Acting gender: Actors’ experiences of gender role conformity and hopes for their characters

Cook, Clare; Pollet, Thomas V.; Callahan, Jamie L.

doi:10.1037/aca0000604

Acting gender: Actors’ experiences of gender role conformity and hopes for their characters

Cook, Clare; Pollet, Thomas V.; Callahan, Jamie L.

Authors

Clare Cook

Thomas V. Pollet

Professor Jamie Callahan jamie.callahan@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Studies have found that audiences are often presented with characters that conform with traditional gender roles but there to date has been no empirical investigation into these characters from the actors’ perspective. We investigated the extent to which actors (n = 318) are required to conform to traditional gender roles in the course of their work and the disparity between their acted and ideal characters. We found that both male and female actors were required to portray traditional gender roles but that men were required to conform with these traditional notions of gender to a greater extent, resulting in the broadcast of a masculinized ideal. Both male and female actors indicated they would prefer to portray characters that conform less with traditional gender roles than their most recent character. Our findings support calls from audience driven research for movement away from the portrayal of traditional gender roles within the arts.

Citation

Cook, C., Pollet, T. V., & Callahan, J. L. (2023). Acting gender: Actors’ experiences of gender role conformity and hopes for their characters. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000604

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 28, 2023
Online Publication Date	Jul 13, 2023
Publication Date	2023
Deposit Date	May 3, 2023
Publicly Available Date	May 3, 2023
Journal	Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Print ISSN	1931-3896
Electronic ISSN	1931-390X
Publisher	American Psychological Association
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000604
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1176094
Publisher URL	https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/aca/index

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Copyright Statement
© American Psychological Association, 2023. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal.