English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Page 25 of 35

Women in Comedy Make an Impact

Stanley, Alessandra. “Who Says Women Aren’t Funny?” The Hive, Vanity Fair, Apr.2008,www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/04/funnygirls200804.

In the popular article, “Who Says Women Aren’t Funny” (2008), Alessandra Stanley claims that the depiction of women in comedy has evolved since the introduction of cable television; no longer are women limited to macho-feminism or performing self-loathing comedy, nor only the jokes written by men behind the scenes. Women now have more opportunities than ever to write and perform their own material while looking however they like. The author supports her claim with references to famous women comedians one example being Tina Fey. The author uses Fey to emphasize the new generation of women in comedy, being that Fey is now the showrunner for SNL and has written multiple sitcoms and movies. The purpose of this article is to express the evolution of women in comedy as well as bring to light the ever-present obstacle of being a woman in an industry dominated by men. This article is published in Vanity Fair, a magazine on popular culture, fashion, and current affairs.

 

 

Dranger, Eden. “5 Insane Problems All Women In Comedy Deal With Eventually.”Cracked.com, Cracked, 1 Feb. 2016, www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-that-make-doing-comedy-nightmare-women/.

In the popular article, “5 Insane Problems All Women In Comedy Deal With Eventually ” (2016), Eden Dranger claims that being a woman in a male-dominated career, such as comedy is challenging as many women face obstacles that men comedians have never had to. Even as the world progresses to a more accepting society women are still openly harassed on stage as well as in the writing room and are still harshly judged as being lesser than compared to men, who presumably relate better than women comics. The author supports her claim with references to stand-up comedians, one of whom is Sunah Bilsted, who agrees that gender is not a valid reason to judge whether someone is good at their job. The purpose of this article is to emphasize five main issues only women face in the comedy job market. This article is published in Cracked, an American humor magazine.

 

 

Hennefeld, Maggie. “Comedy Is Part of Feminist History-and We Need It Now More Than Ever.” Ms. Magazine Blog, WordPress, 19 Apr. 2018,msmagazine.com/blog/2018/04/19/comedy-part-feminist-history-need-now-ever/.

In the popular article, “Comedy is Part of Feminist History—and We Need it Now More Than Ever ” (2018), Maggie Hennefeld claims that comedic performances such as slapstick comedies and the use of satire were essential in the early days of the feminist movement, as the use of laughter and comedy related to the general public and in satiric moments, spoke truth to powerful authority figures. The author supports her claim with references to slapstick comedies, such as Mary Jane’s Mistake, as a major avenue for feminist activism and social protest that still influence women comedians of today. The purpose of this article is to express the important role comedy played as early feminists fought against the patriarchal society America once was, showing readers that there is no fiercer political weapon than laughter. This article is published in Ms. Blog Magazine, an American liberal feminist magazine co-founded by second-wave feminists and socio-political activists.

 

 

Kein, K. (2015). Recovering our sense of humor: New directions in feminist humor studies.Feminist Studies, 41(3), 671-681,700. Retrieved fromhttp://prx.library.gatech.edu/loginurl=https://search.proquest.com/docview/176814858?accountid=11107

In the Scholarly article, “Recovering Our Sense of Humor: New Directions in Feminist Humor Studies ” (2015), Kathryn Kein claims that scholarship on women in comedy is necessary as it brings to light the ways in which humor is filling in cultural gaps and breaking new grounds for the ways women can make an impact in media. She also expresses that comedy allows for a  “call to action”. Although it may not always be an explicit one; humor enables the beginning social change to many modern day injustices. The author supports her claim with references to multiple women comedians, using quotes from each that expresses their unique use of humor to promote feminism and change. The purpose of this article is to push readers to change their perspective of how humor functions and even who can produce it. This scholarly article is published in Feminist Studies, a peer-reviewed academic journal covering women’s studies that was established in 1972.

 

 

Wadham, T. (2002). Great women comedians. School Library Journal, 48(8), 218.Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/ docview/21172752 ?accountid=11107

In the scholarly article review of “Great Women Comedians ” (2002), Tim Wadham claims that the piece expresses the many ways in which there is a lack of acceptance for women in comedy and by using specific examples of past women comedians, the author shows the ways in which these women overcame the obstacle of discrimination. The author of the article supports his claim with references from the original book, using Edna St. Vincent Millay’s experience. As detailed in the book, Edna wrote her humorous pieces under a pseudonym in order to avoid bias. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of the original writing and emphasize the many ways it clearly communicates to the reader the history of women in comedy and how they gained acceptance not only for themselves but for the many women that have come after them. This article is published in School Library Journal, is the premier publication for librarians and information specialists who work with children and teens, providing a source of quality journalism and reviews.

 

 

Day, A. (2015). Pretty/Funny: Women comedians and body politics. Feminist Review,(111), e21-e22. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/fr.2015.31

In this review of “Pretty/ Funny: Women Comedians and Body Politics ” (2015), Amber Day comments on the pretty versus funny paradox seen in comedy today. Women no longer are assumed to be funny-looking simply because they are funny. Rather now, women comedians are expected to be pretty in order to be funny, and many women are beginning to fall under the category of “pretty”, whether intentional or not, just to be successful in commercial popular culture media  The author supports her claim with references from the original article, as the author explains the multiple established women in comedy today and how they use the guise of jokes to critique the many shortcomings and social injustices of today. The purpose of this article is to focus on the ways in which women comedians’ use humor because it allows opportunities for feminist voices to reach popular culture. This scholarly article is published in Feminist Review, a triannual peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal with a focus on exploring gender in its multiple forms and interrelationships. The journal was established in 1979.

 

The Non-Serious Theme of Marriage and Serious Relationships in Broad City

In season two, episode seven of Broad City, the show takes on the concept of marriage and romantic relationships. One character on the show, Bevers chickens out of proposing to his girlfriend of three years because Ilana convinces him that he is too young and more so his girlfriend is too young to be constricted by marriage. Shortly after, Ilana herself struggles with the concept of being with someone for a long time. She realizes that she had not slept with Lincoln in four days and had just been hanging out with him. At the realization that that was a sign of a more serious relationship she breaks down for a small period of time, overwhelmed by the idea that she could be soon constrained to her relationship with Lincoln as Bever’s near proposal brings to light.
Marriage and serious relationships are not praised or desired on Broad City as they often are in American media. The show’s female creators and staff have written female characters that can talk about other things and are driven towards a goal of marriage. The episode before episode seven featured a dog wedding where two gay men married their dogs seemingly as a ploy to get more intimately acquainted with one another. The show puts more emphasis on enjoying life than traditional relationships, critiquing America’s romanticising of romance.
The show provides a view of two young women that want to get high, have fun, and engage in sexual actions sometimes outside of relationships, and it is displayed as completely fine. Broad City displays alternate desires that women and people can have and refreshingly so. Ilana and Abbi from episode to episode have different goals and desires that often do not include men: going to a concert, getting out of work, or enjoying a good restaurant.

See the source image

Here is the dog wedding referred too earlier.

 

Women in the Television News – Annotated Bibliography

Source 1:

Citation: Hetsroni, Amir, and Hila Lowenstein. “Is She an Expert Or just a Woman? Gender Differences in the Presentation of Experts in TV Talk shows.” Sex Roles, vol. 70, no. 9-10, 2014, pp. 376-386. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1531890816?accountid=11107, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0370-z.

Summary: In this article, a study was conducted to explore the representation of experts on television with respect to their gender. The study was done on 64 Israeli talk shows from 2012 where 495 experts took part. The results of the study were quite interesting. First, the study showed that male experts outnumbered women experts in a ratio of 1.7:1. The men were also older than the women experts and tended to possess a higher academic rank. The differences were also visible when it came to the topics that the experts were asked to comment on, with men more likely to talk about security, self-defense, politics, and economy, while the women often commented on body grooming and child care. The question that we are left with at the end of this study is “has the representation of women changed over the years or are women still portrayed as inferior to men on TV?”

Importance: Shows that women ares still portrayed as inferior to men on the news as of 2012.

