Sex-role stereotyping in FCC-mandated children's educational television

This study examined sex-role stereotyping within FCC-mandated children's educational programming. A content analysis revealed that males had a greater representation than females and both male and female characters exhibited significantly more sex-role stereotypical behavior. Also, males were more likely to evoke some consequence for their actions while female actions tended to be ignored altogether. The subtlety and consistent nature of stereotyped social behavior on educational programs may help naturalize gender-stereotyped views of the world within the children who watch them.