Women as portrayed by TV

This is just a briefish post (I promise!) because I want to add a couple of longer posts that focus on specific TV shows in the near future. I find myself watching a lot of random TV shows on DVD and on the iplayer etc (none of them live I might add!). Increasingly I have noticed some frustrating cliches and stereotypes that are not only boring and tired but offensive.

I'd like to start with a show that I had enjoyed as a child: Jonathan Creek. As a child I remember watching it and enjoying the puzzle solving, always a small competition between me and my dad as to who could solve it first (frustratingly for him I normally won!). Re-watching it as an adult I was disappointed to see the often sexist bit-part portrayal of so many of the female characters. Take the first episode for example: The Wrestler's Tomb, not wishing to spoil it for anyone it starts with an artist who has made his living painting nudes. Now there is nothing wrong with painting the female form, however, the comment was made that he was then sleeping with or had slept with a large number of his models. The women are characterised as falling madly for him and being almost in awe. It is assumed that the wife must have killed him out of jealousy, this is focused upon for a considerable part of the episode.

However, this is one episode and is perhaps not the worst of the show. One of the main recurring characters, Adam Klaus, the TV magician. He seems to permanently have scantily-clad women draped over his performances or he is portrayed as lusting after women. The women he lusts after seem to be portrayed as mere objects, in one episode he is pursuing a porn-star and is disappointed when her implant 'bursts', complaining that he has been cheated. Now I know that this is only *fiction*, but it is the fact that the writers felt this was an acceptable way to portray women and that it was necessary for the plot and episode. When actually the show would be fine with simply solving mysteries, murders and the rest. The fact that it seems almost automatic to have the female characters as 'entertainment' or the side-kick is frustrating.

Then there is the sheer number of shows devoted to beauty and conforming to an ideal. One particularly annoying example is 'Snog, Marry, Avoid?' in which women (and occasionally men) are rated by the public based solely upon their looks, they are then given a make-under. There are several flaws with this concept:

• Beauty in a person is something that can be judged, measured and rated
• Beauty is merely your appearance
• To be truly happy you should want to be desired by others, including people who you don't even know
• You should want to be married

Again, perhaps I am missing the point or being too *serious* here, but shows like this annoy me. They annoy me because they ask members of the public to judge someone based simply upon their looks; no consideration of achievements or personality and then they tell the individual that they need to change in order to be liked and desired. That is the first thing that annoys me about shows like this. The second is that there seems to be this goal of marriage presented for these entrants. You, yes you, want to be desired and married to someone who does not know you and is judging you solely on a photo shown by a TV crew with an agenda.
I also think it is dangerous for younger viewers to have this type of imagery and ideal presented as entertainment. An interesting piece by the National Association of Social Workers, based in Washington, looks at the role of body image for adolescent girls; considering the role of culture and media upon their self-image and esteem. So whilst these TV shows might be marketed as light entertainment they should be viewed as part of the cultural landscape that these young people are growing up in and trying to navigate.

I was going to look at The Apprentice and the contrasting way that women and men in business are often seen, described and portrayed. However, that is an entire blog post in itself. So I will finish with one more irritating example of casual sexism in TV fiction: Bad Education: Episode 4 School Trip: the bus driver amongst other misogynist little 'gems' reasons that he will never use sat-nav as he will not be told what to do by a woman. Again, I realise that this is *fiction* but it has been included for an attempt at comedy. It perpetuates the view that women are bossy and always moaning at these put upon men. Somewhere a writer decided that this an amusing little line for another show aimed at young people (BBC), it feeds into the society that sees women as a source of humour rather than part of the humour.

I appreciate that people might find this a little ranty or moany but I can't see a reason why TV can't be well written, respectful and still funny! We don't need to make cheap gags at the expense of a section of society. When adolescents grow up seeing women (in particular) as objects to assess based upon their beauty and as a source of amusement then is it any wonder that we still have street harassment and inequality? When our TV better reflects the world we should live in perhaps this will change.

Feminism and Fairytales

I came across an interesting article on the Guardian's website today. It was a piece about an art installation in which women signed their consent to be kissed and married by a visitor to the gallery. And like sleeping beauty these women would lie with their eyes closed and wait to be kissed. They did not have to open their eyes upon being kissed, but if they did they were to marry the man who kissed them. The man in question having also signed consent agreeing to this process, and having confirmed that they were not already married. The piece is very interesting and well worth a read, you can find it here.

However, it got me thinking about some of the child-friendly fairy-tales that I had been told as a child. (Ignoring the fact that many fairy-tales have their roots in much darker and possibly scarier tales!) Many of the fairy-tales that we tell to our children and market as toys, characters etc have perhaps undergone a re-make to make them less scary for their audiences. With this in mind we should then think about the message that is retained, added or underlying in the tales that we tell our children.

I am sure many readers can think of several straight away....
As referenced by the tale in the article, Sleeping Beauty the young, unmarried and beautiful maiden who is put to sleep by a wicked fairy awaiting her handsome and brave prince to kiss her and awaken her. What message does this give young readers?! Innocence and success are tied up in beauty, while plainness or unattractiveness is evil or up to no good! That the woman must wait helpless and lost, her life in stasis until the man comes along to awaken her and give her purpose. Her life literally was on-hold until he came along. Perhaps I am being miserable and it is simply a tale for small children...

Cinderella is another such tale. Beautiful and hard-working because her jealous and crucially here, ugly (whatever happened to everyone is beautiful or beauty is in the eye of the beholder?) step-sisters spend their time taunting her and providing her with work. The sisters attend a ball where their ugliness is once again highlighted, portrayed as miserable spinsters. The beautiful Cinderella finds herself at the ball and captures the attention of the handsome prince (notice a theme here). Fleeing as she is out of time, leaving only a shoe for the prince to use to track her down. Once again, the beautiful woman who has no hope or future is rescued by the prince.

Too many modern fairy-tales (or the adaptations that we know in modern books and films) have removed the stronger cautionary messages of traditional tales and have instead created a world where helpless but beautiful princesses await their prince. These women lack the means or ability to escape the situations that they have been placed in. A value is put upon their looks, that is not healthy, all that is good is always labelled beautiful or fair and all that is evil is lonely and ugly. The message that seems to run throughout is that these women need a man to save them. And, in the 21st century is that really a message that we want to be reinforcing every evening in bedtime reading for young children? Traditional tales with humorous messages, cautionary fables or adventurous yarns...but leave out the gender stereotyping.