Two shows on the CW are centered around pretty, blonde, white girls who are also in the process of making their way through law school. "Hellcats" and "Greek" (below).
The main characters look startlingly similar. It seems out of place that both of these characters are in law school. They are popular, don't seem career-driven, and have plenty of other distractions that might keep them from getting their law degrees in real life. When the producers of the shows were picking occupations for their main characters, it seems like they chose law school just so that they could show their viewers that they endorsed the empowerment of women.
Even though I would consider these two women token characters, they are the main characters of the series' which sets this type of tokenism apart from the racial tokenism that we talked about in class. Do you think this is tokenism, or something else?
Emma,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I definitely believe this is Tokenism. I haven't seen either of these shows, yet when I think about it...what does it matter that each of these girls got a law degree? Is it the center of the shows? Or do the shows encompass other dramas like their families, or social lives? I bet the latter is true. Point Proven!
When I started reading this post (at about the part where you mention "barbie figure") I immediately thought of the show "Real Housewives of Orange County."
ReplyDeletehere's a link: http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-orange-county
I watch this show whenever I can because I believe it is the first reality show that focuses on real life problems of real women. Ok, just kidding. When I saw it for the first time, I couldn't tell the difference between the five or six women featured on the show because THEY ALL LOOKED LIKE BARBIES! They had the same blonde hair, same tall body, and the same blue eyes. I was really fascinated by this. Oh and by the way, they all were not too bright either.
Sarah, I agree that Emma really proves a point with this post. It seems that the producers just throw this law career in with the character's story line just to show that this show believes that women can pursue an empowering career such as something in law.
ReplyDeleteHenry, I've actually seen the "Real Housewives of Orange County". I agree,the show focuses more on the women's appearance and their ability to spend large sums of money just to fit a certain lifestyle. These women are the typical "barbies" as Emma said before. I just wonder why Bravo chooses to show these women as opposed to women that are smart, determined, and actually pursue an empowering career, or women who focus on their family's well being rather than these women who don't.
Emma,
ReplyDeleteA clever extension of the TV Tokenism discussion in class.
I also really enjoyed reading your critique of Waiting for Superman. I think you probably held back but I think your contrast to Race to Nowhere was particularly incisive.