Gossip Girl

For my blog assignment I have analyzed an episode of Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl is a show on primetime televisions, which follows the lives of several rich Manhattan teens. The common assumption in the television industry is that sex sells, and sexual representation floods Gossip Girl. Episode fifteen titled “The Sixteen Year Old Virgin” from season three draws upon a minoritizing discourse. I have used Judith Mayne’s Women, Representation and Culture, Lull’s discussion of norms and hegemony, Douglas Kellner’s piece on media culture and several PowerPoints.

The episode begins by recapping the past episode then cuts to the present time. Jenny, age sixteen is grounded by her father for hanging out with Damien, an older guy who was caught selling drugs. The entire show revolves around compulsory heterosexuality. As the storyline plays out scenes change to show several different characters participating in sexual activities. When sex is represented so freely, it is likely that sex could be interpreted as a carefree activity, with little consequence. None of the characters who are engaging in sexual activity are married, and are often never in a relationship. Dan and Vanessa’s morning sex scene involves them talking about how they are just friends with benefits and that there are rules to causal sex. Blair and Chuck are seen just finishing sex, they too are not in a relationship. Next, Serena and Nate are shown finishing up having sex. Serena tries to talk to Jenny and explain to her how she would have liked to wait for someone special to lose her virginity to, but Jenny continues to be rebellious and stubborn. Nate, Jenny’s father and many other characters try to talk to Jenny about how important loosing your virginity is. Out of the eight characters six are engaging in sex within the first fifteen minutes of the show, seven of them have already lost their virginities years prior, and Jenny stands alone as the virgin at sixteen. Throughout the episode Damien tries to have sex with Jenny, she is hesitant at first because she is a virgin. Finally, at the end of the episode after all his pushing and already knowing this fact, Jenny lets Damien know that she’s a virgin. He says it’s “really not a big deal,” and Jenny pulls back and tries to reiterate that is actually is a big deal. “I chose you,” she says. He ends up leaving her and as he walks out of the room he says that she’s “just a kid.”

Minoritizing discourse on sexuality states that “heterosexuality is understood to be the norm of society. This means that an individual is straight unless they say otherwise.” All of the couples are heterosexual and I believe that this norm also leads to the representation of women as sexual beings. “Representations rely on various forms of cultural understanding.”(Mayne 162) The hegemonic notion that virginity is lost at an early age is how the female characters in Gossip Girl are represented. Normally women are represented by two opposing categories, the madonna versus the whore. Mayne states that the madonna is perfect, while the whore is sexually promiscuous or evil. Several characters can represent the madonna and Jenny represents the whore. However, Jenny is the virgin, but she is punished in the end for being rebellious and sexually active with Damien. Since social class plays a role in the madonna versus whore, it is often the poor or working class as the whore. Jenny does come from a working class family, while Serena and Blair are upper class.

 “Representation can function both to reinforce oppressive standards of feminine behavior and to imagine possibilities not typically available to women. Representation, then, is both a form of socialization and a form of utopia, representation can contribute to enforcing patriarchal stereotypes, but it can also envisage other possibilities, other ways of being.”(Mayne 163)

While Jenny’s brother Dan is telling her that she is only sixteen, Jenny turns around and says “everyone thought it was cute when you lost yours at sixteen with Serena”. This shows how double standards are enforced. Jenny is then seen as bad and wrong for wanting to lose her virginity to Damien. “Media images help shape our view of the world and our deepest values: what we consider good or bad, positive or negative, moral or evil.”(Kellner 7) Shows like Gossip Girl perpetuate hegemonic norms and creates categories of exclusion.

