovelas and one drama airing in the U.S. Their coding scheme included noting character demographics such as gender, age, occupation, marital status, parental status, and skin color. Glascock and Ruggiero (2004) found similar number of men and women represented in the soap operas. Thus, unlike in English-language programming, female characters on Spanish-language commercials and primetime programs are not underrepresented. Female characters had more childcare care responsibilities, had less job status, and more focus was placed on their physical attractiveness in comparison to male characters (Glascock and Ruggiero 2004). Characters with lighter skin tone were found to be more fit, younger, and more likely to be rated as upper class compared to those with darker skin tone. These findings indicate some key differences on SLTV from the portrayals that have previously been found on ELTV with women being more equally represented on Spanish-language programming and with a focus on skin color as a key variable in the portrayal of characters. Similarities were also found with a focus on nurturing and physical attraction for women and professional roles for men. Present Study The present study delved into the gender and race portrayals on SLTV beyond demographic characteristics and into behavior and attributes associated with female and male characters and characters with dark and light skin. Our first research goal was to examine if females and males on telenovelas were portrayed in gender-typed ways. We compared the characteristics and behaviors of male and female characters. We focused on characteristics and behaviors related to the common stereotypes of women as (1) sexual objects, (2) relational/nurturing, and (3) having low status and power. We made several hypotheses regarding the portrayals of male and female characters on Spanish-language telenovelas based on past content analyses of both ELTV and SLTV and on cultural ideals. Women as Sexual Objects (H1) Female characters would be less likely to be shown with gray hair than males.

(H2) Female characters would be dressed more provocatively than males. Women as Relational/Nurturing (H3) Women would be more likely to be in a relationship or have their relationship status known compared to men. (H4) Women would be more likely to be a parent or have their parental status known compared to men. (H5) Females would be more likely spend time with children compared to males. (H6) Female characters would be more likely to be portrayed as emotional compared to males. Women as Having Low Status/Power (H7) Women would be more likely to either be unemployed or have an unknown job status compared to men. (H8) Male characters would be more likely to be focused on power and money in comparison to female characters. Our second research goal concerned the racialized portrayals on SLTV. That is, were there racial (as measured by skin tone) differences in these portrayals? Were characters with darker skin portrayed in a stereotypical manner? Few content analyses have examined these portrayals on SLTV, but those that did have found similar stereotypes of minorities than have been found on ELTV (Glascock and Ruggiero 2004). We expected racialized portrayals based on skin tone with a focus on stereotypes related to low status/power for characters with darker skin. Specifically our hypotheses based on these research questions were as follows: Characters with Darker Skin as Having Low Status/Power (H9) Characters with darker skin would be represented as being of lower social class compared to characters with lighter skin (H10) Characters with darker skin would be more likely to be unemployed or have an unknown employment status compared to characters with lighter skin. Characters with Darker Skin as Sexual Objects (H11) Characters with darker skin would be dressed more provocatively than characters with lighter skin.

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Method Sample The sample consisted of 19 episodes of telenovelas broadcast during the prime-time hours (811 pm for Pacific time) on three Spanish-language networks (Univision, Telemundo, and Telefutura). Because telenovelas typically only air Monday through Friday, these were the days from which our sample was gathered. The episodes were randomly chosen during the prime-time line-up in July of 2002. Taping took place in the Los Angeles broadcasting area. Twelve Spanish-language soap operas were coded and due to the random nature of the taping (times and stations were picked from a hat), some programs had more than one episode represented (see Table 1 for information on each coded soap opera). The random selection of the programs was assumed to give a representative sample of the programs offered during the month of July 2002. Looking back, there were only 13 prime-time telenovelas airing during the time of the taping so we had all but one of these programs represented in our sample. The soap opera that was not represented in our sample was El Privelegio de Amar. As can be seen in Table 1, this telenovela did not differ substantially in terms of country of origin, number of episodes, and year released from the coded telenovelas. Each soap opera airing at the time was an hour long and was coded in its entirety. Coding Coding was conducted by a team of one male and one female undergraduate students (both Mexican-American)

