Private Practice

During the Private Practice episode this week, gender roles were quite apparent. The doctors were treating a young fourteen year old girl, who had been diagnosed with cancer. It became apparent that the girl would not live longer than two years. Even in such a fragile and vulnerable state, she is thinking about becoming a mother. She says this is the,"Only thing she has ever wanted in life." This quote alone highlights the fact that a woman's ambitions lie solely in her desire to be a mother. Instead of living her life as a normal fourteen year old, spending time with her friends and family and trying new things, she persues a chance at motherhood. Her boyfriend is persuaded to donate sperm and eventually admits that he does not desire to be a father during this time in his life. This further demonstrates a woman's desire to embrace motherhood, even at such a young age and a male's desire to seek freedom, independence and less committment in his life. This whole situation is very strange to begin with, as the young girl's parents encourage her to seek a random sperm donor, as her boyfriend refuses to donate his sperm. This further illustrates a female going to great lengths to embrace motherhood. In reality, the young girl should be acting as a teeneger and enjoying her last moments on earth.

Friday the 13th...

Last weekend I went to see, Friday the 13th, which is a new version of the Friday the 13th film series. The film begins with Jason witnessing his mother being beheaded by a camp counsler, trying to escape her murderous rampage around Camp Crystal Lake. Thirty years later a group of vacationing friends arrive at Camp Crystal Lake to find the weed they had planted there previously. In the introductory scenes, as the friends are sitting by the campfire, the males are talking a majority of the time while the females merely sit and listen. This paves the way for the guys to be the "protectors" and the females as the afraid "dependant" characters. When the guys speak to the girls it always seems to be an attempt to "hook up" and the girls constantly encourage this behavior by flirting back. One of the girls, Amanda begins to flash her boyfriend in order to seduce him, while he is talking to his friend about finding the weed. This scene portrays women merely as sexual objects, while the guys talk "business". After the friends are eventually killed by Jason, six weeks later a group of college friends head up to Camp Crystal Lake for a "fun filled" weekend, as they know nothing about the inital killings. As they spend time at the lake, a young couple goes jetskiing and one of the girls removes her bathing suit top and skis topless while her boyfriend watches. This repetitve use of women as visual objects permeates the film. Everytime the couples are harassed by Jason (the killer), the guys are always the leaders and the girls are portrayed as afraid and literally lost without male guidance. The audience begins to feel as if the girls have no chance of survival without the male characters present. This movie portrayed stereotypical gender roles, which in turn represented what society's standards have become for both males and females. This is quite sad in my opinion.

Why does HE have to be....just not that into YOU?

This past week I saw the movie, He's Just Not That Into You, which tells the story of several single and married individuals as they naviagate through various relationships. The movie consists of the characters constantly trying to read the signals of the opposite sex. If he appears "not into you," is he really secretly attracted to you? The main character, Gigi just wants a man who calls her back and constantly sits by the phone and waits for her prince charming or Mr.Right to call. She spends a majority of the film wondering why he hasn't called and what she has done wrong. The question that keeps popping into my mind is, why can't you just be happy single and wait for "Mr.Right" to come to you? Why does a woman have to try so hard to be accepted or interesting to a guy? Why can't a woman just be "not that interested in a guy?" The film sends a message that women complicate and overanalyize relationships and men are not at all complicated. If he doesn't ask you out or call immediately after the date he is simply not that interested. Hearing the words, "He's just not that into you," makes women feel like something is wrong with them and they must change something about themselves, whether it is their appearance or personality.Why can't women just be themselves and let their authenticity draw the right men into their lives? The women in the film are often shown at work-but believe it or not are not working???? They are contemplating their love lives and over analyizing their individual relationships asking the question, "Why isn't he intereested?" Mary receives a call from a guy she has recently met and he accidently calls her by a different name on her answering machine, implying that men are "players" and women merely sit on the sidelines. This movie was entertaining and humorous, as it revealed common stereotypes about women and men when it comes to relationship drama. However, I can't help but wonder how audiences would respond to a movie entitled, "SHE'S just not that into YOU?"

Another Glance into Gray's...

As I watched the Gray's Anatomy and Private Practice crossover event tonight, I discovered several gender messages. Throughout the episode Dr.Shepherd was planning his proposal to Meredith. While this discussion goes on, Dr.Shepherd is surrounded by all his male co-workers and no women are shown during this scene.This highlights the point that the men should always be the ones to take risks and leadership roles in a relationship and women, such as Meredith's friends, don't have any suggestions.

During Private Practice, gender messages were revealed as well. In the episode the psychologist, Dr.Violet Turner, discovers she is pregnant and is not sure who the father is. She keeps this a secret and then ends up telling both the possible fathers; however, she has already assumed she will be taking care of the child alone without their assistance. It is interesting to see how the woman takes role of caregiver and the father gets to have no part in it. Where did the traditional male and female roles come from when it comes to marriage and pregnancy? Why is it considered unusual for a man to be a "stay at home dad" and for a woman to propose or iniate important stages in a relationship?

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.