Ramblings of a Sickie

For the past several days, I have been laid up in bed stricken with that awful flu bug.  My major accomplishments have been turning the TV on and off.  With a 100 degree fever and blankets piled so high I could barely see the TV over them, I managed to come to the realization that Women & the Law has ruined the simplicity of television for me.  The other night I was laying in bed listening to an episode of MASH (that's right I didn't even bother trying to keep my head up to see the actual show), and all I could think of was, my gosh I cannot believe the gender roles they are portraying here.  Its really amusing because in this episode the lead woman's paramour wanted her to where pretty dresses and make his food for him and she fought back against this notion of a woman's duties.  I originally thought, hey that's cool this show was progressive in trying to shatter traditional notions of gender.  But, I then proceeded to think back about other episodes and came to realize what a gendered nightmare this show actually is.  The strong female lead who has attained the rank of major is nicknamed Hotlips, shows masculine characteristics as we might say in class, and is hyper sexual.  All, other women on the show are basically sex toys.  Not exactly my ideal portrayal of women. So now, even while delirious with fever, I cannot seem to watch a simple comedy TV show for pleasure. No, I must pick apart every little aspect of those 22 minutes.  So I ask you, does anyone remember when TV was just something fun to watch before law school corrupted your viewing habits? 

GREAT POSTS!

Such GREAT posts, everyone! Keep up the good work!

Sorry I had to cancel class today -- I've got the virus Maya had last week. Sigh. I can't talk, but I can still type. But who knows if I can make sense with a fever of 102!

Two things to think about while we don't have class:

1. A reporter at NBC has been suspended because he said that the Clintons were "pimping out" Chelsea by having her call superdelegates to campaign for Hillary. Do you think a reporter would have said the same if Mitt Romney's sons were making calls for their dad?

2. Remember the attitude test I mentioned that revealed my bias toward the elderly? If you're interested in checking out your attitudes, click here!

What would Saint Valentine think?

Since Valentine's day is getting closer, I have noticed that there are more sexist commercials on television. The commercials are all about buying women flowers and diamonds and big teddy bears. So if men are being encouraged to be generous, why am I so offended?
I thought that Valentine's day was about celebrating love. Love that is equally shared between men and women, and even parents and children, and between friends. So why is the media focused in on getting "your girl" exactly what she wants? What she wants of course is expensive, flashy, and material. Women never want to spend quality time, uninterrupted with their loved one's according to the media (except for maybe sex--as the KY commercial tells us).
Why aren't there commercials about what to get men for Valentine's day? I have yet to see one, but I'm sure there is at least one.
This morning I noticed a sexist Valentine's day event in the wierdest place, my son's cartoon, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I only saw the last 10 minutes, but that was enough for me to be shocked. Mickey had spent the whole show making a Valentine's day present for Minnie. (no problem yet) Then at the end Mickey gives his present to Minnie, with Donald and Daisy right there. Daisy turns to Donald and asks him if he forgot anything, Donald says no (but he has no present for Daisy). So Daisy throws a hissy fit, and tells Donald that he is mean or something to that effect. (this is a little offensive, that Daisy needs a present to not throw a hissy fit) What really got me was when Mickey used his last Mousekatool to make Daisy a bow for her hair that Donald could give her. Donald gives her the gift and she calms down and is all happy again. And the icing on the cake is at the very end when Mickey says that he made the bow and not Donald. Daisy "goes off" about how Donald didn't make it, and then says "but, its OK, I love my bow". This to me stereotyped women as materialistic, who need men to give them presents to be happy. And the worst part of the whole event was that my first thought after being shocked was "at least I don't have a daughter learning this lesson." I'm kicking myself, that I thought it was OK for my son to learn this.

"Because you're not THAT GUY"

Okay this commercial bugs me because the guy is "going beyond the call of duty." With this commercial, yes, amusing, he groomed the dog and even put a bow on it--not common for men to do. But eww! I've watched this a few times, and I've come to this conclusion: The "regular guy" that goes to Helzberg instead, is so not appealing...the "regular guy" is lazy! And diamonds are lovely, but I would take domestic labor any day. This commercial says to me: oh she'll love the necklace, you don't have to actually do something that requires over 30 minutes of effort.

Maybe a car, maybe if this was a Lexus bow commercial (you know, the big surprise outside commercials), maybe then I would not be so repulsed. Because that spouse went through at least 3 hours of car bargaining, and the result was a finely tuned automobile. (Joking!)

But in all seriousness, I hate the preconceived duties that men and women have. These sentiments should be changing. It should be an entirely reasonable concept that a male spouse would wash a family pet!

How Efficient Would You Be?

As I watched the Super Tuesday primary returns the other night, I came across this on the internet, and upon a bit of investigation, found that it was an actual article. It was kind of surreal to be reading it while listening to pundits on all the cable news networks discuss Hillary Clinton as our potential next President. Since it coincides with some of our discussions on employment discrimination and stereotypes, I thought I would post it here.

