C 2004) Sex Roles, Vol. 51, Nos. 7/8, October 2004 (


Gender and Racial Stereotypes in Daily Newspaper Comics: A Time-Honored Tradition? Jack Glascock1,2 and Catherine Preston-Schreck1

This study was designed to examine gender and minority roles in daily newspaper comics. Fifty comics from four daily newspapers were sampled during a month-long period. Gender roles were found to be stereotypical; women were underrepresented, more likely than men to be married and have children, and not as likely as men to have a job. More attention was paid to women’s appearance, and female characters, when they did work, had lower job status than did male characters. Activities and behaviors were also divided along gender lines. Female characters did more of the domestic work such as child care and household chores, and male characters did more yard work. Female characters were more verbally aggressive, and most of the physical aggression was confined to “adult dramas” where men dominated. Minorities were basically nonexistent, save for a few strips that included or focused upon African Americans. KEY WORDS: newspaper comics; gender; minority roles.

Depictions of gender and minorities by the media have been of interest to researchers because of the inherent social implications. For example, according to cultivation theory, the majority status given to men on prime time television nurtures the view that women have more limited abilities and interests than men do (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1986). Tan and Tan (1979), who also drew on cultivation theory, found that frequent exposure to stereotypical images of Blacks on television may lead to a loss of self-esteem among Black viewers. For decades the popularity of newspaper comics has been evidenced by newspaper readers’ responses to comic layout alterations or public criticism. For example, in 1973 the Kansas City Star reduced the size of its comic strips and omitted its editorial page due to a newsprint strike and resulting paper shortage. During the following 2 days the paper received well over 100 phone calls; 122 complains about the

size of comics, but only two about the absence of the editorial page (Gower, 1995). More recently the Boston Globe received over 300 e-mail messages, letters, and phone calls after a columnist criticized the paper’s comic section, describing the comics as essentially “recycled vaudeville gags that were not funny the first time around” (Astor, 1999a, p. 31). Given the popularity of newspaper comics and their use by newspapers nationwide, one might project that depictions similar to those found for other media would also reinforce stereotypical attitudes and beliefs among readers. The objectives of this study were to examine the current status of gender and minority roles in daily newspaper comics and to compare these depictions to previous studies of the comics as well as content analyses of other media. Although newspapers have been somewhat reluctant to share local readership demographics, national surveys point to a need to attract more women and younger readers, as circulation figures have remained stagnant since the 1960s despite increasing population trends (Strupp, 2000). In 2002 total daily newspaper circulation in the United States was

1 Department

of Communication, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. 2 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Communication, Campus Box 4480, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois; 61790; e-mail: [email protected].

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424 over 55 million (Newspaper Association of America, 2003). At present, newspapers attract proportionately more men than women readers, and competition from other media, primarily television, has resulted in an ongoing decline in youth readership (Strupp, 2000). In terms of reaching the U.S. adult audience, daily newspapers (55%) are still comparable to network and cable prime time television (53%; Newspaper Association of America, 2003). Among adult newspaper comic readers, 58% of the readers have reported that they usually read them daily. This frequency is slightly less, 52%, for African American and Hispanic readers (Newspaper Association of America, 2003). Considering their content, comics are perceived as one of the few sections of the newspaper that can appeal to readers of all ages and demographics (Astor, 1995). In the 1970s, Brabant and Mooney began a series of studies to examine Sunday comic strips over a 6-month period. The focus of these studies was primarily the role of women in family-oriented comic strips. In an initial study, Brabant (1976) examined four Sunday comic strips over a 6-month period and found that wives were shown more often in the home and preoccupied with household chores, whereas husbands were more likely to be engaged in leisure activities such as reading or sports. In some strips Brabant found that the wives played dominant, aggressive roles, yet in others they played more submissive roles. In all four strips the husbands were described as “equally baffled by life and its crises” (p. 334). In sum, the author concluded that women “in the world of Sunday comics continues to play the traditional female [sic] stereotypical role” (p. 337). In a follow-up study 10 years later Brabant and Mooney (1986) concluded that not much had changed—women were more likely to be at home or providing child care, and men were more likely to be shown in a career or engaged in a leisure activity. Subsequently Moody and Brabant (1987) reported that women in comics who worked outside the home often served dual roles, as they were also more likely to be engaged in household tasks. In a more comprehensive survey Chavez (1985) examined major and minor characters and the activity of major characters during a 30-day period in 1981 in the comic section of a medium-size newspaper, the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, CA. Men were found to be major (85%) and minor (67%) characters a greater percentage of the time than were women. Men (48%) were also shown working more often than women (4%) were and men were engaged

