Analysis Summary!

First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone very much for reading any of my blogs! I appreciate any comments that you would like to leave, whether they are positive or negative. I would also like to thank my gender communication teacher, Dr. Danielle Stern, for introducing me to WordPress.com and allowing me to express myself through a public media forum.

Before you read the 30 posts that follow this, I would like to briefly explain the content of what you will be reading. Throughout the past semester, I have been collecting various artifacts to analyze from a gender communication perspective. I wanted to make sure that the categories which the artifacts fell into had a great deal of variance; I felt that if all of them were from similar outlets and sources, they would eventually lack meaning and become tedious. The categories I used include media sources, such as movies, television stations and their specific programs, YouTube videos, and Facebook pictures; advertising sources, such as cut-out coupons, advertisements from prior decades, and current commercials; artwork, such as paintings and published cartoons; song lyrics; and several personal experiences. When I found out that we could utilize some of our personal experiences and observations, many memories came flooding into my mind. I am definitely appreciative that we were only allowed to select five of these kinds of artifacts, because if given the opportunity, I probably would have used a lot more than that! However, I now have a broader understanding of the vast amount of “gendering” that takes place in society on a daily basis through so many unsuspected outlets.

I was surprised, but not shocked, to find that so many gender communication concepts that we have discussed are hidden in the media and real world occurrences. Some of the concepts were more obvious than others, and some were much unexpected. However, if we read enough into something, we are able to deeply interpret new meanings and make substantial gains in numerous fields. Some of the most prevalent themes found in seemingly innocent sources are feminism (American and/or global), sexism demonstrated by men or women, sex-role expectations, and gender biases and stereotypes. Also, I was able to find many sources that placed an emphasis on gender in friendships, family, relationships, and the workplace. Finally, I was able to step back and look at all of my finding from the media’s perspective and its effects on society. I knew that the media today has a lot of power over many people’s ideologies and behaviors; however, I was not one-hundred percent informed on the extent of such power and authority.

Using my knowledge of our Gamble and Gamble textbook The Gender Communication Connection, I was able to dig deeply and find many gender concepts, terms, and theories hidden in my selected artifacts. I now have a different lens through which to look at the world around me, and I can use my artifacts to back up that statement. A task that initially seemed endless and tedious inevitably brought out my best work and a more thorough, observational eye for anything that demonstrates the “doing gender” aspect of communication. Thanks to these blogs, I now possess a higher understanding of our gendered society and the communication theories featured within.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

30) 2 Song Lyrics–Ur So Gay and One of the Boys

For this final post, I actually decided to use two Katy Perry songs, comparing and contrasting them. The songs that I am going to use are “Ur So Gay” and “One of the Boys.” I feel that Perry was an adequate source to select gendered lyrics from because a lot of her songs either establish or transgress traditional sex roles in our current society. The first song is about a boy that the singer is dating. She loves him, despite the fact that he has some “gay” traits and behaviors. In the second song, the singer is describing how, even though she is a female, she acts, talks, and thinks like “one of the boys.” The following links will lead you to the each of the songs: http://www.justsomelyrics.com/1238541/Katy-Perry-Ur-So-Gay-Lyrics

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/katy_perry/one_of_the_boys.html
These two songs transgress traditional masculine and feminine roles, with “Ur So Gay” emphasizing non-traditional traits for a male to have (therefore he must be gay), and “One of the Boys” explaining traditional masculine traits, but associating them with a girl instead. From reading the lyrics to “Ur So Gay,” we are able to understand the lens that society looks through in order to analyze the sexual orientation of individuals. Stereotypically, there are significant behaviors, attitutes, and traits that supposedly represent homosexuality, and the subject of this song possesses many of them.
In “One of the Boys,” the singer describes herself as possessing masculine traits and behaviors; however, once the chorus begins, we realize that the singer does not want the person that she’s singing to to think of her as one of the boys. In his eyes, she wants to be seen as one of the girls; therefore, she begins molding herself into a “girly-girl” just to get the boy she wanted all along. But then, when she became “one of the girls” and the boy started looking at her like she always wanted him to, she said “You’re gonna have to take a number, it’s ok, maybe one day, but not until I get my diamond ring…”  This shows us the lengths that the singer would go to in order to get a boy to like her; she used to be “one of the boys,” but she changed her self-image around so people would view her differently and see her as exploring a different path of “sex-role development.” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 39) Through this song, we are also able to discover the singer’s development of self-concept and gender identity, “the inner sense one has as male or female.” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 43) At first, she views herself as just one of the boys (male), but then her views start to evolve and actually switch genders when she realizes that she wants to be associated as one of the girls (female).