An excerpt written by L.H. Sanders from the July 1943 issue of Mass Transportation magazine… This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.

“Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees: There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.

Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.”

Beautiful, But at What Cost?

During lunch today I was watching a show on plastic surgery addicts. The first thing I noticed was that every person interviewed was a woman. I know there are men that become obsessed with plastic surgery, it is not solely women consumers. The second thing that caught my attention was the lengths these women would go to in order to achieve "perfection." The choices of one women in particular were particularly appalling. In order to finance her $55,000 of elective surgery she was selling the beautiful home that her husband adored. Her son also loved their home, he and his dad hiked through the creek and went fishing on a regular basis. Was sacrificing something so cherished by her family worth liposuction and a breast augmentation? I cannot imagine being self absorbed enough to engage in such actions. Originally I was mad that she was being ridiculous and then I started to look at the bigger picture. Why is it that women feel they have to be beautiful to be accepted? Women should be valued for more than their physical attractiveness, but society has projected the image you are less valuable if you are an unattractive woman.

When was it that Americans became obsessed with the easy way to achieve their goals? The first step should be hard work and dedication. If a person desires the perfect body, working out and eating healthy should be the first step, not elective surgery.

Because elective surgery has now become an option, the standards for beauty have become almost unattainable. Enough is enough. It should not surprise anybody that girls (and boys) struggle with self image. We are attempting to raise children in a society obsessed with physical perfection and teaching children that other attributes are less importance than physical appearance. I wish optional plastic surgery was not an option. Americans should learn to accept themselves as God created them. For all the flaws I may have, this is the body that God gave me and I am going to love it, flaws included.

I also became irritated with myself while watching this show. Immediately I thought "go figure, women obsessed over their looks." My reaction frustrated me and made me realize how easily I can stereotype my own class. It also made me realize that it is often other women that are the most critical of women in general. It is possible that if women worked together, and stopped being their own worst enemy, we could start to make a difference in the societal stereotypes. But, at the same time, I find the problems numerous and the optional solutions frustrating.

It's always the television's fault

My first favorite thing about Netflix is that they have effectively introduced the term ‘queue’ into daily US lingo. My second favorite thing is that you can get an amazing variety of television shows neatly compiled and commercial-free delivered to your mailbox. I have lived without a television for a while and Netflix has provided me with the ability to decipher pre-class banter. My fiancé and I just finished our marathon viewing of HBO’s Six Feet Under and have moved on to the same network’s series, The Wire.

Five episodes in and I’m hooked. The show centers around a Baltimore police task force assigned to infiltrate a large drug operation that has claimed the lives of many Marylanders, including one State’s witness. Unlike many television crime dramas, this one doesn’t take sides or otherwise valorize law enforcement. The story-line flip-flops between various perspectives: cop, detective, drug addict, informant, district attorney, judge, public defender, prostitute—none of whose lives is sugar-coated. I was first drawn by the mystery, then by the politics but ultimately hooked by the honesty.

Perhaps I’m over-sensitized because of my enrollment in Seymore’s Women and the Law, but my infatuation with the show is being challenged by my inability to stop analyzing women’s portrayal in everything I encounter. While women are distinctly absent from much of the cast, the roles they occupy are oozing with themes of inferiority and otherness.

Time for a disclaimer: I have only seen the first 5 episodes of The Wire. Four more seasons follow, but this analysis is based on those first 5 episodes.

The character of Kima is the largest female role. She is a narcotics detective assigned to the task force. While she is a lead detective, she is essentially one step above the lowest rank with several layers of males out-ranking her. Two of the central themes involving Kima are her lesbian lifestyle and her girlfriend’s worry over her safety. In effect, the sole female cop emulates a male identity.

The character of Rhonda Pearlman is the other regular female presence. She is an assistant state’s attorney who acts as liaison between the task force and the courts. Rhonda’s lack of character is notable. Also notable is her infatuation with lead character Detective McNulty whose booty-calls keep her favors coming to the task-force.

Other female characters play very minor roles. McNulty’s ex-wife is portrayed only in reference to his child custody dilemmas. Although McNulty is an alcoholic and endangers his children several times by mixing their visits with his work, his wife is portrayed as interfering with his fathering by continually nagging and criticizing him.

The women associated with the drug operation are primarily prostitutes and girlfriends. They are portrayed as weak-links who are targeted by the cops for their propensity to snitch. The men are largely unfaithful and otherwise disrespectful to the women. In one episode, a prostitute is sexually assaulted and dies from asphyxiation after she is abandoned in a drunken state warranting little to no reaction of the men who are present.
Is it an interest in fostering a stereotypical female presence that a show touted for its truthful characters portrays women as inferior and naive? Or are the women in The Wire a result of the writer’s effort to nail the female role? My unfortunate realization is that it likely the latter. And even more unfortunate is that even though I endorse that portrayal by watching the show, I don’t plan on rearranging my Netflix queue.