WOMEN ON TELEVISION.   Term Paper ID:28571 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analysis of changing role of women & media portrayals; societal impact; distorted images of women on TV. Examples of TV shows.... More...

9 Pages / 2025 Words 6 sources, 12 Citations, MLA Format $36.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Analysis of changing role of women & media portrayals; societal impact; distorted images of women on TV. Examples of TV shows. Paper Introduction: The role of women on television has changed over the history of the medium, reflecting changes in the society over the same period. Social roles for women have changed since World War II. Media portrayals of women have been criticized for some time, and television in particular is seen as distorting many facets of American life in pursuit of commercial interests. Movies are accused of ignoring women more and more in our mass culture, and advertising in magazines and newspapers is seen as presenting a distorted view of women in particular, using them as sex objects to sell products. Television is perhaps our most immediate mass medium, entering our homes 24 hours a day, and the image of women on television has a particular power. By the 1970s, women's roles were changing form the more traditional to a somewhat different emphasis on Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The percentage of females in leading roles on prime time televisionincreased after 1973, but it remained true that they were under-representedcompared to their numbers in society. Furthermore, the attempt to deal with issues such as these seems to have enriched the portrayals of the females in situation comedies (U.S. Movies are accused of ignoring women more and more in our mass culture,and advertising in magazines and newspapers is seen as presenting adistorted view of women in particular, using them as sex objects to sellproducts. The Early Window: Effects of Television on Children and Youth. New York: Pergamon Press, 1982.MacDonald, J. . These women and their roles were generally far divorced from thelives live by the women watching at home, and this would be true of theother major depiction of women beginning in the late 197 s with the femmesfatales and sex objects of the glossy soap opera Dallas, from 1978.Glamour was again the central focus, and these characters tended to bewealthy, unscrupulous, and promiscuous in equal parts. The pairing ofpolice women and wealthy socialites reflected the long-standing treatmentof women a either angels or whores, with some variation between the twoextremes, yet generally women in dramatic shows did not move much beyondthese poles. Such distinctions only stood out because they were uncommon in an erawhere women in dramatic shows were usually the wives of the male leads orthe love interest of those leads. The first of these shows, All inthe Family, started in 1971. The situation comedy now included a number ofshows featuring women, and the commission cited The Mary Tyler Moore Showas different because it explored the status of the main character as asingle, professional woman who did not have marriage uppermost in her mind. Joseph R. The glamour of the leads was givenmuch more attention than their abilities. This would begin to change in the 198 s with shows that openlyaddressed the disparity, as in the detective show Remington Steele from1982, where a woman detective needs a male to front for her if she is tohave any success in the business. And its success restructured the content of situation comedy and redefined the medium as a vehicle of family entertainment (MacDonald 177). When they ventured into the occupational world their roles were stereotyped (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 3). It was a bold gesture by the two producers. Healso finds that The Mary Tyler Moore Show garnered a larger audience forthe CBS network and also initiated a number of single-female spin-offs fromthe original program (Atkin 517-518). "Hegemony, Feminist Criticism and The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Critical Studies in Mass Communication (199 ), 261-274.Liebert, R.M., J.N. There were some exceptions indramatic television, as in The Lou Grant Show (from 1977), with a youngerwoman working as a reporter and an older woman as publisher of a newspaper. Willingness to explore controversial issues has resulted in the treatment of issues pertinent to women: rape, unwanted pregnancy, or job discrimination. Gender is alsorepresented in the advertising, which can be more problematic. This created a situation where issues could be argued openly, sothe program often took on the question of women's changing roles directly.The contrast between the mother and daughter was also a contrast between TVwomen of the 195 s and the emerging woman of the 197 s to a great degree. MacDonald finds that the quality of the comedy was such that helabels it the Age of New Minstrelsy, an age that repeated variousstereotypical characters again and again, from the pushy and conniving typeof George Jefferson on The Jeffersons to the lazy black man on Sanford andSon, and for women, from the loud-but-lovable mammy such as LouiseJefferson on The Jeffersons to Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son. Fred. Works CitedAtkin, David. Washington, August 1977. Commercialshave as their object selling products, and they generally treat all viewersas malleable clay to be shaped into the sort of buyer desired. These shows seen today seem lessdedicated to showing women in non-traditional roles and more to showinggood-looking women in designer clothes. These shows had varied success but asimilar formula: The comedic formula developed by Lear and Yorkin was a microcosm of that historic synthesis achieved during the 197 s with regard to blacks in TV. Here, again, the women in these comedyshows tended to reflect the lives of women of their age in society atlarge, as politically committed women (Maude) or as women starting overafter the end of a marriage (Phyllis). This could stand as a metaphor for womenon dramatic television in the 197 s, while women in comedy were more oftenfeatured in their own right. For Learand Yorkin, what redeemed their use of blacks in this fashion was theattention to pressing social issues: Unlike the facile plots of earlier situation comedies featuring blacks, the Lear-Yorkin shows treated controversial national concerns. Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show had aglamorous job but otherwise seemed to be much like millions of other careerwomen competing in the real world. One problem noted for television is the distorted image given ofwomen and minorities in particular. Women have always been more frequentlyportrayed in comedy roles than in serious roles on television. Other issues were also raised, leading to another set of showsconcerning blacks, including black women. Other black-orientedshows from Lear included Sanford and Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons,and Bud Yorkin would separately produce such black-oriented shows as What'sHappening!! The beginning of this change was reflected in dramas,comedies, and news programs from that decade. Where in American television had situation comedy ever handled such problems as venereal disease, abortion, alcoholism, rape, mastectomy, and black bigotry toward whites? beginning in 1974. The Report of the United StatesCommission on Civil Rights stated that minorities and women were under-represented on television: "When they do appear they are frequently seenin token or stereotyped roles" (U.S. In both cases, the police women didlargely undercover work and had a team of males around to protect them fromharm. David Atkin found that thepopularity of series with a single female lead in the late 197 scorresponded roughly with the sexual revolution of the early 197 s. In the195 s, says the Commission, women had particular roles as homemakers: Television households were always spotless and smoothly managed, but the women who maintained them usually looked as though they spent most of their time in the beauty parlor. Rhoda actually began as a show about a youngwoman newly married, but in the course of the show she divorced and had tostart her own business, again showing the plight of many young women of theera. This was not an entirely new development, for a syndicated showcalled Decoy had used the same idea in 1957. Davidson. Dominick reports on a study of the portrayal of women inprime time between 1953 and 1977, extending from the beginnings of thetelevision situation comedy to the era of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Charlie's Angels beginning in1976 presented women as private crime fighters, though they were under thedirection of the never-seen male Charlie. Maleswere presented as worldly, dominant authority figures, while females wereshown as domesticated and submissive. Mary Richards was in her 3 s, an age atwhich she would be expected to be married in the traditional scheme, andyet she was embarking on a new life (Dow 263). In the 195 s, the nuclear family was widelyrepresented in situation comedy, while in contemporary televisionprogramming, divided families, single-parent families, and non-traditionalfamilies vie with the nuclear family for television time. Content analysis shows that there are far fewerfemales than males in the world of television, with males filling between66 and 75 percent of all roles to this day. She is a young womanfleeing from a failed love affair. In the early days of All in theFamily, there was a black family living next door, the Jeffersons, whowould later spin off into their own television show. The increasing divorce rate finally hadan effect on television programming and led to shows like One Day at a Timefrom 1975, a show about a divorced woman with two children who must work tosupport herself and her family in her new and economically-diminishedsurroundings. Socialroles for women have changed since World War II. Television does not sell gender roles the way it sells viewers toadvertisers or soap to viewers. Lear also produced Maude from 1972, a show with a brash white liberalwoman as lead. Just as Afro- Americans had been playing the clowns and buffoons of American entertainment since the early nineteenth century, they appeared in the 197 s as the latest embodiment of a format traditionally acceptable to white audiences (MacDonald 176). Commission on Civil Rights 23). ANational Organization for Women report in 1972 found that women in whateverrole on television "were portrayed as dependent, unintelligent, submissivecreatures who were adjuncts of men" (U.S. Considering the degreeof sexual frankness on television today, it is surprising how much concernwas expressed over the decision by Mary Richards to strike out on her ownand seek a career. Children areparticularly vulnerable to advertising for products of interest to them andpick up messages about gender roles from characters and situations incommercials as in programs. Among these were issues concerning women's roles insociety and changing images of gender. Somewhat scantily-clad womenwere also featured as super heroes in The Bionic Woman from 1976 and WonderWoman, also from 1976. Indeed, the 197 s was an era of political drama on television, with anumber of situation comedies, most produced by Norman Lear, taking onpolitical issues. Commission on Civil Rights. . Originally, she was supposed to bedivorced, but the network would not allow a divorced woman as a lead on acomedy show. Women more than men on TV areconcerned with family and marital/romantic problems, have problems solvedwith the help of others, and if employed are supervised by others (Liebert,Sprafkin, and Davidson 163-166). Working women were also featured in shows like Alice (from1976) and Rhoda (from 1974). Even the love affair is kept at a distance so it is neverclear what that entailed, and the character had a virginal air thatassuaged viewers who might want to think the worst. Commission on Civil Rights 13). Women in comedy programs tended to reflect the lives of the viewersmore than did women in dramatic shows, with a more realistic home life andmore realistic jobs. Television is perhaps our most immediate mass medium, enteringour homes 24 hours a day, and the image of women on television has aparticular power. The role of women on television has changed over the history of themedium, reflecting changes in the society over the same period. Commission on Civil Rights 12).Portrayals of women in occupational roles were infrequent and wererestricted to relatively few occupations, and women were also rarelydepicted as working wives (U.S. In terms of formaloccupational roles, males are generally employed and enjoy highlyprestigious positions such as doctors, lawyers, and law enforcementofficials, while women are assigned marital, romantic, and family roles,and while this is changing in programming today, it was certainly still thecase in 197 . Itwas found in this 1979 study that the number of women in starring rolesremained relatively constant over the 25-year period studied. On the one hand, there was exposure of black talent--more roles, more employment, more black-centered programs than in the past. More recent researchshowed that while women were now seen in the workplace, they generallylacked the power that males had in that realm. The Commission found that in the 197 s the situation changed asprogrammers attempted new types of program with new roles for women,following changes in society and recognizing that women wanted to see theirnew roles on television. This was inagreement with the findings of the United States Commission on CivilRights, which also concluded that females were under-represented on networkdramatic shows and that when they were seen it was frequently in token orstereotyped roles (Dominick 4 5). "The Evolution of Television Series Addressing Single Women, 1966-199 ." