Commission on the Status of Women 2015 Abstracts
“It’s on us.” The role of social media in individual willingness to mobilize against sexual assault • Cory Armstrong; Jessica Mahone, University of Florida • “Stopping sexual violence has become a key issue in the public and media agenda. This study examines the role of social media and bystander intervention in predicting an individual’s willingness to engage in collective action against sexual violence. Two surveys were conducted in fall 2014 and early 2015 examining young adults’ views of SNS, rape culture and collective action. Results indicated that gender and bystander intervention were key predictors, along with the privacy concerns of SNS and views supporting rape culture, which had a negative association. Implications were discussed.
Covering Clinton (2010-2015): Meaning-making strategies in news and entertainment magazines • Ingrid Bachmann, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Dustin Harp, University of Texas-Arlington; Jaime Loke, University of Oklahoma • With a trailblazing political career, Hillary Clinton has been the focus of media attention for decades. This study examines 27 magazine covers of the former First Lady and presumptive presidential hopeful from 2010 to 2015, and addresses what these mediated representations of Clinton say aboWith a trailblazing political career, Hillary Clinton has been the focus of media attention for decades. This study examines 27 magazine covers of the former First Lady and presumptive presidential hopeful from 2010 to 2015, and addresses what these mediated representations of Clinton say about the relationship between gender, power and politics. Based on a semiotic analysis, we found that Clinton is presented as a power-hungry, emasculating and surreptitious politician, with the media often warning citizens about her authenticity and ambition. ut the relationship between gender, power and politics. Based on a semiotic analysis, we found that Clinton is presented as a power-hungry, emasculating and surreptitious politician, with the media often warning citizens about her authenticity and ambition.
Media Representations of Hillary Clinton’s Emotional Moment: A Semiotic Analysis • Deborah Bauer, New Mexico State University • This study analyzes media discourse surrounding Hillary Clinton’s ‘emotional moment’ during her Presidential campaign. Interpreting media representations through semiotic and phenomenological analysis, a gendered language emerges as a sign of residual cultural stereotypes that continue to dichotomize gendered abilities. This study demonstrates media representations as a site for perpetuating a woman’s use of emotion to manipulate, connive, or calculate career goals.
Love the Way You Authenticate Domestic Violence Narratives • Laurena Bernabo, University of Iowa • Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), in all its forms, is a social epidemic which affects millions of Americans. The CDC’s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the first of its kind, found that 35.6% of women and 28.5% of men in the U.S. have experienced IPV in their lifetimes, and even more (48% of women and men) have experienced psychological aggression; the impact of such experiences includes fear, PTSD, injury, and the need for medical, housing, and legal services. While public attention to these issues has increased incrementally over time, media texts have engaged rather minimally in terms of accurate, complex representations. This research interrogates the pop culture phenomenon of Love the Way You Lie, a two-part song with an accompanying music video made famous by Eminem and Rihanna, two musicians known for their own first-hand experiences with IPV. By applying work done in the areas of gender violence, domestic violence and IPV to the lyrics and video, this paper demonstrates how public reactions to the media texts conflate the two with each other, and inextricably tie both to the performers through discourses of authenticity. Ultimately, this research argues that the song and video contribute to public conceptions of the cycle of violence by extending the popular understanding of domestic violence beyond the application of physical force.
Gold is the new pink: A qualitative analysis of GoldieBlox retail ratings and feedback • Sara Blankenship, University of North Texas; Sheri Broyles, University of North Texas • The pink and blue color washing of the toy aisle suggests it has remained untouched by the advancements of our social progress. GoldieBlox, a toy company focused on stimulating girls’ interest in engineering, set out to change this. This qualitative analysis of GoldieBlox user ratings has determined this generation of parents unequivocally and enthusiastically supports the concept of encouraging girls to pursue a science-based education, rending Barbie irrelevant.
