Ugly Betty

I really enjoyed the pilot for Ugly Betty. I thought it was a very funny sitcom and it may even be masked behind a layer of feminism, but I think really when it came down to it, it wasn’t very feminist at all. First, the main character is not ugly. She does not have nice clothes and has braces and is chubby. But she is not ugly. She is probably still thinner then the average American women and her face is very pretty. Braces are something that will be removed and do not determine a persons beauty. The main character is probably at worst, average (that is in the normal world not the fashion world). But the show is not called Average Betty. It’s called Ugly Betty. Doesn’t this further serve to make women feel as though they to are “ugly” even if they are actually average like Betty? I think this goes hand in hand with the beauty myth. If you aren’t a super model (tall, super thin, young) then you just aren’t pretty. There is no recognition of what is actually average/normal and what is inordinate (i.e. 115 pound, six foot tall super models).

Aside from perpetuating the beauty myth I think the show also portrays powerful women is very mean, ruthless, bitches. For example, the woman who was next in line to be the head of the magazine does horrible things to try and sabotage the company. Many television shows, movies, and other media like to portray any women that have power as cut throat bitches. I think this image gets carried over into real life as well. One example that comes to mind is the constant jokes and stabs being made at Hillary Clinton. She is a very powerful women. She is also very smart, well educated, and does actually have work experience to back up her positions in power. But I think she is generally portrayed as a bitch. If men are powerful they are decisive. If women are powerful they are bossy. If men get to the highest levels of their field then they are self made men. If women do so then they were cut throat to get there. I think this is an unfair double standard and I don’t think Ugly Betty does anything to debunk this stereotype. It may be a really funny show but I don’t think it’s making any great strides for women’s equality.

Gender Traits in Minority Report - paper 2

During the class discussion on minority report when were comparing the story and the film I had a thought. It didn’t really occur to me until that day, even though I had seen the film and read the story, that essentially the film split the Anderton character from the story into two separate characters. Anderton and Lamar Burgess. I decided to develop this idea into my second paper but thought it was a kind of interesting take on how gender can be played with even without changing the characters actual sex (i.e. male to female). Here is the idea behink my paper:

In the film adaptation of Minority Report, Anderton’s character is in essence split into two separate characters of himself and Lamar Burgess to resolve the issue of this “doubleness” that is faced in the story version of Anderton. The book creates a very complex and dualistic Anderton while the film creates two separate characters to minimize this duality and show the internal complexity of the Anderston character externally through two separate people.

In the film, Anderton and Burgess possess certain distinct and opposite characteristics of the story version of Anderton. The film version of John Anderton is the “masculine” side of the story’s Anderton character. His character is based around stereotypically “masculine” traits such as high levels of self confidence, action oriented and physically demanding solutions, and self preservation over self sacrifice for the group. In the movie, Burgess encompasses the more “feminine” characteristics of constrained confidence, less physical and action based solutions, and prioritizing the pre-crime system and the safety of other citizens over his personal well being. Splitting of the Anderton character for the film simplified the main characters and resolved some of the “doubleness.” This film version allowed for a hyper masculine Anderton and a more action based plot in addition to making the characters less complex for mass consumption.

The idea here is that they author and the directors were able to play with gender traits (masculine versus feminine) and yet all of the character were of the same gender. It was interesting for me when I was analyzing these characters to decide which characteristics were socially assigned to “masculine” and which were assigned to “feminine.” Also, how they were able to incorporate these characteristics into characters that were all of the same gender. I really liked writing this paper because it allowed me to look at gender in terms of traits rather then actual genders (i.e. male or female). It also allowed me to look more in depth at characteristics that were not as blatant as some of the things we had discussed in other books such as in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and her desire to have children to be truly feminine or in Maurice and the struggle between being a man/masculine and needing to get married to fit into society and being gay.

Boo Disney

After the presentation on the little mermaid I started to think back on all of the Disney films. Wow they are sexist. I never really noticed. You idealize and love them so much as a child that even when you grow up and become more educated and aware of things such as sexism you still neglect to see them in the films that you loved so much as a kid. I think it is kind of like finally figuring out that your parents are real people and have faults like everyone else. It takes a while to figure it out because as a kid you thought they were the all knowing, perfect parents (or at least I did). Then one day when you are older you figure it out and it’s a bummer. Same thing as the Disney movies. Ignorance is bliss. Now how am I ever going to watch Cinderella wish for her prince without thinking “why does she need a prince to be happy” or watch the Lion King and not think “Why is Mufassa the king of the land and not Simba’s mom (which I don’t even know her name)?”

Then I think about the Shrek movies and how they actually openly mock Disney’s choice to portray most of the female characters as helpless young ladies in need of saving. In their films they have the princes ninja fighting. I can’t wait to see Shrek 3 and see what other social commentary they make on things I neglected to see as a child and maybe chose to ignore a little as an adult in Disney films.

