With emerging technology and popularity of video-on-demand (VOD) services (e.g., Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime) that is higher than ever, the current media industry invites babies (< 2 years old) and toddlers (2–4 years old) into the growing consumer market. Although previous research has established that screen media targeted to children and adolescents largely portrays men and women in traditional gender roles, it is less clear how gender is portrayed in programs targeted toward the youngest viewers. The current study examined gender traits of the main characters in programs targeted to babies and children ages 2–4 that were disseminated via Hulu Kids. Comparisons between male and female characters in Babies programs and Kids 2–4 programs, respectively, showed that the characters were gender-stereotypically portrayed. However, both male characters and female characters were shown to be portrayed with masculine traits in programs targeting toddlers when compared within each gender. These results suggest even the youngest of viewers are exposed to narrow and traditional gender portrayals.

随着新兴技术和视频点播 (VOD) 服务（例如 Netflix、Hulu、Amazon Prime）的普及，当前的媒体行业邀请婴儿（< 2 岁）和幼儿（2-4 岁）旧）进入不断增长的消费市场。尽管先前的研究已经确定，针对儿童和青少年的屏幕媒体主要描绘了具有传统性别角色的男性和女性，但在针对最年轻观众的节目中如何描绘性别却不太清楚。目前的研究检查了通过 Hulu Kids 传播的针对 2-4 岁婴儿和儿童的节目中主要角色的性别特征。分别对婴儿节目和儿童 2-4 节目中的男性和女性角色进行比较表明，这些角色是按性别刻板印象描绘的。然而，在针对蹒跚学步的儿童的节目中，男性角色和女性角色都表现出男性特征，在不同性别之间进行比较。这些结果表明，即使是最年轻的观众也会接触到狭隘和传统的性别刻画。