Associations Between Media Representations of Physical, Personality, and Social Attributes by Gender: A Content Analysis of Children’s Animated Film Characters

This study conducted a content analysis of 130 characters from 24 recent popularanimated children’s films and examined the associations between physical appearance,personality, and social attributes by gender. We found that physical attractiveness wasassociated with having more friends and receiving more affection among male characters,and negatively associated with weight status among females. Also, wearing close-fittingclothes was associated with attractiveness among females and with popularity,musculature, and strength among males. However, being muscular, stronger, and tallerwas associated with less intelligence among males. Regarding gender-stereotyped bodyideals, female characters were portrayed as slimmer and attractive more frequently thanmales, who tended to be larger, muscular, and stronger. Results suggest that mainstreammedia’s narrow and stereotypically gendered appearance standards are prevalent incontent aimed at children and highlight the need for continuing research examining theirimpact on children’s body image and gender development.