A new ratings system from Common Sense Media is adding new criteria when looking at TV shows and movies for kids: Does it challenge gender stereotypes?
A new ratings system is taking the Bechdel Test to a whole new level. Common Sense Media will now be rating whether TV and movie characters defy gender stereotypes.
For a long time, people have used the Bechdel Test when talking about women in entertainment. What started out as a joke in Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For, the Bechdel Test has now become a common form of criticism. Swedish movie theaters even started rating movies based on the Bechdel Test.
The rules are simple: a piece has to have at least two female characters, they have to talk to each other, and their conversation has to be about something other than a man.
But now CSM is taking things a step further. Common Sense Media is a San Francisco-based non-profit that’s been reviewing movies and TV shows since 2003 to help parents decide what their kids should watch. They have the typical criteria of sex, violence, bad language, drinking and drugs, but now they’re adding something extra: the representation of gender roles.
A movie or show will get CSM’s symbol with the phrase “positive gender representations” if its characters break typical gender stereotypes. Films for early childhood should show boys and girls as friends and equals. Early adolescence films should show that characters are worth more than just their physical attractiveness.
Common Sense Media will also look at how transgender people are portrayed in the media, but it hasn’t rated a show or movie with transgender characters yet.
According to The New York Times, CSM, looked at research on how the way gender roles are portrayed in the media affect children’s ultimate career choices, self-images, tolerance of sexual harassment, and dating behavior. They then took a survey of parents and found that parents worried about how gender stereotypes in the media would affect their children. So CSM came out with this ratings system to combat typical gender roles.
And it’s true. The way kids see characters in the media affect the way they see themselves in real life. Seeing a brave, strong woman like Wonder Woman, for example, allows girls to see themselves as strong.
Common Sense Media has already approved movies and shows like Moonlight, Wonder Woman, Bones, and more for the way they portray gender and challenge typical gender roles.
Of course, gender is a complicated thing. Not everyone identifies as male or female. And just because a character chooses to live according to typical gender roles doesn’t mean they’re not a strong character.
And as the Economist notes, things aren’t always so clear-cut. Take Beauty and the Beast. Sure, Belle defies typical gender stereotypes by being a “funny girl” so different from the townspeople. She reads, rejects Gaston, goes out on her own, and falls for the Beast despite his appearances. Yet many have pointed to signs that the Beast and Belle had an abusive relationship and that Belle suffered from Stockholm Syndrome.
Gender and art are both complicated things. And giving gender representation a simple rating of approval can oversimplify things. But we do live in a world where women are underrepresented in media. They’re often used to push men’s stories along. And they do fall into typical gender stereotypes way too often. Women still only make up less than a third of speaking roles in top U.S. movies. More than a quarter of them have “sexy attire” and a similar number are partially nude. When they do have speaking roles, women are more likely to speak positively and about things like “family values,” while men curse and talk about “achievement” and death. And things get even worse when you add race to the picture.
Next: How growing diversity just might save the world of comics
At least CSM’s ratings system is a good first step.