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.
[...] not the only one watching. Here’s an excerpt from Lamoretti’s Blog It is a show about Mary Shannon, “a U.S. Marshall in the witness protection program who spends [...]