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IMAGE OF WOMEN IN THE MEDIA.
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Discusses prejudices in media representation of women.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses prejudices in media representation of women. Distinctions based on gender & race in television shows & films. Traditional view of women as "domestic." Examples of early television shows (Donna Reed Show, Leave it to Beaver). Changing image in the 1970s.. Lack of black women in TV shows, and the image of African American women in 1970s TV as one-dimensional. Films discussed include Cleopatra Jones, Sugar Hill and The Color Purple. Women as images of male fantasy.
Paper Introduction:
Gender and race intersect in media representations and in real life as well. The feminist movement took the methods of the Civil Rights Movement to heart in agitating for change, just as blacks had done before. The relative positions of women and blacks show both similarities and differences. Women actually constitute a majority in society yet still face discrimination, while racial minorities face discrimination for different reasons. Yet, both groups are seen as less able and less worthy than the white male, suggesting that the plight of black women in particular involves a double dose of discrimination. Distinctions based on both gender and race and on the two in conjunction can be seen in our popular culture, notably in films and television shows that offer particular views of both women and people of color and especially women of color that do not
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Mullings notes that the image of black women in the nineteenthcentury centered largely on two visions, that of the "Jezebel," or "thesexually aggressive, provocative woman governed entirely by libido"(Mullings 257), and the "Mammy," or "the religious, loyal, motherly slavedevoted to the care of the slaveowner's family" (Mullings 257). Society, 265-289.Saegert, Susan. Since the blaxploitation era, this pose has been the major mask worn byblack males in the media, with black females often looking on bemused bythe lengths to which males go in asserting themselves even as they seem tounderstand why the males do it. Women in early television tended to represent thisimage. Change was slow, and itwas always limited in the lifestyles it would reflect. In a film like Sugar Hill (1974), the heroinenot only fulfills male revenge fantasies but does so using both karate andthe living dead, mixing ge nres and genders at one and the same time. The changes that have come about have occurred because the CivilRights Movement created an awareness of the black community and in theblack community leading to a demand for change. The image of the black male mirrors what Richard Majors call the CoolPose, representing "a variety of attitudes and actions that serve the blackman as mechanisms for survival, defense and social competence" (Majors 84). Women in theblaxploitation films were largely window-dressing, emerging as victims moreoften than not. Distinctions based onboth gender and race and on the two in conjunction can be seen in ourpopular culture, notably in films and television shows that offerparticular views of both women and people of color and especially women ofcolor that do not comport with reality but that do reflect deeply ingrainedprejudices. The males tended toward theSuperspade image, and part of that image was the old black stud stereotype,making women conquests to be counted. In the 196 s, a show called Julia could get on the air because it hada black star with drawing power, Diahann Carroll, and because the messageof the show was non-threatening to the audience to whom the businessinterests wanted to sell their products. "Masculine Cities and Feminine Suburbs: Polarized Ideas, Contradictory Realities." Signs 5(3)(Spring 198 ), 97-111.Zinn, Maxine Baca. In the 197 s the situation changedsomewhat as programmers attempted new types of program with new roles forwomen. It is clear that the appropriated genresof the blaxploitation era were largely male-oriented, that the black malewas given the leading role in the blaxploitation movement, that this wasbecause the audience was perceived as largely young and male, and while themen in these films were fantasy figures, that fantasy had more power thanthe fantasies of women in the same films. In the movies, blacks were also related to roles as servants andmenials in Hollywood productions (though there was a black film movementthat emulated Hollywood genres with all-black casts and so offered a morevaried representation of blacks). Gender and race intersect in media representations and in real lifeas well. "Chicano Men and Masculinity." In Men's Lives, 87-97. Messner (eds.), 83-86. New York: Macmillan, 1989.Mullings, Leith. Most formerly-married women in situation comediesat the time were typically widowed, though two programs in the 197 sfeatured divorced women--Fay and One Day at a Time. The black female audience was largely ignored, a situation that wouldchange with the success of The Color Purple in the 198 s. These twoimages persisted in modified form and continue in the present, though theMammy of today is devoted to the care of her own family rather than that ofany owner. The Cosby Show would do the same thing in a differentdirection, showing a middle-class family that was superior in lifestyle andvalues in a way that was not realistic to the American experience, black orwhite. Glamor was still the norm, and the show hadmore in common with The Donna Reed Show than with some of the currentpresentations of black women on television. A look at the range of black roles on television today shows that muchhas changed and that the America reflected on screen today is more like thereal America, with blacks and whites in all walks of life. The black worldarrived in some form in the 197 s