Glascock and Preston-Schreck in a greater variety of occupations. Both men and women were found to work primarily, and apparently equally, in white-collar professions. The author also found that women (23.8%) were more involved with child care and home care activities than were men (3.6%). Another area of interest for researchers has been that of minorities, specifically African Americans. Studies of magazine comics have demonstrated the relative paucity of African Americans (Greenberg & Kahn, 1970). Thibodeau (1989) found that the characterization of Blacks over a 40-year time period (1946–87) had evolved from stereotypical role depictions (e.g., servant, bellhop) to tokenism (i.e., part of a crowd, not central to the cartoon). White and Fuentez (1997) sampled weekday comics in one newspaper (the Akron Beacon Journal) every 10 years over an 80-year time period. These authors found that the percentage of Blacks remained consistent: less than 2% of all characters were Black by 1995. Similarly, in 1981, Chavez (1985) reported no Black characters and only 2% Chicano characters in newspaper comics. White and Fuentez (1997) also found that stereotypical images (e.g., “the mammy,” “the Tom,” “the coon,”) of Blacks had decreased over time and Blacks were increasingly depicted in a greater variety of occupations. However, 71% of Blacks had no discernable occupation, and those who did were mostly involved in law enforcement (9.2%). Depictions of gender have received somewhat more attention in other media, notably prime time television and advertising. Research on television programming has shown that women are underrepresented both in major and minor roles as well as behind the camera (Lauzen & Dozier, 1999). Women have also been found to be less often employed, their marital and parental status more apparent, and more emphasis placed on their appearance, especially age and dress, than is true of men (Glascock, 2001; Signorielli & Kahlenberg, 2001). Women have also been found to be more verbally aggressive in comedies than are men, as men have increasingly become the butt of the jokes (Glascock, 2001; Scharrer, 2001). On the other hand, physical violence is often the domain of men, and women are more often depicted as victims (Gerbner, Gross, Jackson-Beeck, Jeffries-Fox, & Signorielli, 1978; Tedesco, 1974). In addition women on television have been found to be more helpful and affectionate than men are (Busby, 1975; Glascock, 2001; Greenberg, Edison, Korzenny, Fernandez-Collado, & Atkin, 1980).

Gender and Racial Stereotypes In print advertising, women have been underrepresented, depicted as younger and as working less often than men, often cast in decorative roles and, when depicted as working, assigned stereotypical occupations such as secretaries or waitresses (Busby & Leichty, 1993; Hawkins & Aber, 1993; Leppard, Ogletree, & Wallen, 1993; Sullivan & O’Connor, 1988). Similar findings have been obtained for television advertising as researchers have found women outnumbered by men, less likely than men to have an occupation, and more likely than men to be young, wear skimpy clothing, and be in the home (Allen & Coltrane, 1996; Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Ferrante, Haynes, & Kingsley, 1988; Signorielli, McLeod, & Healy, 1994). Over the years researchers have noted some progress. For example, in advertising, women have been found to be employed more, in a greater variety of occupations, parenting less, more often at work, and less often at home than in previous years (Allen & Coltrane, 1996; Farrante et al., 1988; Sullivan & O’Connor, 1988). In prime time television, researchers have found an increase in female characters, less emphasis on women’s marital and parental status, and women just as likely to be cast as professionals as men (Elasmar, Hasegawa, & Brain, 1999; Glascock, 2001; Signorielli & Kahlenberg, 2001). It is not surprising that, as women have risen in the ranks of editors and producers, women’s characterizations have fared better. For example, Jolliffe and Catlett (1994) found that women editors in women’s magazines increased the number of positive depictions of women, including characters who appear more knowledgeable and independent. On prime time television, Lauzen and Dozier (1999) found that women producers and writers positively influenced female characters’ conversational control and on camera representation. Researchers have also noted that as women have become more valued outside the home and in the workplace, their representations in the media, specifically prime time television, have become more equitable (Elasmar, et al., 1999; Scharrer, 2001). From this perspective the “arrow of causality” is seen as pointing from society to the media (Elasmar, et al., 1999, p. 24). Studies of racial stereotypes have focused on television programming. Although African Americans are numerically representative, Black characters are typically segregated into shows, primarily comedies, with predominantly Black casts (Baptista-Fernandez & Greenberg, 1980; Glascock, 2003). Other minorities such as Hispanics and Asian