 

Source 2:

Citation: Lachover, Einat. “JUST BEING A WOMAN ISN’T ENOUGH ANY MORE: Israeli Television News of Women in Local Politics.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2012, pp. 442. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/1220402574?accountid=11107.

Summary: This article was based on a study conducted about TV and news coverage of women in the local elections held in Israel in 2008. The question of the study was “Did national TV news in Israel during the election campaign reflect the changes in the status of women in local politics that have occurred in the last two decades? How prominent was the representation of women politicians in national TV news coverage and what patterns did it display?” The study was conducted on all broadcasted content that dealt with women in the month prior to the local elections. Anything that featured a women candidate or featured topics relating to women in politics in general was recorded for the study. At the conclusion of the study, it was found that the extent to which the topics of women in politics were discussed on TV was not very large. This shows that women in politics are still a minority.

Importance: Shows that the topic of woman in politics is not discussed in the television news as much as it should be.

 

Source 3:

Citation: Carter, Bill. “TELEVISION; Women Anchors are on the Rise as Evening Stars.” New York Times, Aug 12, 1990. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/427772519?accountid=11107.

Summary: Maria Shriver, the anchor of the NBC News Sunday “Today” program went on maternity leave early 1990. She told NBC News executives that she did not want to go back to her previous role on the channel when she came back. She said that she wanted time to stay at home on the west coast with her newborn daughter. She asked for a part-time position, in which she was to anchor a series of prime-time specials for the network. NBC News President Michael G. Gartner was desperate to retain Ms. Shriver and agreed to her request. The result came to be known as “Cutting Edge With Maria Shriver”, a news special that was held four times a year and was to be shown Tuesday night at 10 on NBC. This led to a start of a new wave of women such as Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Jane Pauley, and Connie Chung, that started to take more prominent roles in news networks and television.

Importance: Shows that progress has been made since the 1990s, giving woman more prominent roles in new networks.

 

Source 4:

Citation: Barnes, Dottie M. Are Female Television News Anchors Still Judged by their Appearance: A Study of Gender Bias in Relation to Female Television News Anchors and their Perception of Age and Appearance Discrimination, Grand Valley State University, Ann Arbor, 2005. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/305349891?accountid=11107.

Summary: This study asks whether female TV news reporters are still judged by their appearance as they did from the 1980s to the 1990s. In 1998, women made up more than one-third of the workforce in television news and were half of all television news reporters and anchors. According to personal stories of female television news anchors, women still feel pressured to look young and attractive on news broadcasts. A 2005 survey showed that female anchors still felt like there is a big emphasis on their appearance. 17 were surveyed, 76.5% of which agreed or strongly agreed that throughout their careers, they’ve heard comments regarding their appearance. Only 2 of the 17 women disagreed, and another 2 were undecided. An even greater percentage, 88.2% agreed or strongly agreed that they’ve heard comments from their viewers about their appearance. These results show us that even though by 2005 we’ve come a long way with television and news, women still felt that their appearance on television still played a major role in their career as news anchors.

Importance: Shows that woman reporters are still expected to be attractive on television news, much like they were in the 1980s.

 

Source 5:

Citation: Powers, Angela. “Women in Television News Revisited.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 76, no. 4, 1999, pp. 792-793. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/216932038?accountid=11107.

Summary: This article discusses the book of “Women in Television News Revisited” by Judith Marlane, which talks about the inequalities between men and women in television news. It addresses the “painful subjects of being a woman in what is still an industry controlled by men”. The book talks about the fact that males still dominate boardrooms of television news and that women are still not equally treated in the industry. The book contains a collection of stories from seventy female and fifteen male accounts addressing “everything from marriage and family to aging”. The book goes on to reflecting on how society describes old men as “interesting”, while old women are described as “finished”. Marlane also discusses the difficulties of being a woman and a minority. She mentions that the problem of diversity is acknowledged in most newsrooms, but also mentions that there has been less commitment to bringing minorities into broadcasting professions while networks claim they “cannot find qualified people”.

Importance: This article touches on issues such as being a woman and a minority, which are not discussed in the articles.

 

Source 6:

Citation: Willer, Sarah E. Women News Directors: Gender Obstacles to Achieving Television Newsroom Leadership, San Diego State University, Ann Arbor, 2014. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/1614530378?accountid=11107.

Summary: Women are represented by various media messages everyday yet there is little thought that is dedicated to the women behind these messages. This study is dedicated to examine the “personal, institutional, and socio-cultural” obstacles that woman news workers face in their career path to becoming a news director, and how current women news directors were able to overcome these obstacles. The study was conducted using surveys and interviews, going deeper than just the descriptive numbers but into why the numbers are so low and what can be done to encourage more women to strive to become news directors. On a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being strongly disagree to 7 being strongly agree, in answering the question “It is more difficult for a woman to advance to the position of news director”, the average of all male answers was 3.44 while the average of all woman answers was 4.56. This study shows that from a woman’s perspective, it is significantly harder to become a news director than it is for a man.

Importance: Gives incite into what it’s like for a women to get promoted in the television news industry.

How are Women Victimised in Crime TV- Annotated Bibliography

Cavender, G., Bond-Maupin, L., & Jurik, N. C. (1999). The construction of gender in reality crime TV. Gender & Society, 13(5), 643-663. Retrieved from

http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/215735706?accountid=11107

Source 1– The research paper emphasises the significance of the blurry lines between reality and fiction of the crime TV genre as, especially younger, audience may use this as a pedagogy of the proper representation of women. Thereby, the author strongly supports a change in mentality of women portrayal in crime TV shows. Using the first 24 episodes of America’s Most Wanted 9 as a reference, it is found that the show depicts women with the necessity of exhibiting sociability characteristics while other attributes such as technical prowess is less important. Thus, this confirms our thesis of women being victimised to a great extent. This article is particularly revealing as it highlights the grave extent at which women are perceived as either having to be subordinating or expressing emotional loss being a crime victim. In addition to that, the article discusses how the TV show uses particular cinematic effects, such as lighting and close-up shots, to exaggerate the emotional aspects of women.

 

Stankiewicz, J. M., & Rosselli, F. (2008). Women as sex objects and victims in print advertisements. Sex Roles, 58(7-8), 579-589.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9359-1

Source 2– Compared to my other articles, this one is unique in such that it does research on advertisement rather than on TV shows. I chose this in particular because it would give us a more holistic perspective of the general portrayal of women, specifically how, or if, they are being depicted as being victimised. In fact, from the research it shows that 10% of adverts did just that. However, this statistic proves a warped sense of reality because it is later found that two of three advertisements that feature women in fashion or adolescent magazines presented women as sex objects that are being victimised. Furthermore, this article also tries to look at the other side of the spectrum: the likelihood of women being aggressors. But as expected, the scales are tipped for women being three times more likely to be portrayed as victims than as aggressors. One rather surprising conclusion the article draws is that it believes that one of the reasons why women are much more likely to be victimised than being aggressors is because of the “backlash against women’s increasing power in society”.  Moreover, the wider implication of these alarming advertisement statistics elicits the correlation with increase men’s acceptance of “rape, interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping”.

 

Neuendorf, K. A., Gore, T. D., Dalessandro, A., Janstova, P., & Snyder-suhy, S. (2010). Shaken and stirred: A content analysis of women’s portrayals in james bond films. Sex Roles, 62(11-12), 747-761.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9644-2

Source 3– In order to view how has the attitude of victimised women on TV shows has changed over time, I wanted to find a research article on a TV show that has been on air for a long time. However, there were no particular resources on this topic. Therefore, I drew inspiration from a research article about the victimisation of women in James Bond films instead. This article looks at the 195 females existing in 20 James Bond films. What the author has found that the women had many similar attributes despite the evolving times. They all play a supporting role as a “Bond Girl” stereotypically with certain level of attractiveness and body waist ratio. Despite recognising that the number of major females has increased over time, the author also raises that they have become more sexually active and more likely be recipients of physical harm. Hence, this once again confirms our hypothesis. This article raises important questions on the cinematic hierarchy as it demonstrates that, currently, society is willing to accept the aggressive nature toward the “vulnerable” female character in order to satisfy their predictability that feeds into the success of the series.