Joanna Blanchard "Basketball Wives Miami Photo Shoot"

Basketball Wives is a reality television show on the VH1 (Video Hits One) channel.  In its fourth season, the series follows the lives of eight women, who have all been in some way romantically involved with professional basketball players.  In the video clip, “Basketball Wives Miami Photo Shoot,” you can see all the women, a part of the recent season, participating in a photo shoot that took place before the fourth season of the show premiered.  The women are taking several pictures, followed by interviews with characters from the show other people involved with the production of the show such as, Sean Rankin and Angie Castro, being interviewed by interviewer, Elizabeth Black.  As pertaining to our class discussion on ways the body is represented in reality genres, focusing on ideas surrounding, femininity, and the gendered gaze, internalized gaze, male gaze, social and racialized gaze, I believe the video clip best illustrates these topics and engages the ideas of such gazes. 

The eight African American women whose lives are followed in this reality show are, Shaunie O’ Neal (the ex-wife of former Shaquille O'Neal, NBA superstar), Evelyn Lozada (ex-fiancé of Antoine Walker and current fiancé of Chad Ochocinco), Jennifer Williams (the wife of former NBA player Eric Williams), Suzie Ketcham (ex-girlfriend of Michael Olowokandi), Royce Reed (ex-girlfriend to Dwight Howard), Tami Roman (ex-wife to NBA player Kenny Anderson), Kenya Bell (wife of Charlie Bell), and lastly Kesha Nichols (ex-fiancé to Richard Jefferson).  I would like to point out that these women are not only known for being involved romantically with basketball players, but also for their own personal achievements.  Achievements such as how, Shaunie is the executive producer of the Basketball Wives reality show and has her own shoe line; Evelyn is in charge of a Miracle Mile shoe store called Dulce; Jennifer has a developing business venture in a lipgloss line; Royce was an NBA dancer for Orlando Magic and Miami Heat basketball teams; Kenya is pursuing her dream of becoming a singer; and lastly Kesha is a former New Jersey Nets dancer, has a master’s degree in dance education and is currently in charge of a New York City dance group.  The accomplishments of these businesswomen and the way the women portrayed themselves in the photos taken of them during the photo shoot defines what gendered gaze is.  The gendered gaze produces knowledge about how gendered bodies should act.  These women act professionally at the photo shoot and on the show, and they showed confidence in themselves.  The audience looks up to these women for their self-reliance, which leads into the internalized gaze. 

The internalized gaze involves the ways in which the relations of looking are internalized and then re-enacted by individuals.  In the video clip, Elizabeth Beck ask Angie Castro if she was surprised in how big the show became over the years and how influential it is from style/fashion to how so many people are fascinated by the women in the show.  The Basketball wives do have privileged lives and the photo shoot shows this.  The women are wearing expensive brand name heels and showing their jewelry off to on-lookers as photos are taken.  This is seen in the particular portion of the clip when the women are taking pictures wearing jeans and black tank-tops.  These actions are wearing such accessories shows the ethical or moral gaze relation of looking. 

The ethical or moral gaze is a relation of looking that determines a body’s social value or moral worth by its appearance.  The women are showing their luxurious belongings that they have been able to receive because of their professions.  The women are also wearing a lot of make-up at the photo shoot so they can have blemish-free and perfect skin tone faces in their pictures; this not only goes to show the kind of standard the women in Basketball Wives are held up to, based on just who they are, (Basketball wives), and the reality show, but also how each women portrays their self-concepts.    As stated in the article, “You Need a Makeover!”: The Social Construction of the Female Body Image in A Makeover Story, What Not to Wear, and Extreme Makeover,” by Amanda Hall Gallagher and Lisa Pecot-Hebert, “Makeup is a primary means by which women transform their bodies and generate self-esteem with their “new and improved” looks,” (58).  So in a way the massive amounts of makeup, including the clothes and accessories, the Basketball wives wear on the show and during the photo shoot explicitly show and express their own female identities, and also what they think beauty is, and lastly what the show and photo shoot influence the audience’s view on such things.   

