Television and Stereotypes about Women - Essay Example

I watched several episodes of Desperate Housewives which revolves around the story of families living in Wisteria Lane. Different types of families as well as personalities are depicted in the show. The common themes that are portrayed in the series were sanctity of marriage, resisting and succumbing to temptation, stereotype of an ideal housewife, societal expectations on men and women as well as the role of adults in influencing the lives of teens and children. The drama series shows how such a perfect suburbia keeps the deepest and darkest secrets as well as imperfections about every family living in the area. It is a constant unravelling of events as to how husbands and wives cope with the different challenges of life which includes work, family, relationships among others. It also depicts he truth that we cannot always have everything and what we have might not be something that we wished for but actually something that we actually deserve. B. There are obvious biological differences between the sexes. Most important, women have the capacity to bear children whereas men do not. These biological differences contribute to the development of gender identity, the self-concept of a person as being male of female. Gender identity is one of the first and most far-reaching identities that a human being learns. Many societies have established social distinctions between the sexes which do not inevitably result from biological differences. This largely reflects the impact of conventional gender-role socialization. Gender-roles were defined as expectations regarding the proper behaviour, attitudes and activities of males and females. The application of traditional gender roles leads to many differentiation between men and women. Both sexes are physically capable of leaning to cook and sew, yet most western societies determine that these tasks should be performed by women. Both men and women are capable of learning to weld metal and fly airplanes but these functions are generally assigned to males. All of us can describe the traditional gender-role patterns which have been influential in the socialization of children and the United States. Male babies get blue blankets while females get pink one. Boys are expected to play with trucks, blocks and toy soldiers; girls are given dolls and kitchen goods. Boys must be masculine – active, aggressive, tough, daring and dominant – whereas girls must be feminine – soft, emotional, sweet and submissive. Strength Boys are socialized to think that they are invulnerable, fearless, decisive and even emotionless in some situations. These are difficult standards to meet; yet, for boys who does not “measure up” life can be trying. This is especially true for boys who show an interest in activities thought of as feminine such as cooking or for those who do not enjoy traditional masculine activities such as competitive sports. Spirituality Women are portrayed to be more religious and spiritual. They are the ones who continuously ask for divine guidance when the family experiences suffering or hardships. Aside from this, women are also depicted to be very keen in keeping up with the traditions or rituals required of their religion. Gender and life cycle theory In any society, gender socialization and stratification requires not only individual socialization into traditional gender roles within the family, but also the promotion and support of these traditional roles by other social institutions such as religion and education. Moreover, even with all the major institutions socializing the young into conventional gender roles, every society has women and men who resist and successfully oppose these stereotypes: strong women who become leaders and professionals, gentle men who care for their children and so forth. With these realities in mind, it seems clear that differences between the sexes are not dictated by biology. Indeed, the maintenance of traditional gender roles requires constant social controls – and these controls are not always effective. C. Standards of Mental Health – Our society is run by male-dominated institutions, yet with the power that comes to men come responsibility and stress. Men have higher reported rates of certain types of mental illness than women do and greater likelihood of death due to heart attack or strokes. Rex is Bree’s frustrated husband with secret sexual desires. Others in the community see their family as perfect and peaceful with a perfect father. This shows that men are portrayed to be strict and stern but actually they have their unexpressed emotions and thoughts that they have to let out as well. Physical Assault – Men often consider themselves physically stronger than women. The society has this notion that aggression can be commonly associated with males than females. This can be partly true due to the increased competitiveness of men. In the series, a good example is Carlos Solis. He has this history of being too physical when he loses his temper and when he cannot think rationally. In The first season of the series, Carlos took a plea bargain which forces him to serve eight months in jail; separately, he was going to be tried in two hate crimes against two gay men. Aside from this, Susan’s husband Mike was taking drugs again that when Susan confronted him, he pushed Susan on the stairs not knowing that she was actually pregnant. Mother-blaming – women often times associate themselves with their mothers. They somewhat believe that their personality and way of life are influenced by how their mothers raised them. With this, whenever they experience success and failures they attribute or blame these experiences with their mothers. Susan is said to be always blessed with misfortunes in her life and it is evident in the series how she is always faced with failures. Her mothers erratic love life led to some distance between the two of them but they have always remained close. Pathologizing Women – Blaming women for any unfortunate events in life is another common pattern in the drama series. Lynette Scavo in the series has two kids with ADHD and an infant to take care of. She has a handful of asks to do all day and her husband fails to recognize and understand her needs. Tom, her husband, thinks that it is mostly Lynette’s fault why he lost his previous job. Depression- Gabrielle Solis achieved every dream she had when she was a teen. She thought she had everything she wanted, a beauty title and a rich husband. She became depressed because she cannot figure out what she really wanted. With this depression, she turned into a young gardener for affection and love which resulted into an illicit love affair. Self-esteem – Bree is considered to be the perfect homemaker at Wisteria Lane. She is good in cooking and doing household chores and aside from this she knows how to use firearms. Although she seemed very perfect, she has this anal retentiveness disorder wherein is she is very much keen with physical appearance that most of the people she knows get annoyed with her at one point or another. She has a high self-esteem because when she compares herself to the other housewives she is pleased to know that she appears to be the wife they all wanted to be. Body Image – Lynette is a very hardworking mother and wife. She takes care of the children while her husband is always away from home due to work. She does not have time to take care of herself that she rarely dresses up or puts on make up because she always stays inside the house. Aside from this, her husband is so insensitive about her needs and wants. With this, Lynette develops a poor body image. D. Sexism Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior than the other. The term is generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women. Lynette is confined to the house and assigned to perform all household chores although she is smart and has adequate knowledge enough to gain a career in the financial world. Her husband thinks that she should just stay home and attend to the kids and he will be the one to work for them. When they both tried to work, it turns out that Lynette has better chances of getting promotion for the job due to her innovative insights and plans. E. It is adults, of course, who play a critical role in guiding children into these gender roles deemed appropriate in society. Parents are normally the first and most crucial agents of socialization. But other adults, older siblings, the mass media, and the religious and educational institutions also exert an important influence on gender-role socialization. Television has often been criticized for its stereotyping of women, but it is far from being alone in doing so. The process of identification is more complex. How does a boy come to develops one that is feminine? In part, they do so by identifying with females and males in their families and neighbourhoods and in the media. If a young girl regularly sees female characters on television working as defense attorneys and judges, she may believe that she herself can become a lawyer. And it will not hurt if women that she knows are lawyers. By contrast, if this young girl sees women portrayed in the media only as models, nurses and secretaries, her identification and self-image will be quite different. Females have been most severely restricted by traditional gender-roles. REFERENCE: Brittan, Arthur (1984). Sexism, racism and oppression. Blackwell, 236 Read More