Perry, K. (2007). One of the Boys. One of the Boys: CD. Hollywood, CA: Capitol.

Perry, K. (2007). Ur So Gay. One of the Boys: CD. Hollywood, CA: Capitol.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

29) Article #1–Palin’s Beliefs

I found a very interesting article online entitled “Sarah Palin’s Retrograde Gender Politics,” and I have decided to share it with you all via this post. This article brings the subkect of gender into politics, and discusses Sarah Palin’s gender role and respective goal for gender in the most recent election campaign. In the the article, we learn that Sarah’s role in the campaign was not to reassign certain gender positions, but to reinforce traditional gender roles in politics (with masculinity in the foreground). We read that her goal is not to give equality to women in the White House, but to serve under a man who will epitomize masculine characteristics and male gender roles. The article plays up Palin’s use of the “wimp factor,” when regarding Obama and his lack of the…hutzpah…to say we’re “winning” the war. In addition, we learn that Palin “attempted to discredit community organizing by feminizing it” (Martin, 2008), thus backing up what men have been saying about women’s roles throughout history–that women’s tasks are not credible as actual “jobs,” and that feminist ideals are less significant and more inferior than those of men.

After reading this article, my eyes were much more open to the ways that some women regard themselves and how traditional they actually are. I admit that I was not as informed as I could’ve been in my research on the recent election, but I was extremely surprised at the standpoint that Palin assumed throughout the campaign. She is extremely traditional and believes that men should be the providers for and protectors of her and her country. In her eyes, any man who is not a “warrior” and willing to fight to the death is not a real man at all. This enforces all three of the gender role biases we have learned from Gamble and Gamble: “The Tough Man, the Fighting Man, and the Man as Wage Earner.” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 270) Not every man in the country is ok with being held up to such high (and often unrealistic) standards and stereotypes, and I believe that this ideology demonstrated by Palin may have lost McCain’s campaign some important votes, especially from women. By projecting these attitudes to the American public, Palin was basically spitting in the faces of the women practicing feminism in this country, from moderate/liberal feminists to radical/extreme feminsts.  The vast majority of American women are growing tired of constantly hitting advancement barriers in nearly every aspect of life, and Palin was simply making it difficult for them to break free. If the potential female vice president of our country does not believe in transgressing traditional gender roles, then why should anyone else?

Martin, C. E. (2008). Sarah Palin’s Retrograde Gender Politics. The American Prospect: Liberal Intelligence, 1. Retrieved May 1, 2009, from http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=sarah_palin

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

28) TV Show #5–In Plain Sight

This next post is about a television show on USA Network called In Plain Sight. It is a show about Mary Shannon, “a U.S. Marshall in the witness protection program who spends her time relocating federal witnesses.” (www.IMDB.com, 2008) Mary is a witty and strong woman who does not tolerate idiocy and isn’t afraid to speak/act up about how she feels. She is actually the “alpha-female” in her workplace and is the more aggressive character in her partnership. Her partner, Marshall Mann, is a goofy side-kick type, and he has a playful, tedious, yet solid relationship with Mary. There is one short clip that I would like to analyze which perfectly describes their relationship. In this clip, Marshall is speaking to another co-worker about Mary, and says something about her that he perhaps should not have. When she hears him, Mary hits him in the arm, and it looks like a decent hit. Much to everyone’s surprise, Marshall hits Mary back in exactly the same way. Shocked, Mary turns on him and says: “Ow! I can’t believe you’d hit a girl!” To this, Marshall slyly replies: “You’re no girl…” and they exchange identical looks of sarcastic rivalry. (Season 2, Episode 3)

