Relationships of Women in Television Programs.docx
Relationships of Women in Television Programs
Madison Kubik
4 December 2016
FYS The World Through the Eyes of the Media
Relationships of Women in Television Programs
Introduction
Mass media is a medium of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people, according to Merriam-Webster. Technology and mass media can affect many people in many different ways depending on how they receive the information from that medium. Mass media dates all the way back 560 years to the “print revolution.” (Jones, 2013) Throughout the years the print media eventually turned into electronic media, such as internet and television. Mass media by television didn’t appear until the late 1800s, early 1900s. (Jones, 2013) The creation of the television had a profound impact on the American society and how it is portrayed. The way the media can portray women can lead to the start of stereotyping. Stereotypes are created through character’s dialogue and actions. Stereotypes, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the unfair belief that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same.
Female characters often are stereotyped. They are commonly defined by their physical appearance, family role, and job status. The typical woman on television is portrayed as tall and slim, with a happy personality with little to no intelligence. Heavier female characters were often the targets of negative comments and jokes that audience members responded to with laughter, positive comments about women’s bodies are related to their thinness. (Jones, 2013) It is common for women to be presented as more emotional and sensitive. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) Women are also defined by their family roles. Women are typically displayed as the caregiver. The biggest accomplishment of a female character is shown as being married with children. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) The common stereotype that women are housewives still is present in modern entertainment television. This is because most female characters’ job status is a stay-at-home mom. If they happen to have a job, it’s a typical feminine job, such as a teacher or a nurse. These common misconceptions all influence the female character’s relationships and how the producers decide to portray them.
Literature Review
Relationships can be formed by anybody. Intercultural relationships are formed between people with different cultural identities and include friends, romantic partners, family, and coworkers. To explain the research in more depth, women’s relationships can be broken down into three categories: romantic relationships, friendships, and relationships within a job. These factors are all frequently shown to define women and their relationships with other characters.
According to Myers and DeWall, women tend to be more welcoming of other’s opinions when deciding which shows that women are more likely to show support. People also tend to go to women more when in need of someone who will show emotions to help with their problems. Women may seem more welcoming because they smile and apologize more than men. Brain scans suggest that women’s brains are better wired to improve social relationships. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) Women are shown as sympathetic and reasonable and always want to help those in need. It is apparent in many television programs that women display these traits.
Women are often identified by their marital status. Females tend to be dependent on others to feel valued in society. Women compete less in relationships but they imitate other relationships more to feel like they fit in with the norm. Typically, romantic relationships are impacted by environmental factors, such as culture and society. When talking about relationships or flings, there are much more words to describe sexually active female than a male, and the words used for females are disproportionately negative, while the ones for males are more positive. (Jones, 2013) Despite all the displays of gender stereotyping, men and women communicate more similarly than differently.
Another common focus of television programs is women’s friendships. On a positive side, men and women have reported their friendships with women as more intimate, enjoyable, and nurturing. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) It’s also more common for younger women to spend most of their time with others than alone. Women are often shown always with friends because women are shown as dependent on others. On a negative side, women are more likely to gossip or shut someone out of a social group than men, per Myers and DeWall. As women get older, they take more pleasure in face to face conversations and like to explore more in relationships. Both the good and bad traits frequently make their appearance on television.
Lastly, women are defined by their job status and the relationships within that job. In the home, women are 5 times more likely to claim primary responsibility for taking care of children. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) Also, 69% of people said they have a close relationship with their father, but 90% of them said they feel closer to their mother. (Myers & DeWall, 2015) That’s why women are commonly known as the main caregiver in the family and that is why a usual job for female characters on television is a housewife. As noted before, if these characters are not housewives, they have feminine jobs. Women seen in higher position jobs are usually seen as villains. It is a common portrayal for women to rely on their husbands for financial support. (Ni, n.d.) Most television programs have the female character as the parent who focuses more on the children. These statistics are present in today’s entertainment television.