Physical Assault – Men often consider themselves physically stronger than women. The society has this notion that aggression can be commonly associated with males than females. This can be partly true due to the increased competitiveness of men. In the series, a good example is Carlos Solis. He has this history of being too physical when he loses his temper and when he cannot think rationally. In The first season of the series, Carlos took a plea bargain which forces him to serve eight months in jail; separately, he was going to be tried in two hate crimes against two gay men.

Aside from this, Susan’s husband Mike was taking drugs again that when Susan confronted him, he pushed Susan on the stairs not knowing that she was actually pregnant. Mother-blaming – women often times associate themselves with their mothers. They somewhat believe that their personality and way of life are influenced by how their mothers raised them. With this, whenever they experience success and failures they attribute or blame these experiences with their mothers. Susan is said to be always blessed with misfortunes in her life and it is evident in the series how she is always faced with failures.

Her mothers erratic love life led to some distance between the two of them but they have always remained close. Pathologizing Women – Blaming women for any unfortunate events in life is another common pattern in the drama series. Lynette Scavo in the series has two kids with ADHD and an infant to take care of. She has a handful of asks to do all day and her husband fails to recognize and understand her needs. Tom, her husband, thinks that it is mostly Lynette’s fault why he lost his previous job.

Depression- Gabrielle Solis achieved every dream she had when she was a teen. She thought she had everything she wanted, a beauty title and a rich husband. She became depressed because she cannot figure out what she really wanted. With this depression, she turned into a young gardener for affection and love which resulted into an illicit love affair. Self-esteem – Bree is considered to be the perfect homemaker at Wisteria Lane. She is good in cooking and doing household chores and aside from this she knows how to use firearms.

Although she seemed very perfect, she has this anal retentiveness disorder wherein is she is very much keen with physical appearance that most of the people she knows get annoyed with her at one point or another. She has a high self-esteem because when she compares herself to the other housewives she is pleased to know that she appears to be the wife they all wanted to be. Body Image – Lynette is a very hardworking mother and wife. She takes care of the children while her husband is always away from home due to work.

She does not have time to take care of herself that she rarely dresses up or puts on make up because she always stays inside the house. Aside from this, her husband is so insensitive about her needs and wants. With this, Lynette develops a poor body image. D. Sexism Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior than the other. The term is generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women. Lynette is confined to the house and assigned to perform all household chores although she is smart and has adequate knowledge enough to gain a career in the financial world.

Her husband thinks that she should just stay home and attend to the kids and he will be the one to work for them. When they both tried to work, it turns out that Lynette has better chances of getting promotion for the job due to her innovative insights and plans. E. It is adults, of course, who play a critical role in guiding children into these gender roles deemed appropriate in society. Parents are normally the first and most crucial agents of socialization. But other adults, older siblings, the mass media, and the religious and educational institutions also exert an important influence on gender-role socialization.

Television has often been criticized for its stereotyping of women, but it is far from being alone in doing so.

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