Women's Roles in Television

Referring to the late 1920s and early 1930s, women were seen as the common housewife. This image was depicted across many media platforms. The customary role of women, was to be in charge of running the household. This included polishing, vacuuming, dusting, dishes, laundry and other tasks which needed to be maintained on a weekly or daily basis. It became a full day workload, keeping her constantly busy as if she were employed. It was required for the women of the household to be prepared for anything her husband or family desired. Housework was typically expected to only include maintenance, however, this was not the case. Cooking, cleaning, and overall upkeep was all to be completed by the wife, while the man of the house brought in the money.

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.

The stereotyping of women is quite common in today 's society and throughout history. In the past, women have taken the full time job of being a mother and a housewife. The 1930s initially started the ideal image of a woman. A woman was often represented as a maid-like being who would serve to their husband and children. In Richard Alleyne’s article, “Advice for women in the 1930s: Nothing Destroys the Happiness of Married Life More than the Lazy, Slovenly Wife,” he discusses the frequent expectations of a housewife. Common assumptions included; “Don’t argue with your husband; do whatever he tells you and obey all his orders” (1) and “Nothing destroys the happiness of married life more than the lazy, slovenly wife” (1). These rules have often been published into past newspapers that were

The woman’s role in society had many changes during the era of WWII to the baby boom era. It went from the strong independent woman that can work in a factory to a house wife that takes care of the family to the final slightly dominant, but still dependent female. All of these different feminine mystiques were changed because of society and through indirect propaganda in TV shows and

television became the new standard for life. By the 1950s, it was the only thing people could think

Television allows people to see more and choose what they want to be. Women need to be shown in occupations that are not the stereotypical, such as the occupations of nurse, maid, sales assistant, or models. Men are often shown as the breadwinners while women are shown as being emotional and domestic caregivers. Television ought to demonstrate strong older women instead of feeble grandmothers baking cookies. Teenage girls should be represented on television as being able to have serious conversations and feeling that their brains are as important as their looks. Women are often shown as only being able to get what they want by using sexuality. Television audiences certainly must demand more from the television shows the audience watches.

In the 1960’s, women had been placed in stereotypical roles for years. But women were tired of these roles and were done with being complacent. They felt like something was missing in their lives, and they desired something more. The typical American

Before the start of the Great War, women played the role of a housewife, cleaning, and completing housework. They were not given much respect and expected to

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies; A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarilythat of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. Men were typically employed, successful gentlemen, while the woman’s only job was a housewife. The film industry was mostly dominated by men. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had

When women first aired on television, they were seen as housewives and mothers. Few had jobs. Most of the women had husbands that worked hard everyday, and they had submissive roles. Women were not the decision makers, nor did they have too much intelligence. This was seen in shows such as All in the Family, The Beavers, The Donna Reed Show, The Brady Bunch, and many more. There were not any female news anchors, and when they were on television they did cooking shows, and perhaps the weather. As time moved on and the Women Movement began, women became working mothers; still they had lower roles, such as secretarial ones, and factory jobs. Presently women have been portrayed as more career oriented. They are doctors and lawyers, managers, and television anchors. There are also many shows where women are more independent. Many are not married, some are single mothers, and some are even divorced. This was a positive change, but yet it does hold some media bias. The problem is whether these changes occurred because of a societal shift, or was this because people who invested in the media saw this happening, wanted ratings, and felt that this must be done and in turn society began to shift their way of thinking about women; or was it a combination of both?

During the early 1900’s to the Roaring Twenties, the transition from true woman to new woman was made once women, in general, finally realized that they no longer had to be the property of their husbands and go out and make a life for themselves! It started with the beginning of the Flapper. The first rebellious women of the 1920's to glamorize their wealth, their attractiveness, and the ability to make money. A Flapper is a woman who was "known for their unconventional style and behavior." This paper will explore the transition of true woman to new woman through the eyes of a Roaring Twenties Flapper.

They could not strive to be better and they could not challenge the way society thought. This is simply not the case today. Our society has advanced to the point where there are not such defined boundaries on what a woman can achieve. Many women have accomplished achievements that early 20th century women didn’t even dream about such as voting. Voting was a right gained by women in 1920. The 19th amendment says that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This was a great victory for women. Also, women work much more now. Women are doing jobs that were historically reserved for men such as the military. Another area that women are thriving in now is sports. In the early 20th century you would never hear of women participating in sports on any level. Today women’s sports are plentiful. Women have achieved a lot over the last century.

When the television set first came out fully around the 1930’s, it only offered a few shows; a child’s program, sports, news, and comedy. Families that could afford a TV set could watch shows,

The movie Father of the Bride, portrays women to be homemakers. They are suppose to stay at home, watch over the family, and be there to great their husbands at the door when they get home from work. The movie tells the story of Kay Banks, a girl who has graduated from highschool and is now waiting to find a husband. She is a daddy’s girl who gets everything she wants. Even though her father is against a big church wedding he gives in and Kay and her new husband have a beautiful wedding and everyone lives happily ever after. In the 1950’s women were expected to be beautiful and be good wives.

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.