 

Penfold-Mounce, R. The Conversation. 24 October 2016. How the rise in TV “crime porn” normalises violence against women. Retrieved from

https://theconversation.com/how-the-rise-in-tv-crime-porn-normalises-violence-against-women-66877

Source 4– In order to counter the somewhat pessimistic articles above, I came across this article which discusses how crime dramas such as Silent Witness, Spiral, the Killing and now even reaching the fantasy world of Games of Thrones have always victimised women. The author believes that sometimes violence can be vital to create an intriguing storyline and create a purpose for the protagonist, but she feels that currently this technique is being overused. In a documentary aired on the BBC Radio 4, Boon Mackichan is worried how this exploiting the use of portrayal of vulnerable women may “bleed into our culture”. This article, unlike the others before, gives hope in TV shows as it shows that there is a rise of strong women characters that instead of being victimised, become aggressors. For example, Ruth Wilson’s character Alice in Luther. What I found this article to be particularly useful is that it gives an objective perspective into how women are being utilised, either being portrayed as a victim or an aggressor, while also offering a suggestion to the industry to reduce the abuse on the use of victimised female characters to kick off the plotline.

 

Jurik, Nancy C., and Gray Cavender. June 28, 2017. “Feminist Themes in Television Crime. Dramas.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology.  Oxford University Press,. Date of access 19 Sep. 2018, Retrieved from

http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-17

Source 5– This article takes a look at how women characters have generally been portrayed in crime TV shows. Women began to show up in these series around the 1970s when it became apparent women were not solely substitutes for male characters, but the article suggests that they actually altered the crime genre. The feminist’s crime TV shows with female protagonists often addressed relevant women social issues. Furthermore, women as crime detectives, such as DCI Tennison in Prime Suspect, were not depicted as loners who were vulnerable, intimidated characters of the horror scenes. Instead they were portrayed as strong, smart, young females who does not only have stereotypical attributes of having more empathy than male counterparts. This article is particularly interesting as it provides a counterargument to the earlier articles which suggests that most female characters are either based upon being a companion to the dominant male character or a way to device the plotline.

 

Manion, A. Los Angeles Review of Books. 22, June 2015. Between Victimhood and Power: The Female Detectives of Television’s Crime Dramas. Retrieved from

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/between-victimhood-and-power-watching-the-female-detectives-of-televisions-crime-dramas/#!

Source 6– This is very much an opinionated article that questions the industry why women characters in crime TV show cannot be detectives and women at the same time. The author picks out that despite a closing gender gap in crime TV shows, the heavily masculine connotations of detectives makes it hard for female characters to play the role freely and without repression from societal constraints. Thus, it is this social construct of a particular perception of detectives that make women characters in the shows sometimes “uncomfortably vulnerable and easily victimised”. This status quo of how women is judged differently in this area is traced back to how people working in law enforcement has the physical and emotional demands that are traditionally associated with male. Thereby, this article raises an interesting argument on how contractualism has brought us to a stage where it is still considered the norm to expect women in crime TV shows to be “attractive, tall, and slim with long flowing hair” and perhaps it is time to untangle our polarising thought that masculinity and femininity are opposites.

 

 

 

I annotated the bibliography

There were indentations in my Google doc. I can not figure out how to fix that on here, but I hope it is fine!

Desmond, Roger and Anna Danilewicz. “Women Are On, but Not In, the News: Gender Roles in Local Television News.” Sex Roles, vol. 62, no. 11-12, June 2010, pp. 822-829. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9686-5.

This peer reviewed source argues that women that appear on TV news are used differently than their male counterparts. It found that women were on TV less, and women were less likely to present political stories and more likely to present health and human interest stories than men. Male experts were also used more often than female experts. The source provides evidence across 580 news stories that women have a different role on screen at news agencies than men. It displays that the way women are represented in news is less authoritative than men, extending women’s gender roles to the jobs of on-screen televised news members. It provides recent evidence of a disparity between men and women’s roles on TV in the United States, as well as touching on women’s roles behind the scenes in news, less likely to hold most positions compared to men. The data charts may also be useful in an infographic about women in the news.

Emeksiz, Gulcin I. “THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN ON TV NEWS.” International Journal of Arts & Sciences, vol. 6, no. 2, 2013, pp. 715-730. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1496695623?accountid=11107.

This peer reviewed source reinforces some of the same points that the source about local news made while looking through a more historical lense. Women appear less on television news and especially less where men traditionally dominate the field or does not involve certain subject areas: social news, art, crime and violence. It includes statistics on representation in Turkey and internationally as these trends of women’s gendered participation in news pervades borders. This provides important context as women’s limited role in news and society pertains to a larger systemic patriarchal system. In Turkey, it even found that women appeared more on TV at times where a traditional homemaking wife would be cleaning, waiting for her husband to come home, and kids would be at school. This is a glaring point as those at the top of news agencies are aware of this lack of participation and are manipulating women’s air time to suffice the bare minimum to continue at such a low amount.

Freeman, Hadley. “Why Do All the Women on Fox News Look and Dress Alike? Republicans Prefer Blondes.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Feb. 2017, www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/feb/20/women-fox-news-dress-alike-republicans-blondes-pundits-ann-coulter-kellyanne-conway-rightwingers.

This enjoyable fashion piece by Hadley Freeman disguises itself as looking into why Fox News hosts and those in the right wing media that are women all dress in the same style and have long blonde hair, while harpooning the conservatism it is based in. It suggests that the look is both because that is what appeals to Republicans and that it is a backlash to feminism and liberal women. Also pointed out is the diverse looks among liberal women on TV in both race, hairstyle, and fashion. While being an enjoyable, light read, it also discusses the problems of representation in right-wing media, perhaps at the expense of looking at the flaws in representation in left-wing and neutral media. Nevertheless, it points at a problem, and Hadley gives her reasoning, aiding in research on representation of women in the media as it can even factor in their hair color.

Meyers, Marian. “African American Women and Violence: Gender, Race, and Class in the News.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 21, no. 2, June 2004, pp. 95-118. EBSCOhost, prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=13308007&site=ehost-live.

This peer reviewed source discusses how violence against non-student African American women was represented differently on the news than violence against students. It uses a black feminist perspective to analyze the intersectionality in the wrongful verbal absolving of criminals who committed crimes against African American women. The news allowed women of color to be looked down upon and blamed for their situation as they would normally be in conversation and other dynamics. With little representation of women of color on the news during this time, the narrative was able to continue. Lack of representation of women of color in news writing rooms and television personalities is harmful to the fair portrayal of news stories and narratives that involve the depiction or experiences of women of color. This aids the argument that women and women of color not being equally represented in newsrooms has harmful consequences not only socially but also in the quality and nature of the news produced by the newsroom.

Moniz, Tracy. “A Woman’s Place is in the News.” Journalism History, vol. 42, no. 2, 2016, pp. 81-90. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1812628062?accountid=11107.

Aptly named, the non-peer reviewed source argues that women should be covered in regular news stories and not just the women targeted articles or magazines. In a historical view of Canada during WWII, women were not being mentioned as much as they should have been when they constituted such a strong percentage of the labor force. This article serves as evidence that it is not just TV news that does not include and talk about women enough, but news sources as a whole struggle and have had struggled with this issue through a feminist lense. While it is not TV news, it does beg the question that all news must be fixed, and it displays that the problem of representation and stories from the female perspective historically have not been heard and that that is not a uniquity of the American or any other TV news system. It strengthens the argument that this is one particular field that needs fixing, but it is part of and a result of a larger problem

Price, Cindy J., and Shaun S. Wulff. “Does Sex make a Difference? Job Satisfaction of Television Network News Correspondents.” Women’s Studies in Communication, vol. 28, no. 2, 2005, pp. 207-234. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/198297768?accountid=11107.