Activism? Or Group Self-Objectification? • Shugofa Dastgeer, University of Oklahoma • This paper is a comparative analysis of visual images of two feminist groups, FEMEN sextremists and extreme Islamists. The main purpose of this paper is to explore how women in these two groups use their bodies to express their ideologies, and how these tactics give are seen in visual images? The findings show that women in both feminist groups express themselves as objects, which misrepresents their political causes. So, both extremism and sextremism reproduce similar traditional values for women’s bodies by using different approaches.
Building Community? The Use of Social Media by Scholars for Peer-Communication • Stine Eckert, 3135770716; Candi Carter Olson, Utah State University; Victoria LaPoe, Western Kentucky University • This study surveyed 62 members and affiliates of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a subdivision in the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), about their social media use for professional, non-classroom purposes. It is theoretically grounded in media ecology and cyberfeminism. Respondents preferred Facebook for sharing information, followed by Twitter; few participants used LinkedIn. Several respondents noted that due to time constraints they do not use social media. This begs the question of whether or not promoting and utilizing social media as a time-saver, especially for women scholars, may result in a more connected online community, and in turn may help with membership and retention. Given the dearth of studies on scholars’ use of social media for peer communication, this study gives valuable insights into and suggestions for the ways scholars and academic organizations can enhance professional relationships through a communication strategy that integrates social media.
Journalistic Coverage in Rape Culture: Reporters’ Socialization in a Gender-Biased Indian Patriarchal Society • Deepa Fadnis • This study examined the journalistic coverage of the Delhi gang rape case of 2012 in the Times of India to understand the influences of the Indian society firmly rooted in gender inequalities and patriarchy on individual reporters. This content analysis suggested that female reporters were more vocal about rape law reforms and setting up immediate relief measures for women in need. And contrary to the popular belief, male reporters did not entertain ideas about male supremacy through their reporting. Further implications for gender inequality in India are discussed.
Mum’s the word: An analysis of frames used on parents who left children in cars • Andrea Hall, University of Florida; Lauren Furey, University of Florida • This study explored how media communicate biological and parental gender roles when parents commit a crime in addition to how frame is affected by story type. A content analysis of 348 news articles over a 15-year period was conducted. This study found that a gender divide in some cases, such as women being referenced as mothers, but not in others. Child’s gender was also a factor in analyzing when analyzing stories.
RAW Appearances: Examining Contrast Effects in Adaptation to Women Wrestlers’ Sexualization in World Wide Entertainment • Nisha Garud; Carson Wagner • Several studies in psychology confirm the operation of contextual contrast effects on judgments. This experiment extends adaptation-level contrast effects to the field of media through examination of attitudes towards sexualization of WWE women wrestlers. Participants (N=75) were randomly primed with high-sexualized and de-sexualized content and their explicit and implicit attitudes towards sexualization were measured. Contrast effects were found as high-sexualized group rated WWE Women’s program low on sexualization whereas the de-sexualized group rated the program high on sexualization. Both the groups were compared to a control group. Implicit measures supported explicit attitudes. Regression analysis suggest women wrestlers’ clothing, touch, movement and pose strongly predict sexualization. However, no gender differences were found in attitudes towards sexualization.
Easy, Breezy, and Patriarchal: Femvertising in CoverGirl and Beyond • Kate Hoad-Reddick, Western University • This paper takes a 2014 CoverGirl advertisement as its object of study to explore the pervasive advertising trend of femvertising—advertising that positively represents women—and question the impacts of commodified feminism on the feminist movement. By deconstructing the hypocrisy inherent in this commercial, the author problematizes femvertising and questions the mainstream media’s ability to offer feminist sentiments that resist commodification. Using the theoretical lens of ventriloquism, this analysis argues femvertising stems from hegemonic patriarchy.