In this clip, we are able to get a feel for how Mary transgresses barriers and breaks some ideologies of what a woman is supposed to be. She is definitely a “tomboy” who isn’t afraid to get dirty to get the job done, but she is still gorgeous and can seduce plenty of men–if she wanted to, that is. We are able to see how other people view her; they do not cast her as the stereotypical “girl,” just because she possesses “masculine” traits such as strength, willpower, bravery, and the ability to get her way using threatening physical behavior and competition. Because of Mary’s job and lifestyle, she actually uses more male body motion than female; she does not “display more general immediacy behaviors, such as leaning forward, direct body orientation, and head tilting and nodding than men.” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 99) She does not exert the need to “act ladylike” and protect her body by crossing her legs and arms, some of the other tendencies that Gamble and Gamble say women do.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

Maples, D. (Writer) (2008, June 1). Season 2, Episode 3. In Plain Sight [Television broadcast broadcast]. Los Angeles: USA.

27) TV Show #4–Law and Order: SVU

For my next post, I decided to write about a scene from an episode of Law and Order: SVU. The SVU in this series stands “Special Victims Unit,” a unit that deals with sexually based offenses such as rapes, rape-homicides, sexual assaults, etc. Because the crimes that the SVU deal with are based on sexuality and often gender discrimination, the show includes many gender communication concepts that we have discussed this semester. The specific example I decided to post is from Season 8, Episode 3 of the series, entitled “Recall.” In this episode, an elderly woman recounts a rape that occurred over 35 years ago in order to rightfully convict a serial rapist that was constantly slipping just out of reach.

In the episode, the elderly lady who is a native French citizen needed to share her story with the SVU. However, she was embarrassed with the story, and was refusing to speak to the main SVU agent, Detective Stabler. Stabler’s new temporary partner, Detective Beck, volunteered to talk to the woman instead. She believed that since she was a fluent French speaker, and that she was another female, she could generate a more open line of communication with the important informant. Not suprisingly, the woman opened up much more easily when the fellow French-speaking female entered and began converstaion. Because she was used to being much more intimate while speaking French with other females, the woman was able to be persuaded and tell her story. She was much more emotional around Detective Beck than she was around the male Stabler, and this shows that she was more intimate and open in face-to-face female interaction. This enforces the fact that females are readily able to communicate with other female using face-to-face interactions. Even though the Detective and the informant were little more than strangers, there was already more disclosure and depth–”the degree of intimacy that guides our decisions and their topics” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 144) to their conversations because they shared more than one thing in common.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

Wolf, D. (Writer) (1999, September 23). Season 8. Episode 3. Law & Order: SVU [Television broadcast broadcast]. Washington, D.C.: National Broadcasting Company.

26) TV Show #3–The Office

This post is about another one of my favorite prime time shows, The Office on NBC. For anyone who has not seen this show, I will provide a brief description of it and tell why I love it so. The Office is a clever and seemingly candid show about a hilarious office staff, run by Michael Scott (Steve Carell), who is the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. A documentary style television show where the characters can interact with the camera, this show has been going on for five seasons, and it is as successful as ever. This show discriminates against very little, therefore calls for awkward situations and ridiculous behaviors/shenanagins.

