Search Results (7)

This study explores the portrayal of older adults’ sexuality in popular cartoons, a medium often overlooked in discussions about aging and sexual representation. The research examines how visual and textual signs in cartoons produce humor by reinforcing stereotypes and normalizing judgments about later-life sexual behavior. Using a visual social semiotic approach, the study analyzes a selection of cartoons, focusing on how these depictions reflect societal attitudes towards aging and sexuality. The findings reveal that older individuals are often portrayed in a stigmatized manner, with their sexual desires and activities depicted as either comical or abnormal. This contributes to the marginalization of older adults in sexual discourse and perpetuates ageist stereotypes. The study concludes that while these representations may appear harmless, they play a significant role in shaping public perceptions and can negatively impact the self-image and sexual well-being of older individuals. Future research should further investigate how older adults perceive these portrayals and their implications for societal attitudes towards aging and sexuality. Full article

Communication-based interventions are popular among both governmental and non-governmental organizations in many environmental domains. Yet, studies on the role of humor in social media communication to stimulate pro-environmental behavior have received limited attention. This study employs an experimental approach to assess the effect of using humor (in the form of satirical cartoons) either alongside, or in place of, factual pro-environmental messages in social media communication. It assesses the impact of humor in stimulating a reaction to a pro-environmental message on social media, a share, or a declared intent to change behavior. Our findings reveal that the inclusion of humor elicits a greater response than a factual message alone but that combining a humorous cartoon with a factual text creates the greatest difference. These findings are fairly consistent across six environmental domains and survive formal regression analysis which controlled for the impacts of co-determinants such as age, gender, education, social media engagement, and environmental preferences. Full article

In 1984, professional wrestler Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik to win the WWF Heavyweight Title. Thus marked the birth of ‘Hulkamania’, a near-decade-long period when Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) crossed over into American popular culture. In the following years, Hogan battled a series of proxies for America’s enemies, from the Soviet rival in Nikolai Volkoff, Iranian sympathizer Sergeant Slaughter, and the Japanese sumo wrestler Yokozuna, among other opponents. More importantly, Hogan appeared on American talk shows, the front of magazines, had his own children’s cartoons, and marketed workout devices, toys, food, and a host of other ephemera. Existing in a liminal space between sport and entertainment, professional wrestling allows athletes/performers far more opportunities to cultivate messages and meanings through their bodies. Using film, wrestling magazines, and wrestling broadcasts, this article argues that Hogan’s body and his use of his body were paramount to his success. More than that, the use of his body embodied ideals about American masculinity. It embodied all-American strength, an ability to succeed no matter the odds, and a fierce Christian patriotism. Hogan was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s, inside and outside of sport. His body and its representation are thus worthy of study. Full article

(1) Background: Media play a significant role in forming audience perceptions about physical external appearance and food consumption patterns. It has been reported that children’s cartoons project slimness, and concomitantly consumption of poor nutritional quality food. However, data on the role of gender in this respect are lacking; thus, this was the aim of the present study. (2) Methods: 100 episodes of the 10 most popular cartoon series were analyzed. Characters’ body weight status was classified into underweight, normal weight and overweight, and foods consumed as core (e.g., fruit, vegetables) and non-core (e.g., sweets, snacks). Messages about characters’ attractiveness were recorded and classified according to their body weight status and gender. (3) Results: Out of 37 protagonists, 12 were female figures (32%), while out of the 10 thin protagonists, 7 were females (70%) and only 3 males (30%). Thin heroines were the recipients of the majority of the messages connotative to physical attractiveness (36 out of 58 messages). However, consumption of core and non-core foods did not differ within genders (core: z = −1.526, p = 0.127, non-core: z = −0.417, p = 0.667). (4) Conclusions: Females seem to be underrepresented in cartoon series but receive the majority of the comments related to physical appearance, with most of them addressing the attractiveness of a thin figure. Full article

During the last two decades, social media has immersed itself into all facets of our personal and professional lives. The healthcare sector is no exception, with public health departments now capitalizing on the benefits that social media offers when delivering healthcare education and communication with citizens. Provincial Health Committees (PHCs) in China have begun to adopt the micro-video sharing platform, Tik Tok, to engage with local residents and communicate health-related information. This study investigates the status quo of official Tik Tok accounts managed by PHCs in mainland China. In total, 31 PHC accounts were analyzed during August 2019, while the top 100 most liked micro-videos were examined using content analysis. Coding included three major aspects: Quantified Impact, Video Content, and Video Form. 45.2% (n = 14) of PHCs had official Tik Tok accounts. A limited number of accounts (n = 2) were yet to upload a micro-video, while most (n = 9) had uploaded their first micro-video during 2019. For the top 100 most liked micro-videos, a sharp difference was observed in terms of number of Likes, Comments and Reposts. Videos containing cartoons or documentary-style content were most frequently watched by citizens. Similarly, content that promoted professional health or provided knowledge of diseases was frequently viewed. Content containing original music, formal mandarin language, subtitles, and which lasted less than 60 s, were most frequently followed. It is considered a missed opportunity that most PHCs struggle to take advantage of the Tik Tok platform, especially given its growing popularity and daily increase in account creation. Full article

Change blindness is a striking shortcoming of our visual system which is exploited in the popular ‘Spot the difference’ game, as it makes us unable to notice large visual changes happening right before our eyes. Change blindness illustrates the fact that we see much less than we think we do. In this paper, we introduce a fully automated model to predict colour change blindness in cartoon images based on image complexity, change magnitude and observer experience. Using linear regression with only three parameters, the predictions of the proposed model correlate significantly with measured detection times. We also demonstrate the efficacy of the model to classify stimuli in terms of difficulty. Full article

Relationships between religion and comics are generally unexplored in the academic literature. This article provides a brief history of Black religions in comic books, cartoons, animation, and newspaper strips, looking at African American Christianity, Islam, Africana (African diaspora) religions, and folk traditions such as Hoodoo and Conjure in the 20th century. Even though the treatment of Black religions in the comics was informed by stereotypical depictions of race and religion in United States (US) popular culture, African American comics creators contested these by offering alternatives in their treatment of Black religion themes. Full article