Gender Stereotypes in Hollywood Movies and Their Evolution over Time: Insights from Network Analysis
Open Access
- 6 May 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Big Data and Cognitive Computing
- Vol. 6 (2), 50
- https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc6020050
Abstract
The present analysis of more than 180,000 sentences from movie plots across the period from 1940 to 2019 emphasizes how gender stereotypes are expressed through the cultural products of society. By applying a network analysis to the word co-occurrence networks of movie plots and using a novel method of identifying story tropes, we demonstrate that gender stereotypes exist in Hollywood movies. An analysis of specific paths in the network and the words reflecting various domains show the dynamic changes in some of these stereotypical associations. Our results suggest that gender stereotypes are complex and dynamic in nature. Specifically, whereas male characters appear to be associated with a diversity of themes in movies, female characters seem predominantly associated with the theme of romance. Although associations of female characters to physical beauty and marriage are declining over time, associations of female characters to sexual relationships and weddings are increasing. Our results demonstrate how the application of cognitive network science methods can enable a more nuanced investigation of gender stereotypes in textual data.Keywords
Funding Information
- National University of Singapore (WBS R-581-000-242-133)
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Stereotypes and stereotyping: What's the brain got to do with it?European Review of Social Psychology, 2011
- Fast unfolding of communities in large networksJournal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2008
- Media, Racism and Islamophobia: The Representation of Islam and Muslims in the MediaSociology Compass, 2007
- Contributions of Music Video Exposure to Black Adolescents’ Gender and Sexual SchemasJournal of Adolescent Research, 2005
- Knowing Is Half the BattlePsychological Science, 2005
- Transformation of gender roles in hollywood movies: 1946–1990Political Communication, 1993
- Gender Stereotypes in Children's Books: their prevalence and influence on cognitive and affective developmentGender and Education, 1990
- MEDIA AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITYCommunication Research, 1984
- An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of NarrativeNew Literary History, 1975
- Role Expectations of Young Women regarding Marriage and a CareerMarriage and Family Living, 1958