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Female representations in the media
Female representations in the media
Female representations in the media
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Female representations in the media
Female representations in the media
Female representations in the media
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Every once in awhile, shows such as Leave It to Beaver or Father Knows Best come up while surfing the tv guide. While these are two examples of remarkably popular television shows of the mid 1900’s, they also portray the gender normalities of the time period. Gender roles were simply and precisely defined. Men went to work and made the money, while the women stayed home to take care of the house and kids. However, as humanity enters the sixteenth year of the twenty first century, this precision begins to blur.
I Love Lucy, one of the famous television shows of the 1950’s, depicted a zany housewife balancing chores and a growing family intermingled with a series of continuous mishaps. Aside from the show’s entertainment value, the setting provided a sense of cultural critique. In this paper, I explain the presence of patriarchal norms and degradation of female characters in the show in addition to the breaking of societal taboos brought about by the driven post-war era. A key part in understanding the setting of I Love Lucy is to understand what the values were key in 1950 American society. This post-war era was filled with a rise in suburban living.
The period of the twentieth century, specifically the nineteen-twenties, was a historically significant event in history due to the dramatic changes politically and socially. In this time period there was many altercations between two specific groups who had completely different outlooks on change. Modernists, or people who tended to be in favor of new ideas, styles and social trends, embraced the idea of change during this time period whereas traditionalist, or people who are opposed to change, had deep respect for long held cultural and religious values that they believed should not be broken under any circumstances. The disputes between the traditionalist and modernist over religious beliefs made way into the woman’s lives leaving pop culture
‘Ahhh, the good ol’ days.’ When people hear this, they think back to a time when they remember happiness in the 1950’s. However, people tend to only remember the happiness that the media portrayed and not the negative aspects of this time period. Looking at texts, and comparing them to the television shows from this time period shows that the media is an unreliable portrayal of the majority of family living and gender roles from this time period. The families in the televisions shows are conformists; a happy suburban home, a father who works, a mother who stays at home, and the three children who rely on their parents.
In 1900, only six percent of women that were married worked, instead these women were housewives and took care of the home and children. However, fifty percent of non-married women worked, but they likely stopped working once married. Only thirty-three percent women that were divorced or widowed during this time worked, and those that did worked out of need. These percentages are compared to an eighty-six percent of men, married or not, that were employed during this time period.
Women in this decade were expected to be homemakers. Popular culture was on both sides on this issue: either in protest of these societal norms or in propaganda supporting these
Despite the truths of the housewife lifestyle presented by 1950s media, popular culture failed to acknowledge the rarity of housewives, the reasons women were forced into that role, and the reality that women of color were too busy fighting for their rights to stay at home. The suburban sitcoms of the 1950s
At the start of the 1960’s, the stereotypical American family was portrayed as white, middle class, and patriarchal. “Today, ‘family’ includes a vast array of configurations, such as households formed of two or more ‘blended’ families of divorce, unmarried couples, childless households, and even gay parents,” (Oswald 310). Various social institutions, the broadening of culture, and marketing strategies diversified what was known as the American family. Marketers focused on certain groups within the family, such as kids, teens, and adults, creating consumer segmentation. Individualism furthered in the late 60’s when institutions such as wealthy businesses, the government, marriage, and universities were being questioned; fixed social roles were
Teens of the Silent generation would be subject to American society’s increasing skepticism of the government, the hippie movement, and the sexual revolution. By the end of the 1960s, mass media had started targeting this generation as a market. Later, gender roles would shift even more and the color-coated clean film that had covered the 1950s via mass media would rip into a revolution. Betty Friedman’s The Feminine Mystique would be published in 1963, detailing the suburban housewife’s depression and regret.
Fairy tales can be looked at as escape literature, however within the story Once Upon a Time it tells a story of deep meaning than just a family with paranoia issues. It all begins with the line “the little boy got a Space Man outfit and a book of fairy tales” (Gordimer 255). Nadine Gordimer emphasized apartheid through allusions of fairy tales within the story “Once Upon a Time”. Gordimer’s description of the “happy” family’s home is one with large fences, walls and many “safety” devices ensuring its safety.
Images of women have been used to sell products and send subliminal messages since we could remember. Today, it has become apparent that the way these women are photographed and used for advertisements is creating a concept that women are just objects. Over the past few centuries the objectifying of women has only increased. When television was first invented in the 1950’s families would come together and spend time watching their favorite shows. One thing the shows on TV during the 50’s has in common in are the stereotypical gender roles with no sexuality application.
Growing up as a female in the nineties had its ups and downs. Being a female who was interested in typically ‘masculine’ activities was ten times harder. Ignoring the fact that I didn’t really play with barbies so much as pretend I was batman or a power ranger most of the time, I grew up with the standard belief that women in television were only good as a plot device to make the male lead look like the hero when rescuing the damsel in distress.
Mae is a hardworking woman who is seen as “the backbone” of a diner that is flooded with truckers daily (Steinbeck 154). Mae not only supports herself, but she works endless hours trying to get extra tips. Due to the fact that she is a single woman with a job, Mae is not made out to be anything other than a hard working individual just trying to get by. Steinbeck’s portrayal of Mae can be connected to the independence that was seen in many other single women that held jobs during the 1930s. Although they faced less criticism, working single women endured an internal struggle similar to that of married women.
In the 1970’s women were expected to stay at home and take care of the household. They were usually not expected to further their education, but instead take care of the children or tend to their husbands’ needs. In 1972 Judy Brady decided to let the readers of Ms. Magazine know how she felt about her “duties”. In her short essay, “Why I Want a Wife,” Brady uses pathos to connect and appeal to the reader’s emotions while explaining why she wants a wife.
The ways in which women are portrayed in the 1960’s to date have significantly changed. Cultural changes have altered the roles of women in American society. More females have entered the paid workforce, increasing the resentment among women in regards to differences in pay and the opportunity for promotions in the work place. The Parent Trap films from 1961 and 1998 clearly illustrate the evolutionary changes in culture and society. Scenes, roles, identity, and purpose, among many other things, can clearly be compared and the differences studied while watching each film.