Fans who are women perceive the eight female characters and see the photos differently than males, who just look at the photos with a male type gaze.  The male gaze is a gendered way of looking where the female body is positioned as a passive object in a male-dominated gaze.  This type of gaze could be seen mostly in the portion of the video clip when the women were taking pictures dressed in toga-like clothing, just as Greek goddesses would.  The first thing you can notice is the amount of clothing the Basketball wives are not wearing.  Also some of the women are in submissive positions of either lying down or sitting down with their legs crossed to the side of them.  They have seductive smiles and also piercing eyes such as a, “come and get me look,” as a male would portray the look to be.  Also while taking pictures dressed in the black tank-tops and jean, the photographer told the Basketball wives to act playful; the women were touching each other’s legs, had their hands on their heads and stood to the side showing their profiles.  All of these poses are what the male gaze encompasses and what men usually pay attention to when looking at photos such as these.  (Check out the link below Photo Shoot Pictures to see the actual photos I am discussing above.)

The last gaze I will be discussing is the social gaze.  This gaze is the relations of looking that determines how certain bodies should interact in social relationships.  The social gaze is greatly shown through the commenting portions of the video clip.  Sean Rankine stated how fans know the show is always dramatic, over the top and always amazing because of the Basketball wives.  Rankine respects the women because they live open lives 24/7 for weeks at a time, just to make a good show for the audience.  Loyal viewers of the show know the conflicts each character has with each other and know that fights can occur at any time, whether physical or not, or that a drink could be thrown.  Angie Castro had commented to Black, “get any six women together; especially six women with big personalities, there will be a story.”  This goes to show that regardless of the season or the episode, the Basketball wives are expected to have some kind of encounter happen. 

The constant drama, the gossip, the crying, the laughing, and all the drink throwing does make the show seem as if the audience is watching the everyday lives of the eight women.  This reality show becomes familiar to the audience and the audience begins to relate their lives to the lives of the Basketball wives.  In a way this blinds the audience to the possibility of the show being scripted and all the conflicts not being real.  I feel fans of the show need to be careful as to not get too consumed with the Basketball Wives or any reality television show so they can save themselves from being disheartened when they find out that what they found most interesting on the show was untrue. 

"Basketball Wives Miami Photo Shoot" video clip:

http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/722218/basketball-wives-miami-photo-shoot.jhtml#id=1676549 

Photo Shoot Pictures:

http://thejasminebrand.com/index.php/2011/12/08/behind-the-scenes-basketball-wives-miamis-shoot-peep-new-cast-members/

Toddlers Too Young for Tiaras

Toddlers and Tiaras is a reality show on the TLC network. The premise of Toddlers and Tiaras is to document the preparation and journeys of the girls who will be competing in whichever competition the episode focuses on. The episode I chose to analyze was “Glitzy Divas”, in which the Glitzy Divas pageant was featured. There are a few requirements for this type of pageant as stated by pageant director Bonnie Crow, which include not being poor or chubby and that the girls must be pretty. This pageant features dresses that can cost up to $5,000, full-face makeup, hair extensions and encompass and age range from as young as  a couple months to as old as twenty-one.

            In this episode we follow Adrianna, Madi and Ever Rose who are ages four, ten and eight respectively. Adrianna has the least experience out of the three girls and is a bit of a tom-boy outside of the pageant. Madi is a well known and successful competitor in the pageant world and expects to win just as she has won the majority of the pageants she has competed in. Through this episode we also see how each girl prepares for the competition. Madi simply practices her routines but Adrianna and Ever Rose have to lose weight for the competition in addition to practice. Adrianna lost a total of four pounds and Ever Rose lost ten pounds overall. After all the preparation we see how the girls do in the competition, as well as their mothers’ opinions and anxieties about the performances. Once the Glitzy Divas pageant is over we learn the results. Madi came out on top winning the Ultimate Grand Supreme crown as well as a monetary prize, Ever Rose won the crown for most beautiful face and Adrianna was unable to win anything. The episode ends with the girls talking about the pageant.

