While reading Susan Douglas's first chapter of Englightened Sexism entitled "Get the Girls," I immediately connected the divide between the glamorization of teen soap operas and the angst-ridden rebellious teens depicted in Sassy to the television show Gossip Girl. As a sucker for teen soap operas, I was a huge fan of the Gossip Girl book series as quick, juicy summer reads that you could finish by the end of one lazy beach day. In the original series, each chapter shifted to discuss drama from each of the different character's perspectives. Some of the chapters, for instance, would discuss upper-eastsiders Blaire and Serena, clad in Jimmy Choos stilettos and Donna Karen evening gowns, who traded off their pot-smoking, Abercrombie model, lacrosse-playing love interest Nate almost every book, sometimes within the same one. Other chapters, however, discussed more realistic characters like Dan and Vanessa, who lived in Brooklyn and only attended the same prestigious high school as the other characters because their parents spent all their income on providing their children with a good education. Both characters were smart, edgy, artsy and angst-ridden, chain smoking cigarrettes, writing poetry and creating alternative documentaries featuring the tough, dirty streets of New York City. Vanessa, in particular, was the opitome of the female outcast. She shaved her head to rebel against beauty steriotypes of females and only wore the color black all the way down to her black Doc Martin combat boots. She was the outcast feminist who the other glamorous characters mocked and pointed out as the weird girl. Nevertheless, Vanessa was not afraid to make her voice heard and let her true self shine.
As a fan of the Gossip Girl series, I was obviously excited for the premiere of the television series on the CW in 2007. However, I was surprised to see many of the characters completely different, most importantly the angst ridden feminist Vanessa. Instead of seeing a pale, unathletic, hairless teenager in gothic attire, I saw the character Vanessa: a beautiful Latino who although lived in Brooklyn, seemed always to look dressed to the nines in trendy, designer duds. The TV Vanessa did not wear black, but colorful prints. Her head was not shaven, but adorned with beautiful chocolate colored curly locks. The new Vanessa, while still artsy and intelligent, seemed to be just as glamorous as the other characters and concerned with the drama that filled their teenage lives: boys and popularity.
This interesting switch clearly was intentional. In order to appeal to an audience that wished to see beautiful, unrealistic characters like those depicted in the 90's phenomenons 90201 and Melrose Place, the writers had to cast a beautiful Latino, rather than a combat-boot wearing, cigarrette-smoking, feminism-preaching, head-shaven rebel. This character would have sent people over the edge, going against beauty sterio-types and challenging gender roles.
Julie's post about Gossip Girl reminds me of another TV show, Mad Men, which takes place in an advertising agency office in the 1950s. The blatant sexism and inequality between men and women on this show is enormous, so extreme that I wonder why so many people tune in each week. The show's main female character, Peggy, is a career-oriented young woman who constantly faces opposition from both the men and women in the office. While all the other women are slutty secretaries, Peggy is the only female who actually has a real advertising job. What I found most interesting about this show though is its exaggeration of reality. I asked my grandmother, who worked as a secretary at an ad agency in the 50s, how much of the show is accurate and she told me that at least in her office, the show is completely a false representation. TV shows like Mad Men normalize blatant sexism in the workspace and trivialize it as an issue in real life.
Julie's post about Gossip Girl reminds me of another TV show, Mad Men, which takes place in an advertising agency office in the 1950s. The blatant sexism and inequality between men and women on this show is enormous, so extreme that I wonder why so many people tune in each week. The show's main female character, Peggy, is a career-oriented young woman who constantly faces opposition from both the men and women in the office. While all the other women are slutty secretaries, Peggy is the only female who actually has a real advertising job. What I found most interesting about this show though is its exaggeration of reality. I asked my grandmother, who worked as a secretary at an ad agency in the 50s, how much of the show is accurate and she told me that at least in her office, the show is completely a false representation. TV shows like Mad Men normalize blatant sexism in the workspace and trivialize it as an issue in real life.
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