425 Americans are underrepresented. For example, Mastro and Greenberg (2000) reported 16% of all characters on prime time to be Black, but only 3% to be Hispanic. Researchers have also found minority characters in television programming less likely than Whites to have a job or to be classified as professionals (Signorielli & Kahlenberg, 2001). As recently as 1988, newspapers have been criticized, primarily from within the industry, for the lack of minorities in the comics. As one editor commented, “Why doesn’t Lois Flagston ever sell a house to a black couple? Isn’t it strange in all his years of medical practice, Rex Morgan has never healed a Hispanic? And how come no one in Dagwood Bumstead’s office is black?” (Astor, 1988, p. 40). As a result, the industry has furthered initiatives to include more minorities, such as sponsoring contests for aspiring minority cartoonists, urging syndicates to seek out more minority cartoonists, and encouraging more diversity in strips by White cartoonists (Astor, 1998a). This effort seems to have paid off recently with the 1999 launch of The Boondocks, a highly successful strip about a Black family living in a mostly White suburb (Astor, 1999b). Another recent trend has been the increased use of social realism. A recently launched strip, Stone Soup, stars two singlemother sisters sharing a house with their three kids; the strip has tackled such topics as the exhaustion of single parenthood, juggling home and work, and women’s low self-esteem (Astor, 1999c). Although the number of Black cartoonists has increased since 1988, fewer than 5% of comic creators are minorities (Astor, 1998a). Much the same can be said for female creators—of the more than 200 syndicated comic strips, only 15 are created or co-created by women (Astor, 2000). Recent efforts to promote women include the launch in early 2000 by King Features of a cartoon package called Six Chix, which is created by six female cartoonists (Astor, 2000). The intent of this study is to assess the content of gender and minority roles in daily newspaper comics, to compare the relevant findings to previous studies of comics, and to expand on previous studies by incorporating a number of variables used in content analyses of other media, primarily television and advertising. Given the industry emphasis on inclusion, as well as contemporary social trends, we expected newspaper comics to have made progress over the years in the depiction of minorities and women. For example, we expected an increase in female major and minor characters, as well as the percentage of female characters who work, and less emphasis on the

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Glascock and Preston-Schreck Table I. Comic Strips and Panels Included in the Study Agnes B.C. Baby Blues Beetle Bailey Blondie The Boondocks Born Loser Dinette Set Broom-Hilda Brenda Starr The Buckets Cathy Crankshaft Dennis the Menace Dick Tracy Dilbert Doonesbury Family Circus

For Better or Worse Foxtrot Frank & Ernest The Fusco Brothers Garfield Get Fuzzy Hagar the Horrible Hi and Lois In the Bleachers Judge Parker The Lockhorns Loose Nuts Marmaduke Mary Worth The Middletons Mister Boffo Mother Goose & Grimm

woman in the home and as a provider of child care. For Black characters, we also expected to see an increase in their overall percentage, as well as an increase in those identified as having a job. We also expected to see working Blacks represented less in law enforcement and more in a greater variety of jobs. METHOD The Sample The sample was drawn from a month’s worth of comics from four daily newspapers in an upper midwest state. This was similar to the procedure used by Chavez (1985). One paper was a large metropolitan daily, and the other three were mid-sized daily newspapers that range in circulation from about 50,000 to 70,000.3 Redundant comics were excluded. In all, 50 unique comics strips and panels were selected for the sample (See Table I). These included 23 of the top 25 comics subscribed to by the 100 largest papers in the United States (Astor, 1998b). The sampling period for each comic was daily excluding Sundays for a 1-month period beginning in March of 2002. Coding Procedures Character demographics coded included gender, age, role (major or minor), race, body shape (average, overweight), job, marital status (married, sin3 The

papers sampled included the Journal Star (Peoria, IL), the Springfield Register (IL) the Pantagraph, (Bloomington, IL), and the Chicago Tribune.