            Within the “Glitzy Divas” episode of Toddlers and Tiaras we can see elements of internalized gaze at play here. The internalized gaze is one where the individual reflects upon themselves and in a sense determines what needs to be changed based on societal constructs. The pageants that the girls participate in are essentially telling them that they must look and act a certain way to win the pageant but because these pageants are also deemed to be very feminine it is not uncommon for the girls to take some of these pageant ideals with them into the real world. Despite how young these girls are they have concerns with looking fat because the competition tells them they need to be thin and they are also learning that makeup is important to femininity because the competition tells them that to be beautiful and ideally feminine makeup is necessary.

Toddlers and Tiaras also demonstrates the importance of size and the ideal image very.  In this episode size is particularly important in the cases of Adrianna and Ever Rose. The Glitzy Divas pageant values the “Barbie” look and it is well known by many that Barbie is tall, slender and blond. The director of the pageant Bonnie Crow even states, “You don’t want to see a chubby child on stage, and you have to have the Barbie look”. To adhere to these standards four year old Adrianna must watch her weight, and her mother says at one point “Have you been eating salads so we can fit into our dress?” Similarly Ever Rose must lose weight and she and her mother count calories so that she does not gain weight that will hurt her in the competition. Ever Rose states that she knows she has to watch her weight but that sometimes she gets hungry.  Pageants like Glitzy Divas are essentially teaching girls at a young age that in order to be ideally feminine you must also be thin.

This notion of thinness in children so young also ties into the “impossible perfection” that Judith Mayne mentions in her article Women, Representation and Culture. Mayne speaks about females narrow representation in early media in which women tended to be divided into two opposing categories, one representing impossible perfection, the other equally impossible evil (Mayne, 162). Mayne is referring to the madonna and the whore, and in Toddlers and Tiaras, we see elements of only the Madonna because with these types of pageants girls are only given the option of perfect beauty and if the girl cannot live up to that expectation she cannot compete. Such representation of femininity can be problematic at such a young age for these girls because it may cause them to reject their natural beauty in favor of a more unnatural one.

Even though Toddlers and Tiaras may create a false reality for girls watching the show, it is still a reality show in and of itself. The adults that watch the show may understand that the ideal images of femininity presented are not realistic especially looking like a Barbie, but the young female viewers may see things differently. Seeing images of their peers getting glammed up to display their beauty can cause impressionable viewers to think that they must do the same. The idea that beauty is accomplished with makeup and expensive clothing may stick with young viewers and leave a lasting impression on them.   

