The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 285 Examination of Anime Content and Associations between Anime Consumption, Genre Preferences, and Ambivalent Sexism Dr. Stephen Reysen, Texas A & M University-Commerce Dr. Iva Katzarska-Miller, Transylvania University Dr. Courtney N. Plante, Iowa State University Dr. Sharon E. Roberts, Renison University College, University of Waterloo Dr. Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Niagara County Community College Abstract Across two studies, we examined the extent to which popular anime series contained sexist content and tested whether anime consumption and genre preference were associated with viewers’ ambivalent sexism. In Study 1, we content-coded episodes from nine of the most popular anime series and found that women (vs. men) were underrepresented in anime and were more likely than expected to be sexualized (vs. men), curvaceous (vs. secondary characters), and provocative (vs. secondary characters), while men (vs. women) were more likely to use a weapon but were not typically portrayed as hypermasculine. In Study 2, we measured anime consumption, genre preference, and ambivalent sexism in a group of self- identified anime fans. Anime consumption was positively associated with both benevolent and hostile sexism. Preferences for the drama and hentai drama genres mediated the relationship between consumption and hostile sexism, while preferences for drama, slice of life, mecha, and action mediated the relationship between consumption and benevolent sexism. The results support the notion that anime contains sexist content and that consumption of this content is related to sexist beliefs. The findings also illustrate genre-specific differences, likely driven by genre-specific content, a finding that is consistent with other research on media exposure effects (e.g., violent media and aggression). Keywords: anime, fan, sexism, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism Introduction Gone are the days, at least in American society, where it was considered acceptable for a husband to beat his wife and where women on television were doting housewives. It would be easy to conclude from this that sexism is a thing of the past. Unfortunately, sexism is alive and well in the world (Glick et al., 2000), often manifesting as, or from, stereotypical attitudes about gender. Typically, women are stereotyped as warm, expressive, communal, and nurturing; in contrast, men tend to be viewed as competitive, agentic, and dominant (see Wood & Eagly, 2010). And, when men or women stray from these prototypical gender roles—a woman acting in a dominant manner or a man performing