Mutts Nest Heads Out of the Gene Pool Peanuts The Piranha Club Non Sequitur Rex Morgan Rose is Rose Shoe Stone Soup Steve Roper Sylvia Wizard of Id Ziggy Zits

gle, unknown), parental status (children, no children), dress (average, provocative), and location (home, work, outside or school). Outside in the latter category was defined as outside the home, but not at work or school. It became clear early in the coding process, that in order to achieve an acceptable level of agreement, characters’ age in comics would need to be divided into relatively broad categories: youth (0–19 years old), adult (20–54 years old), and elderly (55 years and older) categories. Characters who appeared five or more times were considered major. Body shape, if in question, was judged relative to other characters in each strip. Jobs were categorized into the following categories: professional, white collar (teacher, nurse, business worker, reporter), law enforcement, blue collar (repair, construction), support (secretary, clerical, maintenance), military, or unknown. Activities included sports, child care, preparing/serving food, housework, drinking, yard work, eating, reading, talking on the phone, resting or sleeping, watching television, and working on a computer. Behavior characteristics included verbal aggression, physical aggression, altruism, affection, and interracial interaction (social or formal). Initiators and recipients were coded for verbal and physical aggression. Verbal aggression was defined as comments intended to harm the self-concept of another (e.g., insults, ridicule, sarcasm), threats, or commands given in a loud voice. Comics were assigned to one of five categories, primarily based on the nature of the characters. These were adulthumor, kids, animals, family, and adult-drama. Three coders, two men and one woman, were trained to code the data. The data were coded in

Gender and Racial Stereotypes several phases, first for demographics, then for activities, and finally for behaviors. The coding procedure was the same for each phase. An initial training session consisted of discussing the coding instrument and then coding a subset of comics. The coders met again to discuss discrepancies; in some cases the coding sheets were modified, and then an additional subset of comics was coded. This procedure was followed until intercoder reliability reached acceptable levels, at which point the coders coded the rest of the sample individually. For character demographics, Krippendorff’s alpha (Krippen droff, 1980) was used to calculate intercoder reliability, and it averaged .94; the range was .76 (body shape) to 1.00 (gender, race, role). Percent agreement was used as a measure of reliability for the activities and behaviors, as they were ratio data. Agreement was 91% for activities and 82% for behaviors.

RESULTS In all, 1077 characters were included in the sample; 61% were male characters, 28% female characters, and 11% of the characters were animals. Male animal characters outnumbered female animal characters 6 to 1. The average number of characters per comic, including animals, was 21. This ranged from 2 (Garfield) to 196 (Loose Nuts) characters, and the number primarily depended on whether or not the characters in the strip were reoccurring. For example, Fox Trot had six characters during the time period examined, five of whom were major. In the Bleachers had 96 characters, all of whom were minor. The largest category of comics was adult-humor (41.2%), followed by family (29.4%), adult-drama (11.8%), animals (9.8%), and kids (7.8%). As the focus of the study was gender and ethnic roles, the rest of the analysis excludes animal characters. Overall male characters (69%) appeared more frequently than female characters (31%). However, female characters (3.46) averaged more appearances than male characters (2.46) during the monthlong time period, t(713) = 2.84, p < .01. Women and girls comprised 40% of major characters and 29.4% of minor characters. On both counts female characters were significantly outnumbered by male characters, chi square (1, N = 966) = 6.32, p < .05. Among adults, female characters were more than twice as likely to appear in the home (M = 1.68 per strip) as were male characters (M = .74), t(795) = 4.49, p <