Although the show itself shows extremely few biases in its production and marketing, the characters in the show are supposedly “unscripted,” therefore we are able to openly witness the biases of each character and how they interact with others on a daily basis. It is through their expresssions and obvious beliefs that we see certain elements of gender communication and stereotypes. Dwight Scrute is one of the most honest and (in my opinion) one of the funniest characters on the show. He practices, without a doubt, the most traditional beliefs when it comes to work ethic, women, family, and overall culture. He is not a womanizer or chauvinist in his own mind, however he looks down upon feminism and believes that women should all dress and act the same. He views females as mates, not equals, and made an utterance last episode that proved my point. During the occasional “staff meeting,” Dwight tries to take control and exert unauthorized authority over Michael. Michael allows it because he considers Dwight a friend, but he will only tolerate him until a certain point. During the most recent episode (Season 5, Episode 24), Dwight jumps in front of the staff during a meeting being run by the human resources representative. They are discussing Casual Friday, and Dwight decides to proclaim “Women are forbidden to wear pants…” before he is cut off my the supervisor. This shows us that he wishes to live in a traditional society where all women wear skirts and “dress their gender.” As previously mentioned, he does not believe that women are equal to men. However, I believe that Dwight would agree with the mindset of radical feminism mentioned in our textbook that states “All forms of oppression are a result of male patriarchy; women are caregorized as an inferior class; and the promotion of aggressiveness in men leads to the sexploitation of women.”(Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 405) I am aware that it may sound contradictory for Dwight to agree with this while practicing such behaviors and attitudes; however, just because he agrees with such statements does not mean he thinks that they are wrong or immoral in any way. He believes that that is how things should be between the sexes, and he will promote such ideologies indefinitely. Not only does Dwight practice such behaviors in his everyday life, but he brings sexist attitudes into the workplace for other employees to encounter. These stereotypes constitute some “external barriers to career advancement by women,” just like sexual discrimination sometimes exerted by Michael (not initially allowing Pam to become a salesperson because he was used to her stereotypically female job as a receptionist). This is also demonstrating the concept of  glass walls, which “segregate women into positions because of their sex; thus, positions that require traditionally feminine skills such as secretarial and clerical roles…” (Gamble and Gamble, 2003, p. 276)!

Daniels, G. (Writer), & Gervais, R. (2005, September 24). Season 5, Episode 24. The Office [Television broadcast broadcast]. Washington, D.C.: National Broadcasting Company.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

25) Movie #2–Cinderella

This next entry is about one of my favorite Disney movies, Cinderella. For anyone who has not seen Cinderella, it is a fairytale which actually may have originated as far back in history as the first century BC in the classical antiquity period of Ancient Greece! Upon researching the story and its origins, I have discovered that it was told throughout history and all around the globe to communicate its themes of oppression and triumph over that oppression. These themes have actually been focal points of story telling as far back as the first century BC, and they still hold much interest for us today. The main plot of Cinderella is quite simple: Once upon a time, a young girl was born who was slender, beautiful, and warm. Her mother died at a young age, and her rich father married a new, but inevitably evil woman. This wicked woman was only nice to young Cinderella when her father was around, and after his death, she made the poor girl’s life miserable. The wicked step-mother and her three spoiled and wicked daughters paraded around, spending Cinderella’s father’s money and living in his manor. Cinderella was never wanted by them, and she was forced to clean the entire house and do all of the chores on a daily basis. One night, she sneaks out to a grand ball (with some magical help from her Fairy Godmother!) and meets the Prince while in a fancy disguise. Of course, her fancy magic would wear off at midnight, so she had to make a fast exit without telling the Prince who she was. She left behind one of her glass slippers, and the Prince searched the land trying to find the owner of that shoe. Eventually, he found Cinderella, found out who she really was, and vowed to love her regardless. Cinderella and the Prince lived “happily ever after,” much to the dismay and embarrassment of the evil step-family.