Women as Eye Candy: Predictors of Individuals’ Acceptance of the Sexual Objectification of Women • Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Kathleen Rodgers, Department of Human Development, Washington State University; Nicole Cameron, Washington State University • Exposure to music videos that objectify and sexualize women was associated with traditional gender beliefs. A survey of undergraduate students indicates exposure to music and a preference for rap music were positively associated with the acceptance of women’s sexual objectification, even after controlling for gender, religiosity and beliefs in sexual stereotypes. This suggests consistent exposure to music videos reinforces traditional gender attitudes, but contextual factors still play a role in the formation of gender attitudes.
Gender Trouble in the Workplace: Applying Judith Butler’s Theory of Performativity to News Organizations • Joy Jenkins, University of Missouri; Teri Finneman, University of Missouri • Butler’s theory of performativity challenges understandings of gender, suggesting gender is constituted through ritualized performances of norms. Although Butler primarily considered discursive constructions of gender, we argue this theory can be considered within organizations. This paper offers a critical perspective by examining patriarchal organizations’ definitions of gender performances and the emancipatory potential of performativity. We explore how performativity could be understood and studied within TV newsrooms, where women reinforce gender roles mandated by organizational norms.
Gathering Online, Loitering Offline: Hashtag Activism and the Claim for Public Space by Women in India • Sonora Jha, Seattle University • This paper provides a theoretical critical analysis of the online discursive (textual and visual) representations of women claiming public spaces across India through the #WhyLoiter hashtag campaign in December 2014, protesting “rape culture” following the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of a student. Using feminist media theory and the theory of digital social movements – cyberfeminist protest in particular – I examine the strides and limitations of online and offline repertoires of the #WhyLoiter campaign.
Searching for Thinspiration: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Tumblr Blog Posts about Weight Loss and Disordered Eating • Nicki Karimipour, University of Florida • Young women’s use of microblogging sites to communicate and disseminate messages about body image ideals is an emerging topic of research. As thinspiration content continues to proliferate online, body image researchers and psychologists seek to understand how people, mostly young women, discuss and engage with this phenomenon on social media. This study takes a feminist perspective on body image, and includes theoretical foundations such as the sociocultural model of female body image and identity demarginalization theory to help explain prevalence of online communication about stigmatized conditions such as eating disorders. This study utilized a qualitative, inductive approach to examine tone of the blog posts, commonly appearing codes, motivations for engaging in weight loss, use of hashtags, and mentions of recovery and/or recovery resources. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and avenues for future research are outlined within.
Is Breast Best? Feminist Ethics for Breastfeeding Promotion as Public Relations • Amanda Kennedy, University of Maryland • This paper took a critical feminist approach to interrogate dominant discourses of breastfeeding and motherhood in America and how they have manifested in public relations campaigns. Using the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign as an illustration, we identified ethical dilemmas in their popular constructions of breastfeeding and motherhood. We proposed materialist and care-based feminist ethics as more ethical and practical alternatives for breastfeeding promotion and public relations.
Collective Memory of the Feminist Revolution: “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution” in a Post-Feminist Twenty-First Century • Katherine LaPrad, University of South Carolina • This study examines the collective memory of the feminist revolution through the filter of the feminist art movement by analyzing a variety of media engaged with WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, a retrospective exhibition of feminist art and visual culture. Through a qualitative analysis this inquiry interrogates media coverage and public dialogue surrounding this commemorative exhibition, revealing the collective memory of the feminist revolution and its impression on feminism in the current social and political landscape.
Butts and other body parts: Celebrity culture, ethnic identification and self-objectification • Carol Liebler; Li Chen, S.I. Newhouse of Public Communications • This study investigates women’s experiences with a sexually objectifying environment by examining the degree to which engagement with celebrity culture affects self-objectification among women. We further explore the role of ethnic identification in this relationship. An online survey was conducted in the U.S. of 249 women of East Asian or Southeast Asian ethnic descent. Results indicate that strength of ethnic identification and perceived knowledge of and interaction with celebrity culture are predictors of self-objectification, but that results vary by ethnic group. Findings highlight the need to consider the intersectionality of gender and ethnicity in relation to self-objectification.
