A Glance into Gray's Anatomy...

One of my favorite weekly television shows is abc's hit series, Gray's Anatomy. Normally, I would not notice the gender stereotyping sitting on my couch watching "Mcdreamy" and "McSteamy" as the highlight of my week. However, as I watched the show last week, several gender roles and stereotyping became obvious. Generally, primetime shows display men characters as dominant, aggresive and ultimately successful. All the male characters at Seattle Gray's Hospital are attractive, world renowned surgeons who have frequent sexual relations with their female co-workers. The female characters are depicted as young, beautiful medical interns, who feed on drama and are always concerned with their relationships. In a recent episode, Meredith changes her appearance and personal outlook on life in an attempt to impress her boyfriend, Dr.Shepard's mother. She changes her hair style and her personality to seem more bubbly and outgoing. This raises the issue of why do we as females feel the need to change who we are to fit into the perception of a "true female?" Also, many female characters get emotionally involved with their patients more often then males, which points to the fact that they are not considered as "professional."

Gray's Anatomy is one of my favorite shows due to the constant drama and less then realistic situations characters always find thwmselves in. However, as a result of gender stereotyping, viewers are entertained and subjected to high-drama situtaions, but also gain an unrealistic view into the medical profession.

Analyizing Feminine roles in Desperate Housewives

Millions of Americans spend their evenings watching their favorite primetime television shows. I often find myself rushing through the grocery store or runnung home from class in an attempt to make it home in time to watch the season premiere of Gray's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives. By watching excessive amounts of primetime television shows, audiences have gained ideas concerning gender stereotypes and what it really means to be a male or female. The recently popular abc hit series, Desperate Housewives exhibits several gender stereotypes and depicts what it really means to be a male or female in today's society.
American women are often viewing the sexual, beautiful and dependant characters on Wisteria Lane as accurate representations of women in the real world. On a fictional street, called Wisteria Lane live six housewives in pleasant suberbia. The cast consists of wealthy, gorgeous women that are perceived as deceiving and having petty problems. All of the women are married and live a life fuilled with drama, concentrating on their appearance and social status. Eva Longoria, one of the main characters, is depicted as a stuck-up, Latino gold-digger and Bree is obsessed with being the perfect homemaker and mother. In an earlier episode, Lynette is forced to stay at home with her children as her husband goes back to work as a successful businessman. This characterizes women as passive and men as aggressive and in control.
I believe that Desperate Housewives consists of many gender stereotypes that are inaccurate portrayals of real-life. Wealth, high-staus and sex-appeal are substitutes for community involvement and family interaction. Morality is out of the question, as many characters are involved with extramarital affairs and lack consequences. In reality, women in today's society are caring, independent and successful. To keep audiences interest, media networks often dramatize and incorporate overly simple and entertaining storylines. As a media consumer myself I need to realize television shows merely exsist to entertain. I and many other consumers need to pay better attention to media messages and critically analyize content to uncover true meaning.