The 1970s was a decade of flashy outfits, progressive movements, Barbies™, Farrah Fawcett, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Television shows were popular at this time in the 21st century, as was the oversexualization of female sex symbols in the shows. At a time of progressivism in America, and at a height in the feminist and women’s liberalism movements, the presence of female lead characters in the show was important, but their portrayal as TV sex symbol women ultimately made their presence harmful to the movements. The TV’s sex symbols attracted viewers, but the dynamics of the television show ultimately strengthened the belief that men and women aren’t equal. This was actually harmful in the feminist development of those that viewed these …show more content…
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched her nomination for the Presidency in 2015, an important milestone in the history of feminism. At the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, which was held shortly after Secretary Clinton launched her campaign, "Saturday Night Live" cast member Cecily Strong reminded journalists in attendance that reporting on Secretary Clinton's appearance was not journalism. This is a reflection of modern society’s belief that focusing on the appearance of women in politics is inappropriate, especially considering how men in politics aren’t equally scrutinized on their looks. In the opening scene of the episode of the The Mary Tyler Moore Show titled What Is Mary Richards Really Like, main characters Mary Richards, a successful single woman with a prominent job, is struggling with what to wear. While conversing with her friend Rhoda, Mary goes through many different outfits trying to find a sexually appealing outfit. Rhoda tells Mary that there is no such thing as an outfit that is “too sexy.” This contradicts the principles of feminism today, which suggests that appearance shouldn’t be a …show more content…
When looking at the list of most admired women, one sees names like Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Ellen DeGeneres. This role modeling is usually positive, as it inspires women to not back down and reach their God given potential. Prior to television shows like the Mary Tyler Moore Show or Wonder Woman, there weren’t shows with female characters in prominent positions. Sitcoms like these allow women to see examples of their potential and strive to be anything they want to be. For example, prior to Wonder Woman, little girls watching superhero shows only saw male superheroes. At a time of early development, these girls were led to believe that they couldn’t be superheroes because there were no woman superheroes. Seeing women in positions of leadership in the news world, as superheroes, or in modern day running for the presidency, indicates to women that they can be anything they want to be. This is an important principle of feminism, that is aided through these
With the shift of gender roles in American culture, comes the shift in how Americans portray characters in certain television and media shows. While the cultural norms and beliefs change as a country, so do the way people perceive the roles of males and females. In the 1950’s, it was normal for a female to be working on and at the home, taking care of the kids, and doing the tedious chores around the house. All while the male is at work, making the money to support the family. In today’s time, with many advances in women’s rights and cultural acceptance, these roles are not so specific to a gender.
On September 20, 1984 a show aired that changed the way we view gender roles on television. Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes and in reflecting them TV reinforces them by presenting them as the norm (Chandler, 1). The Cosby Show, challenged the typical gender stereotyping of television, daring to go against the dominant social values of its time period. In its challenge of the dominant social view, the show redefined the portrayal of male and female roles in television. It redefined the gender role in the work place, in social expectations, and in household responsibilities. The Cosby Show supported Freidan in her view of “castigating the phony happy housewife heroine of the
Media influence is one of the most powerful economic and cultural forces today. By deciding who gets to talk, what shapes the debate, who writes, and what is important enough to report, media shape our understanding of who we are and what we can be. You could go to a film, switch on the TV, tune in to the radio, turn the pages of a magazine, or surf online. Regardless of your choice of media, you’d have a good chance of encountering stereotypes that perpetuate gender discrimination. The “Miss Representation” documentary film written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.
Underlying the feminism movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the “white racist ideology.” The women’s movement of the 1960s was in fact the white women’s movement. It was an opportunity for white feminists to raise their voices, but they only spoke about the plight of the white woman and excluded themselves from the collective group of women across all races and social standings. White women assumed that their experience was the experience of all women. When black women proclaimed that the movement was focused on the oppression of white women, the white feminists asserted “common oppression” and retorted with “oppression cannot be measured.” Ironically, feminists in the 1960s compared their oppression to the oppression of African Americans as
Women rights movement’s dates back to the nineteenth century as the female gender was seeking to have a place in the society where they have their rights and entitlement fairly given to them. It was instigated by the fact that the male population by making them feel as less beings in the society. This is because they were not entitled to having their views brought out. However, in the 1970’s efforts to secure equal rights for women by eradicating gender discrimination put by institution, laws and various behavioural pattern meet serious activism (Barrett. 2014). The reforms enjoyed currently concerning women empowerment is as a result of all the atrocities that they went through at this time. It is, therefore, evident to say that the challenges faced by women in the 1970’s rights movement gave birth to new opportunities such as coming up with severe laws on gender discrimination, pushed for the Title IX law and defining rape as a crime.
Television sitcoms of the 1950’s through 1990’s limited women’s roles in the American workforce by reinforcing common gender stereotypes concerning women’s rightful sphere. Since television sets became mainstream and entered almost every American home, the content of American sitcoms has reflected the culture of the times. Thus, as the popular American sitcoms of the 1950’s suggest, women living in the 1950’s had very little economic opportunity and almost no role in the American workforce outside of the home. In the decade following World War II, society experienced a return to normalcy. Traditional ideals, such as republican motherhood, quickly abandoned during the wartime, returned with newfound vigor.
