One of the leading experts on media stereotypes is George Gerbner, the Dean Emeritus of The Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In a landmark 1993 study, based on an analysis of 19,642 speaking parts in 1,371 television shows, Gerbner found that women play one out of three roles in prime-time television and one out of four roles in children's programs.

In a related study on media violence, he found that while violent crime rates remained essentially flat in the last few years, television networks doubled the time given to violent news coverage between 1992 and 1993, and 75% of the prime-time dramatic programs in 1994 had overt physical violence. (Up from 58% in 1974.)

In a recent interview Gerbner pointed out that the number of women in a show varies inversely with the amount of violence. He proposed casting more women as one of the best ways to reduce television violence. "If you put in women, you have to have a story with more dialogue, more human qualities, more explanation. . . You have to find roles for them, and you have to have plots with more diversity of activity."