and one female graduate student (Cuban-American). All coders were fluent in Spanish and English and had previous exposure to telenovelas. The three coders were trained in the coding scheme and then practiced coding together, in dyads, and on their own. The coding scheme went through a number of revisions to ensure that it was clear. Each episode was randomly selected by the coder, with 17% of the episodes coded by two coders to determine inter-rater reliability. The coders were blind to the studys hypotheses. Inter-rater reliability was adequate (Kappas above .70 were considered adequate agreement) for all variables. Kappas for each code are presented below and in Table 3. Each episode was coded in two waves (see Appendix for summary of codebook). First, each episode was coded at the character level. A person on the program was counted as a character if he or she had any speaking part. Demographic information was then coded for each character: gender (K =1.00), categorical age (infant, young child, child, tween, adolescent, late adolescent, early twenties, late twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, and over 70; K =.86), skin color (light/white, middle/olive, dark/black; K =.93), hair color (light, dark, red, or gray; K =.91), social class (poor/poverty, working class, middle class, upper class/rich; K = .84), relationship status (single, dating, committed relationship, married, divorced/separated, unknown; K =.92), parental status (parent, not a parent, unknown; K =.86), occupation (employed, unemployed, homemaker, unknown; K =.87), and clothing worn (coded for the most provocative dress worn by the character: neutral, somewhat sexy, very sexy, nudity/implied nudity; K =.80). During initial analysis of the data, we noted that some cells had fewer than five occurrences and thus we collapsed some categories to be able to do comparisons across the groups.

Table 1 Information on telenovelas that aired during prime-time in July 2002 in the Los Angeles broadcast area on Univision, Telemundo, and Telefutura Name of telenovela Mis 3 Hermanas El Inutil Pedro el Escamoso Vale Todo Daniela Mi Pequea Traviesa El Clon Esmeralda Gata Salvaje El Juego de la Vida Carita Pintada Salome a El Privelegio de Amar
a

Country of origin Venezuela Columbia Columbia Brazil Mexico Mexico Brazil Mexico Venezuela Mexico Venezuela Mexico Mexico

Release date in country of origin April 2000 October 2001 December 2001

Release date in U.S. July 2002

# of episodes 150

2002 1997 2002 November 2001 August 1999 2001 1998

June 2002 2002 July 1998 2002 May 2002 June 2002

120 100 130 137 252 126 205 155

2002

This telenovela was not randomly selected to be coded for the present study.

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Age was collapsed into the following categories: minors, young adults, adults, middle age, and older adults. Skin color was collapsed into two categories: dark and light skin. Clothing worn was collapsed into the categories: neutral, somewhat sexy, and very sexy. Second, each episode was coded at the interval level. Intervals of 2 min were selected because scenes on television tend to average that length of time. These intervals were strictly based on the 2 min rule which meant some scenes cut across two intervals. Any 2 min that solely consisted of commercials were discarded and any commercials that were part of a 2 min segment with the program were ignored. Therefore, only the actual program was coded and was coded in its entirety. This process yielded 481 intervals across the 19 episodes. During each interval, a number of actions were coded for males and females. Nineteen actions were rated based on coding systems from previous studies examining the gender portrayals on ELTV (Fullerton and Kendrick 2000; Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). For purposes of the present study, only three of these actions are discussed here. We focus on these actions as they had the strongest theoretical backing based on Latino cultures and they had the strongest empirical evidence for gender bias in ELTV content analyses. These actions included: being shown with children (the characters in scene is depicted with a child under the age of 10; character does not have to be parent of the child), being emotional (the character in the scene was portrayed showing strong emotions such as crying or strong displays of anger), and talk of money and power as important (character talks about or demonstrates that wealth in terms of money or the ability to act or produce an effect on others is portrayed as a valuable asset). In each 2-minute interval, we coded whether each action was displayed (present) or not (absent) by a male or female character. For each episode we totaled the number of intervals in which each action occurred for female and male characters. Frequencies and Kappas for each of these variables are summarized in Table 3.

Gendered Portrayals Our first research goal was to examine if females and males on telenovelas are portrayed in gender-typed ways. First, we focused on the stereotype that females are sexual objects and should focus on their physical appearance to a greater extent than males. We expected this focus on appearance to extend to hair color and the notion that women should not let gray hair to show. As expected (H1: Female characters would be less likely to be shown with gray hair than males), male characters were more likely to have gray hair than female characters (see Table 2). We also expected that female characters would be dressed more provocatively than males (H2). We found that female characters were more likely to wear sexually provocative clothing (see Table 2). While most male and female characters were likely wear neutral clothing, a higher percentage of male characters did so. Female characters were overrepresented in the somewhat sexy and very sexy clothing categories. Second, we focused on the stereotype of women as relational/nurturing. We expected that women would be more likely to be in a relationship or have their relationship status known compared to men (H3). However, there was no significant gender difference in relationship status (see Table 2). We also expected that women would be more likely to be a parent or have their parental status known compared to men (H4), but also found no evidence of gender difference in parental status (see Table 2). Next, we predicted that women would be more likely to be seen spending with children compared to men (H5) and we indeed found evidence of a gender difference with women spending more time with children (see Table 3). Finally, we expected female characters would be more likely to be portrayed as emotional compared to male characters (H6) and we indeed found this to be the case (see Table 3). Third, we focused on the stereotype that women have low status/power. We expected that women would be more likely to either be unemployed or have an unknown job status compared to men (H7) and we indeed found a significant difference in the occupational roles of men and women in the soap operas (see Table 2). Men were more likely to be employed than women. On the other hand, women were more likely to be represented as unemployed, homemakers, or with unknown occupational status. We also expected male characters to be more likely to place importance on power and money compared to female characters (H8) and we found this to be the case (see Table 3). Racialized Portrayals Out of 466 speaking characters in the telenovelas, 32 were coded as being of olive tone and only 6 were coded as dark skinned, or a total of 38 with darker skin. The overwhelm-

Results Preliminary Data Analysis On the 19 episodes that were coded, 466 speaking characters were presented and coded for demographic characteristics. Of these characters, 228 were female character or 49% of the sample. As all of our codes were categorical, chi-square analyses were conducted to examine differences by gender and skin tone on the various characteristics and actions by the characters on the telenovelas.

Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222 Table 2 Differences in characteristics by gender of character

Gender of character Male Skin color Dark skin Light skin Age group Minors Young adults Adults Middle age Older adults Hair Color Blonde Dark Red Gray 21 8.9% 215 91.1% 8 3.4% 43 18.2% 102 43.2% 76 32.2% 7 3.0% 21 8.9% 195 82.6% 1 0.4% 19 8.1% 218 93.2% Somewhat sexy Very sexy Relationship Single Dating Committed Married Divorced Unknown Parental Parent Not a parent Unknown Occupational role Employed 11 4.7% 5 2.1% 12 5.2% 22 9.7% 7 3.1% 21 9.3% 6 2.6% 159 70% 49 22.5% 14 6.4% 155 71.1% 128 58.4% Unemployed Homemaker 2 0.9% 0 0% Female 17 7.5% 210 92.5% 7 3.1% 49 20.3% 100 44.1% 62 27.3% 9 4.0% 37 16.2% 164 71.9% 24 10.5% 3 1.3% 164 72.2% 52 22.9% 11 4.8% 9 4.1% 29 13.3% 6 2.8% 19 8.7% 8 3.7% 147 67.4% 52 24.3% 14 6.5% 148 69.1% 76 36.0% 7 3.3% 11 5.2% 9 11 28 303 204 51 13 40 14 306 101 .21 63 16 21 2.14 359 25 22 92 202 138 16 58 425 15 1.97 38 .31 Total

215

2 (df)

(1, 463)

(4, 463)

39.76*** (3, 464)

Clothing worn

Neutral

382

36.47*** (2, 461)

(2, 432)

(2, 432)

30.70*** (3, 430)

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

216 Table 3 Frequency of intervals with the behaviors performed by female and male characters Shown with children Emotional There were 481 intervals coded across the 19 episodes. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 Money or power important Female characters Present 69 14% 102 21% 9 2% Absent 412 86% 379 79% 462 98% K .96 .92 .74 Male characters Present 49 49% 35 7% 21 4%

Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222 Chi-Square Test K .98 .92 1.00 2 (df) 3.86 (1) * 38.21 (1)*** 4.96 (1)*

