The purpose of this report is to examine messages about masculinity present in popular television programming among boys ages seven to thirteen. Much of the existing research on gender representation in children’s television has focused on girls and women, and for good reason— female characters are typically underrepresented and shown in highly stereotypical ways. However, far less is known about depictions of masculinity in contemporary children’s programming. Media representations of masculinity have “real world” effects on the well-being and behavior of boys and men and can impact their beliefs/behaviors toward women and girls. Media has the power to challenge limiting masculine norms in ways that support men’s reduced engagement in violence and self-injurious behaviors, and improve their health and happiness. This report fills that gap by analyzing depictions of boys and men in children’s television programming. 

This report was produced through a collaboration between Promundo, a global leader in promoting gender equality and preventing violence by engaging men and boys in partnership with women, girls, and individuals of all gender identities, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University, the first research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to improve gender representation, and the Kering Foundation, which works to combat violence against women around the globe. Additional data for this report was also provided by the Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory (SAIL) at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and Nielsen.

In this report we analyze representations of masculinity in the most popular boys’ television programs from 2018. We started this project in 2019 and made use of available data from 2018. We examined the top 25 Nielsen-rated television programs among boys ages seven to thirteen. Our television dataset includes a total of 3,056 characters from 447 episodes. This executive summary presents our major findings.

REPRESENTATIONS

We find surprising gender and race parity when it comes to leading characters in the most popular boys’ TV shows, but vast under-representation of LGBTQIA+ characters and characters with disabilities.

Gender

• Gender parity has been achieved with leading characters, 49.6% of whom are female and 50.4% are male. 
• Female characters are underrepresented when it comes to overall, supporting, and minor characters in the most popular boys’ TV shows. 
• Female characters speak and appear more often than male characters (68.0% of speaking time and 57.2% of screen time). 

Race and Ethnicity 

• Racial equality has been achieved with leading characters. People of color make up 38% of the U.S. population, and 36.0% of leading characters.
• Characters of color are underrepresented when it comes to overall, supporting, and minor characters in the most popular boys’ TV shows.

LGBTQIA+

• There are no LGBTQIA+ characters in leading roles in the most popular boys’ televisions shows, and they make up less than 1% of supporting or minor roles. 
• Only 1.2% of episodes pass the Vito Russo Test¹ for humanizing representations of LGBTQIA+ characters.

Disability

• One-in-five Americans have a physical, cognitive, or communication disability, but no leading roles feature characters with disabilities in boys’ TV. 
• Characters with disabilities account for only 1.5% of characters overall.

STEREOTYPES

Promundo has identified different pillars of masculinity, referred to as The Man Box study, which reflect cultural beliefs about how “real men” should behave. While we find some evidence that popular TV for boys challenges some of these stereotypes, we also find that media reinforces the idea that “real men” are self-sufficient, tough, physically attractive without effort, engage in high risk behaviors, and value paid labor but not caregiving.

Self-Sufficiency 

• Boys are more likely than girls to be shown without parents (57.0% compared with 42.8%).
• Girls are more likely than boys to be shown in a close relationship with mothers (6.4% compared with 3.8%).

Acting Tough 

• Male characters are less likely than female characters to show emotions, including empathy (22.5% compared with 30.6%), happiness (68.3% compared with 75.2%), and even anger (28.8% compared with 36.6%).

Gendered Values

• Male characters are more likely than female characters to be shown engaging in risky behaviors (20.0% compared with 14.0%).
• Male characters are less likely to be shown engaging in hands-on parenting duties (4.5% compared with 7.7%).
• Male characters are more likely than female characters to be shown having an occupation (30.5% compared with 26.1%).
• Male characters are less likely to be shown as “very competent” parents than female characters (3.9% compared with 7.5%).

Aggression

• The most prominent stereotype about masculinity depicted in children’s television is of boys and men as aggressors. In boys’ TV, male characters commit 62.5% of violent acts against another person. 
• Male characters are more likely than female characters to be victims of violence (23.1% compared with 13.6%).