A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Media Portrayals of Trans and Gender Diverse People: A Comparative Analysis of News Headlines Across Europe

  2024. Sofia Elena Bracco, Sabine Sczesny, Marie Gustafsson Sendén. Sex Roles 90, 491-507

  Article

  Media representations of minorities (re)produce the societal context they are immersed in; thus, while media representations of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people have historically been negative and stigmatizing, different sociocultural contexts across countries can lead to considerable variations in these representations. The present study investigated how media representations of TGD people in news headlines varied across three European countries with different levels of legal protection and social acceptance of gender minorities: Sweden (high), the UK (medium), and Italy (low). In total, 830 headlines (Sweden = 300; UK = 300; Italy = 230) were coded for their valence (i.e., positive, neutral/mixed, negative), recurring social roles (i.e., criminals, victims, pioneers, professionals), gender aspects (i.e., target’s gender, misgendering), body aspects (i.e., medicalization, objectification), and focus (i.e., individual, group). We found that more gender-egalitarian societal contexts (Sweden, the UK) were associated with less negative and more neutral valence, less representations of TGD people as victims of discrimination and violence, more representations of gender diverse people, less misgendering, and less objectification. Trans women were represented more often than trans men and gender diverse people across all countries. By comparing news media representations of TGD people across countries, this research helps to shed light on the correspondences between media representations of gender minorities and the different levels of legal protection and social acceptance they experience.

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• Effects of trans and gender diverse people's media representations on attitudes towards them

  2023. Sofia Elena Bracco (et al.).

  Conference

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• How trans and gender non-conforming people are represented in online news media.

  2022. Sofia Elena Bracco, Marie Gustafsson Sendén, Sabine Sczesny.

  Conference

  Trans and gender non conforming (TGNC) people represent one of the most marginalized groups in society and their unemployment rates are three times higher than cisgender people’s average. Cisgender people tend to derive stereotypes and mental representations of TGNC individuals from the media since they lack direct contact with them. Media coverage can therefore work as parasocial contact and improve or worsen people’s attitudes towards minorities. This study analyzes the way TGNC people are represented in online news media across 3 countries that vary in their ranking on LGTBT rights: the UK (11/49 European states for achieved LGBTI rights, Sweden (9/49), and Italy (35/49).

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Show all publications by Sofia Elena Bracco at Stockholm University