G E N D E R E D M E D I A M E S S A G E S I N F I L M F R A N C H I S E S

B U T I S I T A LW AY S T H E R I G H T C H O I C E ?S E G M E N T E D M A R K E T I N G F O R B O Y S A N D G I R L S I S N O T H I N G N E W.

W H AT ’ S K N O W N

• There is plenty of research on gender messages within films aimed at children and teenagers, as well as research focused on gender and toys

• Findings have shown that the content of these films has an effect on the self esteem of girls

• Studios find it more financially lucrative to segment the market to boys vs. girls than to have intersectional marketing

• Yet recently, there have been a series of announcements regarding female-oriented action franchises in the works

W H AT ’ S N O T K N O W N

• What do girls think and what do they want?

• The extent of gendered messaging contained within actual film promotions (trailers, posters)

• Academic research on franchise merchandise as promotional materials

O N E T H I N G I S V E R Y C L E A R :

when it comes to action franchises, the existing merchandise is not impressive.

T H AT ’ S W H AT I ’ M T R Y I N G T O F I G U R E O U T.

Essentially, it comes down to a chicken and egg question.

!

Do toy companies not make superhero/non-princess related toys for little girls because they're

not interested? !

Or are they not interested in superheroes because there is almost nothing available for them to latch

onto?

K E Y Q U E S T I O N S

• What kinds of gendered messages are in promotional materials for film franchises?

• How do these gendered messages affect media preferences among girls?

• How do these gendered messages affect their preferences for film related merchandise?

O V E R V I E W O F M E T H O D S

• Content Analysis

• promotional materials such as trailers, posters, and websites

• in-store observations of available franchise merchandise

• online analysis of available franchise merchandise

• Use Kay Vandergrift’s Model of Female Voices in Youth Literature in coding guide

• In-depth interviews with 10-13 year old girls

• Carolyn Gilligan’s “Listening Guide method will be used to analyze transcripts

Q U E S T I O N S ?E M A I L M E : MSPRIYANKABOSE@GMAIL.COM