427 .001. No significant differences were found between gender for appearing at work, outside, or at school (all ts <2.0). However, major male characters (2.5 per strip) were about twice as likely to appear at work as were major female characters (1.2 per strip), t (156) = 2.13, p < .05. Overall, no significant gender differences were found for age. Male characters were significantly more overweight (24%) than were female characters (11%), chi square (2, N = 956) = 20.73, p < .001. On the job front, women were less likely to be identified with a job (62.4 to 47.8% for men), less likely to be a professional (4.5 to 9.6% for men) but more likely to hold a support-type position (15.7 to 10.8%) than men, chi square (7, N = 805) = 40.57, p < .001. Female characters (21%) were much more likely to be married than were male characters (8%), chi square (2, N = 805) = 32.14, p < .001. Women (15%) were also more likely to be shown with children than were men (6%), chi square (1, N = 805) = 18.95, p < .001. Most comic characters over 12 years old were not provocatively dressed (98.5%); however there were gender differences as female characters (4.1%) were significantly more likely to be dressed provocatively than were male characters (.3%), chi square (2, N = 878) = 20.00, p < .001. Most of these differences were absent among major characters, with the exception of job categories, for which the distinctions seemed even more pronounced in that no major male character was coded in a support position, whereas 31% of female major characters had support jobs, chi square (7, N = 122) = 35.0, p < .001. Men (19%) in major roles were also more than three times as likely as major female characters (6%) to have a professional occupation. For the analysis of activities and behaviors, the means were weighted to account for the disparity in male and female characters. Female characters were more likely than male characters to be involved in child care, t (49) = 2.82, p < .01, to prepare or serve food, t (49) = 3.71, p < .01, and to perform household chores, t (49) = 3.56, p < .01. Men and boys were more likely than women and girls to do yard work, t (49) = 3.06, p < .01. For behaviors, female characters were more verbally aggressive, t (49) = 3.22, p < .01, affectionate, t (49) = 2.43, p < .05, and altruistic, t (49) = 2.40, p < .05, than male characters. In all, 34 acts of physical aggression were counted; most were carried out by male characters (79%) against men (89%) often in adult dramas (2.6 per strip) such as Dick Tracy and Judge Parker.

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Behind the scenes, women represented 11% of writers and cartoonists. The relationship between female writers and cartoonists and the ratio of male to female characters per comic was significant, t(46.18) = 4.19, p < .001.4 Comics with women behind the scenes had approximately a 1 : 1 male/female character ratio, whereas those with male writers and cartoonists had a much greater (3.4 to 1) male-female character ratio. A similar relationship was found for major characters; the male-female ratio was 1.75 for male writers and .67 for female writers, t(37) = 2.39, p < .05. Almost all characters in the daily comics were White (96%). Black characters accounted for 2.5%; other minorities (i.e., Hispanic, Asian, Arab, and Native American) together totaled about 1%. Black characters were found in 11 comics. Only three strips had more than one Black character. The Boondocks had almost an all-Black cast, and two others, The Middletons and Out of the Gene Pool, had more integrated casts. Given the discrepancy between Black and White characters and the relative paucity of Black characters, it was decided to group the minority characters together into one category. Minority characters were more likely than White characters to be younger, as 34% of the minority characters fell into the 0–19 years old category compared to 16% for Whites, chi square (2, N = 954) = 10.05, p < .01. Although occupational differences were marginally evident (p < .07) for minorities and Whites overall, these differences reached significance for men, as minority men were less likely to be identified with an occupation (61%) than were White men (47%), chi square (7, N = 563) = 15.43, p < .05. In addition, minority men (22%) were more likely than White men (5%) to be classified as blue collar workers, but less likely to be coded as professionals (4.2% versus 8.1%). Of the job categories coded, minorities were represented in all except law enforcement. For the sake of comparison to White and Fuentez’s study (White & Fuentez, 1997), we note that 69% of adult Black characters had no identifiable job.

DISCUSSION These findings suggest that, although some progress has been made in the representation of women and girls in newspaper comics over the last 20 years, many preexisting stereotypes in daily 4 Levene’s

test for equality of variances: F = 4.285, p = .044

comics found in previous studies remain standards in today’s papers. For instance, the disproportionate number of male to female characters continues, along with stereotypical gender roles, such as adult female characters’ typically domestic context and their lack of representation in the workplace. Although female characters continue to be underrepresented in comics, they gained most as major characters, from 15% found in Chavez’s study (Chavez, 1985) to 40% in this study. Perhaps, as in other media, increased attention to more equitable representation of women and girls has focused primarily on main characters (Glascock, 2003). Given the relationship between female creators and major characters, a related factor may be the greater inclusion of female creators by the industry. An example is the comic strip Cathy, which is produced by a female writer and cartoonist and features an independent major female character. Such depictions seem more the exception than the rule as other female lead characters simply share the spotlight as spouses, frequently as a source of domestic tension, such as Helga from Hagar the Horrible, or as holdovers from another era, whose personalities are developed in a limited and two-dimensional manner, such as Blondie Bumstead from Blondie. Again, although some progress has been made since the 1980s, female characters are twice as likely as male characters to be depicted in the home. Similar to other media, female characters in comics were more likely than male characters to be married, to have parental responsibilities, and to be provocatively dressed. Further adding to the domesticated portrayal of women is their greater role in child care, serving and preparing food, and performing household chores. Female characters were also less likely than male characters to be depicted as overweight. This seems to be a way to poke fun at male characters, as the cartoonists attempt to create a connection with the stereotype of beer drinking, sports watching couch potato men. Compared to other media, appearance was not a major consideration for female characters, as their age was comparable to male characters’ age and provocative dress rarely on display. Occasionally, however, body weight and attractiveness were emphasized through typically slim and occasionally voluptuous and exaggerated figures, such as the not too subtly named Miss Buxley from Beetle Bailey. Although women were found more often in the workplace than previously, they were less likely than men to be characterized as professionals and more

