II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1354 

To authorize grants to promote media literacy and youth empowerment programs, to authorize research on the role and impact of depictions of 

girls and women in the media, to provide for the establishment of 

a National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2011 

Mrs. HAGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize grants to promote media literacy and youth 

empowerment programs, to authorize research on the 

role and impact of depictions of girls and women in 

the media, to provide for the establishment of a National 

Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Healthy Media for Youth Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Grants to promote media literacy and youth empowerment programs. 

Sec. 4. Research on the role and impact of girls and women in the media on 

the development of youth. 

Sec. 5. National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media. 

Sec. 6. Limitation. 

Sec. 7. Definitions. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) According to the 2010 study by the Kaiser 

6 Family Foundation entitled ‘‘Generation M2 Media 

7 in Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds’’, most 8- to 18-year8 olds spend about 10 hours a day using recreational 

9 media. 

10 (2) Sixty percent of teenage girls compare their 

11 bodies to fashion models and almost 90 percent of 

12 girls say the media places a lot of pressure on teen13 age girls to be thin, according to the 2010 Girl 

14 Scout Research Institute report entitled ‘‘Beauty 

15 Redefined’’. 

16 (3) Only 34 percent of girls report being very 

17 satisfied with their bodies, according to the 2006 

18 study by the Girl Scout Research Institute entitled 

19 ‘‘The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy 

20 Living’’. Body dissatisfaction can lead to unhealthy 

21 eating and dieting habits. Fifty-five percent of girls 


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1 admit that they diet to lose weight, 37 percent know 

2 someone who has been diagnosed with an eating dis3 order, and 31 percent admit to starving themselves 

4 or refusing to eat as a strategy to lose weight. 

5 (4) Fifty-four percent of young girls in grades 

6 3 through 5 worry about their appearance, and 37 

7 percent of such girls worry specifically about their 

8 weight, according to the 2006 Girls Inc. report enti9 tled ‘‘The Supergirl Dilemma: Girls Grapple with 

10 the Mounting Pressure of Expectations’’. 

11 (5) A 2007 report of the American Psycho12 logical Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization 

13 of Girls reported that 3 of the most common mental 

14 health problems among girls, eating disorders, de15 pression or depressed mood, and low self-esteem, are 

16 linked to sexualization of girls and women in media. 

17 (6) Sexualized messages and images of girls 

18 and women can also negatively impact boys. Accord19 ing to the 2007 report of the American Psycho20 logical Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization 

21 of Girls, frequent exposure to sexualized media im22 ages of girls and women can create unrealistic and 

23 unhealthy expectations of girls’ and women’s phys24 ical appearance for boys, and may impair their abilVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:57 Jul 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1354.IS S1354

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1 ity to develop healthy relationships with girls and 

2 women. 

3 (7) Girls and women of color are disproportion4 ately absent from mainstream media. The Girl Scout 

5 Research Institute report, ‘‘Beauty Redefined’’, 

6 states that only 32 percent of African-American girls 

7 think the fashion industry does a good job of rep8 resenting people of all races and ethnicities. 

9 (8) Women and girls continue to be underrep10 resented in leadership roles in children’s media. The 

11 Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media re12 ports that less than 1 in 3 speaking characters in 

13 children’s movies are female, and that the majority 

14 of female characters in children’s movies are praised 

15 for their appearance or physical beauty rather than 

16 their personality, intelligence, or other talents. 

17 (9) Congress supports efforts to ensure that 

18 youth improve their media literacy skills, and to pro19 mote positive messages about girls and women that 

20 highlight healthy and diverse body images, positive 

21 and active female role models, and equal and healthy 

22 relationships between female and male characters. 