This non-peer reviewed source argues that women are less satisfied with their jobs than men as television news network correspondents. Even as women tended to be significantly younger and less experienced, when controlled for years worked at the network, the result remained true. The lack of experience also meant that women earned less as a result. As older women seem to get pushed off TV, the result is lower paying jobs with less earning potential than men. The source also contains data sheets which provide valuable data and visuals for an infographic. Understanding that women are less happy about their jobs and work environments at TV networks should be a concern and it should be acknowledged so that as a society we can attack that problem as clearly with people like Matt Lauer and Bill O’Rielly in powerful positions in the past, there is very good reason for the trend of women being less satisfied with their jobs than men when they are subjected to such an environment.

Annotated Bibliography – Gender Representation in Children’s TV

Campbell, Olivia. “Why Gender Stereotypes In Kids’ Shows Are A REALLY Big Deal.” Refinery 29. 5 Dec. 2017.

 

This source focuses on the misogyny that is seen through the gender stereotypes in children’s television. It discusses how men are usually portrayed as more powerful than women and females are more timid. This source is important because it links the portrayal of men and women to problems later in life such as domestic and sexual violence. It discusses the importance of how things are shown in television because sexist and misogynistic representations can lead to a development of sexist attitudes which can cause further problems late in life. Since television is where children get an abundance of their information, what is portrayed on the screen is very crucial. This source focuses more on the psychological impact of the gender representation on screen in comparison to the other sources. This article would be valuable to analyze how certain ideas and how they are communicated can cause events later on in life.

 

Hains, Rebecca C. “Inventing the Teenage Girl: The Construction of Female Identity in Nickelodeon’s My Life as a Teenage Robot.” Popular Communication 5.3 (2007): 191-213. ProQuest. 18 Sep. 2018 .

 

This source focuses on a modern TV show that would be classified as a TV show for “Tweens”  or other wise known as young teenagers. This TV show airs on Nickelodeon and focuses on a female robot who is powerful and strong as a main lead. The main character is strong and talented while still embracing her femininity. This is a concept that is usually unheard of for female characters to be both powerful and feminine on television till this new era of television. This source does a great job of showcasing an example of a television show that breaks gender norms and showcases a powerful female character to the current young audience. The source is also valuable because it offers research on the response from teenage girls, who are the targeted audience and how they respond to the positive and different message that this show offers. This article would be a great example of pro-feminist children’s media.

 

Hains, Rebecca C. “THE PROBLEMATICS OF RECLAIMING THE GIRLISH: THE POWERPUFF GIRLS AND GIRL POWER.” Femspec 5.2 (2004): 1,39,216. ProQuest. 18 Sep. 2018 .

 

This source discusses the rise of feminism and the idea of girl power but includes a fantastic example of how the Powerpuff Girls, a popular kids television show from the early 2000’s showcased characters that were the epitome of girl power to a young audience. It represented to kids that girls could also be “tough and hardcore”. This source is valuable because it represents a prime example of how children’s television can go against normal gender stereotypes and show an image of women and girls that is atypical from what is usually seen in children’s television, where girls are usually seen as delicate and feminine. However, this source is also important because it highlights the flaws of the origins of the shows and how it ends up contradicting itself in the end regardless. This shows how even though feminist television is being produced, there are still many flaws to be corrected in order to break gender norms.

 

Kahlenberg, Susan G., and Michelle M. Hein. “Progression on Nickelodeon? Gender-Role Stereotypes in Toy Commercials.” Sex Roles 62.11-12 (2010): 830-47. ProQuest. 18 Sep. 2018

 

This source focuses on how toy commercials enforce gender norms and barriers on toys and use this to their marketing benefit. This source uses data and actual analysis to show how different toy commercials used a variety of factors like age, setting, type of interaction etc. in order to sell a certain product. It discusses how certain toys and products were portrayed as “girl” or “boy” toys and the difference in ways that these things were marketed. This source is important and valuable reading because it delves into how companies will use television as a way to instill certain ideas, norms and barriers into children’s minds in order to sell their product and maximize their profit. It provides examples on various types of commercials and how girls were portrayed versus how boys were portrayed. These differences are important to analyze to see how television and commercials are still enforcing the unequal social construct.  

 

Perea, Katia. Girl Cartoons: A Playful Transgression on Popular Culture’s Compulsory Gender Coding. Order No. 3458313 New School University, 2011 Ann ArborProQuest. 18 Sep. 2018

 

This source focuses on shows, specifically cartoons, and delves into how these shows go against gender norms that TV shows usually reinforce for children. The writers and creators of these shows use the many creative ways to represent cartoon characters in order to enforce new ideas of gender norms for children watching these television shows considering that a lot of what we perceive as children makes up our thought process when we are adults. This source is worth reading because it focuses on how things such as feminism and gender representation show up in the animated side of television. Also, it shows how characters are constructed, specifically female characters, both minor and major, and how they represent different themes and ideals. This source also gives many great examples of how girl cartoon characters represent qualities such as power and leadership and go against typical standards. It discusses these concepts in relation to what we typically perceive of women in television.

 

Smith, Jennifer M. “She’s Just Being Riley: The Sexual Politics of Girl Meets World.” Antenna, 3 July 2014

 

This article discusses the problems with a specific TV show airing called Girl Meets World, which aims to center around a powerful girl center but fails to properly aim to break gender norms and deliver proper gender representation. This source discusses issues such as using sexual harassment against girls as humor and other types of offensive content against girls that is being delivered to young audiences. This source is important because it shows the issues with young adult television and relates them to actual problems in society such as sexism. This source is helpful as it shows how television writers will aim to produce female centered shows and subvert to normal sexist humor against women and go along with the same trend in television that has been occurring for decades. Girl Meets World would be a great example to use to describe the typical sexual offensive jokes made against women on television.

 

Ellen: A Comedian or A Lesbian Comedian?

Wagner, Kristen A. “”Have Women a Sense of Humor?” Comedy and Femininity in Early Twentieth-Century Film.” Velvet Light Trap, no. 68, 2011, pp. 35-46. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/896625651?accountid=11107.

In this source by Wagner, the author examines how the attitudes and perceptions of women comedians change through the twentieth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, many people questioned the lack of inherent humor in women, claiming that humor and femininity were mutually exclusive. However, vaudeville and silent film began to slowly morph the public viewpoint. Not only were the ideas of women changing with many waves of feminism, film gave women a voice in comedy and challenged the idea that women couldn’t be funny. The women comedians played down their femininity but were also seen as unique compared to their male counterparts. Through time, humor has been used to not only create laughs, but as a way to convey societal and cultural ideas. This article provided a solid foundation for the rest of my more specific research, and it helped me understand the culture behind the emergence of women comedians. This background research will provide a useful history and context for my research on a more modern comedian.

Bociurkiw, Marusya. “It’s Not about the Sex: Racialization and Queerness in Ellen and the Ellen Degeneres show.” Canadian Woman Studies, vol. 24, no. 2, 2005, pp. 176-181. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/217464144?accountid=11107.

In this source by Bociurkiw, the author examines Ellen’s story of coming out, and what effect that has on the public’s idea of the queer community. For most of the US at the time, the idea of LGBT culture is associated with being outcast or undesired. Since other qualities of isolation were race and class, people often associated people of the community with African-Americans or people of low socio-economic status. When Ellen came out, it shocked the US because she was a wealthy, white comedian. On the other hand, people were not surprised because her “failures at gestures of heteronormativity” showed on her sitcom. Her coming out was published on Time Magazine and was shown on the “Puppy Episode” of her show, in which she accidentally announced her sexuality to an entire airport. This article allowed me to better understand the idea of intersectionality and how shifts in the perception of one social class can affect the others.

Snyder, Steven. “Ellen’s a Real Crowd Pleaser.” Newsday, Feb 26, 2007, pp. D02. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.prx.library.gatech.edu/docview/280133420?accountid=11107.

