Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Enlightened Sexism by Susan Douglas
As a little girl, it was inspiring to see women on TV exploring space, working in the White House, and doing science experiments in a laboratory. Olivia Benson, the detective from Law and Order: SVU, was a beautiful and completely badass detective. No matter what one may argue, media does influence children. Constantly seeing women working important jobs on TV, where they were on equal standing with men, is a positive influence on young women. It shows them that women can achieve any job they set their mind to and that they can aspire to become more than just a housewife. I disagree with what Susan Douglas has to say about how the media's illustration of equality is fooling women into thinking they are equal. In today's workforce, women may not be completely equal to men. I don't really know because I have never worked at a real, 'grown up' job before. Either way, the media is not aiming to fool women and set them up with false hopes. They are portraying women in different roles and showing that a woman can put herself to use in more ways than just a housewife, homemaker, and mother, if that's what she wants to do. It is inspiring and, in my opinion, very important that the media depict women succeeding. The media is not trying to allude women into thinking they are equal, like Douglas says, but instead inspiring them to get out there and work where they want. Although I do agree with her opinion that women are overly sexualized in the media, I overall disagree with Douglas because I think the role of powerful women on TV inspires women and girls to reach for a successful career.
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I agree, I think that by the media portraying women in these roles, that young girls feel hopeful about their own futures. Girls learn that with dedication and hard work , anything can be achieved. I think it is a good thing that the media depicts women as powerful and successful people in the workforce. I do however, believe that women can be successful at home as well. The media portrays the working woman as someone to aspire to be, but I don't think that the role of the housewife should be looked down on.
ReplyDeleteI think in recent years, the portrayal of women on TV and in movies has become much more equal. However, in the past it was hard to see a powerful women also portrayed as a nice person. For example on TV, the woman executive is successful and beautiful, but also a bitch because the media doesn't want women to be shown as totally well-rounded. Recently, I've seen shows like Scandal have a strong, female lead who is powerful, successful, beautiful and also kind and loving. This is the way women should be portrayed on TV. I hope that this trend continues.
ReplyDeleteGood points, Cassie, Kirsten, and Kaitlyn.
ReplyDeleteCassie, I think Susan Douglas might agree with you to a certain extent. She even says toward the end of the essay that she loves "escaping into worlds where women, by turns, solve crimes, are good bosses, live in huge houses, can buy whatever they want, perform life-saving surgeries, and find love..." But what is she trying to argue regarding the way these powerful images of women (embedded feminism) and images of women as dumb and only valuable for their looks and traditional roles (enlightened sexism) work together to create a problematic narrative about women in our society?
Kaitlyn, I think you make a good point about many of the roles for women in professional positions on TV and in movies. How many romantic comedies start out with a young woman who is VERY successful at her job, but just can't figure out how to love and be a good partner? Then, of course, she finds a man (usually an architect) who helps her see that life is not all about work!