23 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROMOTE MEDIA LITERACY AND 

24 YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS. 

25 (a) MEDIA LITERACY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

2 grants to nonprofit organizations to provide for the 

3 establishment, operation, coordination, and evalua4 tion of programs to increase the media literacy of 

5 girls and boys, including by— 

6 (A) educating youth on how to apply crit7 ical thinking skills when consuming media im8 ages and messages; 

9 (B) encouraging youth to consume healthy, 

10 balanced, and positive media depictions of girls 

11 and women; and 

12 (C) raising awareness about the perpetua13 tion and damaging effects of unhealthy images 

14 of girls and women, gender stereotypes, and the 

15 sexualization of girls and women. 

16 (2) ACTIVITIES.—Programs funded under this 

17 subsection may include— 

18 (A) programs designed to encourage youth 

19 to develop analytical skills that promote auton20 omy and critical understanding of how girls and 

21 women are depicted in the media; 

22 (B) age-appropriate education about how 

23 the sexualization of girls and women, 

24 stereotypical gender roles, and unhealthy im25 ages of girls and women can affect the body 


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1 image of youth, the choice of role models by 

2 youth, and relationships of youth among their 

3 peers; 

4 (C) programs designed to provide youth 

5 the skills to take responsibility for their use of 

6 media; 

7 (D) education on career opportunities 

8 within the media; 

9 (E) programs designed to teach youth how 

10 to create and use media to contribute to social 

11 change, especially in their communities; 

12 (F) education for parents, educators, and 

13 other adults on how depictions of girls and 

14 women in the media impact youth; or 

15 (G) support for public or private partner16 ships that encourage businesses, advertisers, 

17 the entertainment industry, and other media 

18 content providers to promote media content 

19 that— 

20 (i) encourages healthy body images; 

21 (ii) depicts positive and active female 

22 role models; and 

23 (iii) portrays equal and healthy rela24 tionships between female and male char25 acters. 


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1 (3) REPORT.—The Secretary shall require each 

2 grant recipient under this subsection to submit to 

3 the Secretary a report for each grant period that— 

4 (A) describes how grant funds were used; 

5 and 

6 (B) evaluates the effectiveness of the pro7 gram funded through the grant. 

8 (b) YOUTH EMPOWERMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

10 grants to nonprofit organizations to provide for the 

11 establishment, operation, coordination, and evalua12 tion of programs to support the empowerment of 

13 girls or boys in a variety of ways, including by en14 couraging youth empowerment through extra15 curricular activities and programs that— 

16 (A) develop self-esteem, skills, and talents; 

17 and 

18 (B) celebrate characteristics unrelated to 

19 physical appearance, such as leadership and 

20 self-esteem. 

21 (2) ACTIVITIES.—Programs funded under this 

22 subsection may include programs designed to— 

23 (A) build confidence, self-efficacy, and 

24 leadership skills of youth in single gender envi25 ronments; 


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1 (B) develop values and skills of youth such 

2 as respect, critical thinking, problem solving, 

3 and collaborative team work; or 

4 (C) facilitate opportunities for youth to 

5 interact with adult role models, such as mentors 

6 and volunteers, in their communities. 

7 (3) REPORT.—The Secretary shall require each 

8 grant recipient under this subsection to submit to 

9 the Secretary a report for each grant period that— 

10 (A) describes how grant funds were used; 

11 and 

12 (B) evaluates the effectiveness of the pro13 gram funded through the grant. 

14 (c) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Secretary may make a 

15 grant to a nonprofit organization under subsection (a) or 

16 (b) only if the organization agrees to make available non17 Federal contributions toward the costs of the program for 

18 which such organization revieves a grant in an amount 

19 that is not less than $1 for every $5 of Federal funds 

20 awarded under this section. Such contribution may be in 

21 cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, including equipment, 

22 training, curricula, or a preexisting evaluation framework. 

23 (d) AWARD AMOUNTS.—No grant awarded under this 

24 section shall be greater than $1,000,000 or less than 

25 $100,000. 