In this source by Snyder, the author examines the way in which Ellen is able to capture the attention and please even the toughest of crowds. According to the author, she killed it by “killing [it] softly”. She had no grand entrance, no jarring jokes; she utilized confidence and a natural attitude to express light humor. Additionally, she uses slight self-deprecation as a mechanism to relate to the audience by opening up a little bit and conveying that she isn’t vastly different from everyone else. She plays up her awkwardness and makes it endearing. Ellen’s hosting at the Oscars was not her typical joke after joke sets, but still, many people in the audience were laughing and enjoying her light humor. This article detailing one of Ellen’s performances gave me good insight into the kind of comedian Ellen is and how she has managed to get such a supportive audience.

Scott, Michael. “The Best Medicine: Touring a Showcase of the Essential Ellen DeGeneres — Not the Lesbian Ellen, and Not the Feminist Ellen, but the Comedian Ellen — is a Cure for what Ailed Her.” The Vancouver Sun, Jun 29, 2000, pp. C20. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/242706440?accountid=11107.

In this source by Scott, the audience examines the power of perception and the importance of a balance identity in Ellen. Through my research, I’ve found that most articles about Ellen are about her coming out and the impact it has had on society. However, nobody wants to me defined by only one thing, and Ellen did not want to be Lesbian Ellen, especially after her coming out episode. People were so caught up in arguing about gay and lesbian rights that the meaning of the show, and Ellen’s life, almost faded away. This article is useful in helping me understand Ellen’s desires to be openly gay, yet not defined solely by it, because she has a “gift, that [she] was given… [she] can make people laugh.” She wants other people to appreciate her for the comedy and art she puts out, not as a symbol for social activism because of a sexuality she was born with.

Lewis, Rachel. “Ellen DeGeneres on Coming Out and Sexism in Comedy.” Time, Time, 7 Sept. 2017, www.time.com/4921665/ellen-degeneres-comedy-sexism-homophobia/.

In this source by Lewis for Time, the article and video examine Ellen’s journey of acceptance and how that has led to a different, but better, life for her and her career. This source contrasts the last one because it shows how Ellen’s opinions have changed from 2000 to 2017. Since the chaos about her coming out has died down, along with a more accepting society, she has stepped down from her desire to only be known for her comedy. She understands that she should stand up and be a role model. She wasn’t trying to be political by coming out, but she is so glad she did. She recalls a night doing standup in which the performer before her were homophobic and sexist, which made the crowd extremely rude toward her. Before her coming out on Time, her publicist warned her that this could destroy her career, but she was tired of hiding and went for it. Ellen was awarded the medal of freedom for being fully herself without reservation.

Roberts, Amy. “Rose McGowan’s Controversial Tweet To Ellen DeGeneres Shows Exactly Why Intersectional Feminism Is So Necessary.” Bustle, Bustle, 18 Oct. 2017, www.bustle.com/p/rose-mcgowans-controversial-tweet-to-ellen-degeneres-shows-exactly-why-intersectional-feminism-is-so-necessary-2940391.

In this source by Roberts, the author examines a specific example of criticism Ellen faces because of her prominent role in social activism. McGowan tweeted a reply to Ellen that criticized her for standing up for LBGT rights in Mississippi because other issues, like birth control and abortion were important as well. Since there are more women in the US than people who identify as LGBT, McGowan believed that with Ellen’s huge platform, she should be speaking on behalf of the larger demographic- women. This article aids in the course’s focus on intersectionality and the importance of equality for anyone, regardless of which minority group one is part of. McGowan’s tweet was interpreted by critics as placing women rights over the rights of the LGBT community, although much of the latter community is comprised on behalf of women. Although women’s rights is an important cause, the article highlights the importance of intersectional feminism, one that incorporates women of all different communities, not erasing others’ experiences or claiming some issues to be more important than others.

Are Women Funny? If So, Why Are So Few Comedians?

Lopez, Victoria A. “they’Re Only Laughing ‘Cause You’Re Pretty”: Women’s Experiences at Comedy Clubs, San Diego State University, Ann Arbor, 2017. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1987948729?accountid=11107.

This source aims at attempting to understand why so few female comedians make it past the comedy club stage, and the author studies participants of both genders with regards to their perceptions of female comedians, the stereotypes that these women are generally expected to embody and the culture that is experienced by women who have an interest in pursuing a career in comedy. Namely, the study examines the engrained societal belief that “women are not funny” (held by both genders) and how this contributes to dissuading more women from attempting to become comedians.

Most interestingly, the source interviews several amateur comedians attempting to gain a following through performing at comedy clubs, bringing results to the table that suggest almost all women believe they must act like a man in order to be taken seriously by both the audience and their fellow comedians. Even then, however, there is an element of sexuality versus loss of femininity that plays heavily into everyone’s perception of the female comedian as well as her set. Ultimately, the author concluded that there are multiple forces working against women in comedy, some of which stem from the women themselves.

 

Kibler, M. A. (1999). Gender conflict and cercion on A&E’s an evening at the improv.Journal of Popular Culture, 32(4), 45-57. Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/195362049?accountid=11107

This source takes a look at who the audience is and how they react to jokes. Many comedic routines are gendered, both in jokes and in responses to jokes, and, although the audience in general may laugh at a domestic abuse joke, for example, not everybody is laughing equally or as genuinely. It has been said that comedy creates a community, but the community is formed by the majority at the expense of the minority; since comedy is such a male-dominated field, minorities such as women must not only laugh along with these jokes but pander to this crowd when crafting their own routines.

The most important part about this source, however, is the look into what the creation of this community does. Besides generically reinforcing the stereotypes that most jokes are about, the continuing jokes that pander to the majority simply reinforce the supremacy of that majority. They create an atmosphere of group versus group, making it seem even more daunting for the lesser of the groups (women) to break into the greater of the groups (men) as they feel even more so than normal that they are competing against this group entirely.

 

Montemurro, B. (2003). Not a laughing matter: Sexual harassment as “material” on workplace-based situation comedies. Sex Roles, 48(9), 433. Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/225367946?accountid=11107

This source focuses on the impact that using sexual harassment, rape and female degradation jokes as parts of mass media comedic routines has on the way that society reacts to actual occurrences of these actions – specifically, devaluing and trivializing them. The implications here are widespread and long-lasting; multiple studies cited within the source showed a clear link between exposure to sexual harassment jokes and lack of empathy towards women who actually experience this harassment, most specifically when it comes within the workplace.

More than anything, however, the source cited other studies that established a link between how characters in situation comedies react to unconventionally attractive women and how viewers of those shows responded in real life to women – namely, that laughing at larger women on television led them to discriminate against them in real life. The idea that women are meant to be sexualized and that this sexualization is normal – reinforced both through harassment jokes and through the degradation of women in general – is harmful to the societal view of women, the advancement of women and, more than anything, the right for women to be taken seriously when presenting a valid concern.

 

Hitchens, Christopher. “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, Jan. 2007, www.vanityfair.com/culture/2007/01/hitchens200701.

In this source, the author takes an anti-females-in-comedy approach and focuses specifically on why women are generally not funny. He argues that men must be funny in order to be able to attract women, whereas men are always attracted to all women and therefore women do not need to put in nearly as much effort to appear attractive since they are clearly being sexualized at all times. Although the source admits that there are some funny female comedians, he stereotypes them all as being “[large], [lesbian] or Jewish”, using derogatory terms in the process.

The pinnacle of this article is when the author mentions that men do not want women to be funny and/or work in comedy because making people laugh is a sign of intelligence, and women would represent a fair amount of competition in the arena of brainpower. Not wanting this competition and needing to feel as if they are necessary, men hold tight to humor as their way to attract a mate and do not let females in on this exclusive world because “they do not need to be funny to be successful”.

 

Belsky, Marcia. “The Lose-Lose Life of the Female Comedian.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/opinion/women-comedy.html.

This opinion article is written by a female comedian telling her story of first getting started in comedy. She writes about the sexualization that comes with being a woman in a primarily-male field, as well as how refusing to sleep around ended many conversations with people who could have potentially been influential. She writes also about how she tried to become “one of the boys”, ignoring their views of her, but how it is nearly impossible to get somewhere in a field that relies on others’ approval if one is missing that. Eventually, she has become confident in herself as a female and has experienced some success.