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (Fall 1991), 517-523.Dominick, Joseph R. The single woman had been featuredbefore, as in That Girl, but in that series the main character was watchedover by her father and her fianc?. Sprafkin & E.S. This would open television to a series of shows with olderwomen as leads, primarily in comedy shows, including The Betty White Show(1977) and Phyllis (from 1975). Research showed that women in earlyportrayals were seen in submissive, domestic roles. Mary Richards in the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show hasjust come to the Twin Cities and is seeking a job. One study found a number of sources of gender stereotypes forchildren on television. Blacks and White TV. . Window Dressing on the Set: Women and Minorities in Television. Most formerly-married women in situation comedies at the time weretypically widowed, though two programs in the 197 s featured divorced women--Fay and One Day at a Time. In a broad sense, they have changed toreflect shifts in gender roles in society at large, but at the same time,it is believed that television's portrayals have helped to shape thoseroles and continue to do so. It presented the American family as adysfunctional family for the first time, with the kindly but somewhatunintelligent wife browbeaten by the opinionated husband, while the liberaldaughter and her liberal husband live with the parents while going tocollege. By the 197 s, women's roles were changing form the moretraditional to a somewhat different emphasis on self-empowerment andpersonal freedom, though certainly not to the degree that we have seensince that time. An analysis of sexroles in television commercials in 1974 concluded that women wereinaccurately presented as sex objects and rarely as professionals. and Carter Country. Media portrayals of womenhave been criticized for some time, and television in particular is seen asdistorting many facets of American life in pursuit of commercial interests. The numberof women shown as housewives or housekeepers had declined over this period,but the makeup of the television labor force consistently demonstrated norelationship to the real-life employment patterns of women. Gender is inherent in the way men andwomen are portrayed on television, and these roles have changed over thecourse of television history. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983.U.S. Dramatic shows presented woman in less traditional roles as well.Police women were featured in Police Woman beginning in 197 and GetChristie Love! The character of Mary Richards as an independentcareer woman challenged a television tradition which relegated women to theroles of wives, victims, or courtesans. This has clearly had an effect on how women are viewed in society atlarge. TV males are usually portrayed as more powerful, dominant,aggressive, stable, persistent, rational, and intelligent than females,while females are more attractive, altruistic, sociable, warm, sympathetic,happy, rule abiding, peaceful, and youthful than males. 2nd ed. "The Portrayal of Women in Prime Time, 1953-1977." Sex Roles (1979), 4 5-411.Dow, Bonnie J. Thecommission found that women in situation comedies in the 197 s still tendedto be subordinate to the men in their lives, though some female charactershad become stronger over the years and some new situations were explored: The new situation comedies are attempting to portray women more realistically than in the past. Yet, there was an almost total relegation of blacks to comedies. Women were rarely portrayed outside the home or family situation. During the 197 s, portrayals ofwomen showed a widening of the occupational latitude as secretaries gaveway to higher level professionals (Atkin 522). Commission on Civil Rights 8).Sexist stereotypes were noted for television advertising as well. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

Many of our Papers can be Downloaded From This Site!

PLEASE READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). You may place orders for custom research over the phone during office hours. E-mail requests can be made to our graduate and undergraduate department any time, and will be reviewed during office hours. You may also contact customer service any time through e-mail, and we will review your message during business hours. A great many papers can be downloaded right from this site, but not all of them. If you would like to know if a particular paper is downloadable, just look in the description for: "Available for Internet Download: Y" or "Available for Internet Download: N" If you wish to purchase a paper which is NOT available for immediate download, you will need to make other shipping arrangements. Also, please be aware that these orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). If you place your order after 4:45pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the following Monday morning. We charge $8 per page for all of our pre-written reports, plus shipping (and tax for California residents). However, the highest cost of any ONE report is $136, or 17 pages. Please, take a moment. Make sure you have chosen the report you want or need BEFORE you complete your order. If you are not sure, allow us to help you. We do not offer refunds or exchanges, so it is important for you to let us answer your questions during office hours. Reports which are e-mailed or downloaded are in Microsoft Word format. We are making more reports available for e-mail delivery faster than we can update our listings. Please call to check on the status of particular reports. There are many other shipping options which are listed on the Checkout page.