Status of Women 2008 Abstracts
Commission on the Status of Women
Online Self-presentation and Identity Management in MySpace Profiles: Gender Similarities and Differences • Soo Jeong An, Northwestern University • This paper studies online self-presentation and identity management among males and females who use MySpace, one of the most visited social networking services (SNSs) in the U.S. Online self-presentation and identity management are examined by content analysis through the online name selection and the disclosure of personal information on 774 users’ profiles to analyze gender similarities and differences.
Justice Revisited: A Pilot Study of Print Media Coverage of the Andrea Yates Murder Trials • Barbara Barnett, University of Kansas • In 2001 Andrea Yates systematically drowned her five children in the bathtub of the Houston home, claiming that Satan instructed her to do so. A jury convicted her of murder and sentenced her to life in prison. However, after the revelation that a key prosecution witness had given false testimony, Yates was re-tried in 2005 and found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Gender and Journal Scholarship in Mass Communication: How Well are Women Doing? A 20-Year Content Analysis • John Torres Bodle, Larry Burriss and Shana Hammaker, Middle Tennessee State University; and Jaya Joshi, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • A census of authorship (N=9,090) articles produced by 14,348 gender-identified authors) in 18 primary journalism and mass communication journals from 1986-2005 indicates that over the time period women produced 32.3% of the journal scholarship—a per capita rate greater than their numeric representation on journalism and mass communication faculties nationally. In recent years (2001-2005) women produced 38.7% of journal scholarship while representing about 32% of faculty. Female assistant professors produced the most (31.2 %) journal scholarship.
Bad Girls, Relational Warfare, and Reality TV: A Narrative Analysis of The Bad Girls Club • Mackenzie Cato, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Television – a popular medium glamorizing bad-girl lifestyles – gives us sitcoms, soap operas, and reality shows centered around young girls and women portraying the bad-girl stereotype as sneaky, sexualized, underhanded, and ruthlessly competitive. In 2006, the Oxygen network premiered an original reality series entitled The Bad Girls Club, which successfully targeted the younger end of the network’s coveted 18-49 demographic and quickly became Oxygen’s most watched show with the highest ratings in the network’s history.
His or Hers? The Role of Editor and Reporter Gender on Newspaper Section Fronts • Marsha Ducey, University of Buffalo • This study compared the frequency, placement and topics of stories by male and female reporters in U.S. newspapers to see what role the gender of the managing editor may have played in newspaper content. The area of study is significant and relevant because of the newspaper industry’s continued discussions of diversity and its potential impact and benefits, especially as it concerns representing the public and newspaper readers.
Perfect Little Feminists? Young Girls Interpret Gender, Violence, and Friendship in the Powerpuff Girls • Spring-Serenity Duvall, Indiana University-Bloomington • The purpose of this paper is to extend previous debates about the positive and negative aspects of the multi-media phenomenon The Powerpuff Girls by analyzing the program as a third wave feminist text that promotes both Girl Power and consumerism in addition to gendered and violent representations. In addition, I interviewed young girls to elicit their interpretations of gender, violence and friendship, and examines the blurred lines between their mediated and real life experiences.
Alternative Feminist Media on the Airwaves: Exploring Women’s Music Radio Programs in the U.S. • Erika Engstrom, University of Nevada-Las Vegas • This paper addresses the feminist implications of women’s music radio programs, a form of alternative feminist media. The author presents an overview of these programs aired on non-profit radio stations, which offer a variety of music genres and presentation styles and provide an outlet for music created by women that otherwise would not be heard. As media artifacts, women’s music radio programs offer multiple layers of feminist inquiry.
Family Friendly? A Study of the Work-Family Balance in Journalism • Tracy Everbach, University of North Texas • In-depth interviews with 26 journalists about how they balance work and family showed that media organizations lack flexibility in employees’ requests for family accommodations. Other findings were that female journalists continue to assume most of the responsibility for childcare and housework, even with high-pressure journalism jobs; individual newsroom supervisors strongly influence how much work flexibility journalists receive; and younger journalists are more focused on family-work balance than older journalists.
The Patriotic Good Mother of World War II: The Creation of An Identity • Ana Garner and Karen Slattery, Marquette University • The U.S. press created a clear identity for mothers of American combat soldiers during the first year of the World War II. In this construction, the archetypal good mother continued some aspects of her maternal work while surrendering others to the military, the government and other mothers. She was portrayed as a patriotic good mother who was cheerful and stoic in the face of severe threats to her child and constraints on her maternal work.
Rethinking TV News Work: Possibilities for Quality News and Work-life • Kim Garris, Pennsylvania State University • To remain competitive among new information platforms, television news is already making changes in content. At the same time, the changing workforce presents challenges to organizations trying to recruit and maintain talented employees. This paper proposes a redesign of newsroom work that addresses both quality of content and the needs of news workers. This model suggests that one consequence of improving conditions for workers is improved quality of the news product.
When Rape Victims Become Symbolic Representations of War: A Textual Analysis of The NY Times Reporting on the Use of ‘Rape as Weapon of War’ in Darfur • Ammina Kothari, University of Oregon • This paper examines how journalists reported about rape victims in Darfur. The findings reveal how rape victims were reduced to symbolic representations of a conflict between Arab and Black Sudanese men. Furthermore, inclusion of graphic details about the acts of rape reinforces the rape victims’ humiliation through public disclosure of their experiences.