Oh Kate

Another fantastic quote by Kate (nothing really to do with the class I just thought it was interesting):

An interesting way to negotiate a truce in the “war between the sexes” in the U.S. would be to mandate not an increase in wages for women, but rather a decrease in wages for men to the level of any woman holding a similar position. Use the money thus saved to repay the U.S. deficit. I wonder how far that would fly in a male-dominated Senate and House of Representatives? (Pg. 108)

When we were discussing Transamerica in class the book Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein got brought up. I had read it about a year ago in another class and I remember it being a really interesting book that was actually a fun read. It is about Kate, who went from male to female, but more then that it is about her argument that gender isn’t rigidly defined. Its fluid. There is a spectrum of genders not just a man or a women, but there can be things in between. I decided to re-read the book after it got brought up in class (seriously I am that big of a dork that I actually did this). One of my favorites quotes from the whole book is this:

One Answer to the question “Who is a transsexual?” might well be “Anyone who admits it.” A more political answer might be, “Anyone whose performance of gender call into question the construct of gender itself.” (Pg. 121)

It kind of sums up her entire point. Gender is a performance. Gender traits are made up by society and assigned as either male or female. Gender is socially constructed not biological or anything else. You can perform whatever gender, or in between gender you want.

I think this point was well illustrated during the FABULOUS presentation on “America’s Next Top Model” and the discussion surrounding Miss Jay. Miss Jay is one of the main judges on the show. He is biologically a man. Sometimes he dresses in drag, sometimes in man’s clothing, and sometimes in a sort of in between realm; some men’s items, some women’s, etc. Yet he is the runway walk coach. A runway walk is supposed to be an exaggeration of a women’s walk. Miss Jay has one of the best runway walks ever. Some of the female contestants have some of the worst runway walks ever. It is Miss Jay’s job to teach them how to do the women’s walk. The fact that A.) this is something that can be taugh B.) there are traits that determine a “man’s walk” and a “woman’s walk” and C.) that a man can teach women how to walk as such just emphasizes the point that gender and gender traits are socially constructed.

The Little Mermaid

- I was going through and looking at my Blogs and realized for some reason my last blog was from Fight Club and my last two never posted on Ugly Betty and The Little Mermaid. I remember this happened to someone else before, it was really weird and for some reason I guess it never went through, so here they are:

I am doing my presentation on The Little Mermaid on Thursday and I was surprised to find there was so much more behind the movie and story than I thought. I found the article by Laura Sells on The Little Mermaid really fascinating. She brought up so many points refuting what feminists for many years have argued. Although Ariel is just another Disney princess, with a Barbie like body there is actually a lot about her in the story of her trying to get away from patriarchy. That the under the sea world that her father rules represents patriarchy. That Ariel is held down by her fins that constrain her and limit her mobility. Ariel has the desire for knowledge, freedom and mobility that she sees the “human” world can give her. This was all brought up within Sell’s article.

When seeing these new views of the movie that I never I thought about, I begin to think about the affect on little girls today. I know I used to watch The Little Mermaid when I was little; it was one of my favorite movies. I saw Ariel as independent and although yes marrying the prince made her fulfilled I never really thought much of it as a girl. When I was little I always just assumed you grow up and get married, I always thought I would and still even today still hope I will. I think her desires to have more and know more was taken from the movie, her adventure and not necessarily that marriage makes women complete. I don’t look as marriage as the end of a women’s life, yet the beginning of a new part of it. After reading Sell’s Article and reading more into movie and watching it again, I think there are a lot of positive aspects to the movie for young girls to look up to.

Ugly Betty

I really enjoyed doing Ugly Betty. It happens to be a show I already watch and to be able to relate it to our class was really interesting. One of the things said in class that I found really interesting was that the actress that plays the part of Ugly Betty was told that she was too pretty to play the role. That they had to make her ugly or what the show portrays is that in a way she is normal. It was brought up in class that if she is what society is “normal” why did they call the show Ugly Betty? I think they had to name the show Ugly Betty because no one wants to watch a show called Normal Betty, it’s a catch phrase. I think the show does a good job of showing that she is what is “normal” in a society or culture that has expectations that are not “normal”. In a way the show is making fun of the high fashion society, showing that it is somewhat ridiculous. By making Betty a Hispanic and of lower class shows other struggles that she has, making the show more dramatic. The majority of world is lower class; it’s a struggle that many women or men have, getting a job and trying to follow their dreams while still having to support themselves or a family.

I love how the nephew is gay or very feminine. I think it shows a lot about society, how it is becoming more accepted. Showing that is it ok for a boy to be feminine. If you think about it, it’s ok for a girl to be “masculine”, for her to be a tom-boy, but until recently it is not seen as ok for a boy to want to do “girl” things. I think the show is showing what “normal” is really. That it is normal to not be a size zero, be able to wear and afford clothes that are in style and for a boy to be feminine. Although Normal Betty may not sell, I think it’s what it’s really showing.