Variance of Experience and Masters of Sex

It’s no coincidence that two of the most striking recent depictions of sex on television have been overseen by women. Whereas in Lena Dunham’s Girls the awkwardness of sex itself is played up to uncomfortable levels, in Masters of Sex, developed by Michelle Ashford, a detached voyeurism rules the day. The series, which fictionalizes the early days of the partnership between legendary sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, manages not only to create an original exploration of sexuality, but also fascinating examination of gender roles.

On the show Masters (Michael Sheen) himself feels most at home in closets, behind glass windows, clipboard in hand, documenting the literal ins-and-outs of sex. In his chilliness he’s almost asexual. In fact, were he not married, one would wonder if he has ever been in a relationship.

This leads to some fascinating interplay between Masters and the women in his life. Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), a former singer turned secretary, brings much-needed humanity to his overly clinical approach to research and to the show. When she seduces someone you feel that she’s genuinely doing it for herself, and not because she feels she has to or because she’s empty. Caplan wisely plays Johnson not as a trailblazer seeking to subvert societal conventions, but simply as a woman thoroughly comfortable with herself.

Johnson is very much akin to Betty (Annaleigh Ashford), a prostitute and Masters' first subject, in her willingness to use her attributes to get by in a society not built for her. The series deftly places both of them in occasional positions of power, forcing a reluctant Masters to give in to their needs.

Further complicating gender relations here is Libby Masters (Caitlin Fitzgerald), the doctor's neglected wife. If Johnson is the proto-modern woman, then Libby is the one that it was. Fitzgerald steals the screen in every scene as she struggles to make life appear simpler than it is. If her husband's a voyeur she's willing to play along, if their struggling to have kids she'll seek fertility treatment. Libby provides a fine counterpoint to the other, perhaps, anachronistically liberated women of the series.

What the show gets right, though, is the variance of experience and relationship of its participants to sex. Its refreshing to see the subject shown for what it is: beautiful, awful, enticing, incomprehensible. Where else on television do we find the unbridled ecstasy of one woman’s orgasm countered by the over-the-top theatricality of a sex worker’s performance? Or a childless wife desiring only to please her husband while a single mother seeks her own fulfillment?  If the show is at all transgressive, it’s in its nuance. Not every woman is a portrayed as slut or a virgin, nor is every man is a horn dog.

Alternative Representations of Women

Much of our recent discussion in class has centered on the lack of diversity of experience and in representation of women on television. While these critiques are very useful in pointing out the lack of progress made in the media in putting forth alternative narratives for marginalized groups (women of color, queer women), I would like to highlight a couple of shows providing representation for groups of women who too often don’t receive them.

FX’s The Bridge, co-developed by Meredith Stiehm, focuses on the border between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. At its best, what makes the show so fascinating is that it sets it sights on those on the fringe of society, taking the time to humanize them, refusing to make the foreign and the marginalized window-dressing the way that so many shows do. In the show we get female educators, cops, sex workers, journalists, drug kingpins. There’s something really wonderful about the variety of experience.

I want to give particular attention to one of the shows writers, Fernanda Coppel, a Latina lesbian playwright. One of the most interesting characters on the show is Adrianna, a lesbian journalist from Juarez. It’s been wonderful to watch her role grow from bit player to main cast as the show has evolved. Coppel has said in numerous interviews is that her goal as a writer is to create as many diverse roles as she can for Latin women. The Bridge is a promising start.

Another intriguing up-and-coming talent is Issa Rae. A native Angeleno, she is the creator-director-writer-star of the successful web series Awkward Black Girl. The show follows an educated young African-American women as she navigates life and love in the city. She has parlayed this success into a television deal with Shonda Rhimes’ (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy) production company for a series entitled I Hate L.A. Dudes.

If anybody is interested, I definitely recommend checking both series out. It’s easy to criticize the lack of diversity, but it’s important to support the shows that offer an alternative perspective.

BFGW Blurred Lines

I don't know what it is about the gypsy culture, but I find that the way females are brought up are both fascinating and disturbing. It sits in a mixture of categories of feminism that can most definitely not be seen as progressive. For instance these individuals are normally super religious and in some sense very Catholic. Then juxtapose that with the raunchy skimptastic outfits these girls wear and I am utterly confused. They are not supposed to interact or even pursue young men, but they can wear barely anything and dance provocatively. I think the portrayal of the females on this show and how they are burdened to be the perfect housewife and literally clean and breed a family. This brings up the class issue that these people really hustle to stay afloat. What their day to day professions mostly as laborers, puts them in this class category that is looked down upon, especially in England & Ireland. This show is incredibly relatable to the Skegg's piece on taste, class, and feminism. Skegg's brings up a great idea about how the chavette is exploited into this sexually promiscuous figure that is of low class and the enjoyment of the upper classes. This in a sense hits on the head how the young gypsy woman are shown in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. They are unable to break beyond their cultures rules and ultimately perpetuate their cultures old country mentality. I still don't understand their balance between extremely religious and the seductive actions and appearance of these young women. Yet, I do know that these ladies are not proactively feminist, as they are dominated by patriarchy.