Thomas Pennachio

“Diversity Day,” an episode aired on NBC's The Office during its second season, touches base on the sensibility of people when it is related to race.  Michael Scott initiated this day by doing a stand up routine that many of the workers found offensive, and finds the instructor to be not useful, so he creates his own version of Diversity Day; Diversity Dat- Take Two.
     Michael Scott, portrayed by comedic actor Steve Carell,decides to take matters into his own hands by creating Diversity Day- Take Two, where he plays a game in which everyone takes a card and they must treat other people like the race that is on their forehead, which further minoritizes discourse, insisting everyone “relies on fixed and predictable meanings” (Transgeneration). Through one instance, Pam, who has Jewish , which coincidentally is not a race, and Dwight, who has Asian, are attempting to have a conversation as these races. Dwight walks up to Pam and says, “Shalom, I would like to apply for a loan,” which reveals the common stereotype that Jewish people are good with handling money. Dwight then insists Pam gives him an obvious clue to what his card says so he can figure it out quickly, and she responds with saying that she "likes his food." Michael encourages Pam to go further with the norms that have been represented by the media, and Pam states the he might not be a very good driver, followed by Dwight then saying, “Oh man, am I a woman?!” infering that woman are not good drivers and further minortizing. Thereafter, Michael goes up to Kelly in a terrible Indian accent acting as a stereotypical restaurant/convenience store owner, and Kelly slaps him, and Michael claims that Kelly, “knows what it’s like to be a minority!” All the stereotypes that The Office represents are brought on by the social influence of the media that is “not always recognized... and can easily go undetected” (Lull, 63). Just about everyone from the office, except for Dwight and Michael read the world from a universalizing lens, because they view race as open to interpretation, and not set in stone stereotypes (Transgeneration).
     Because of a comedic reenactment of a Chris Rock stand up about racism that was taken offensively, Michael introduces Diversity Day. Since he believes in everyone viewing the situation from his perspective, he does not realize that “the routines of stand-up comedians performing live and on television… reinforce ideological consequences,” and that are turned into popular culture and seem okay, but are really offensive (Lull, 63). Similarly, this routine represents African Americans in a negative view, and creates a negative stereotype, as stated by Mayne: “Representations both reflect the culture from which they emerge, and have the ability to shape that culture in turn” (Mayne, 163).
    This episode focuses the discourses that are created through different races, and Michael Scott attempts to universalize these discourses through several unsuccessful attempts that actually end up minoritizing them. When the instructor first arrives, Michael introduces him to Oscar Martinez, and “accidentally” forgets his last name, because they are such good friends, and because Michael does not notice his race. Similarly, when Mr. Brown, the instructor, states his name, Michael automatically assumes it’s a test, and refuses to call him by his name, because he is African American. Michael views life through a minoritizing lens, where he views people for exactly the race that they are, not what type of person they are. Michael continues to push this idea of not noticing race in the diversity session, because he believes that all people are “represented on a continuum, everyone is included,” (Transgeneration) but he does not understand that a “color-free zone” is enforcing the minoritizing discourse where everyone is exactly the same. Michael continues to minoritize other races by asking everyone in the office to claim a race that they are sexually attracted to, making the assumption that the norm is people are only sexually attracted to their own race, and “deviant or freakish” exception to be attracted to another race (Transgeneration).
     Because of a comedic reenactment of a Chris Rock stand up about racism that was taken offensively, Michael introduces Diversity Day. Since he believes in everyone viewing the situation from his perspective, he does not realize that “the routines of stand-up comedians performing live and on television… reinforce ideological consequences,” and that are turned into popular culture and seem okay, but are really offensive (Lull, 63). Similarly, this routine represents African Americans in a negative view, and creates a negative stereotype, as stated by Mayne: “Representations both reflect the culture from which they emerge, and have the ability to shape that culture in turn” (Mayne, 163).
      The emphasis of minoritizing discourses in this episode made it obvious to all the viewers that the stereotypes of race are wrong, offensive, and inaccurate.  It is not a coincidence in my opinion that this matter of race was portrayed through a comedy, similar to homosexual portrayals.The universalized discourse shatters the hegemonic norms created by society and the media, and even exposes the powers that created this norm which are used in everyday society.

Lull, James. “Hegemony.” In Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Sage Publications. 2003. 61-66.
Mayne, Judith. “Women, Representation, and Culture.” In Reading Women’s Lives.
Trangeneration Power Point Slide

The Way ANTM portrays Women

The popularity of reality TV shows have been on the rise in recent years because they are cheaper to produce and many people become addicted to them as more episodes air.  Most people watch reality television shows weekly.  Do they watch these shows for pure entertainment or is the audience educated by them?  Some people relate with the characters, and this causes them to base their identities around specific characters.  By identifying with characters, the individuals watching the show tend to feel better about themselves.

          Reality shows usually express social biases.  Women have been shown as catty,
bitchy, and manipulative. One reality show that is guilty of this stereotype is “America’s Next Top Model.”  The show has televised eighteen seasons of beauty.  There are a number of women who are competing, knowing that there can only be one winner.  The competition is serious, and everyone works their hardest to be the next “top model.”  Some women will do whatever they can to reach
this goal.