However, most importantly are the author’s comments about females who are experiencing harassment being unsure when to call the harassers out for what they are doing, when to put a stop to the actions, etc., especially in comedy where everyone is expected to “chill out” and “have fun”. The author supposes that, rather than deal with any complaints or issues arising, the industry generally has concluded it is easier not to have women than to have to deal with female anger towards unfair behavior.

 

Khazan, Olga. “Why Men Don’t Like Funny Women.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 19 Nov. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/plight-of-the-funny-female/416559/.

The author of this article writes about why men do not find females funny, although, in many cases, other females find this female funny. Through writing the rest of the article, the author fleshes out the idea that humor is a sign of intelligence and, therefore, it is evolutionarily logical that one would prefer a funny mate – and therefore, men must try to be funny in order to find said mate. However, interestingly enough, everyone claimed they wanted a mate with a sense of humor – although women defined this as “telling jokes” and men defined this as “laughing at my jokes”.

Most tellingly, the author cites a source in which women called themselves “unfunny” from the beginning before writing witty lines, and the results of this survey found that the male lines were more often rated to be the funniest. This carried over to the conclusion of the cited survey, in which almost 90% of both genders’ participants rated men to be the funnier gender. Results like this beg the question of whether or not the gender disparity in comedy is self-inflicted or a result of actual societal barriers.

Everyone Must Wear Black!

The color scheme of this show is easily characterized as black. The three main characters all wear black. Boss lady Jacqueline wears all black. Supporting characters wear black. Even blurry figured extras in the background wear black. Day in and day out, the characters dress as if they are going to attend a funeral. Occasionally, characters do run out of funeral attire and begin to experiment with other colors.

Are they at an office or a funeral? The world may never know. I can only provide guesses to why the characters in the Bold Type are so opposed to wearing colors.

Aside from what the characters wear, the background typically displays a normal color scheme (grass is green, water is blue, taxis are yellow, etc.); indoors typically favors more neutral colors. In The Bold Type, cinematographic decisions are made to keep the focus on the characters because it concentrates on character development. The characters likely wear black the majority of the time so that their outfits don’t outshine them. The typical shots, in episode four especially, are long and follow the characters as they move within their environment, the audience sees what the main character sees. By doing these long, sweeping shots, the show has a smooth flow and the audience can really connect with the characters. Another way that the show keeps the characters highlighted is by shooting in shallow depth of field, meaning that the foreground which typically contains the characters is in focus whereas the rest of the scene is blurry. In terms of the lighting of this episode, the company building is always shown glistening in the sun, and unless it is night time, the characters are always well lit. Episode four stands out due to the way that it manipulates the lighting and shooting style during several critical plot points. One example of such cinematography is when Sutton had just found out that she is likely out of the running for the job she wanted, the lighting changed in such a way that it washed her out with almost a screen of fog, and there was bokeh ( typically appears as circles of unfocused light) all over the screen.

The circles of light in this picture are called bokeh if my description in the parentheses was not enough to understand what bokeh is.

This change in lighting is not only for dramatic effect but also to symbolize how things are unclear for Sutton because she rejected the stable job, but now the dream job has rejected her. Another moment that stood out in this episode is the series of quick shots that flashed between Sutton working on her mood board and Kat in the city at night. It was done partially to create of sort of montage of Sutton completing her project and partially to create a sense of suspense and mystery around where Kat was and what she was doing because the short takes only gave slight glimpses. The last element of unique cinematography is when Kat and Adena kiss, a sort of heavenly light shines down upon them. The episode concludes with this scene, this light, but heavenly light in the middle of the night cannot be trusted…

This moment is super important plot-wise, character development-wise, and of course cinematography-wise.

Female Representation in the News or Lack Thereof

Cochran, B. (2011). WOMEN’S ROLE IN MEDIA: BUILDING TOWARD AN EQUITABLE FUTURE. Medijske Studije = Media Studies, 2(3), 94-99. Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1954227223?accountid=11107

Cochran celebrates the progress that women have made in the media but also stresses the need for improvement for women in media on both the national and international stage. She gathers statistics and presents them in order to support these claims of progress and necessity for improvement. The value of this article lies in its concentration on the advancement of women in the media through showcasing examples of fair representation of women in the media Additionally, the presentation of precise paths through which women can advance their role within the news as well as ways the companies should be facilitating this growth is very worthwhile. Although this source does not contain a specific study, it contains firsthand accounts of Cochran’s experience of being part of the International Women’s Media Foundation from the beginning which has likely expanded her viewpoint and enabled her to give insight into the media’s representation of women in other countries which enriches the conversation of media coverage in the United States through facilitating comparisons between the two.

Desmond, R., & Danilewicz, A. (2010). Women are on, but not in, the news: Gender roles in local television news. Sex Roles, 62(11-12), 822-829. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9686-5

This source aims to reveal gender bias in terms of who gets what type of stories, who gets lead stories, and who gets cited as expert sources. Desmond and Danilewicz hypothesized that in all of these aspects women would get the short stick. This source is arguably the best out of these six sources for several reasons. Desmond and Danilewicz convey the importance and implications of their study for young women: if young women only see women presenting certain types of stories, it will affirm gender roles and possibly limit these female viewers’ idea of what they are capable of. The source goes to great depth to draw comparisons between their research and past studies as well as bringing in both statistical and personable details to further ground their research in. In addition to an in depth description of the methodology, the study’s results are explained very clearly, and any hypothesis not completely supported is readily rejected. The study’s results express that female and male anchors and reporters are equally represented in terms of their numbers, but females are pigeon-holed into almost exclusively reporting stories about health and human interest whereas men get the meatier, tougher topics like politics. Additionally, male experts are more likely to be cited than females. This is a highly efficient source for depicting both the successes and failures of gender representation in local television news.

Engstrom, Erika, and Anthony J. Ferri. “From Barriers to Challenges: Career Perceptions of Women TV News Anchors.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, 1998, pp. 789-802. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/216926995?accountid=11107.

Engstrom and Ferri focus on discerning what local female anchors identify as their greatest career barriers based on a well-developed survey that received 128 responses. The article also compares the results of this 1990s survey to a similar survey conducted in the previous decade. Engstrom and Ferri conclude that the main obstacle females anchors face within their careers is the focus on their physical experience as well as the difficultly of balancing work and family life. This peer-reviewed source is valuable because it goes into great depth to establish the history of female news anchors and what they struggled with in order to compare that with what current female anchors face. The article meticulously explais how the survey was constructed and  affirms that the survey was conducted by random sampling. Additionally, the authors are very transparent in pointing out that the results cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population due to its small sample size. Despite the small sample size, the article is beneficial in the way that it presents both the assenters and dissenters viewpoints equally, and the personal quotes given even if just anecdotal, give life and insight to how real women feel about gender representation and equality (or lack thereof) in their industry.

Grubb, M. V., & Billiot, T. (2010). Women sportscasters: Navigating a masculine domain. Journal of Gender Studies, 19(1), 87-93. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589230903525460

This article is an assemblage of quotes and stories from a collection of interviews in order to expose the harsh, unwelcoming environment that female sportscasters much traverse in order to be a part of the field. This exposure is supposed to serve as a call to action to change the culture surrounding sports and the treatment of women. The article briefly accounts the tales of the groundbreaking women who first made a space for women in sportscasting. The value of this study cannot be found in statistics or an in-depth experiment; it is found instead in the worth of personal and genuine accounts of female sportscasters vocalizing the struggles, the mistreatment, the injustice they face on a daily basis. Because of its lack of concrete facts, this source cannot stand alone, but it definitely has the potential to be a powerful piece when paired with statistical data that proves the lack of representation of females in this industry along with a wide-spread analysis of how women sportscasters feel about their jobs. In other words, due to its anecdotal nature, all the points made in the source cannot necessarily be generalized to the entire industry, but it can make for a great supplemental piece and possibly provide a face for the facts.