What are we ever to do with these gypsy girls?

Haters Gonna Hate

At the end of Monday's lecture we were asked what we thought of Girls. The majority of the room spoke up against the TV show listing valid criticisms to the show's lack of representation, diversity, and intellectual argument. I agreed with most things that were said my opinion landing somewhere between focuses on banal lives of upper-middle class white girls and the characters not being particularly likable in most respects. However, listening to my colleagues' critiques I found myself silently rooting for the show. Nowadays anything female-centric is exposed and intensely analyzed for mistakes, faults, lack of diversity, misrepresentation. But when can any show or film hit all of the nails on the head? Dunham started another valid discussion about the representation of women in the media within a personal artistic vision. Someone mentioned how no one criticizes Woody Allen for making movies about white people flailing through personal mistakes in urban centers. They praise him as an auteur. And I also agreed with the point that just because something is written or directed by a woman doesn't mean that it's feminist. However, I do believe Lena Dunham is an intellectual woman driven by feminist ideals and personally I prefer representations of my own sex to be created by someone of my own sex. Dunham put another foot in the door for other female representations to be made by female writers and directors (enter Orange is the New Black, which still doesn't get it right but shows something new).

Girls reminds us that just because a TV show is written by a woman, about women, depicts unenjoyable sex and average female bodies doesn't necessarily make it progressive. But we all can't stop watching whether it's to stay culturally relevant or because we find her writing poignant and funny (i.e. me). I appreciate Dunham as a writer and director and think these representations hit close enough to home for some of us to cringe and laugh along with them.

Feminism and television

Negra's article is extremely interesting as it shows that cinema and television often express what women's role in society should be. For example, many romance films demonstrate that women must scale back on their professionalism or else they will be viewed as less feminine, or even selfish. Although it seems that in current society women are focusing more on their careers, and striving away from the traditional stay at home wife, romance films, and television series are still expressing views that if you are single, or not married, it is a societal problem. It's interesting because I always viewed Sex and the City as the ideal life of the four best friends living in the city. One episode, as mentioned in the article called “Four Women and a Funeral,” really stood out to me. While it expresses the fear of living in an apartment as a single woman, it also expresses the independence of women as well as the relationship with her female friends.

What’s also extremely interesting, as mentioned in class is the relationship between feminism and television. TV is now viewed as a more high cultured medium in which people trust. Characters in television are able to be more explored and viewers can connect with them on a different level than film. This is good for feminism as characters can portray strong females and act as role models.

In class today many had a negative view on the show Girls. While I do agree with the comments that Girls lacks “pleasure” I do believe that it is an accurate portrayal of many females in society. I can relate to some of the characters in their ups and downs in their romantic and professional life.

The Conflict Between Politics and Pleasure

In class today, we touched on the idea of politics and pleasure. It came into the discussion when discussing Girls, as it is sometimes not pleasurable to the audience and arguably only political in the way of showing sexual expression. However, what if a show is pleasurable while also sexist. This brought me back to our Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation debate. As a fan of the show and feminist it’s hard for me to admit (although I completely agree) that it is not a feminist show. As this season unfolds, the male controlled city council board is recalling Leslie. However, this does not make the show less pleasurable. People watch the show for its comedic elements and pleasure. Television is there to entertain people, but also to inform its audiences. Modern Family, has transformed the way people view gay couples, why can’t Parks and Recreation do the same for women? Why does Leslie get recalled? Pleasure in this case overtakes the political aspects of feminism. But does it always have to? 

Women and the Internet

Although it is not film or reading related, I wanted to share with you all a new campaign launched by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on women and the internet.

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/10/women-should-ads

The images used in the campaign uses google searches to illustrate the discrimination and sexism against women. After viewing these photos it is clear the feminism is absolutely still needed in society.

Representation in Television: Are you a “Woman”?

All of this discussion regarding representation in the media has got me thinking about all of the different definitions that come to mind when we use the word “woman”. From the classic 1950s housewife, to a character like Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, it is clear that the term “woman” can be made applicable to a huge variety of subjects. How can a term be so vague and resemble so many different personalities and character types? In answer to this question, I have a quote from lecture last week that I believe to be quite insightful: “Representation is equated with recognition and validations that different social groups in society exist and that their stories are important”. This is in essence stating that representation is acknowledging all of the sub groups under the term “woman”, and that these sub groups are all equally as important as one another.  “Gender and Family in Television’s Golden Age and Beyond” by Andrea Press, describes how television has control over representation of minorities as it can show anything from lesbian relationships in The “L” Word, to the female figures in Sex and The City who find empowerment in acting like male counterparts. Sex and The City shows women who pride themselves in being career focused and far from the submissive relationship-obsessed female stereotype, whilst The “L” Word shows lesbians as a group of people, rather than “others” and helps to normalize the gay community. Despite this vast range of television representations, an issue with these post-feminist responses is that they all resemble middle class white females. The term “woman” on television when it comes to representation almost never refers to an African American leading role, or a female representing any other minority; this representation ignore the fact that there are lesbians in the world from absolutely every race and background. So in response to this, how can all of the sub-groups under the term “women” be equally important to one another if some are hardly ever represented? In my opinion, prime-time television shows are focusing too much on appealing to a target audience and making people believe that they are progressive in their representation techniques, whilst not being realistic by narrow-casting the typical middle class white woman. I find it most interesting that they can have so many different types of “woman” on television, without paying equal attention to every race and background purely based on the fact that this wont get as high of a rating. 

