Womens roles on television

Whether or not we want to accept it, media that affects us is all over. As soon the day starts we are bombarded with advertisements from the radio, television, billboards, internet ads, and even daily TV programs and movies have found ways to plug certain products. With this all being shoved in our faces it is no wonder that people start to believe what is in the ad must be reality. There are many interesting concepts that David Gauntlett brings up in his book Media, Gender, and Identity but I want to focus on feminity, women on television in the past compared to women on television today.

As we discussed in class, feminity can be described in many ways, ranging from good characteristics to very negative. Yet Gaunlett believes that feminity is not necessarily seen as the state of "being a woman"; instead, it’s perceived more as a stereotype of a woman's role from the past (p11). I believe this is due to the fact that women can take on so many roles at one time that being feminine may just get lost in the mix until it is needed. Being so many different role models women start to take on many personalities depending on their surroundings. At home they take on the mother role, while at work they want to be seen as the hardworking woman that can accomplish the same tasks of her male counterpart, yet while out with friends women can let loose a little more, at anytime the feminity switch can flick on.

The idea of feminity has evolved over time just as women's roles in the media have. Women on television in the past had very few roles but the main one was to be the wonderful mother of the wholesome family program. I recall watching The Wonder Years growing up and the mother was a typical stay at home mom that dropped out of college to follow the life of her husband. Married with Children also showcased another housewife mother that spent most of her husband’s money while all he could do was complain about it. Both of these shows had the men working while the wife was suppose to raise the children and have supper on the table by the time their husbands came home. I believe that women were portrayed this way in the media because at this time in society most women were housewives.

However in today's society women are not expected to stay home and live off their husbands, women are not even expected to get married or to have children if they so choose. Women’s roles on television have changed from the housewife to the working woman. Yet the woman's role is still usually a support of the leading character who happens to be a male. Take CSI for example there are two females out of the six member cast. Neither of the women plays the lead role. Women have come a long way from only being a housewife on television and will continue to strive to get the leading roles over men but as we have seen it doesn't happen overnight.