The topic for my research paper is the E! Television show, WAGS. The acronym stands for “Wives and Girlfriends” of professional athletes. This show revolves around these women in their mid-to late twenties who are either single, girlfriends or wives. The show’s members follow a certain hierarchy with wives at the top, following with girlfriends, and then at the bottom, single women looking for athlete boyfriends and eventual husbands. What interests me most about this show is what the importance of the hierarchy is portraying to the viewers and how the character’s interactions demonstrate that one’s goal in life should be to end up married, and specifically married to an athlete. I wanted to find out how the hierarchy is exposed to the viewer by analyzing specific episodes and scenes that directly discuss the order of the women. Specifically, I was curious to know, how does WAGS promote married life as a preferable state for women as compared to dating or being single? In episodes 2, 6, 9, and 11, each character’s function within the hierarchy comes to light. Narrative analysis will help me to follow how the WAGS’s lifestyle and mindset contribute to the idea that married women mean more in society due to having a husband, than non-married women and the two sides should be in competition.
Through narrative analysis, I will focus in on the character’s function in each of their roles within the hierarchy. I chose narrative analysis because WAGS follows the stories of
Images of the “housewives” are excessively pictured on the internet. Bravotv.com has pages full of group photographs of the women in their exotic southern outfits, sparking smiles and diva personas. Pictured on the first page is a photograph from Bravotv.com, featuring the cast of The Housewives of Atlanta. It is intriguing to note that this portrait has been cropped together as one unit. In reality, however, each woman is a picture in its self that the producers of the show pushed together to appear as one photograph. Each woman is given certain characteristics to make them, in turn, an actual character on a show. Characters are needed so that the viewer’s cans stereotype each woman, thus providing a cast of characters. This provides an array of misconceptions of who these women
The essay "Class and Virtue" by Michael Parenti offers an analysis of several TV shows which are based on stratification issues. The essay highlights that the entertainment media shows that the lower class is not adequate in contrast to the upper one. With the help of such shows as Treasure Island and The Three Faces of Eve, the author gives examples which support his statement. What is more, he also applies his statement concerning social groups and virtue to gender and race by such TV shows as The A-Team and Pretty Woman. Besides, he assumes that virtue is more likely to be attributed to those
It is often said that the media and the arts are an accurate reflection of any given community. This is especially true in American pop-culture, where television shows depict the various stereotypes attributed to men and women and the roles they play in society. House, a highly popular medical drama that revolves around Dr. Gregory House and his diagnostic team, is a particularly good example as it represents the true state of the traditional gender roles in American culture today by, both, redefining and reinforcing them over the course of the show.
Modleski argues that soap operas are crucial in understanding women’s role in today’s culture. She claims that in viewing soap operas, the viewer can identify with each of the characters together, and is able to jump between each of the characters instantly, as she sets herself up emotionally with all of them. In the essay, Modleski states that “the family is, for many women, their only support, and soap operas offer the assurance of its immortality” (Modleski 131). The viewer that Modelski is referencing to is the mother, hence carrying out to all plot improvements and new events, although even in this state of explanation she does not, or cannot, create a particular bias or take an interest in just one of her ‘children’ over another (133). She suggests that being in this position of the ‘good mother’ popular culture can change one’s concept of self and one’s identity. In depicting opposed themes such as good
Throughout this article Brady uses ethos, logos, and pathos to illustrate her opinion that the wife does too much in a family. Brady connects with her audience by relating to what was expected of them back in the 1970’s. She states reasons to why she wants a wife and lists what she says a wife would do for her. Lastly, Brady connects emotionally to her audience by
However, it can be observed and said that they have always lived up to the image of “housewife” material or as a constant collaborator of a male role, instead of being the main character. According to Elasmar, M., Hasegawa, K., & Brain, M, on their essay the portrayal of women in the US prime television, “TV has portrayed females in many ways, studies have shown that women have been underrepresented and stereotyped in TV programs.” Women have been living under that invisible stereotype that has cornered them and does not allow them to grow professionally or socially. TV has been the master-mind behind a stereotype that has left women without the chance of demanding equality or credibility on shows, a stereotype that will always be mentioned and enforce if TV shows do not start producing real-world programs based on true stories or true qualities of
On the same cable networks that act as the home for gay and lesbian television series, America finds its new woman for the new millenium: she’s smart, independent, gainfully employed, sexually confident, and, usually, she’s single. Television finally has room for a woman to fly on her own, without her minivan, Cub Scout den-mother meetings, or workaholic husband to feed and clean up after. The prime example for TV’s new “wonder woman,” is found in the four women of HBO’s Emmy Award winning series, “Sex & The City.” These
• A possible place to look for analysis is in the names of the characters:
The second pattern that the show demonstrates is the dominance of heterosexuality and heterosextual privilege. All the character in the show are in a heterosexual relationship which are reflected in the nature of the space that they occupy. In the workplace and within the household the representation of heteronormative culture dominates. There is no representation of homonormative spaces or other sexual minorities in the show. The third pattern that the show demonstrates is gender performance. West and Zimmerman refer to gender performance as “doing gender” which will be later discussed in the next section. Due to the strong heteronormative nature of the show, the pattern of explicit gender performances are portrayed through clothing, behaviors, and interactions.These patterns are all related to specific locations in which each of the genders occupies. It is through this segregation of genders that the show perpetuates societal norms that support heteronormative culture and result in gender inequalities.