Absent 432 90% 446 93% 460 96%

ing majority (92%) of the characters in these Spanishlanguage soap operas were light skinned. In order to understand how representation of different racial groups related to actual populations, we further broke down these frequencies by country of origin for each of the telenovelas. Four countries produced the telenovelas in our sample: Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Table 4 displays the percentage of characters by their skin color and country of origin of the telenovela. For comparison purposes, this table also includes the actual ethnic populations in those countries. As can be seen in the table, the general pattern was that characters with light skin are overrepresented compared to the actual population of White individuals while characters with dark skin are underrepresented compared to the actual population of individuals with African and Indigenous heritage. Unfortunately, the cell sizes were so small for the characters with dark skin across the different countries of origin that we were unable to formally test for statistical significance. The second research goal for the study was to examine how race was related to differences in how the characters were portrayed, specifically expecting that characters with darker skin would be portrayed as having lower status/ power and as sexual objects. First, we focused on social class (H9: Characters with darker skin would be represented as being of lower social class compared to characters

with lighter skin). We found a significant difference in the social class by race of character (frequencies and chisquares are reported in Table 5). Unexpectedly, we found that characters with darker skin were more likely to be represented in the extremes of social class with very few in the middle class. Characters with dark skin were more likely to be portrayed as upper class compared to characters with lighter skin. Next, we focused on occupation (H10: Characters with darker skin would be more likely to be unemployed or have an unknown employment status compared to characters with lighter skin). No significant difference was found for occupational status by characters race. Finally, we focused on the type of dress worn by characters (H11: Characters with darker skin would be dressed more provocatively than characters with lighter skin). We found a significant difference in the type of clothing worn by characters by race as defined by skin tone. Characters with darker skin were almost four times more likely to be wearing very sexy clothing compared to the characters with lighter skin.

Discussion The present study examined the gender and race portrayals on Spanish-language soap operas. Based on previous

Table 4 Percentage of characters and actual population by ethnic background and country of origin Characters on TV Country Brazil Columbia Mexico Venezuela Darker skin 2 3.17% 0 0% 34 13.44% 2 2.38% Lighter skin 61 96.83% 63 100% 219 86.56% 82 97.62% Actual Population White 54% 20% 9% 21% 10% Black 6% 4% 1% 30% 2% 58% 60% 68%* Indigenous Mestizo+ Mulato# 39% 14%

+The term mestizo is used by most Latin American countries to indicate a mixture of Indigenous and European heritage. #The term mulato is used by most Latin American countries to indicate a mixture of African and European heritage. *Venezuela does not differentiate between the terms mestizo and mulato and uses the term mestizo to indicate people of any type of mixed heritage. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008)

Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222 Table 5 Demographic differences by skin color of characters Demographic Variable Skin Color Dark skin Social class Working class Middle class Upper class Clothing worn Neutral Somewhat sexy Very sexy *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 11 45.8% 5 20.8% 8 33.3% 27 77.1% 4 11.4% 4 11.4% Light skin 215 51.6% 158 37.9% 44 10.6% 353 83.3% 59 13.9% 12 2.8% 226 163 52 380 63 16 Total

217 2 (df)

11.92** (2, 441)

7.15* (2, 459)

content analysis on ELTV programming and cultural values in Latin America in which the soap operas were produced, we expected to find gender and racial stereotypes on SLTV. Although gender roles among Latinos have been described as more traditional and patriarchical (Mirande 1997), other scholars have challenged this assumption and find more diversity in the gender roles of Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America, especially the role of women (Diekman et al. 2005; Toro-Morn 2008). Our analysis of telenovelas indicated that women on SLTV, unlike their ELTV peers, were at least represented in similar numbers to their population. This is more than can be said about female characters on ELTV who are consistently underrepresented at a rate of one female for every two to three males (Children Now 2004; Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Lauzen and Dozier 2005; Signorielli and Bacue 1999). However, many of the gender stereotypes that have been found on ELTV were also found on SLTV. In terms of racialized portrayals, we found that characters with darker skin were all but invisible and when they existed some common stereotypes were present. This is especially appalling considering that these telenovelas were created in countries with large indigenous and African descent populations. Gendered Portrayals The first goal of our study was to examine if gender stereotypes related to seeing women as sexual objects, relational/nurturing, and as having lower status/power would be replicated on Spanish-language soap operas. In terms of the focus on women as sexual objects and thus a focus on their physical appearance, we did find that women were less likely to have gray hair than men indicating that even on SLTV, it is more acceptable for men to show their age. The focus on womens role as sexual objects was also evidenced by female characters being dressed more