Methodology
To answer the research question, two types of entertainment television programs were examined to view how the relationships of women are portrayed. These two television programs were examined for the project: Glee and Survivor. Two episodes from each program were examined to see how the relationships of women were portrayed throughout the show on reality and entertainment programs. The statistics and traits that were stated in the literature review were used as a template in this examination.
The position and characteristics that female characters’ hold that were observed in these programs were: personal characteristics which include emotional, caring, loyalty, and manipulative. The positions these female characters’ hold is the position of a friend, position in a relationship/position as a flirt, and job position.The television episodes that were the focus of this study are: season 1, episode 6 of Glee titles “Vitamin D” (2009); season 6, episode 13 of Glee titled “Dreams Come True” (2015); season 32, episode 1 of Survivor titled “I’m a Mental Giant” (2016); and season 32, episode 14 of Survivor titled “Not Going Down Without a Fight” (2016). An episode from the beginning of both shows was chosen to show the starting point of the relationships, then later episodes were chosen to see if the relationships were portrayed differently and how they were affected by stereotypes.
Glee is a comedy drama series that aired from 2009-2015. It is about a group of students who participate in high school show choir while also dealing with social issues such as sexuality, race, and relationships. This program focuses on the relationships within a group as they go through high school. There are about nine female characters (Quinn, Terri, Sue, Emma, Rachel, Brittany, Mercedes, Santana, and Tina) that have strong relationships with other characters.
Survivor is a reality television competition that deals with a group of strangers on an island, who compete in competitions to ultimately win a million dollars. Season 32 focuses on three tribes: Brain, Brawn, and Beauty, each consisting of six members each. To focus on the relationships of women on Survivor, we will look at the nine female contestants.
Discussion/Findings
For this research project, the positions and characteristics that women hold influence how women’s relationships were portrayed using television programs, one entertainment program and one reality television program. Both shows portrayed relationships similarly and differently. The concepts that were highlighted through data collection: personal traits and roles (gossip, friend, and flirt/relationship status).
Personal characteristics: Many of these characteristics are present in these episodes. One character that is displayed is emotional. In season 6, episode 13 of Glee Mercedes says she must get through her goodbye speech to her friends without crying. She talks about her friendships and how they led to her success before singing a song about being together again while crying. In this episode being emotional came from happiness from her friendships. On a negative side, season 32, episode 1 of Survivor, Aubry is shown as emotional on only the second day because she is already having a mental breakdown about the competition. In this example, some of the tribe members in the final episode of that season noted they thought she was weak. Another characteristic the women in both shows display is caring. In episode 13 of season 5 of Glee, Emma, as a wife, cares a lot for Will and listens to him when he has worries about if he will do his new job good enough. This trait is shown the same in the first episode of season 32 of Survivor when Aubry is having a mental breakdown, the other female tribe members care for her and help her get through it. In contrast, this same episode shows the female characters feeling sorry and helping care for Jennifer while she is in pain because of a bug in her ear but the male members only care if she is healthy enough for the challenge. Another big trait shown in both episodes is loyalty. Rachel is very loyal to Will when she wins the Tony Award in season 6, episode 13. She spends most of her speech talking about how he is the reason for her success. In the last episode of the season of Survivor, the show says that loyalty has been Michelle’s strongest asset, but Cydney is the only one who hasn’t left her side. The show explains that Michele must get to the end on her own and not rely on anyone. These examples show how loyalty can be a good and bad thing. For Rachel, it led to her success, for Michelle, she is now alone in the game because she was loyal to people who weren’t loyal to her. The last trait that is presented is manipulative. In episode 6 of Glee, Terri tries to manipulate Quinn to get Quinn to give her baby to Terri. Quinn comes back and tries to use the baby to try and get money from Terri for the baby. In the first episode of season 32 of Survivor, Anna mentions she will use her looks to her advantage to manipulate others in the game. In the last episode of this season, Michelle tries to manipulate Tai by telling him that Aubry has made good relationships and she will win.