Therefore, the Marxist base-superstructure model must be consulted, and the capitalist ideology behind The Bachelor explained. Karl Marx’s theory basically states that the base determines the superstructure’s content. Upon relating that idea to mass media or more specifically TV as the superstructure, the base can be defined as capitalist corporations consisting of writers, producers, editors and directors who all support capitalist ideology. As a result, the American audience sees what capitalists believe should be America’s dominant ideology. The primary message that The Bachelor sends is that money can bring a lasting happiness and a loving marriage. There are also the inferred ideas that people should value a person’s youth and attractiveness above personality and intellect, and that a meaningful relationship can be formed into a marriage proposal in just a few months. For many skeptical and educated viewers, it is hard to see the reality or truths in these shows. So this is when
The Reality TV Show I chose for this assignment is The Bachelor. This TV show is very dramatic and definitely leaves you on the edge of your seat. The Bachelor is about one man who is looking to find love, and approximately 20 women competing for his love. In the season I chose to watch, Sean Lowe is the bachelor. Each week he sends another women home until he is left with his future wife. The three episodes I chose to watch were the last three of the season. Which included the home town dates, the final two, and then the finale, where Sean picked the women he wants to spend the rest of his life with. This show is definitely odd; however, it is extremely entertaining. The audience for this show is typically female teenagers and
For this paper, I have chosen to analyze the sitcom That 70s Show. This show follows the lives of a group of teenage friends: Jackie, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Eric, and Fez. The show addresses many social issues of the 1970s, including: Sexism, sexual attitudes, drug use, and the recession. It also highlights many of the inventions and developments of the entertainment industry, such as the remote control and Star Wars.
We have decided to conduct this study with the focus on three sitcoms from the 1980s which are Fresh Prince, The Bill Cosby Show, and Full house. In addition, focusing on three sitcoms for comparison in todays time, 2000s which are Full House, George Lopez and Family Matters. Each of these research samples display a variety of roles played, race, gender and change in family perception. There will be significant differences in the family structures as a function of time and race/culture of sitcoms aired in the 1980’s versus in the 2000’s. More specifically, it is expected that there will be a significant differences in the portrayals of family size, social class, locations, origin, and gender roles.
For many years reality TV shows function as the primary mass media and they play a significant part in changing our underlying gender stereotypes. The reality TV show "The Amazing Race" challenged the stereotypical demeanor of masculinity and femininity. Women could be masculine represented by their competitiveness in the race whereas men appear collaborative, which is stereotypically attached with femininity, in order to win the race. This study investigates gender stereotypes portrayed in "The Amazing Race" Israel season 4. This study attempts to explore how a reality show addresses gender stereotypes. I will start by thinking again regarding the significance of language and gender by indicating the obstacles in writing a study about language
Over the past two decades, the impact of gender role stereotyping on our society has been examined in numerous studies. The purpose of these studies was to determine whether the sex bias portrayed in books, TV shows and social media is still as prevalent as in the past. Modern Family is one of the TV shows that clearly prove that, the roles played by males and females have changed in by the time. Modern Family show is about a family that tackles normal, everyday problems. The show features three combined families Jay and Gloria, Phil and Claire, Mitchell and Cameron and how different genders in each family act. Because of gender stereotype issues like gay marriage, house wives and large difference in age between married couples, this show focused on challenging these stereotypes and solving such conflict in our society.