characteristics of lesbians represented in current television

The readings by Negra and Press allow me to see television as more than just a form of entertainment but as an influential medium within American Society. Tv's early depiction of the family and gender in the 1950's became visual icons of socially accepted norms and behaviors. Within this "golden age"period, tv worked to unify and capture an American majority which is a long way from today's tv that "reflects our increasing cultural recognition of the true diversity of gender roles and family forms that constitute our culture"(Press). The major change seen in women in tv is their freedom  to make choices from work and family.  Both Negra and Press describe the extent in which images of family, gender, and sex have developed over time and will continue to develop to fit the changing role of women and family structure. TV series have come very far in challenging social norms and representing women with more accurate freedom but still are unable to break freely from conventional norms. Sex and the City for example portrays strong women living on their own and making their own experiences but the fact they are all white, middle class and living in a luxuries life misrepresents all single women and those within other geographic locations. Shows like weeds, desperate housewives, and girls are similar in that they portray women with freedom to make "choices" as tall, thin and beautiful sending a false representation that beauty is needed to live an eventful life seen in each show. This also makes me think of Orange is the new Black, in how the main character is tall blonde and beautiful as she retells her lesbian encounter and experiences with her sexuality. I feel that by having such perfect characters normal people with flaws and who look nothing like the girls on the screen will find it harder to relate their own personal situation too to the show. More importantly, I cant help but get the message thats "its ok to be lesbian as long as your pretty' or it gives the message that lesbians have to be girly and act a look a certain way when in reality lesbians are diverse just like everyone else

Watching Sex in the City and rethinking feminism

I want to start my post with the last scene of the episode of Sex in the City that we watched in class. In the scene, Carrie and the man who gives her a ride have a short conversation about sex and love. The man then says to her that she has never fell in love. The car stops in front of Carrier’s apartment, and Carrie gets off.   With a glance of hesitation, she asks the man sitting in the car “do you believe in love?”. The man does not answer her; and the car runs ahead. Carrie stands alone in the darkness of the city with her unanswered question. I found this scene inspiring because it sets up one of the main themes of the show: the ambivalence of the meaning of life for thirty-something women in modern society. Also, it refers to the postfeminism trend that the show somehow embraces. 

In her writing, Negra suggests that one of the main traits of postfeminism would be the woman's right in decision-making when she faces options. In a sense, it seems that people assume postfeminism  is an "endpoint" of feminism as Negra mentions when she refers to Projansky. I have to admit that this is what I simplythought of postfeminism

However, reading McRobbie’s article makes me think more deeply about feminism and its achievement in the current context where people are talking about post-feminism, as if feminism has achieved it goals. In the article, she points out the historical and social relation between feminism and consumer culture through her examination of the effect of media on enhancing consumerism among young women and teenage girls. Her main point here is that through ads media injects the dangerous idea into women that consumption is a sign of every woman’s independence. High-salary women, like the main characters in Sex in the City, spend money on whatever they want--for example, four hundred bucks on a pair of shoes--as a way to prove their independence. McRobbie alerts readers and fans of this show that while blindly spending money on products advertised in media, women fall into another “trap” of patriarchal power, given that the media institutions are mostly controlled by men.

In addition to financial independence, women also gain the sexual equality. In the episode, Carrie wants to write about women whose sexual tendency is like men in the sense that they only want sexual fulfillment rather than romantic satisfaction. By testing herself, sleeping with the guy for fun or rather for “her research,” she is almost pleased with the idea of a new type of women who are equal to men in terms of the way they experience the freedom of sexuality. In this sense, it seems that feminism with its main focus fighting for equal rights for women achieves its duty through the ideal image of a modern woman like Carrie--pretty, upper-class, financially independent, having her own career, and sexual liberated (like men).

                McRobbie’s particular reference to Carrie’s “infantism” (her high-school student-like vocal, her habit of looking herself into the mirror) also reminds me of an interesting detail in the episode where she meets the man.  Rushing out of the building where Carrier has just made love with the guy she talked to at the restaurant, she bumps into the man.  He picks up her purse falling on the street; she takes it and quickly turns her body, walking straight. She then uses her hands adjusting her dress in the backside in a sexy manner which can be read as a way to attract his attention. This is a POV shot; Carrie is objectified by the man’s look. In fact, she becomes the source of erotic pleasure, the bearer of the look which illustrates Mulvey’s gaze theory in the reading we read a couple weeks ago. Later, it is this man that makes her reconsider her attitude toward sexuality and love. This point resonates with McRobbie’s analysis of Carrie’s infant characteristic that she needs to be taught by men. Although I am not anxious about the trend of post-feminism at the level that McRobbie takes and be perspective about post-feminism, I believe that her alert should be taken into account seriously.