during the era of television relevance,when relevance sold. "Cool Pose: The Proud Signature of Black Survival." In Men's Lives, Michael S. As long as there were viewers, shows like Sanford andSon had their place. Saegert echoes thisidea as she notes how women have been identified with the home so that "thedomestic, and the suburban is our psychic, economic, and cultural sense ofhome" (Saegert 898). When it could be proven thatthere was a large black audience and that this audience would watch andspend money, shows were produced for that audience. The dedication to accepted white genres may have hadsomething to do with this--women were not being treated much better inwhite films in these same genres, but there were counterbalancingdepictions in other types of films and in other media (notably television)to undercut the negative effects of certain generic and stereotypicaldepictions. The changes have been positive because they have given greateropportunity to blacks and have broken down barriers so that blacks areaccepted in other capacities--news people and commercial spokespersons, forinstance--but they still do not reflect the diversity of black life or ofthe roles women take in society. Women were seen in shows like TheDonna Reed Show or Leave It to Beaver as the perfect housewives, oftendoing their chores in designer clothing, never failing to have dinner onthe table, and totally dedicated to home and family. "Images, Ideology, and Women of Color." In Women of Color in U.S. The situation comedy now included a number of shows featuringwomen, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which explored the status of themain character as a single, professional woman who did not have marriageuppermost in her mind. Yet, both groups are seen as less able and less worthythan the white male, suggesting that the plight of black women inparticular involves a double dose of discrimination. The image has evolvedas social attitudes have changed. For much of television's early years, the America reflected on thescreen was a nation of white faces, with only a few black faces tossed in,usually in menial occupations such as janitor, elevator operator, and soon. Women have always beenmore frequently portrayed in comedy roles than in serious roles ontelevision and still are today. In the 197 s, the perception that therewas a black audience led to the blaxploitation era, which elevated theblack male to the role of Superspade and devalued the black woman to agreat degree, making her into a whore or at least easy prey for thesexually hyperactive Superspade. The appeal then was directly tothe white audience, still the largest audience and still the "buyingpublic." Julia was a widow with a small son, and she worked outside thehome in a doctor's office. These changes includedshifts in gender representations as well. Such shows still featured stereotyped portrayals byshowing only one aspect of the black experience as if it wererepresentative. Works CitedMajors, Richard. Gender and race areinterdependent in media representations of minority men and women, and themen tend to be seen more realistically, seeking to assert their masculinityin a world shaped for white males, while the women often serve more asimages satisfying a male fantasy. This seems to beprecisely what has happened in recent years. Women actually constitute a majority in society yet stillface discrimination, while racial minorities face discrimination fordifferent reasons. When females wereshown as stronger, as in a film like Cleopatra Jones (1973), the woman wasa cross-over male action figure and served more as an image from maledaydreams than a real woman. Many of the prejudices we encounter in media representations may beclearer in a historical context because representations in the past wereusually more open about certain prejudices. Even the good changes have been seen as existing within arelatively narrow spectrum that still sets blacks apart on television,relegating them to specific programming niches and even behaviors and notreflecting the life of most blacks in America. Mullings points out how womenwere viewed in traditional Western societies in the nineteenth century.The ideal woman was seen as "incontrovertibly identified with the home: asthe ideal wife and mother; as good, passive, delicate, pure, submissive,calm, frail, small, and dependent" (Mullings 257). Gender is shaped this way because of theperception that the black audience was largely male. Those counterbalancing images were absent for black women,however. In the 195 s and into the 196 s, the mammy character waspresent in many television shows as the loyal maid on programs like Beulah. The feminist movement took the methods of the Civil RightsMovement to heart in agitating for change, just as blacks had done before.The relative positions of women and blacks show both similarities anddifferences. This is not tosay that there are no problems or that blacks are accorded fully equaltreatment, but it is clear that portrayals of blacks on television havechanged greatly over the last four decades both in number and substance.Some of the changes have been seen as good, and others have been seen asnot so good. A similar dynamic is evident inrepresentations of Latinos with the dedication to an image of machismo, asZinn notes with reference to both blacks and Chicanos as showing "a long-standing interest in masculinity" (Zinn 87). The domestic role remains important intelevision comedy precisely because the family remains a central focus formany such shows, and many women in these shows still do not work outsidethe home. Kimmel and Michael A. In the 195 s, the nuclear family was widely represented insituation comedy, while in contemporary television programming, dividedfamilies, single-parent families, and non-traditional families vie with thenuclear family for television time.
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