Enlightened Sexism & the Media

I'm honestly struggling to think of a tv show that really gets at what real women are about. There has definitely been exaggerated gender roles or women just going after power in recent shows I have watched. Scream Queens, for example, makes girls seem overly materialistic and lacking any intellectual ability. Obviously most women are not actually like this at all. However, some are. Who is to say what constitutes a "real" woman? Another show I watched recently, Penny Dreadful, has Eva Green as a very powerful yet reserved character. Susan Douglas might say she is not a real woman because she actually has power. The problem with this is some women do actually have power. There are definitely more men in power than women, but that doesn't mean we should only show men in charge in tv shows. 13 Reasons Why shows girls as petty and insecure in most cases. They hurt each other and try to get back at each other rather than communicating about their problems. The one girl that does seem real ends up killing herself. I think tv shows are slowly dropping the sexism bit, but they still have a ways to go.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 9, 2017 at 4:45 PM

    Jackie -

    I definitely see where you're coming from with your points. I also think TV shows are presenting the reality of a woman's life incorrectly, because, for entertainment purposes, it's all about the drama. While our society clearly recognizes an issue with gender equality (i.e. Women's March), the money maker is to paint things in a light that will draw out emotion whether good or bad. I think that's why we have such a difficult time identifying a show that actually shows us the truth. While some do present it here and there, there's a dominant part of entertainment that keeps the sexism going. I also think this downplays the reality of our society's current situation. Because TV can joke about it and play up the drama, it makes it seem like "Hey, it's OK. We've made progress so now we can poke fun at what we used to call sexism." Enter Enlightened Sexism.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Prompt 4

Shows such as The Colbert Report and The Daily Show allow a more general audience to understand and access politics in a way they couldn’t before. They are very easy to grasp and encourage everyday people to have a political opinion. It does further polarization in a way though. These shows are clearly very democratic or very republican in their views. Most people probably only watch the shows that most closely match their political views. This causes them to become further wrapped up in those views and to believe they are right. Instead, people should listen to the other side’s rational argument and formulate their own ideas.
Read more

My Op-Ed

One of my op-eds highlights why declawing, cropping ears, and docking tails on pets is cruel and unnecessary. These surgeries are purely cosmetic and have no actual benefit for cats or dogs.
Read more

13 Reasons Why Research

In researching for my final paper, I read an article about someone who used to be a “Hannah Baker.” She responds to the recent critiques about the show 13 Reasons Why and tells us how she really feels about the show. She talks about how the show does not dramatize or glorify suicide. Yes, some of the scenes were very graphic, but life can be graphic. This girl describes how her life seemed perfect. She had great friends, a loving family, and a job but just spent months feeling incredibly depressed and suicidal. She had a hard time getting out of that. What I found the most interesting was how she talks about how people don’t think the students that hurt Hannah should have any accountability for her death. That Hannah made her choice. She says that people like Hannah need someone to reach out and understand what is going on, and that even small slights can send someone at risk over the edge.
Read more