          This show is mainly focused on the female body.  The way their bodies are represented in reality TV is based off of certain gazes, or relationships of looking.  These gazes are shaped off of previous knowledge and societal norms.  This affects the way we perceive the characters of the show. Because we have a certain way of looking at people in society, it is required that all of the girls receive a makeover.  Makeover shows have become very popular today, and there has been a shift from beauty pageants to reality makeover shows because this makes it look possible to achieve idealized beauty.  Although “America’s Next Top Model” is not actually a makeover show, they are a significant part of the show.  It can sometimes change their look completely. The show’s host, Tyra Banks, even states that “beauty in real life and beauty in the model industry are two totally different things.”  So while a normal, pretty girl would be considered good-looking in the real world, this can be untrue for someone who wants to be a supermodel.

          People tend to create specific internalized gazes.  The internalized gaze is a relationship of looking, internalizing it, and then reenacting it.  Women try to have the “perfect” body, but in reality, the only way to achieve this body is through extreme measures.  “America’s Next Top Model” portrays the perfect body as being tall and underweight.  All of the women on the show are 5’7” or
taller with the exception of cycle thirteen, which was the petite edition.  Even then the girls were as tall as 5’7.”  All of these factors give young girls the notion that they need to look similar to the women on television and express their femininity to those around them.

          We watch what is produced on TV, aspiring our looks and behaviors to be just like what we see.  The body is established as an object of knowledge.  Society has standards, and in order to be “normal” or accepted, we have to follow these social norms.  The way we present ourselves depicts what people think of us.  The cast of reality shows are everyday people, so they give us the idea that beauty can be achieved for anyone.  What’s controversial is that if what we see on TV is what we are supposed to look like, but this look is the supermodel look, then how are we supposed to attain these specific images?

           Some may argue that “America’s Next Top Model” is degrading to young women because it gives an unrealistic idea of what real beauty looks like.  No one is flawless, even when they are perceived as being flawless.  The ideal woman is unattainable.  The makeovers performed on these women change their identities to fit the standards of beauty.  They give us a false identity, causing women to be valued for their body rather than their personality.

           “The quest for the ideal…has taken on another dimension in television, found in popular television makeover programs…” (Gallagher and Pecot-Hebert).  This makes it seem like we are capable of doing the same.  Instead, we need to consider why it is that we wouldn’t enjoy watching average people getting made over into models.

            The guest judge in episode 2 of cycle 17, Ashlee Simpson, stresses the importance of image. This agrees with the article, which states that “…The female body is often objectified through the
makeover process” (Gallagher and Pecot-Hebert).  The importance of image and the way we look on
the outside has become so substantial.  We are judged solely on the way we look. But if these girls wanted to be models, they would have to follow rules and go through with a makeover.  One of the things that some of the girls were most worried about was getting a hair cut.  One girl in particular began to cry and even wanted to go home, stating that she no longer had confidence.  The way we look on the outside affects how we feel on the inside.

            We have a certain way of looking at bodies regarding sexuality.  Women are often shown touching themselves, as if to show vulnerability.  This holds true for the photo shoot the girls did in episode 2 of cycle 17.  They had a hotdog as a prop, and posed with displayed sexiness.

            The way the body is represented in reality television focuses on ideas surrounding thinness, femininity, internalized gazes, and makeovers.  “America’s Next Top Model” is an obvious example of how these characteristics are portrayed in the media.  The show has exposed its viewers to ideal beauty and has caused many young girls in particular to strive to become what they see; a flawless woman, which is something they aren’t physically capable of being, based upon the idea that the ideal woman is unattainable.  This media has engaged with viewers by showing them what has interested them for eighteen seasons.  Now, one can see that the show’s idea of “reality” is actually unrealistic.


Gallagher, Amanda H., and Lisa Pecot-Hebert. "You Need a Makeover!": The Social Construction 
            
             of Female Body Image in 'A Makeover Story,' 'What Not to Wear,' and 'Extreme Makeover'"

             Social Construction of Body Image (2007).