The story of Cinderella actually holds a great deal of sway over the realms of gender stereotyping, sex role expectation, gender roles in the family, and gender communication through various forms of the media. The way Cinderella is told to our children molds the ways they view the world and how they interact in it. Its interworkings and details communicate many things to whomever is exposed to it, and it embodies certain values and traditions about approproate femininity and masculinity. The topic of Cinderella herself is a good starting point to communicate to her audience what “real” femininity is. Although there have been many depictions of Cinderella throughout history, the one I will be referring to is the Disney version. In the animated movie, Cinderella is perfect and beautiful according to the traditional and stereotypical definitions. She is tall yet petite, with golden hair and blue eyes. Her skin is lightly colored and clear, with no defining marks or discolorations. She has a wonderful singing voice, and she has a light and breathy speaking voice. Although she has a strong spirit, she never fully uses it. Her emotions are limited to the point of classiness, and she never emotionally loses control. She cries several times during the movie, but only in the way that a girl is supposed to cry–sweetly and hidden in her arms or a curtain. Whenever mothers show this movie to their young daughters, they are subconsciously communicating to them that these traits are what constitute femininity. We are passing down this traditional perfect image to each generation to watch this movie, and there are certain sex roles that are passed down as well. In the movie, Cinderella is always cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry for her “family.” Because of this, sex roles are established early within the audience: young girls see a female cleaning and then believe that that is what is expected of them when they are ladies. Also, since the step-family communicates what is evil to the audience, girls are being disuaded from malice and are warned from being spoiled. However, there are a lot of human traits that the step-sisters and mother communicate that Cinderella does not–anger, contempt, jealousy, and greed (to name a few). Girls are expected not to possess such traits, therefore fitting certain role expectations. Also, the media goes along with these values by marketing their items and products to similar audiences. They will do anything they can to sell the movie, and this means playing to the values of their audience. The aim for little girls is to be like Cinderella and not be like the evil family. Lastly, we see in Cinderella how men view women and prefer their lovers to be; the Prince did not like to be bothered by chatty, homely, or specifically honest women. He was drawn to Cinderella because she did not speak a lot, she was obviously beautiful, and she had some mystery about her. They only danced together for one night, and he was instantly ready to marry her. What does that tell us about male expectations of females in society?

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

Jackson, W. (Director). (1950). Cinderella (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Platinum Edition) [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

24) TV Station #2–Spike TV

The second television station that I deemed worthy of note is Spike TV: “Television for Men.” Spike is a television station dedicated to men’s entertainment–it broacasts everything from sexy woman “eye-candy” to fast car chases to toilet humor. Some of the shows that regularly appear on Spike include Deadliest Warrior, The Ultimate Fighter, Guy’s Choice (All That’s Important to Men Everywhere), Trucks!, Vice Real Cops, Manswers, and Married with Children. Just from reading the titles of these shows, one can gather what they are about and who they appeal to: men. Out of all of the shows on this channel, the one that I have watched the most with my guy friends is UFC: Ultimate Fighting Champion. This is just about the manliest show out there; it consists of bulky and brawny men beating each other to a pulp in the ring. The main limitation for fighting is no harm to the crotch, but everything else goes.

A main point that we need to focus on as far as gender communication goes is how gender is currently portrayed in the media, especially how it is geared toward men. In the world of Spike TV the sex-roles for women are just that–sex roles. They are meant to be sexy eye-candy, objects for men to admire and refer to when mixing danger with sensuality. They are the side-dishes to any car or fight show, and they aren’t meant to have a voice or anything pertaining to the feminist ideals we have discussed. This embraces the belief that “Men are dismissive of women’s feelings,” (2003, p. 79) which is explained to us in Chapter 3 of our Gamble and Gamble textbook. Whenever sports are featured on Spike, they are always men’s sports, and “emphasis is placed on athleticism” as opposed to the sexuality of the players.

Gamble, M. W. (2003). The Gender Communication Connection. Columbus: Pearson.

Spike TV, TV for Men. 2009. Digital Cable.