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1 (e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to nonprofit organi3 zations or projects that are— 

4 (1) focused on underserved communities and 

5 groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, rep6 resentatives from different socioeconomic groups, 

7 and youth at risk for eating disorders; 

8 (2) gender-specific; 

9 (3) culturally competent; 

10 (4) developed in collaboration with subject mat11 ter experts, community leaders, or youth serving or12 ganizations; and 

13 (5) have demonstrated expertise in providing 

14 training and evaluation of quality media literacy ac15 tivities or youth empowerment programs. 

16 (f) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—A grant may be made 

17 under subsection (a) or (b) only if the applicant involved 

18 agrees to the following: 

19 (1) Not more than 20 percent of the grant 

20 funds will be used for administration, accounting, re21 porting, and program oversight functions. 

22 (2) The grant will be used to supplement and 

23 not supplant funds from other sources for increasing 

24 the media literacy of, and empowering, youth. 


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1 (3) The applicant will abide by any limitations 

2 deemed appropriate by the Secretary on any charges 

3 to individuals receiving services pursuant to the 

4 grant. As deemed appropriate by the Secretary, such 

5 limitations on charges may vary based on the finan6 cial circumstances of the individual receiving serv7 ices. 

8 (g) GRANT PERIOD; APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE

9 DURING SUBSEQUENT GRANT YEARS.— 

10 (1) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under 

11 this section shall be for a period of 3 years. 

12 (2) APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE DURING

13 SUBSEQUENT GRANT YEARS.—After the first fiscal 

14 year for which an entity receives a grant, the entity 

15 shall apply to receive grant funds for a subsequent 

16 fiscal year during the grant period by submitting an 

17 application to the Secretary at the beginning of each 

18 such fiscal year. An application submitted under this 

19 paragraph shall include such information as the Sec20 retary may require, including, at a minimum, a de21 scription of the progress of the entity. 

22 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

24 Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 


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1 committees of the Congress a report on the grants award2 ed under subsections (a) and (b), including— 

3 (1) a description of how the grant funds were 

4 used; and 

5 (2) an evaluation of the effectiveness of such 

6 grants. 

7 SEC. 4. RESEARCH ON THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF GIRLS 

8 AND WOMEN IN THE MEDIA ON THE DEVEL9 OPMENT OF YOUTH. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

11 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven12 tion and in coordination with the Director of the National 

13 Institutes of Health and the Director of the Eunice Ken14 nedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and 

15 Human Development, shall review, synthesize, conduct, or 

16 support research on the role and impact depictions of girls 

17 and women in the media have on youth in the following 

18 areas: 

19 (1) The psychological, physical, sexual, and 

20 interpersonal development of youth in the following 

21 areas: 

22 (A) Cognitive areas such as mental health, 

23 self-esteem, learning abilities, and problem solv24 ing skills. 


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1 (B) Physical areas such as diet, nutrition, 

2 exercise, body image, substance abuse, and 

3 sleeping and eating routines. 

4 (C) Social behavioral areas such as rela5 tionships with peers, interactions with parents 

6 and family members, aggression, high-risk be7 haviors, sexual behavior and development, and 

8 positive social behaviors. 

9 (D) Academic performance. 

10 (E) The perceptions and attitudes of youth 

11 about the abilities, equity, appearances, and 

12 leadership potential of girls and boys. 

13 (2) How the effects of depictions in the media 

14 of girls and women vary from such depictions of 

15 boys and men, and by race, ethnicity, and age group. 

16 (3) How the sexualization and objectification of 

17 girls and women in media affects the healthy devel18 opment of girls and boys. 

19 (4) How food marketing and obesity campaigns 

20 affect the body image, nutrition, and exercise of girls 

21 and of boys, especially among youth with eating-dis22 orders. 

23 (5) Additional areas as designated by the Sec24 retary. 


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1 (b) NO DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 

2 that research activities under this section do not duplicate 

3 other Federal research activities. 