Gender and Racial Stereotypes likely to hold support positions, such as a secretary or sales clerk. This represents a decline from Chavez’s finding in the early 1980s (Chavez, 1985) in which she reported that although there were more men than women in the workplace, they equally as often worked in white-collar professions. Thus women in comics have made advances in the workplace over the years, yet they are still relegated to stereotypically female-dominated occupations, a circumstance that is especially true for major female characters. The representation of dismal prospects in the workplace seems to reinforce women’s role in the home and to cultivate a more limited perception of women’s abilities and interests. Following the trend in prime time network television (Glascock, 2001), female comic characters were more verbally aggressive than were male characters. Stereotypes of nagging wives who flippantly insult and verbally batter their husbands (e.g., Loretta of The Lockhorns, and Helga of Hagar the Horrible) is a familiar persona of the comics. As their domain is the house, and they are seemingly otherwise powerless, verbal aggression is perhaps an exercise in power, though within a specifically domesticated women’s context. In addition, as mangers of the household, women were typically the parent whose responsibility it was to get frequently errant children to behave. Such discipline often took the form of commands or threats. Similar to action– adventure shows in prime time television, adultdramas in the comics contain most of the physical aggression, which in turn is initiated and received by male characters. As the case in other media, female characters were more likely to be shown as affectionate and altruistic. The stereotypical acceptance of women’s expressions of emotion and associations of affection and altruism with child care, in which female characters were more likely to be involved, are displayed through acts such as Alice Mitchell helping Dennis with his bath. In addition, female characters can be stereotypically affectionate and altruistic toward adult male characters as well. An example is Blondie Bumstead’s frequent holding the door and her availability for a kiss as her husband Dagwood comes and goes from work or play. In sum, although statistically the presence of female characters has increased in the comics over the past 20 years, we are left to question whether any real progress has been made, as women’s increased presence in some cases seems to have perpetuated stereotypes rather than countered them. Having achieved

429 little parity in the workforce, the woman’s role as the domesticated homemaker and caregiver in the comics seems more prevalent than in other media, whereas women’s attractiveness and sex appeal appears to be less emphasized. The representation of minorities in the comics is less prevalent since White and Fuentez’s study (White & Fuentez, 1997). Most distressing is that minorities make up only 3% of all human cartoon characters, a percentage far below their real-life representation of about 25% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Hispanics, for instance, make up 12.5% of the American population in reality, yet had only two appearances in the entire sample of over 1,000 characters. Blacks (2.5%) were the most often represented of minorities, however their numbers were strikingly few compared to census data (12.3%). Employment, the only statistic besides overall numbers that was assessed in the past, has changed little over the years, as almost threefourths of minority adults were not identified as having a job. When minorities did work, they were primarily cast in blue-collar jobs. For Black characters, occupation was perhaps more varied than in the past, but with only four Black characters identified as employed such statistics seem somewhat meaningless. Black characters tended to be primarily background or nonspeaking characters, with the exception of Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks comic, which focuses primarily on Black characters. This is a rarity, as only two others, Gene Pool and The Middletons, approached this level of minority representation. However, most of the minority characters had inconsequential roles. For instance, in a Peanuts cartoon a Black child was used simply as a token to help the writer set up a joke that Charlie Brown delivered. The character had no other development and did not reappear in the comic for the remainder of the month sampled. As in network television, Black characters in the comics seem segregated into mostly Black casts or else used as tokens in otherwise all White casts. It seems that comic writers and cartoonists are making small gestures toward recognizing the diversity of U.S. society, though are perhaps reluctant to integrate it into their decades-long formula of characters and punch lines. One reason White cartoonists may be hesitant to include minorities is the problem of knowing what might be acceptable. For example, Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, has recounted the dilemma of trying to develop a Black character whom he knew could not be as lazy as Beetle or as stupid as Zero (Astor, 1988). In the present

