Research Symposium

BIO

Genevieve Boisvert is a Sophomore at Florida State University earning a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in Urban and Regional Planning. She is originally from Washington D.C., but she currently resides in Sarasota, FL. She is the Public Relations Vice President of Gamma Phi Beta at FSU as well as research assistant working through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. She is currently a research assistant in Dr. Richard Water's Gender and Social Analysis of Garbage Pail Kids.

Gender and Social of Garbage Pail Kids

Abstract

The current study uses content analysis to analyze the visual design components and character traits of the first 16 series of Garbage Pail Kids cards. Garbage Pail Kids is a series of sticker trading cards, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the wholesome Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Garbage Pail Kids cards feature characters that suffer from abnormalities or torturous actions and also feature names that reference their unique condition. For this analysis, a systematic random sample was used so that every third card in the series was analyzed for a specific list of criteria in Qualtrics. Using Jamovi statistical software, the results revealed an interesting relationship between gender of the depicted on the stickers and the child’s age, which potentially points to the infantilization of women through pop culture. There was also significant evidence of the physical orientation of each card in relation to gender. The social elements of bullying/social isolation were also apparent in the quantitative results of the study.

Keywords: Pop Culture, Gender, Social