4 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

6 Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 

7 committees of the Congress a report that— 

8 (1) synthesizes the results of— 

9 (A) research under this section; and 

10 (B) other related research by the private 

11 or public sector, including the Federal Govern12 ment; 

13 (2) disaggregates such results by gender, race, 

14 age, and socioeconomic background; 

15 (3) includes a compendium of key existing re16 search on the role and impact of depictions of girls 

17 and women in the media; 

18 (4) outlines gaps in research on the role and 

19 impact of depictions of girl and women in the media 

20 and identifies areas where future research is needed; 

21 and 

22 (5) identifies how factors such as the format of 

23 media, length of exposure to media, age of youth, 

24 and nature of parental involvement impact such re25 sults. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON GIRLS AND WOMEN IN 

2 THE MEDIA. 

3 (a) PURPOSES.—The Federal Communications Com4 mission shall convene a task force, to be known as the 

5 National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media, 

6 to develop voluntary steps and goals for promoting healthy 

7 and positive depictions of girls and women in the media 

8 for the benefit of all youth. 

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include 

10 representatives of the media industry, nonprofit and 

11 youth-serving organizations, academia and research enti12 ties, psychologists and other child health professionals, 

13 Federal agencies, and any other public or private entity 

14 designated by the Federal Communications Commission. 

15 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Task Force shall iden16 tify— 

17 (1) trends with respect to how the media regu18 lated by the Federal Communications Commission 

19 portrays girls and women; 

20 (2) how such trends impact the healthy growth 

21 and development of youth; and 

22 (3) voluntary measures and goals that the pub23 lic and private sectors can develop to promote 

24 healthy and positive media depictions of girls and 

25 women for the benefit of all youth. 


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1 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—The Federal Communica2 tions Commission shall ensure that the Task Force holds 

3 its first meeting not later than 90 days after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. 

5 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

6 of the first meeting of the Task Force, the Federal Com7 munications Commission shall submit a report to Con8 gress that contains— 

9 (1) the findings of the Task Force under sub10 section (c); and 

11 (2) recommendations for areas of improvement 

12 regarding depictions of girls and women in the 

13 media. 

14 SEC. 6. LIMITATION. 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

16 Secretary may not use amounts made available under this 

17 Act to conduct or support activities or programs that are 

18 duplicative of activities or programs otherwise carried out 

19 through the Department of Health and Human Services 

20 or the Department of Education. 

21 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘media’’ includes television pro24 grams, motion pictures, video games, music and 

25 music videos, the Internet, social media, digital video 


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1 recorders, cell phones, magazines, newspapers, 

2 books, advertisements, and other emerging tech3 nologies designed for communication, entertainment, 

4 education, or information. 

5 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

6 of Health and Human Services. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘sexualization’’ means a cir8 cumstance when— 

9 (A) a person’s value comes only from his 

10 or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclu11 sion of other characteristics; 

12 (B) a person is held to a standard that 

13 equates physical attractiveness (narrowly de14 fined) and personal value with appearing, act15 ing, and being sexy; 

16 (C) a person is sexually objectified, or 

17 made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather 

18 than seen as a person with the capacity for 

19 independent action and decisionmaking; or 

20 (D) sexuality is inappropriately imposed 

21 upon a person. 

22 (4) The term ‘‘Task Force’’ means the National 

23 Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media con24 vened under section 5. 


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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 For the purpose of carrying out sections 3 and 4, 

3 there are authorized to be appropriated, in addition to any 

4 other amounts available for such purpose— 

5 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, of which— 

6 (A) $2,000,000 shall be allocated to the 

7 program under section 3(a); 

8 (B) $2,000,000 shall be allocated to the 

9 program under section 3(b); and 

10 (C) $1,000,000 shall be allocated to the 

11 program under section 4; and 

12 (2) $2,000,000 for each fiscal years 2013 

13 through 2016, of which— 

14 (A) $500,000 shall be allocated to the pro15 gram under section 3(a); 

16 (B) $500,000 shall be allocated to the pro17 gram under section 3(b); and 

18 (C) $1,000,000 shall be allocated to the 

19 program under section 4. 

Æ 


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