23) TV Show #2–Family Guy

This next post is about the television show Family Guy; there are certain gender stereotypes that occur in the show in general, and some specific examples will be chosen for analysis. At first, one might have a hard time trying to descrive the dynamic of the show Family Guy. However, once I thought about it, I knew that it would be very simple: the show takes everything that could be stereotyped–everything that is race, culture, sex, etc stereotypical–and intensely exaggerates it. It exaggerates such concepts to the point of hilarity, and it uses pop culture references to create laughs and funny situations. The show is about Peter Griffin and his wife Lois, his children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and his dog Brian. The story also involves the quirky neighbors that surround the Griffins in Quahog, Rhode Island: Cleveland, the nice and coy black man; Joe, the quadraplegic ex-cop; and Quagmire, the super-horny jokester. Family Guy is a clever and sarcastic cartoon that draws in a large audience every week. I feel that anyone who reads this has had to have seen at least one episode of this show, therefore I feel that this description is adequate enough.

Anyone who has seen this show knows the potential biases it projects into its audience. Although most of the references made are just jokes and are meant to “test the boundaries” of appropriateness, they still play into some of the absurd stereotypes that are still made in the world. For example, in Season 7, Episode 13, Peter yells at his wife Lois during an argument they’re having about their son. When her point seems to be stronger than his, Peter all of a sudden yells “I HAVE SPOKENNNNN!” and the conversation is over. This is one of many similar scenes that plays into the stereotype that men are more superior and that they have more power over women than women have over them. Another stereotypical way of thinking comes from that very same episode, entitled “Stew-roids.” Peter’s ideology in this episode is that because his toddler son was “beaten up” by a toddler girl, he is a wuss and isn’t a man. For the rest of the episode, Peter tries to bulk Stewie up and turn him into a man–even though he’s 2 years old. Peter wants his son to possess all of the qualities that men are “supposed to” possess, like strength and bravery. In the show, Peter is by far the worst offender of appropriateness; he always blurts out exactly what he is thinking (much his thoughts are is sexist), he embraces basically all known stereotypes, and makes jokes out of things that weren’t meant to be funny.

MacFarlaine, S. (Writer) (2002, September 11). Season 7, Episode 13. Family Guy [Television broadcast broadcast]. Atlanta: Fox .

22) Art #1–”The Three Graces”

This post is about an oil painting named “The Three Graces,” a beautiful work by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It depicts three naked or transparently clothed women holding apples. The two women on the outside are facing towards us, and the one in the middle is facing away; however, they are all embracing each other in a peaceful way with serene expressions. There have been several interpretations of this painting, what it represents, and what each woman stands for/is trying to communicate. The two most common interpretations of this painting are 1) that the ladies represent the three phases of generosity: giving, receiving, and returning, and 2) that they are the three true graces: Aglaia, meaning radiance; Euphrosine, meaning joy; and Thalia, meaning flowering. Although these women are naked, they are not thin or “beautiful” to our current stereotypical standards of beauty.

By understanding this painting, we learn that these women are believed to have these sweet, graceful, and redeeming traits. Although it is believed that Rafael did not use actual models for this painting, we know that this was the way that “beautiful” women looked during the Renaissance. Back then, women were still considered beautiful and sexy if they some fat on their bodies, and they could even be goddesses. Also, this painting embraces  femininity and assigns it certain characteristics: love, grace, radiance, joy, flowering, etc.  Typically, these traits would never be associated with stereotypical masculinity, especially not today. With how wonderful and famous this painting is, I am surprised that I have not scene it before. I feel as though if it broadcast more aesthetically pleasing women, I would have seen it advertised more in current culture. The visuals of the art actually clashes with what the media has told us is stereotypically “beautiful.” Also, I think that we need to take a more global perspective when we consider pieces like this; we should know that what our culture views as beautiful is not necessarily the same thing as what is beautiful in other cultures around the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Graces_(Raphael)

http://www.museodelprado.es/en/bienvenido/15-masterpieces/ficha-obra/obra/the-three-graces/