provocatively than male characters. These findings with SLTV replicate past findings with ELTV prime-time, childrens, and music video programming (Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Signorielli and Bacue 1999; SommersFlanagan et al. 1993; Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). Unfortunately, these types of images have been linked to young womens lowered self-esteem and body image, and a greater tendency to eating disorders (Botta 2003; Haergreaves and Tiggemann 2004; Hofshire and Greenberg 2002). Based on these findings, Latinas may be at risk for getting similar messages about the importance of physical attractiveness from both ELTV and SLTV. In fact, previous research indicates that the association between viewing these images and the self-esteem and body image of young Latinas exists (Rivadeneyra et al. 2007). The images from both types of programs seem to reinforce each others message that womens focus should be on appearance and were related to the body image of Latinas, independent of each other. We found mixed results for the portrayal of female characters as relational/nurturing. Although female characters were more likely to be shown with children and portrayed as emotional compared to male characters, we found no difference in the relationship status or parental status between men and women. These findings partially replicated past content analyses with English-language prime-time TV (Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Signorielli and Bacue 1999; Thompson and Zerbinos 1995). These findings may have more to do with the genre of program we coded rather than with culture. Soap operas are known for their focus on relationships and thus both men and women were portrayed in these relationships. However, most of the characters (69%) had unknown relationship status. That is, the coders were unable to determine the relationship status of the character based on the episode that they coded. It is possible that a regular viewer of the telenovela would know that relationship status of the characters and these may tell a different

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story. It is possible that female characters may be more likely to be in or focus on relationships than our coding system captured. Future content analyses could determine relationship status differently. It may also be useful to ask regular viewers of these soap operas their opinions on how gender and relationships are portrayed. We found evidence of the traditional gender gap when it came to occupational roles. There was a greater emphasis on the occupational roles of men than for women on SLTV. Men were more likely to be employed, whereas women were more likely to be unemployed or have unknown occupational status indicating less focus on the occupational roles of women. The portrayals found on SLTV were similar to occupational portrayals that have been found on ELTV and would be expected given social role theory (Davis 1990; Glascock 2001; Lauzen and Dozier 2005; Signorielli and Bacue 1999). Racialized Portrayals Finally, we turned our attention to how race was portrayed on SLTV. Although most of the characters on SLTV are presumably Latino, there is variability in the skin coloring and assumed race of the characters presented. Lightskinned or white Latinos dominated the Spanish-language soap operas. Only 38 of 466 speaking characters were coded as black or olive toned, with only 6 of those characters being categorized as black. Given that 7 of the 12 soap operas coded in this study were created in countries with notable Black populations (Venezuela, Columbia, and Brazil), these numbers are appalling (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). All countries of origin for the soap operas in our sample (the above plus Mexico) include majority mixed race populations, yet the majority of the characters on the show were coded as white, a minority group for all of the above Latin American countries (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). Although our numbers indicate a gross underrepresentation of characters with darker skin, it is possible that our understanding of race as U.S. based researchers would be different from the understandings of race for the production crew of the Latin-American based soap operas. Much has been written about the culturally specific conceptions of race (i.e., Smedley and Smedley 2005) and so our team of coders which included two Mexican-Americans and a Cuban-American, may have missed coding individuals as mixed race when individuals in the country of origin of the soap opera may have considered them so. However, it is important to note that our interest here is how Latinos in the U.S. are influenced by these Spanish-language programs and thus having U.S. based Latinos as our coding team would be more likely to reflect those potential influences. The team agreed that the vast majority of the characters on the telenovelas were

white or light-skinned Latinos. This small number of non-European featured characters is even more shocking given the recent trend on ELTV programming in the U.S. to increase the number of African-American characters represented (Children Now 2004). Not only were few characters with darker skin tone represented, but they were represented differently than lighter skinned characters. Characters with darker skin tone were portrayed in extremes of social class with fewer in the middle class. Given the role of racism, it is not surprising that characters with darker skin would be over-represented in the lowest levels of social class. However, it was surprising to find them also over-represented in the highest levels of social class. Interestingly, the majority of characters were not in these categories, but in the working and middle class categories. It could be that characters with darker skin are playing more one-dimensional characters that play extreme categorizations. These findings need to be examined more closely. Finally, like women, characters with darker skin were more likely to be objectified in their form of dress. They were over-represented in the very sexy clothing category compared to characters with lighter skin. It could be that the emphasis of these characters is on physical appearance when little power or status is given in other ways. Previous studies have found that women of color are often the most sexualized and the style of dress of women and characters with darker skin indicates that similar representations may be found on Spanish-language programming (Simms 2001). Work within the gay community has also found that gay men of color often feel sexually objectified in their interactions with white men (Teunis 2007). Thus, like for women, being seen as sexual objects is one way in which individuals of African or Indigenous descent are subjugated and given positions of little power in society. These media representations are an extension of this placement. Limitations and Future Directions There were some limitations to the present study. First, we did limit our coding to telenovelas. We did so because they are the most popular genre of programming on SLTV. However, it is not the only genre available and other types of programs may be portraying different images and messages regarding gender and race. Future studies should examine these portrayals. Second, the coding scheme was focused on quantifying actions and character demographics. Although it is important to understand the quantifiable differences in the way characters are portrayed, it may miss more qualitative differences. For example, women and men were just as likely to be portrayed as parents, but how were men and women portrayed in this context? Were women doing more of the caregiving and nurturing? Because this

Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222

219

was one of the first studies to examine gender roles and race on SLTV, the analysis was limited and future work should start to develop a further understanding of the gendered and racialized messages on SLTV. Finally, although it is important to be as objective as possible when examining the portrayals on television, it is equally as important to understand that viewers will come away with a subjective understanding and that these may differ vastly from what researchers perceive. Thus, it is important to conduct studies in which we ask participants about their perception of what these gendered and racialized messages are. Conclusion Although these limitations exist, our analysis indicates that like on ELTV, stereotypical and limiting roles abound for female and male characters and racial minority groups on Spanish-language soap operas. The focus for male characters is on their occupational roles which includes a focus on power and money. For female characters, the focus is mainly on their physical appearance and roles as nurturers. These gendered portrayals fit closely to expectations postulated by the social roles theory and objectification theory (Eagly and Wood 1999; Fredrickson and Roberts 1997). The invisibility of characters of darker complexion on SLTV was obvious. The miniscule number of characters from these groups made meaningful analysis of their portrayals difficult, but differences in terms of class and close relationships were apparent and need to be further explored. These portrayals are limiting and may create a worldview about what it means to be male or female, Black or White in the U.S. and in Latin-America as Latinos in the U.S. try to make sense of the messages they are receiving from media produced in those societies. In fact, previous work has found that Latinos who watch more gender-typed programming from U.S. and Latin-American based television are more likely to have more traditional gender role values (Rivadeneyra and Ward 2005). At the same time, however, some important differences emerged on the way gender is portrayed on SLTV in comparison to what has been found on ELTV. Female characters were just as common as male characters, portraying women as important enough to be represented in equal numbers to men. These differences in the portrayals of male and female characters on SLTV indicate that although some of the gendered messages are similar to those found on ELTV, there are enough differences to warrant further examination of what these portrayals are and how they may differently affect Latinos in the United States as they are likely to be watching both sets of messages. In some ways, the portrayal of female characters was more egalitarian on SLTV. They were at least

represented in equal numbers to male characters and some of the typical gender typed portrayals were not replicated in this study. These findings should at least temper the stereotype of Latinos and Latin-American cultures as being machista and neglecting womens concerns. This is not to say that there is no sexism to be found in TV programming produced in Latin America as much of the gender typing existed especially concerning appearance, nurturing, and occupational roles. It just was not any worse than what has been found in content analyses of programming produced in the United States. Overall, our findings suggest that when examining medias role in the lives of Latinos, it is important to consider the messages found in Spanish-language media, particularly when it is created in Latin America. It has a way of connecting Latinos in the United States to cultural values in Latin America. Sometimes these values are similar to those found in the United States, but at times they differ in significant ways. In order to truly understand medias role, it is important to understand all types of media that are potentially consumed by Latinos.
Acknowledgement This research was supported in part by a New Faculty Initiation Grant at Illinois State University. The author would like to thank Federico Subervi-Velez, Lourdes Palomino, Jotam Torres, Julisa Ruiz, and Rosanna Gomez for their assistance with various aspects of this project.

