Sexy Women and Unmanly Men : Representations of Librarians Onscreen

Abstract: This study investigates the representations of librarians in movies spanning from the years 2012 to 2022 from a gender perspective using thematic analysis. Being a female-dominated profession with an increasing use of technology, the goal is to see how librarians are being portrayed today and how that might affect the perceptions of librarianship. The revealed themes address: (a) librarians being portrayed as feminine, (b) librarians being portrayed as sexual objects to please the male audience, (c) libraries as a place for knowledge, (d) librarian profession being chosen out of necessity, and (e) bias toward traditional librarianship. This study indicates a change in portrayals of librarians in movies, but the librarian characters are nevertheless being depicted in a negative light. In order to improve the perceptions of librarians, this study suggests that a more diverse representation of librarians and their tasks is needed.