Position of a friend: In season 1 of Glee, Rachel befriends Quinn and helps her deal with her pregnancy even after Quinn has never been friendly to her. Survivor, episode 1, the girls of the beauty tribe immediately become friends and form an alliance. On a negative side, women are also portrayed as a gossip which is seen in both shows. In episode 6 of Glee, many of Quinn’s friends are shown talking bad about her and making fun of her behind her back. In Survivor episode 1, the girls of the beauty tribe are seen gossiping about the male members and judging them based of their looks. In the same episode, Liz and Neal are shown questioning Debbie’s character and if she is telling the truth about her life while she’s away doing something else. The strong friendship that Aubry formed with Neal led to him being voted off the jury. When Michelle won the power to vote someone off the jury she felt threatened by Aubry and Neal’s relationship that she voted him off because she knew she wouldn’t get his vote in the final tribal council.
Position in a relationship/ position of a flirt: As seen in episode 6 of Glee, Terri is constantly trying to make Emma jealous of her relationship with Will. Terri even becomes inappropriate at the high school to try and make her feel bad. Terri is this way because she is jealous of the friendship Emma and Will have and sometimes sees Emma flirting with Will. In result of Emma and Will’s relationship, we see in the last episode they are married. The flirting could ultimately have led to the divorce of Terri and Will. Although none of the tribe members are in a relationship throughout the show, Michelle says she wants to impress the men on her tribe with her body. As said before, Anna also said she will use her body to her advantage.
Job position: Rachel and Mercedes jobs are ones of power. Mercedes is a professional singer and Rachel is a Broadway star. Their relationships with their friends are always mentioned when they state their successes. In Survivor, Michelle’s job is one that allows her to be social. She is a bartender and she notes that it helps her know what personalities want from you. Her social game ultimately won her the title of sole survivor and the winning of one million dollars. In both of these examples the women all have jobs that have helped them in some way because of the relationships they have created to get them in the position.
Conclusions
In conclusion, women’s relationships on television programs mainly focus on common stereotypes of women which affect their relationships. These common misconceptions are seen on the television programs: Survivor and Glee. These television programs shape viewer’s ideas of women that are untrue. The stereotype that women create close, intimate relationships is portrayed in both shows but it was also a common theme that the female characters were gossips. On the other hand, in Glee, Mercedes and Rachel have jobs of power which is uncommon portrayal of women’s jobs. Lastly, the fact younger women tend to be more of a flirt is shown in season 32 of Survivor. The marital status of Emma and Terri is a common theme that is shown on Glee. These results show that stereotyping of women is apparent on television today and needs to stop because it creates false images of women and how they act within relationships.
References
Jeff Probst (Presenter) (February 17, 2016). I’m A Mental Giant. In Charlie Parsons’ (Executive producer), Survivor. United Kingdom: CBS.
Jeff Probst (Presenter) (May 18, 2016). Not Going Down Without a Fight. In Charlie Parsons’ (Executive producer), Survivor. United Kingdom: CBS.
Jones, R. G. (2013a). Chapter 2: Communication and perception. In Communication in the Real World: An introduction to communication studies (pp. 58-121). Retrieved fromhttp://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/jones-communication-in-the-real-world-an-introduction-to-communication-studies-1-0.
Jones, R. G. (2013a). Chapter 8: Culture and communication. In Communication in the Real World: An introduction to communication studies (pp. 438-496). Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/jones-communication-in-the-real- world-an-introduction-to-communication-studies-1-0
Myers, D., & DeWall, C. N. (2015). Psychology (11th ed.). New York: Worth Publish
Ni, C. TV Drama. Retrieved August 01, 2016, from Portrayal of Women in the Media, https://mediarepresentation.wordpress.com/women-in-tv-dramas/
Ryan Murphy (writer) & Elodie Keene (director). (May 19, 2009). Vitamin D. In Ryan Murphy’s (Executive producer), Glee. United States: Fox.
Ryan Murphy (Writer), Brad Falchuk (Writer), and Ian Brennan (Writer) & Bradley Buecker (Director). (March 20, 2015). Dreams Come True. In Ryan Murphy’s (Executive producer), Glee. United States: Fox.
Skeggs, B. (2010). The value of relationships: affective scenes and emotional performances. Feminist Legal Studies, 18(1), 29-51. doi:10.1007/s10691-010-9144-3