Problematizing postfeminist/neoliberal female sexual subjectivity: A textual analysis of sex-related articles in Cosmopolitan in post-socialist China • Qi Ling, The University of Iowa • This study adopted postfeminism as a critical tool to analyze sex-related articles in Cosmopolitan (Chinese version) to see how female sexual subjectivity is constructed, and how the internal conflict of neoliberal rhetoric in it may render the touted message of empowerment problematic. Three interpretive repertoires were exacted from the text: “empowering sexiness”, “self-surveillance on sexual body”, and “sexual liberty”, all of which contributed to an enabling female sexual subject, while re-entrenching the normative by making it the only one and the most rewarded choice within the existing system. This paper further suggests that the fact that postfeminist discursive strategies originated in West is gaining currency in post-socialist China has bearing on its integration into the symbolic and economic order of global neoliberalism.
Boy story: An analysis of gendered interaction frames in the Toy Story trilogy • Timothy Luisi, University of Kansas • Past research shows that what children see can greatly influence behaviors and the development of gender identity. Female characters have been depicted in film with less frequency and detail than their male counterparts. The following study examined female-voiced characters within the Toy Story trilogy and used grounded theory to find frames between female-voiced characters and male characters based on their interactions. The findings build upon past literature in gaze theory and symbolic annihilation.
Gender, politics, and social networks: Tracking the 2014 elections on Twitter • Shannon McGregor, University of Texas – Austin; Rachel Mourao, The University of Texas at Austin • The 2014 elections offer a last chance to evaluate discourse about female politicians before the 2016 presidential campaign. Building on gender bias literature, we assess the differences in network attributes of male and female candidates. Results show that when a woman runs against a man, the conversation revolves around her. Female candidates are both more central and more replied to. Findings suggest that there is still something unique about a campaign with a woman.
“Why just my children? This is for all our children.” – The rise of the woman citizen journalist in India • Paromita Pain, The University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism • Recent citizen journalism developments, especially in developing countries like India, is encouraging a new generation of women in very resource poor areas to participate in the news production process that could potentially level the playing field by allowing them to sidestep traditional gatekeepers and barriers. Using the most significant change technique and qualitative data from three citizen media organizations in India, this paper employs feminist readings of Habermas’ theory of the public sphere to argue that citizen media can significantly contribute towards a feminist public sphere and be used as an important tool for women’s empowerment in the developing world.
“A Woman Walks Alone in the Dark:” Hostile Sexism & Script Writing for Crime TV • Scott Parrott • Crime-based television programs in the U.S. often contain gender-based stereotypes, including the inaccurate association of females and victimhood. The present study explored the relationship between hostile sexism and the appearance of gender role stereotypes in plot synopses that communication students wrote for a crime-based dramatic program. Respondents (n=197) to a survey studying “the creative process behind scriptwriting” were asked to outline the plot for an episode of a crime-based drama and to provide descriptive information, including gender, for three characters (victim, police detective, criminal). Respondents most often assigned the role of victim to a female and the roles of police detective and criminal to males. Plot synopses often included violence against females. Separate analyses showed that the higher the respondents’ hostile sexism, the more likely they were to assign the victim role to a female and the less likely they were to assign the detective role to a female.
Constructing Girls in a Post-Feminist Society: Female Adolescent Gender Representations in Glee • Roseann Pluretti, The University of Kansas; Kristen Grimmer, University of Kansas; Jessica Casebier, University of Kansas • This exploratory study examines adolescent gender identity formation and the female adolescent gender representations in the teen drama Glee. Through feminist theory, this study investigates how these representations compare to past representations and if they contain post-feminist ideals. A qualitative textual analysis of six episodes and over 130 scenes was implemented. Thematic analysis of these representations found empowering, post-feminist and stereotypical representations in Glee. These representations could shape female adolescent audiences’ gender identity formation.
