I think that a contemporary cause of female depravity might be television shows. Women (and men) are bombarded with images about how today’s female should look, act, and think. Some are positive role models, like America Ferrera’s character on Ugly Betty, but some portray women you never see in real life, like the very skinny cast members of the new 90210. Shows like Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives encourage the 20 to 30 to even 40-year-old sets to “have sex like men” and portray women behaving “badly”—which is also a show come to think of it. Many of these shows show the bonds of women in various sisterhoods of sorts, but most of these women are not your average housewife. Shows like the aforementioned 90210 and Gossip Girl, show young women—high school girls to be exact, having sex with various people, doing drugs, and other nefarious and decidedly “unladylike” things each episode. Many only care for the latest trends and the hottesr gossip.
I think the author of “Novel Reading” would say that shows like this imply that either these women are normal or that we should strive to be like them. Female watchers that admire the clothing of the actress on screen might buy similar clothes and perhaps (gasp) start to emulate the character in other ways. I think this author would be a big fan of the FCC and censorship as a way to protect the morality and virtue of the “innocent fair” in today’s world. The author might also say that these images objectify women and that male viewers might expect women in real life to imitate the ones on screen as well.
While I think that these are valid concerns, I feel that women should watch what they like. We just need to make sure that we don’t start to compare ourselves with these “perfect” women we see. It takes a lot of time and money to make those stars look like they do and their actions are all in the script. For now, we can just take heart in our own beauty by looking at all those pictures of stars without makeup on!
I think the author of “Novel Reading” would say that shows like this imply that either these women are normal or that we should strive to be like them. Female watchers that admire the clothing of the actress on screen might buy similar clothes and perhaps (gasp) start to emulate the character in other ways. I think this author would be a big fan of the FCC and censorship as a way to protect the morality and virtue of the “innocent fair” in today’s world. The author might also say that these images objectify women and that male viewers might expect women in real life to imitate the ones on screen as well.
While I think that these are valid concerns, I feel that women should watch what they like. We just need to make sure that we don’t start to compare ourselves with these “perfect” women we see. It takes a lot of time and money to make those stars look like they do and their actions are all in the script. For now, we can just take heart in our own beauty by looking at all those pictures of stars without makeup on!
2 comments:
I'm so glad you brought up media as well! I completely agree. The shows you mentioned - Desperate Housewives and Sex & the City are both multi-faceted, just like the issue of Novel Reading; we can say that it's liberating for these women to have sex like men, but we can also play devil's advocate and talk about the blatant sexuality and possible "depravity" that ensues.
Great post! Watch some Hocus Pocus & have a great Halloween!
Good post! I agree that TV shows could be the cause of female depravity nowadays. The shows you mentioned, like Gossip Girl and 90210, show girls that it is ok to have sex with random people and do drugs. I think the author would comment on how these TV shows are corrupting women.
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