Appendix The following descriptive information will be completed for each character with a speaking part & Characters rolelead/major role would include a character that directs the operations, activity, or performance in the scene that in other words takes charge. They are usually in the introduction of the show. It will be apparent when viewing soap operas. The main characters are couples that are expected to come together in the end. Character namea word that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person, One can usually figure out the name by what others call them or use to distinguish a person Gender: M or Fa subclass that is partly based on distinguishable characteristics such as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with the male or female sex Assumed ageCharacters age which we regard as true and genuine without actual knowledge & 1=Infant (under 2)a baby or very young child not yet speaking

&

&

&

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Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222

&

& & & &

&

& & & & & & &

2=Toddler/preschool (25)a period of time commencing with a child who walks with short, uncertain steps as is typical in early childhood and ending with the period prior to the commencement of school 3=Middle childhood (69)a period of time marked by a childs commencement into the school system and ending with the period prior to puberty 4=Tween (1012)a period of time commencing with the inception of puberty prior to the beginning of the teenage years 5=Adolescent (1316)a period of time starting with the inception of the teenage years through the beginning of the high school years 6=Late adolescent (1719)a period of time beginning with the last year of high school through the inception of the college years, during this period maturity is reached 7=Young adult (2024)A period of time commencing with the last years of college through the inception of the establishment of a career or the furthering of an education 8=Twenties (2529)A period of time coinciding with marriage and the establishment of a family 9=Thirties 10=Fortiesmiddle age between youth and old age 4049 11=Fiftiesmiddle age between youth and old age 5059 12=Sixtiesthe period commencing with middle age (6069) and ending with the beginning of old age 13=Over 70old age

& & & &

1=Poor/povertyone who lacks the resources for meeting basic human needs: shelter, nutrition 2=Working classindustrial or manual workers, blue-collar workers 3=Middle classthe social class between the wealthy and the working class (people in business, professionals, highly skilled workers, well-to-do farmers) 4=Upper class/richsocially prominent or aristocratic class, one who has more money or income producing property than is necessary to satisfy normal needs

&

Relationship statusa continuing attachment or association between persons that determines their standing, you can gage this by conversation indicating a persons relationship with others. & & & & & 1=Singlean unmarried person who is not involved in a relationship 2=Datingto have social engagements with persons of the opposite sex (casual) 3=Committed relationshipdedication to a long term involvement or engagement (living together, engaged) 4=Marriedliving together as husband and wife, joined in wedlock 5=Divorced/separatedto dissolve legally a marriage with ones spouse, an arrangement by which a husband and wife live apart by agreement or by court decree. You can use this code in conjunction with any of the others. So you may know a character is divorced but also single, dating or remarried. Use both codes as needed. 6=Unknownrelationship status is not discovered, identified or determined by context in episode viewed

& &

Skin colorthe natural color of the outer covering of the human body & & & 1=Lightpale in color (whitish, fair) 2=Blackdeep in shade, dark complexion, Black, with African features 3=Mixed Racemade up of different races: Moreno/ a, indigenous

Parental statuscharacteristic of a parent or parents, whether a person is a parent or not, can be gaged by their interaction with their children or by conversation. They say things like my daughter or someone else mentions their parenting status. & & & 1=Parenta mother or father 2=Not a parentnot a mother or father 3=Unknownbased on the episode the persons parental status is not discovered, identified or determined

&

Hair color/typethe natural color of the fine, threadlike outgrowth covering the human head & & & & 1=Lightblond (very light in color) 2=Darkbrown (the color of chocolate or coffee), black (the color of coal) 3=Red 4=Graya color that is a mixture of black and white, a typical hair color in an older person

&

Occupationthat which chiefly engages ones time, (trade, profession or business) you can gage this by actually seeing a character engaged in a line of work or at his/her place of employment. This can also be assessed by the conversation in which a character or others refer to persons employment or lack of & & & & 1=Employedto work for wages or salary, paid service, list name of occupation 2=Unemployednot working for wages or salary 3=Homemakera person who manages a home 4=Unknownnot discovered, identified or determined

&

Social classa group of people considered as a unit according to economic, occupational, or social status; you can gage this by looks, home, and place of employment or if someone talks about these concerning a character

