New representations of women in television are really “changing” this fall. Some of the new shows airing will be more focused on female heroines, rather than female victims. These shows headline women as main characters but in doing this, they are made extremely violent and gruesome. These shows have been labeled as what women want to see on television. Allegedly, since women are tired of being seen as dumb or sex symbols, we want to flip to the next extreme and be seen as extremely violent. But this is not the case! Women want to see strong women on television. In addition to that, we also want to see smart, independent women, who portray the idea that women can be or do anything. According the new studies women are into these new shows like, Chase or Nikkita, both of which show women performing in smart but violent ways. Yes these studies show that women are tired of watching these reality show bimbos, but are these shows really what women want to see.
The misconception that women want to see gore and violence in the media is ridiculous and unrealistic. Just because we want to see a woman who is not dependent on a man or can physically stand up for herself, does not mean women want to see the woman version of the terminator. This idea comes from the fact that men know absolutely nothing about women and they have created a false belief about what women want to watch on television. Since the media is written by mostly men, directed and produced by mostly men, and ran by mostly men, you can see why the media overall caters to men and men’s interpretations of what they think women want to see. Because women have asked to see a woman who’s not your typical damsel in distress, male writers and producers have created women who really kick butt, but they’ve added lots of extreme violence that I personally think is just as lame as having a woman playing the victim.
Men have been guilty of having that fantasy where two women are fighting, probably over him, but my point is they want to see women fighting with one another. As a woman myself I would love to see a woman playing in roles more based around the real lives of women. New shows like ABC’s, Don’t Trust The B—- In Apartment 23, are focused on the stereotype that women are bitches. In the show, Krysten Ritter is playing your stereotypical version of a “bitch” and ABC even felt that it was necessary to incorporate that into the title. It’s things like this that make it socially okay for men to refer to women as bitches, which in my opinion is not okay. Does ABC really think woman want to see a catty female who is a bitch… I think not. Now will admit that I am slightly biased solely based on the name, the show could be really entertaining. But because the title of the show is calling a woman a bitch, I was turned off from the moment the show aired, so I refused to support it by watching it. I remember growing up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena Warrior Princess and thinking how cool it would be to fight vampires, zombies and bad guys. But of course, the industry has a way of making everything about a man. When Buffy fell for Angel and couldn’t kill him, of course in this male centered world, now he gets a spin off show, which in my opinion sucked! But shortly after his show became a hit her show appeared to lose its hype, go figure. It lasted for a few years after Angel was premiered but it wasn’t the same. Buffy was no longer the only show of its kind, so in a way she lost her identity to a male centered show.
Agreeing with Jennifer Pozner’s article, Talking women and TV on NBC’s The Today Show, women want to see more unity among women over the fighting and bickering we are used to seeing. The portrayal of women in most reality shows is sickening! Women are either seen as bimbos, sluts, bitches, or nerds. There is no in between. And as of right now there is no spot for empowered, self loving, independent women in television right now, which is sad. This cycle of hate that is being shown between women in the media is just an interpretation of what men see in women today. Men primarily head television, so if this is what they are writing and creating, they have the power to shift the public’s view on how women are portrayed. And above that, money plays a big role in the making of these shows too. Sex and violence sell, that’s what the media is going to keep putting out until people come together and fight against these shows. We need to bring back shows like Alias and Veronica Mars, (If you haven’t watched them you should Netflix them ASAP!), where women were seen as smart, empowered heroines in a way, who were not your average ditsy chicks looking to be saved by a big strong man.
merissacraft 