I don't claim that the top movies at IMDB are "all media." But they are indicative of what's popular, what's considered relevant and entertaining.
There are TV shows that pass the test. There's a tiny handful of primetime series that regularly do (Bones, NCIS--and both of those are investigative shows where everyone is occasionally talking about where the victim attended school), and plenty of individual episodes scattered around. The confirmation comes from turning it around--how many movies, how many TV shows, how many books, have male characters who either never speak to each other, or are only talking about a woman when they do?
Our entertainment shows the patterns we consider "normal" in our lives. Shows that women are considered "different"--and not "different from men," but "different from people"... who are, by default, men. ("People" have conversations about anything that strikes them as interesting at the moment. "Women" have conversations about men.)
I haven't done detailed critical analysis. I've taken a casual look at the media, with a specific criterion in mind: note how women are portrayed. And I've noticed that they are portrayed as different. As notable. As having a trait that sets them apart from "normal people."
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Date: 2009-02-28 03:53 pm (UTC)There are TV shows that pass the test. There's a tiny handful of primetime series that regularly do (Bones, NCIS--and both of those are investigative shows where everyone is occasionally talking about where the victim attended school), and plenty of individual episodes scattered around. The confirmation comes from turning it around--how many movies, how many TV shows, how many books, have male characters who either never speak to each other, or are only talking about a woman when they do?
Our entertainment shows the patterns we consider "normal" in our lives. Shows that women are considered "different"--and not "different from men," but "different from people"... who are, by default, men. ("People" have conversations about anything that strikes them as interesting at the moment. "Women" have conversations about men.)
I haven't done detailed critical analysis. I've taken a casual look at the media, with a specific criterion in mind: note how women are portrayed. And I've noticed that they are portrayed as different. As notable. As having a trait that sets them apart from "normal people."