430 sample, attempts to include Black characters occasionally led to perhaps inadvertent stereotypical depictions. In The Family Circus, for example, a Black child in a crowd exiting a school bus had lips clearly drawn on his face, whereas all other characters simply had a sole line to demarcate their mouths. The industry seems to be aware of the need for integration and has perhaps responded with the inclusion of a few new strips that feature Black characters with depth. Despite this, long-running comics have seemingly remained about the same. Only 11% of the cartoonists and writers in the sample were women. Female writers and cartoonists clearly were more sensitive to the presence of female characters in their strips as they typically had a 1:1 ratio of male/female characters, whereas male writers and cartoonists represented male characters much more frequently. Comics may be an even more difficult business in which to become established, compared to other forms of media, as some strips have been passed down from father-to-son, essentially continuing the decades old formula and character ideals, such as Hagar the Horrible, Hi and Lois, and the father–son collaborative work Family Circus. Therefore, once a set of characters and a general plot is established, they may be less likely to change through decades of publication, which makes comics inherently more conservative and resistant to change than other media such as television programming and advertising. The lack of representation behind the scenes might partly explain the relative dismal showing of comics in terms of gender and race. For example, the percentage of female cartoonists was less than half that of women producers and writers on prime time television. Another explanation might be the long-standing nature of many comics. For example, Blondie, one of the most widely distributed comics, was started in 1930 (Astor, 1998b). The selection and retention process for newspaper comics would seem to encourage such longevity. Most newspaper comic surveys are unscientific, which may give undue weight to older, incumbent comics (Astor, 2003). In addition, when older comics are dropped, the reaction of a small number of angry, hard-core readers can be enough to get the comic reinstated (Astor, 1992). Finally, many newspaper executives involved in making comic-buying decisions, at least until very recently, have been older White males (Astor, 1992). As older comics are often retained, few syndication slots open up each year for new, aspiring cartoonists (Astor, 1992). As a result the continuation of many

Glascock and Preston-Schreck comics, even those that reflect outdated styles and trends, may not be based so much on actual readership as availability and perceived popularity. The common stereotypical depictions and lack of racial diversity that now seems the norm in comics may be one reason newspapers are having trouble attracting new readers. It is possible that publishing less stereotypical and more diverse comics could help develop interest in younger readers, as well as more women and minorities. Although perhaps appeasing their current readership, newspaper comics are likely not attracting new readers, and, instead, appear to be reinforcing gender and racial stereotypes among existing readers. The messages conveyed by comics, that minorities are nonexistent, and, hence, unimportant, and that the woman’s place is in the home taking care of children and doing housework, and when she does work it is typically in a low-level support position, are disturbing, even though they may be cloaked in humor. The implications of the numbers of male and female cartoonists and writers offer an interesting avenue for future exploration. It seems clear that characters and gender representations are notably different depending on who is behind the comic. Further, an investigation of the differences in how male and female writers and cartoonists use humor and treat their characters could offer a deeper understanding of how and why certain stereotypes are perpetuated and how they may be overcome in the future. REFERENCES Allen, K., & Coltrane, S. (1996). Gender displaying television commercials: A comparative study of television commercials in the 1950s and 1980s. Sex Roles, 35, 185–203. Astor, D. (1992, October 3). Many comics getting up in years. Editor and Publisher, pp. 30–32. Astor, D. (1988, October 8). They say the comics are too White. Editor and Publisher, pp. 40–42. Astor, D. (1995, May 15). A look at the state of comics as they enter their second century. Editor and Publisher, pp. 39–41. Astor, D. (1998a, December 5). Diversity push makes the comics a little less White. Editor and Publisher, pp. 34–35. Astor, D. (1998b, March 7). Garfield and Dilbert tops in top papers. Editor and Publisher, pp. 36–37. Astor, D. (1999a, June 5). Comic fans angered by Globe ombudsman piece. Editor and Publisher, p. 31. Astor, D. (1999b, October 9). Boondocks artist still living on the edge of controversy. Editor and Publisher, pp. 47–48. Astor, D. (1999c, October 30). Cartoonists drawing more topical comics as century draws to a close. Editor and Publisher, pp. 36–37. Astor, D. (2000, January 10). King features six women in one cartoon package. Editor and Publisher, p. 34. Astor, D. (2003, December 1). A poll model for comics sections? Editor and Publisher, p. 33.

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