“For the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s the subject of feminism was women’s experience under patriarchy, the long tradition of male rule in society” (765) Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan declare in their introduction to Feminist Theory. “To be a woman under such conditions was in some respects not to exist at all” (765). In a world dominated by men, The Mary Tyler Moore Show gave audiences and especially women, the character of Mary Richards, a thirty year old, independent, and work-driven woman who was single by choice. She is noted as being an essential female character on television and the first two episodes of the show “Love All Around” and “Today I Am A Ma’am” in particular, feature moments where Mary portrays an ideal feminist.
In the 1975 episode of Wonder Woman titled “The New Original Wonder Woman”, Amazon Princess Diana Prince leaves her woman-dominated home of Paradise Island in order to help U.S. Army Major Steve Trevor defeat the Third Reich’s threat to democracy and humanity. Wonder Woman’s strength and feminine power allows her to defeat the Nazis’ mission of ___. The episode utilizes Wonder Woman’s superheroism as well as her interactions with both women and men to appeal to various feminist ideologies -- particularly pertaining to equality feminists, difference feminists, and even antifeminists. The series thus affirms Elana Levine’s argument that “TV’s sex-symbol women allowed viewers to accept and reject the ideas about sex and gender up for debate in
During, the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement, women had begun to protest for the same human rights as men. The main areas of protest in The United States of America were Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. There were many ways to protest, including writing, art, and organizations. There were many writers who wrote about feminism during this time, some include Betty Friedan, Robin Morgan, and Kate Millett. Art also encouraged feminism, specifically the paintings by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. There were many feminist groups that protested for equal rights, some of which were The National Black Feminist Organization, The National Organization For Women, Bread and Roses, and The Chicago Women's Liberation Union. In the 1960s and 70s,
Sitcoms reflect the changes going on in the world to show what society is like. Sometimes it’s a show about nothing and oftentimes sitcoms actually affect the world. Sitcoms created gender role stereotypes for society and they did not always show an accurate representation of life. Early on, sitcoms were family focused and they eventually begin to shed light on different problems in society. Throughout the sitcoms The Trouble With Father, Sex and the City, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Bewitched women transitioned from being in the traditional role to being an effective part of the workplace. Women were portrayed differently throughout these sitcoms; they portray women to be leaders, submissive, or the fool.
Desperate Housewives depicted a range of Women some single, some married and those that stayed at home and looked after their children but were still independent in their own right. Other strong females are the women that go out and get what they want and don’t let anyone or anything men stand in their way. Shows that portray this are Sex and the City and Ugly Betty. Both of these shows have strong female leads. In Sex and The City, the main character being Carrie goes out and fights for what she wants. This character is very relatable to the shows female audience juggling work and friends and a sex life not compromising in any area of her life. In Ugly Betty. Betty is independent in her own way. She does not care about what she looks like or care too much about what people thinks of her. Betty gets a job working in a fashion magazine which is a place people where who did not know her would expect her to work and she excels at this job. Ugly Betty shows that it does not matter what you look like if you have a passion for something you should go for it and not let anyone stand in your way. All three of theses programs being Desperate Housewives, Sex and The City and Ugly Betty show the struggles women have to go through on a daily basis. Showing the struggles real life people go through makes the shows extremely relatable and very
The women’s liberation movement (or feminism as it is now known) of the 1960s and 1970s touched every home, business, and school (WA, 705). The movement even touched the sports and entertainment industries, in fact, “There are few areas of contemporary life untouched by feminism” (WA, 717). The word feminism in the early 1960’s wasn’t often used and when it was it was used with condescension or hatred. However, in the late sixties that changed thanks to a new group of women. This new diverse group of women included the: young, old, heterosexual, lesbians, working class, and even the privileged. This diverse group came together and collectively created the second wave of feminism.
Equally important would be to stop reinforcing negative stereotypes of women on television. Television still represents traditional views of society. Women are often still generally represented as inferior to men on television. Television shows have to stop representing women as being neurotic like Monica on Friends, or difficult and bossy like Amanda on Melrose Place, or ditsy like Phoebe on Friends. Women should be represented as more than the standard stereotypical negative and simplified character viewers generally see.
This show represents men as the influential leaders in our society. The creators of this series opted to categorize all the professions with male dominated characters emphasizing the glass ceiling effect. Consequently, the undertone of this series reflected woman as the weaker less important of the two sexes. The women in this series for example were waitresses, flight attendants, and news broadcasters. Even when the producers had a woman portrayed in the same profession they gave the speaking role to the man. For example there is a man and a woman working at an information desk on a ship, the main character automatically goes to the man while the woman is shown in the background. Even the role of the staff of seven setting the tables for the president only consisted of one woman; in this scene it would have been plausible to have more than one woman, since this is categorized as a woman gender career.
Television networks are continually expanding their programming slates, and many in the past have switched to a year-round programming schedule that makes the phrase “summer return” basically absolute. On every channel, in every magazine, every darken theater, we see the way pop culture limits women’s role- girlfriends, victims, hookers, corpses, sex bombs, and “teases,” but why? Television, for most women, was the first place where they were able to visually see themselves represented. And for quite a while, they didn’t see much besides the loving wife, the dutiful daughter, gossiping girlfriends, fashion models, and the occasional maid, granny, or nanny. In Where the Girls Are: Growing Up