Women, the Western Press, and the First Palestinian Intifada • Justin D. Martin, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • More than two decades have passed since the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, a defining conflict in the history of the modern Middle East as well as the Palestinian people, particularly Palestinian women. Palestinian women, previously less involved in public life, were extremely active in the intifada. Through traditional, qualitative analysis, this paper seeks to determine if western newspaper coverage of the conflict recognized the significant role played by women.
Gender Equality in Local Sportscasts: An Analysis of Men’s and Women’s Sports Coverage in Three Local Markets • Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida • Over the last 35 years, Title IX has significantly increased the number of opportunities and participants in women’s sports. However, media coverage of women’s sports has failed to keep pace. Previous research has compared men’s and women’s coverage in both the print and broadcast media at the national level. This study examines the amount of coverage given to women’s sports in the local media.
Coming of Age with Proctor & Gamble: Beinggirl.com and the Commodification of Puberty • Sharon Mazzarella, Clemson University • While girl-targeted feminine hygiene advertising and corporately-produced puberty curriculum materials have been a staple of girl culture in the United States for decades, the Internet era has brought with it more high-tech feminine hygiene marketing strategies. The Proctor & Gamble Web site beinggirl.com, which claims hits of 500,000+ per month and has versions in 43 countries, was launched in July 2000 as a way to educate girls about puberty in general and menarche in particular.
Shop ‘til you Drop: Commodification, QVC and the American Female Consumer • Gigi McNamara, Pennsylvania State University • Once known for hawking cheap jewelry, home shopping is now a highly lucrative industry. This paper, through the use of textual analysis, examines the communication methods employed by hosts on the QVC home shopping channel. Furthermore, I offer a historical overview of consumption and argue the home shopping perpetuates the myth of the idealized female consumer. In commodifying the female viewer, I contend, home shopping contributes to the collapsing of private and public spheres.
Coverage of the Female Athlete • Jon Mills, University of Alabama and Courtney Carpenter Childers, University of Tennessee • This study analyzed how female athletes were depicted in Sports Illustrated photographs and feature stories during two Summer Olympics. Analyses of 24 articles from Olympic coverage in 1984 and 2004 suggest that women are discussed in ways that deemphasize athlete status by highlighting personal characteristics, as well as emphasizing athletes’ alternate. However, an analysis of 92 photographs that accompanied the stories were surprising: Sports Illustrated is not consistent with recent research on female athletes’ sexuality.
Constructing the Self for Mr. Right: A Comparative Study of American and Chinese Women’s Online Personals • Xiaoyan Pan, University of Maryland at College Park • The content analysis examines the role culture play in women’s gender identity construction as reflected in online personal advertisements both in the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China. The analysis of 600 advertisements shows that American women exhibit higher masculinity and lower femininity in personal profiles than their Chinese counterparts.
The Power of Pink: Accessing the Dominant Public Sphere While Opposing War • Sara Struckman, University of Texas-Austin • Groups of women have been registering their dissent about societal issues for centuries. Long before the modern women’s movement, women all over the world organized themselves against poor working conditions, against slavery, for women’s suffrage, against high food prices. This paper seeks to assess the “influence” and “success” of women’s direct action in shaping debates.
Media Portrayal of Women Leaders of Foreign Countries in 21st Century • Arman Tarjimanyan, Ohio University • This study analyzed the coverage of women heads of state in five U.S. mainstream political and financial magazines. The main purpose of the study was to test media biases previously found in the coverage of women political leaders. The study discovered that many biases of media treatment of women leaders are still present. Particularly, women leaders were framed more often, and physical descriptive of women leaders were mentioned more often than these of men leaders.
“If it’s a woman’s issue, I pay attention to it”: Identity in the Heart Truth campaign • Jennifer Vardeman, University of Maryland and Natalie Tindall, University of Oklahoma • Heart disease disproportionately affects racioethnic groups. Among all minority groups, Black/African-American women and Latinas have higher mortality rates from cardiovascular disease than other ethnic groups. This study examines the impact of cultural and racioethnic identity on women’s understanding and meaning-making of health and heart disease. Specifically, this research examines how women of color understand, perceive, and interpret the Heart Truth campaign, a health communication campaign produced by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
A Qualitative Study of Pro-Eating Disorder Blogging Communities • Andrea Weare, Iowa State University • Experts argue that sensationalist coverage of too-thin celebrities heightens the taboo of eating disorders. Females suffering from such diseases and those with habits to develop them find themselves unable to speak out in fear of stigmatization. The Internet, however, offers such a location where many maintain a blog, encouraging fellow bloggers to not eat, work out, and think thin.
What Do Women Want? Exploring the Sports Media Consumption Habits of Women • Erin Whiteside and Marie Hardin, Pennsylvania State University • Although women have enjoyed increased opportunity to compete in athletics over the past 35 years, we have not seen a parallel increase in women’s sports coverage. Media producers cite a lack of demand but popular assumptions hold that women should and want to watch women’s sports. This research explores the process and motivations of women for consuming sports media.
Escorts, Attack Dogs or Style Setters: How Magazine Reporters Covered the 2004 Presidential Candidates’ Wives • Geri Alumit Zeldes and Brittany Foley, Michigan State University • Three frames of presidential candidates’ wives observed by previous researchers seem to be disappearing from magazine coverage: protocol style-setter, noblesse oblige, and policy advisor. In their place, magazines focused on the narrow themes of first ladies or candidate’s wives as wives, mothers and husband defenders/supporters. This is interesting because it suggests that coverage is moving to a more narrow conception of the role of first lady rather, than extending a more multi-faceted role.
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