Comparing how men portray female characters versus how women portray female characters in fictional television series

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare what differences there are (if any) in the way that men and women portray female characters in fictional television series. Four television series are used in the study: The Crown, Call the Midwife, Happy Valley and Broadchurch. Semiotic analysis of four female characters, one from each of the four series is carried out. The characters used in the analysis are Elizabeth from The Crown, Nurse Trixie Franklin from Call the Midwife, Catherine Cawood from Happy Valley, and D.S. Ellie Miller from Broadchurch. One episode from each series is used in the analysis; the episodes from The Crown and Broadchurch were written and directed by men, while the episodes from Happy Valley and Call the Midwife were written and directed by women. The results of the study indicate that although all four of the characters fit into at least one gender stereotype, the characters from Broadchurch and The Crown were stereotyped to a greater degree than the female characters from Call the Midwife and Happy Valley. This seems to suggest that men stereotype female characters to a greater degree than women do. Limitations of the study include that a small sample size is analysed. More differences in the portrayal of the female characters may have been uncovered if a larger sample of episodes had been analysed. In order to avoid stereotyping in the future further education and research needs to be carried out by people taking creative decisions about television series so that female characters are portrayed in a more accurate and sensitive way.