Sexism on MTV: The Portrayal of Women in Rock Videos

Rock music videos (N = 110) aired on Music TV (MTV) in 1985 are examined with regard to the social context in which sex roles are presented & the function of the performer's sex in the portrayal of women. A four-item ordinal consciousness scale is utilized to measure how women are depicted in specific roles & relationships. Results show that the majority of observations (56.9%) were rated as condescending, depicting women as sexual objects, while only a small minority (13.8%) were rated as showing fully equal treatment. The other two levels rated were "keep her in place" (17.1%), & contradictory or dual roles (12.2%). 3 Tables. F. Rasmussen