Sex Roles (2011) 65:208222

221 Central Intelligence Agency (2008). The world factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/fields/2075.html Children Now. (2004). Fall Colors: 200304: Prime time diversity report. Oakland, CA: Children Now. Davis, D. M. (1990). Portrayals of women in prime-time network television: Some demographic characteristics. Sex Roles, 23, 325332. De la Vega, E. (1990). Considerations for reaching the Latino population with sexuality and HIV/AIDS information and education. Sex information and Education Council of the United States, Inc. SIECUS Report, 18, 18. Diekman, A. B., Eagly, A. H., Mlandinic, A., & Ferreira, M. C. (2005). Dynamic stereotypes about women and men in Latin America and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 209226. Dixon, T. L. (2008). Crime news and racialized beliefs: Understanding the relationship between local news viewing and perceptions of African Americans and crime. Journal of Communication, 58, 106125. Dixon, T. L., & Linz, D. (2000). Race and the misrepresentation of victimization on local television news. Communication Research, 27, 547573. Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (1999). The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist, 54, 408423. Eagly, A. H., Wood, W., & Diekman, A. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: A current appraisal. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautner (Eds.), The developmental social psychology of gender (pp. 123174). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Fernandez, C., & Paxman, A. (2000). El tigre: Emilio Azcarraga y su imperio Televisa. [The tiger: Emilio Azcarraga and his empire, Televisa] Mexico City, Mexico: Grijalbo. Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding womens lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173206. Fullerton, J. A., & Kendrick, A. (2000). Portrayal of men and women in U. S. Spanish-language television commercials. Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, 77, 128142. Glascock, J. (2001). Gender roles on prime-time network television: Demographics and behaviors. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 45, 656669. Glascock, J., & Ruggiero, T. E. (2004). Representations of class and gender on primetime Spanish-language television in the United States. Communication Quarterly, 52, 390402. Grieco, E. M., & Cassidy, R. C. (2001). Overview of the race and Hispanic origin: Census 2000 brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau. Haergreaves, D. A., & Tiggemann, M. (2004). Idealized media images and adolescent body image: Comparing boys and girls. Body Image, 1, 351361. Hofshire, L. J., & Greenberg, B. S. (2002). Medias impact on adolescents body dissatisfaction. In J. D. Brown, J. R. Steele, & K. W. Walsh-Childers (Eds.), Sexual teens, sexual media: Investigating medias influence on adolescent sexuality (pp. 125152). New Jersey: Erlbaum. Lauzen, M. M., & Dozier, D. M. (2005). Recognition and respect revisited: Portrayals of age and gender in prime-time television. Mass Communication and Society, 8, 241256. Lopez, A. (1995). Our welcomed guests: Telenovelas in Latin America. In R. C. Allen (Ed.), To be continued: Soap Operas around the world (pp. 256275). London: Routledge. Mastro, D. E., & Behm-Morawitz, E. (2005). Latino representation on primetime television. Journalism & mass Communication Quarterly, 82, 110130.

&

Clothing wornapparel (How much skin is showing); what is each character wearing. If a character wears different outfits throughout an episode, code the highest number. That is, the person may be wearing neutral clothes in one scene but is later shown under the covers in an obviously sexual encounter. You would code this character a four and not a one. & & & & 1=Neutralnot extreme in type or kind, not provocative in any way 2=somewhat sexysomewhat exciting or intended to excite sexual desire (tight clothes, muscle shirts, shorter skirts, knee high boots) 3=very sexyvery exciting or erotic, more skin (bathing suit, lingerie, men without shirts, midriffs) 4=nuditydepicting or involving state of undress (can be implied as in a shower scene)

Interval VariablesThe following behaviors that occur within a 2-minute interval will be coded. When at the beginning of an episode, set the timer on the VCR to 0:00 by pressing counter/remain on remote control. The VCR timer is set at 0:00 for the first 2-minute interval when the timer registers 1:59 the tape is stopped. After the first 2minute interval, the timer is stopped every 2 min (2:00 2:59, 3:003:59). See coding sheet for intervals. For each 2 min interval, code whether each of the following occurred and whether it occurred to a male or female. Once something has occurred in the segment, you are done coding it for that interval. Thus, you are not counting the number of times each thing occurred but whether it happened at all or not. For example: the 2-minute segment begins with a man initiating talk. You check that off in the appropriate box, so you no longer have to worry about a male initiating talk for those 2 min. You would however, still be on the lookout for a female initiating talk. & Shown with childrenThe character in the scene must be depicted with a child under the age of 10. The character does not need to be the parent of the child in order to code for this variable. EmotionalThe character in the scene must be portrayed showing strong emotions such as crying or displays of strong anger. Talk of money and power as important. Wealth in terms of money or the ability to act or produce an effect on others is portrayed as a valuable asset.

& &

References
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