How Do I Look?

As reality television swept its way across screens and into our living rooms we could not help but become addicted to its drama filled episodes, as well as the variety among such shows.  Reality television has branched out into many arenas, one of those including the always popular make over show.  Some may resort to more drastic changes; including extreme weight loss and plastic surgery, while others will provide a new wardrobe.  One example of this type of show is the Style Network's How Do I Look? Much like TLC's What Not to Wear, this show takes a contestant whose appearance is seen as unfitting within society's standards and they are given a whole new look.

How Do I Look? picks women who generally fall into two categories of social unacceptability: the "tomboy" or a woman whose style could be described as "frumpy" and the overly sexual. Throughout the course of the show these women are torn apart from people who are close to them as well as complete strangers and then built back up in the image created by their peers.  Their new wardrobes are picked by three people: two that they know personally and one stylist and it is from these three new images that they must pick one. 

Upon watching this show, one immediately sees how this plays with the gendered gaze.  How Do I Look?, along with other make over shows, emphasizes what is feminine and what is not; what is acceptable in this society and what is not.  As women, being labeled with the female gender, we are expected to dress, look, and act in certain ways.  The entire make over process takes women who fall outside of that and squeezes them into a mold that places them into the proper category.  In Judith Mayne's Women, Representation, and Culture, she states: "Representation can function both to reinforce oppressive standards of feminine behavior and to imagine possibilities not typically available to women" (Mayne, 163). While looking through the before and after stories of these women, many talked about how this woman has transformed from "frumpy" to "classy" and  her husband is "happier than ever" or how she may have more luck with romance, emphasizing a woman's duty to satisfy or please a man.  For these woman, they did not improve their appearance for their own sake, but rather to attract men, to be perceived in a certain way that is desirable to a man.  However, this was not the case for all.  Others, upon receiving this make over, were able to excel in their profession or being single mothers, provide a better life for their child; which is very likely to include finding a suitable father figure. This expands on the notion that woman can be powerful in business, one that is still relatively new in our society, but how does she get there? By looking the right way. 

This show also touches on ideas of female sexuality.  A woman's body, through the male gaze is already sexualized and therefore, should not be played up in an extreme way.  Women should dress to enhance their features, but not in a way that reads only sex.  Women described as dressing as  "streetwalkers" are transformed into more modest looking women.  I think this is reflected in how women, both young and old, are expected to behave.  Today, it is more acceptable for women to have sexual relationships and be in touch with their sexuality, but more so behind closed doors; it should not be visible within the public eye.  Therefore, woman can dress in a sexy way, but it should still be classy. 

From the standpoint of the viewer, How Do I Look? provides its audience with an ideal notion of beauty and femininity.  According to Gallagher and Pecot-Herbert this is something that all women can achieve as long as they wear the right clothes and makeup, making a distinction between the right kind of beauty as opposed to the wrong kind. This ideal notion of beauty is generally associated with a certain female identity and body type, one that is slender.  Women who do not have that body type are taught how to dress in ways that flatter their body shape and hide their flaws, which further emphasizes a hegemonic femininity and beauty (Gallagher & Herbert, 66). 

As a result, women will internalize these messages sent out and buy into these notions of the ideal feminine identity.  We base a large part of our identity and who we are on how we look.  In a way, make over shows like this one are reducing women simply to their appearance.  They do tell women that by dressing the proper way they will be taken more seriously both inside the workplace, as well as outside, but the only way to do so is through the right dress.  This idea of "reality" television, gives young girls and women the impression that there is a realness to dressing right, looking right, and acting right and many will take drastic measures to fit the requirements. By bringing women onto How Do I Look? the people that she knows and loves, as well as, society as a whole is suggesting that there is something wrong with her, that there is something that needs to be fixed. Those who watch the show, will buy the make up products and the clothes in order to also "fix" themselves and fit themselves into that ideal feminine role. 