Using Feminist Memories for Postfeminist Needs: The Celebratory Feminism of MAKERS: Women Who Make America • Urszula Pruchniewska, Temple University • Through the lens of collective memory, this paper uses textual analysis to explore the documentary MAKERS, which traces the second wave women’s movement by presenting a collective memory of “celebratory feminism.” Despite aiming to show the movement as continuing, by evoking postfeminist sensibilities in its presentation of the feminist past, MAKERS categorizes feminism as over. Thus the construction of collective memory of feminism in MAKERS works to fit the needs of the present climate, postfeminism.
If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Be It: Do Children’s Movies Pass The Bechdel Test? • Erin Ryan, Kennesaw State University • Organizations such as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media consistently report gender imbalance is still very much alive. This is particularly true of media crafted specifically for children, and this has real consequences for the ways in which children are taught to perform their gender. Cultivation theory tells us that continuous consumption of media can change people’s attitudes and beliefs about the world, beginning in childhood. If children see the same depictions ad nauseum they can only assume the gender performance they see is the “right” one. And as social learning theory demonstrates, beginning in toddlerhood children begin to mimic behaviors they see in media. Thus, it is crucial to study children’s media with an eye on gender roles. One method to do so is the so-called “Bechdel Test” which puts films to a three-question test: are there two or more women in the film who have names? Do they talk to each other? Do they talk to each other about anything other than men? This content analysis put the top 21 children’s movies to the Test and results revealed seven failures: Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Princess Bride, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Ratatouille, and Up. Release date did not appear to affect whether a movie passed, implying that women’s roles in children’s movies have not evolved over time. However, a tally of character actions revealed female characters in both passing and failing movies to be performing fewer stereotypical roles than non-stereotypical
Crusaders, Not Subordinates: How Women’s Page Editors Worked to Change the Gender Climate Within APME and ASNE • Kimberly Voss; Lance Speere • This scholarship reveals what women were doing in the 1960s and early 1970s within the newspaper industry, which had largely excluded them from decision-making or leadership positions, to produce change. Yet, they worked within their limitations to improve working conditions and to improve content for women within the pages of their newspapers. This study documents their efforts to initiate change through the Associated Press Managing Editors and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Understanding images of sexual objectification: A study of gender differences in Taiwanese magazine ads from 1985 to 2011 • Ping Shaw, National Sun Yat-sen University; Yue Tan, National Sun Yat-sen University • Content analysis is used to explore media portrayals of 1856 female and 816 male models in 2336 Taiwan magazine advertisements over a 27 year period, from 1985 to 2011. We mainly examined how female models and male models are sexually objectified differently over time in terms of four coding categories: “decorative roles”, “portion of body shown”, “sexual explicitness”, and “objecting gaze and touch”. We argue that these categories measure different dimensions of the sexual objectification concept. The results from the content analysis revealed that the four measures correlated moderately, indicated different degree of gender gaps, changed differently over time, and influenced differently by the women’s movement and consumerism in Taiwan. Finally, the implications of the results for the sexual objectification theory are discussed.”
Frat Daddies and Sorostitutes: How TotalFratMove.com and Greek Identity Influence Greek Students’ Rape Myth Acceptance • Bailey Thompson, Texas Tech University; Rebecca Ortiz, Texas Tech University • College students in social Greek organizations are at greater risk of sexual assault than other college students. The present study examined how readership of the online news site TotalFratMove.com (TFM), which often includes coverage of stereotypical fraternity culture, may impact rape myth acceptance. Results revealed that the more frequently Greeks read TFM, the more likely they were to be accepting of rape myths when also taking into account the strength of their Greek social identity.
One “pin” closer to the image of health: The medicalization of makeup discourses on Pinterest • Andrea Weare • This study explored discourses that medicalize beauty on Pinterest. With a boom in social media use among the beauty industry, these platforms are serving as affordances to extend a user’s ability to perform desired industry actions: product consumption. Results illuminate an understanding of the uses of Pinterest and how female users are hailed to be more beautiful and healthy, as well as how scholars and health practitioners might mediate this discourse to improve women’s health.
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