Mudrick, M., Burton, L. J., Sauder, M. H., & Lin, C. A. (2018). Sportscasting success: Varying standards may apply. Journal of Sports Media, 13(1), 49-73. Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2056814931?accountid=11107

The argument of this article is that female sportscasters face double-standards and are limited by gender roles that influence the audience’s perception of them. The article supports its claim by citing examples of the social role theory and then expounding on how these persistent gender roles and stereotyping specifically affect female sportscasters. The value of this article is not so much found in the actual study it conducts (analyzing comments made during a sports debate between a female and male broadcaster), but more so in its explanation of gender roles and its analysis of how they shape the way audiences think. However, one very beneficial element of the study is how it illustrates the way that viewers will comment that a man is more knowledgeable without having any examples to support that assumption. Some commentators explicitly say they find men more trustworthy in this realm which all just goes to exemplify the stagnant presence of gender typing in society. This article does well at specifying the lack of women represented in sports media along with their unique struggles. Within the article, the limitations of the study are acknowledged which strengthens its sense of reliability.

Price, C. J., & Wulff, S. S. (2005). Does sex make a difference? job satisfaction of television network news correspondents. Women’s Studies in Communication, 28(2), 207-234. Retrieved from http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/198297768?accountid=11107

The article makes a subdued argument of the need for “improvement of women’s roles in network television” through its quantification of the differences between job satisfaction of males and females in network television. After measurements based on several different factors (age, salary, amount of experience), the article concludes that overall women are less satisfied than men with their jobs. Despite looking for differences between males and females, the article speaks to the fact that on many aspects of the survey women and men have very similar responses. The value of this article can be found in its extensive detail of the history of the dynamic between men and women in national news networks, its multitude of references to other studies and analyses to bolster its own findings, and the statistical presentation of the data. This article is a great supplement to Engstrom and Ferri’s article because it can better highlight the significant differences between sexes in the workplace due to its comparison of both male and female responses. Although this article provides a bountiful amount of statistical data along with some qualitative material, gender representation seems to only play a minor portion.

The lack of women in sports broadcasting careers

  1. Hardin, Marie and Stacie Shain. “Strength in Numbers? The Experiences and Attitudes of Women in Sports Media Careers.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 82, no. 4, Winter2005, pp. 804-819. EBSCOhost, library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=20486633&site=eds-live&scope=site.

 

This article examines the ways and reasons why women are discouraged to join and/or to stay in a sports media career. This helps provide a deeper insight on how women feel about this issue of men dominating the sports world. In addition, the article also talked about women who wanted to stay in sports media because they believed they were making an impact. For example, one woman’s opinion about why she wanted to stay in sports media was because she thought more women working in sports media would lead to better coverage of female sports. She acknowledges that women would reinforce the ideals and commitment of female sports coverage. This article is valuable because it gives many different perspectives from women in sports media and their experiences in it. This change in perspective is helpful in getting first-hand information from women on their experience and thoughts about their possible role in sports media.

 

  1. Laucella, Pamela C., et al. “Diversifying the Sports Department and Covering Women’s Sports: A Survey of Sports Editors.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 94, no. 3, 2017, pp. 772-792. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1934460324?accountid=11107, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077699016654443.

This article highlights the importance of getting women into sports media because of the effect they can have while in the field. This article looks at how although the field still needs much improvement women are starting to come in and make a difference. It examines how a lot more women are trying to get into sports media. The most important aspect that this article looks at is how women can succeed and move up in the business once they get their foot in the door. Their setbacks come from their preconceptions about women in sports media. So many women believe this because it is how major sports broadcasting seems. This article emphasizes why we need to inform women of the opportunities they can have in sports media. What makes this article so different is it looks at the positive side to women in sports media, in showing how when women are given the chance they can succeed and lead in the sports department.

  1. Paramo, Daniel. “Gender Inequality in Sports Broadcasting Apparent to Viewers.” The Daily Evergreen, The Daily Evergreen, 5 Oct. 2017, https://dailyevergreen.com/17571/sports/women-broadcaster-column/

This news article was written to investigate how people are noticing the lack of females in sports media. It explains how this is more noticeable in today’s fast paced society. It examines how women’s sports are increasing in air time, but the female broadcasters still aren’t making a breakthrough in TV. They explore specific way to help this problem, starting with a local school teacher (Tammy Crawford) who is motivating more women to go into sports broadcasting. She uses mind-blowing statistics each day to underscore the importance of changing this male-dominated field. For Example: “As of 2014, 90 percent of editorial roles, 90 percent of assistant editorial roles, 88 percent of columnists, 87 percent of reporters and 95 percent of anchors, are men. Of the 183 sport talk shows, there are only two female hosts.” This article is valuable because it shows some of they ways people are helping change the problem at it roots. This is central to showing people that this problem can be changed as long as we continue to welcome women into the field.

 

 

  1. Pedersen, Paul M. and Warren A. Whisenant. “Successful When Given the Opportunity: Investigating Gender Representation and Success Rates of Interscholastic Athletic Directors.” Physical Educator, vol. 62, no. 4, Winter2005, pp. 178-186. EBSCOhost, library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=19409775&site=eds-live&scope=site.

 

This article talks about how men not only dominate in sports media jobs, but sports coverage in terms of games and airtime. This article is different because it’s a summary of a study conducted about the status and success of athletic directors with a focus on the differences in males and females. This study was conducted with 423 high schools in two different states. The data in this study revealed that masculinity dominated the sports world, specifically in high school (90% of the athletic directors were male). When the study looked at the success rate of the athletic directors, the results showed that females who had worked their way into the sports field were as successful as their male counterparts. These findings are valuable to us because it gives hard facts on the success of females in sports. Understanding the findings of this study help us acknowledge the impact women can have on sports media.

 

  1. Pfeifer, Kelsey Grace. “A Female Sports Journalist Encouraged Women To Apply For A Position At Sports Illustrated And Twitter Lost Its Damn Mind.” BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed, 18 June 2018, buzzfeed.com/pfeiferkelsey/a-female-sports-journalist-encouraged-women-to-app-37c2n

 

This Buzzfeed article depicts the events after a tweet was sent out by Charlotte Wilder, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, that encouraged women to apply for an entry-level position at SI’s offices in New York. Although women are underrepresented in sports media when Charlotte tried to reach out to other women she got backlash that she wasn’t being fair. People called her sexist and discriminatory of men for seeking out a woman in sports media, even though all sports media has done for years is seek out men for their field. I think this article is important to showing how a harmless way of trying to get a woman into sports media caused a huge up rage.  This reflects why so many women are afraid to put themselves out there and to join this cutthroat world. The writer of this article, a woman who has been writing about sports for over 5 years added her opinion that women in her field should be a surprise anymore, but yet it still is. She believed this tweet was innocent and was just another way to help support the increase of women in her field.

 

  1. Price, John. “Where Are All the Women? Diversity, the Sports Media, and Sports Journalism Education.” International Journal of Organizational Diversity, vol. 14, no. 1, Mar. 2015, pp. 9-19. EBSCOhost, library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=101729797&site=eds-live&scope=site.

 

This article goes deeper into the reasons why we see so few female sports media broadcasters. This study shows how a shortage of female students are choosing to take sports journalism degrees and training courses. It also looks into what is life like for the few female students who choose to take such courses. This article provided another reason for the lack of women in sports media. It blames universities and journalism schools for their failure to recruit individuals from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. This article also investigates how black and minority ethnic students are under-represented in journalism courses compared to many other subject areas. This supports the idea that sports media and journalism are biased and that they have a specific person they want in their field and they will fight to get those “types of people”. This article is valuable because it shows how if we don’t start to address the problem of women in sports media early in their lives then it might be too late by the time some women realize they might want to pursue a career in sports media.

Being Different in an “Accepting” World

Each passing year introduces new technologies to the world around us. Seen also as time continues are the advances towards acceptance of all people, no matter their gender, race, culture, religion, etc. However, even in this progressive age, there are still many instances of prejudice.