Works Cited

Mayne, Judith. Women, Representation, and Culture. pg. 161-165.

Gallagher, Amanda Hall and Lisa Pecot-Herbert. "You Need a Makeover!": The Social Construction of Female Body Image in A Makeover Story, What Not to Wear, and Extreme Makeover. pg. 57-77.

Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 7

I absolutely love Downton Abbey.  I think it is beautifully written and the filming is gorgeous.  The stories flow naturally and I cannot help being invested in the plight of the characters.  It is a very female centered show and while there are men they seem to be secondary to the women.  The show explores the issues of class and wealth since it covers both the aristocratic family and their servants.  It also, explores this double standard women of the period face and even now still rears its head.  It is able to show the injustice of it while allowing the story to develop naturally within the time period.
I think that even though it is a period piece many of these concepts are still closely related to the norms we hold today and are still prevalent in representation now.  According to Judith Mayne "...representations both reflect the culture from which they emerge, and have the ability to shape that culture in turn" (Mayne 163) I believe Downton Abbey reflects both of these things.  It reflects the culture of the early 1900's, but that culture is still one that influences our norms and beliefs today.  These representations will in turn influence those same beliefs.
While the show itself shows the minoritizing discourses of the time.  It explores this idea of hegemonic femininity and how it provides norms for woman to live by and also how it creates this double standard of how woman can either be the virgin or the whore.  This is shown on many occasions throughout the show.  One of which is seen through the treatment of the character Ethel, a servant who has a child out of wedlock.  After being fired from her job as maid at Downton Abbey, she is sent to live in poverty and upon meeting the child's paternal grandparents (in this episode) is tossed aside as a mere whore.  It was believed that she made up the story after hearing that the father was their only son and had died in the first World War and that she assumed they would be easy targets in their greif.  Her actions were the ones called into question and not the fathers.  She was the one who had to pay dearly for the indiscretion of the two.  Meanwhile, Lavinia is on the other side of dichotomy.  She is everything a woman should be.  She is kind and gentle and caring.  She refused to give up on Matthew even when he could not be everything a man needed to be.  She is praised by everyone and will be a great wife for Matthew now that he is better, which is all a woman needed to be at the time and even now this idea has a hold in society.
This discourse is also shown through the character Lady Mary Crawley and her sexual escapades with the Turkish diplomat, Mr Pamuk.  This storyline follows her throughout both the first season and the second.  The possibility of this getting out threatens everything she loves.  It would bring scandal to the Crawley family and potentially force her out of Downton Abbey and risk any chance she had at gaining a husband.  This is seen in this episode through her soon-to-be husband, Sir Richard Carlisle, whom she is marrying simply because he has the power to keep her mistake a secret.  He uses this information against her on many occasions.  However, the sexual activities of the men are not questioned in the same way as the women.  It does not threaten their very existence and it has little effect on the way people perceive them.
However, I believe the show can provide opportunities for universalizing discourses.  It does not portray these situations in a positive light and allows us to see how these violate the rights of the women.  It also allows us to see another side to these women and their circumstances.  It lets us think that maybe this is wrong.  Maybe men and women should be held to the same sexual standards.  Maybe femininity is not so black and white and on the cusp of the women's suffrage movement it allows us to see the circumstances that made it necessary.  I believe the show makes a good argument for feminism, why it existed then and why it is still needed now.  Lets face it, these things still happen to women today whether through the stigma of single motherhood or the decision to step outside the social norms of femininity.  The pressure to conform to the ideal womanhood is still felt and while the ideal has shifted some since the early 1900s, I do not believe it has changed as much as it should have in the past century.

Works Cited
Mayne, Judith.  Women, Representation and Culture. pg. 161 - 165.
Transgeneration. Powerpoint. Race, Gender and Sexuality in Pop Culture.