Feminism in Mainstream American Television from 2000 to Now
Introduction
Mainstream American television is now more feminist than ever. With more females taking the lead in front of and behind the camera, women are being portrayed in a more diverse light, not just being stuck in the stereotypical roles of the past. However, television shows that have feminist aspects or characters are not necessarily considered feminist. It is still a big step for shows to become more obvious in their representation of feminism, and to disprove common stereotypes or stock characters of women of television past.
Definitions
Feminism
Feminism is the pursuit of female equality to men.
Postfeminism
The definition of postfeminism is a widely argued subject, but in a television setting it is generally considered to be the idea that gender equality has been achieved and ignores the nuances of discrimination women still face (Ouellette 2002).
Examples
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
In Cuklanz & Moorti's article on the portrayal of women and victimisation in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU), they discuss how the show was a pioneer in showing more nuanced portayals of rape and child abuse, but the show still has an anti-women sentiment. While the show is a trailblazer in showing diverse portrayals of violence against women, it still doesn't appear to have the same feminist treatment of women (Cuklanz & Moorti 2006).
The female main characters aren't shown having personal lives and barely even interact with each other. The only female detective, Olivia Benson, is shown to be single and professional, typical of the "lifestyle feminism" movement happening in television when SVU first premiered. Her personal life is non-existent and she is more emotionally closed off than her partner, Elliot Stabler. This is a typical trope shown on television: in order for the woman to avoid seeming too "feminine", she isn't given any feminine qualities and is more hardworking and serious than the male characters. This further pushes the idea that aspects of someone, like emotions and family, are "feminine" ideas and are negative. Benson and the other women that are shown working with her are portrayed as competent women who stand up to sexism in the workplace. But they aren't portrayed as being close or showing solidarity with each other as the minority gender in the workplace.
In the realm of child abuse, women are also shown as the primary abusers. SVU follows a logic that "bad" children come from "bad" families and "bad mothering is much more frequently depicted as the cause of criminal behavior by adult children than is bad fathering" (Cuklanz & Moorti 2006). Mothers being the "villains" as opposed to the fathers is seen as being more horrifying because of the nurturing and kind stereotype of motherhood and the distant and strict father stereotype. SVU exploits this to add another level of darkness to the crimes that take place within the show. In the episodes reviewed by Cuklanz & Moorti, even though there was an almost equal number of abusive mothers and fathers, the mothers were the only ones that killed their children.
The place where SVU succeeds in most, feminism wise, is their portrayals of rape and their attempts to demystify rape myths. Unlike other television shows, the actual sexual assaults are usually not shown, avoiding the potential for the victim to be objectified by the audience. On most television shows the act of the rape itself would be the main part of the episode, but SVU focuses on the aftermath and how it affects the victim, both rare for mainstream police procedurals. SVU also doesn't shy away from showing both "good" and "bad" victims, "bad" victims referring to people such as prostitutes, homosexuals, and people who are more sexually adventurous; people that are stigmatized and whose sexual assaults aren't taken as seriously or portrayed in mainstream television. SVU also portrays rape in both public and private places, disproving the false claim that women are alone assaulted alone in "unsafe" public places (Cuklanz & Moorti 2006). The difficult legal challenges that come with reporting assault are also explored.
SVU doesn't do a good job of portraying diversity in types of women in legal and police professions, or as mothers who abuse or murder their children, but SVU takes an arguably feminist stance towards the variations of sexual assault and its victims.
Damages
In Damages, Glenn Close's character, Patty Hewes, is contradictory to the traditional portrayal of older women in media. She is an experienced lawyer and acts as a metaphor for the "feared 'feminist' who will emasculate men and eventually destroy them" (Hant 2014). She is the character who holds the most power and she is the antithesis of the "weak old lady" stereotype. She does admit to feeling guilty over some of her actions but she doesn't stop doing them. While she is portrayed as a ruthless professional, she is also shown to have a complicated personal life, with a husband and son who causes trouble at school. Her relationship with her husband is loving but her relationship with her son is very strained. This is in stark contrast to the other portrayals of women her age: women who are mothers and grandmothers and whose lives revolve around their family (Hant 2014). The character of Hewes is a product of feminism because she proves that older women are not all homemakers who only care about their children, they can also be powerful, professional women who are still just as competent, and even more so, than other men in their field.
Audience Opinion
While there are many feminist characters on modern mainstream television, audiences find there aren't any shows they would label as feminist. One focus group in a study on female-led comedy television shows determined that the characters demonstrate feminist ideals and their way of thinking is feminist but the shows' main goals are not to be feminist television programs (Swink 2017). Another set of focus groups in a study on the differences between male and female comedians had a general consensus that women typically aren't as funny as men; the participants had difficulty even naming a single female comedienne they enjoyed (Bore 2010).
Summary
Television has come a long way since it was first broadcast. Since 2000, the advancements in portrayals of women have diversified and had a lot more substance. there are many examples of feminist characters and explorations of the treatment of women. However, it is still difficult to find a television show that markets itslf as a show designed to promote feminism and gender equality. Most shows incorporate these aspects but don't make feminism their main focus. This is something that still needs work and will hopefully improve in the coming years.
References
Bore, I. K. (2010). (Un)funny women: TV comedy audiences and the gendering of humour. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 13(2), 139-154. doi:10.1177/1367549409352272
Cuklanz, L. M., & Moorti, S. (2006). Television's “New” Feminism: Prime-Time Representations of Women and Victimization. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 23(4), 302-321. doi:10.1080/07393180600933121
Hant, M. A. (2014). Feminism Comes of Age on Television The Portrayals of Empowered Older Women from Murder She Wrote to Damages. Taboo: The Journal Of Culture and Education, 5-19.
Ouellette, L. (2002). Victims No More: Postfeminism, Television, and Ally McBeal. 'The Communication Review, 5(4), 315-335. doi:10.1080/10714420214689
Swink, R. S. (2017). Lemony Liz and likable Leslie: audience understandings of feminism, comedy, and gender in women-led television comedies. Feminist Media Studies, 17(1), 14-28. doi:10.1080/14680777.2017.1261832