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Adena El-Amin

 

The character portrayal of Adena El-Amin within Freeform’s The Bold Type brings attention to the prejudice that is is still prevalent within the United States. Not only is Adena treated unfairly for being a Muslim woman, she is also scrutinized for her choice in sexuality. In one episode, in particular, Adena is walking with her friend, Kat, when her mom calls. Seeing as Adena’s mother speaks their native language, Adena answers in Arabic. Though, as she is walking and speaking on the phone a man rudely yells at her to “…speak English!”, and then goes on to call her a “towel head” when Kat begins to speak out for Adena. In this portion of the episode, the viewer not only sees the harsh treatment Adena receives for simply being herself, but we also witness her fear of authority in the United States when she runs instead of telling the police what actually happened.

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Kat calling for Adena after she realizes that she ran away.

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Adena explaining she had to leave.

Kat is baffled by her friend’s decision to run but later comes to realize that Adena does not really have the same choices as her. All though both women were only defending themselves, because of who Adena is (a lesbian Muslim woman) being right would not have been enough and there was a very real possibility that she would be deported.

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Kat’s Boss telling her that sadly, being in the right isn’t always enough.

 

 

The Bold Type is a show that says what needs to be said. It talks on topics that many people would rather sweep under the rug. Topics like the prejudice that many women still face and how that bias is spread within all social circles, whether that be a man walking past who yells a hurtful phrase, or a policeman who doesn’t believe a woman simply because she is another color. The Bold Type shows viewers the real deal… It is hard to be different and it shouldn’t have to be.

 

 

“One of the most jaw dropping scenes in television”

Sense 8 is one of television’s most ambitious shows. With eight main characters and storylines spanning four continents, the show is a tremendous undertaking by Netflix. This is reflected in its astonishing $9 Million budget per episode. The actors in the show must constantly step in and out of each other’s lives, resulting in a world-tour production process. There are so many places for the show to go wrong, and yet somehow Netflix managed to pull it off- especially in the visual category. Case in point, Season 1 Episode 4 is visually stunning and cinematically effective, containing one of the most jaw dropping scenes in all of television.

The show has a very unique style, partly due to the nature of it’s story, and partly due to it’s intent focus on capturing the human experience. The main characters are a special species of human that has evolved to share each other’s emotions and experiences. This lends itself well to the major theme of the show: what does it mean to be human? The cinematography and production reflects this. The intro to every episode is long. Over two minutes. During this time, broad establishing shots ripped straight from Planet Earth capture cities, mountains, oceans, people, and everything in between. None of the characters in the show make an appearance in the intro. Instead, the show opts to give a broad overview of Earth and the people on it. By prefacing every episode with this, the show ensures that the viewer understands the broader context of the show. It may be about eight people, but it’s really about the experiences that we can all relate to, regardless of who we are or where we are from. Sense 8 is a show for the world.

When the show begins, one notices that shots in Sense 8 are long, often going seconds without dialogue and lingering on the faces of the main characters. The performances of the actors are put under a microscope in the show. There are many close ups and intensely emotional scenes, interspersed with little relatable moments.

In S1E4, we begin to see how each of the characters are beginning to blend into one another’s lives. It starts small, cuts between locations occur at moments when characters are in similar positions. This allows the show to perform the ultimate breaking of the 180 rule: cutting to a different continent. Scenes take place thousands of miles apart but are linked by the characters in them, seamlessly blending locations and characters through smooth cuts and clever compositing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jref4bWvRLs

Above: Sense 8 season 1 episode 4 delivers a beautifully shot testament to the joy of living.

This all comes to a head with the scene I referred to as “one of the most jaw dropping scenes in all of television” above. The scene begins with Wolfgang being pressured into doing karaoke. Simultaneously the show shows us Riley escaping a rough night and going out in the early morning to listen to music and clear her head. As Riley begins to play “What’s up” by Four Non Blondes, we see each character slowly begin to hear the music. As they do, they each start to sing along. The camera seamlessly cuts from location to location as each character, in various states of frustration, begins to sing along. The music swells as the eight people begin to break into a happy, shower-style, singalong. The shots increase in their grandness, with Kala dancing on a rooftop overlooking an Indian city at dusk, and slowly comes back down to a less ‘cinematic’ and more relatable shot of Wolfgang and Kala dancing in a colorful bedroom. It’s emotional, beautiful, complex, and still relatable- capturing the raw joy of simply being alive.

 

Miming A Culture: or Why Including A Culture Doesn’t Guarantee Understanding

In any television show, context is crucial; for example, a TV show that may have seemed progressive in prior years may seem anachronistic today. Similarly, one must understand the context of the production of Switched at Birth and its reaction in order to understand its eventual reactions by different communities, ranging from support for reasonably portraying Deaf culture by general critics to criticism for not including a Deaf actress as one of the leading characters and unrealistically portraying deaf-to-hearing communication.

Take, for example, Katie LeClerc, the actress who portrays Daphne, the deaf girl born to a lower-class family. Considering the paucity of roles available for Deaf actors, one would expect the hiring staff to choose an authentically Deaf actress. However, in actuality, Katie, who was hired, was “late-deafened”, or became hard-of-hearing later in life, thus warranting the criticism, especially considering her lack of ASL fluency and lack of “Deaf” accent. To compound with this, many have voiced concern about her portrayal; unlike in reality, where lip-reading is extremely imprecise and can only capture approximately 30% of meaning, Daphne is capable of unrealistically near-perfect lip-reading. Quite to the contrary, however, much criticism has also been gained over the lack of cochlear-implanted Deaf characters. Other than being mentioned in passing in the first episode as unpopular within the Deaf community, cochlear implant users are effectively never mentioned again.

Out of the entire Switched At Birth cast, not a single character uses cochlear implants.

However, one of the most severe complaints regards the lack of Deaf producers in the production of the television series. Out of the entire production crew, virtually none of the executive producers, producers, or editors were deaf or hard-of-hearing, with only deaf actors and actresses such as Sean Berdy being part of production. As a result, it is apparent that much of the television series is primarily produced from an aural standpoint and thus simply lacks much of the nuances typically found in Deaf culture.

On the other hand, however, much has been stated regarding the comparatively large percentage of deaf representation, in any case. Prior to this television series, deaf actors effectively never appeared on television, but in comparison, with the wide variety of actors, many have argued that it is best to view the television series as one that, although lacking in some nuances of Deaf culture, ultimately became one of the first in television history to portray deafness as more than a defect and instead as a feature with a rich culture and ample support. Ultimately, however, one thing is certain: that Switched At Birth remains a highly controversial television series.

AKA 99 Friends and How They’re Written

This is based off the fourth episode of Jessica Jones titled “AKA 99 Friends.” The credited writer of this series is Hilly Hicks, Jr. who has also written The Big C, Chicago Fire, and Pasadena. However the show is based off of Marvel comics so the writer is writing based off of someone else’s ideas, characters, and themes. Jessica Jones the comic was written/created by Brian Michael Bendis. The show gives credit to the comics and Stan Lee for the whole program. The dialogue is based around a slight New York City dialect and the inner voice of Jessica Jones. The only voice over is the thoughts of Jessica Jones during times of quiet, transitions, and pauses. This allows the viewer into the troubled mind of Jones and doesn’t create a weird silence while she stalks people. Also, it helps keep you keep up with what is going on and what issues Jessica Jones is going through with her PTSD.

I just thought this was a good and humorous addition to this otherwise dreary topic.

In this episode there are times of character silence that is used to allow the viewer to hear Jessica’s thoughts. Times of complete silence are almost always filled with tension or sadness, generally negative emotions. In this episode, it allows you to see a tear roll down Jessica’s face after the betrayal of a friend. Silence is also used for times of sleep which often leads to nightmares relating to Jessica’s experiences with Kilgrave. This is a marvel show, therefore there is a big ol’ load of references and allusions to ‘the big green guy’ or events that have taken place in marvel movies or other comics. Another character in the show is Luke Cage, he has his own show and therefore is kind of an allusion in and of itself.

The show Luke Cage that stems from Jessica Jones

The writing of the show is very powerful in its underlying messages about modern issues that are made apparent by using an issue in the show as a reference to a real world issue such as racism. Plus, I just like the way Jessica Jones is written as a bad ass character who pretends to not care and usually doesn’t.

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