XOXO White Privilege

            With popular culture bursting at the seams with images of money, glamour, material possessions and fame, it is no wonder that the show Gossip Girl took over during its reign from 2007-2013. Despite it’s undeniably amusing depiction of high-class private school life, the show reflects representations far beyond the scripted words. While the show features story lines involving multiple different female leads, the female characters with success or winning moments are all white. Gossip Girl’s representation of race in its female characters reflects the dominant hegemonic idea of white privilege.

            Images of white superiority have dominated television. Despite the efforts of shows such as the Cosby Show to change this, white characters still dominate television reflecting the image that they have superior lifestyles. Gossip Girl reinforces this idea that only white members of this TV created society are rich. It has been critiqued in the media for its lack of diversity (Hobson). The main women on the show, Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf, are shown enjoying the “finer things in life.” Blair lives in an upper eastside apartment. Her closet is about the size of an average American’s living room. She is handed every piece of clothing, handbags, shoes or jewelry she could ever want to own. She is literally served off of a silver platter. Her race? Yes, you guessed it. Blair is white. She is shown as beautiful, smart and glamorous in the spotlight of New York City. Because Blair is shown portraying this lifestyle, she reflects this dominant hegemonic idea. Immediately in the show, it is known through character dialogue that Blair is one of the women who rules as “Queen Bee.” This power is bestowed upon only white female characters. This reflects, an image of white superiority in the lives of the characters. Critics of the show have argued that Gossip Girl could have broken out of this hegemonic practice but chose to reflect common stereotypes of this class (Andrews).

            Alongside Blair, Serena van der Woodsen enjoys an expensive, glamorous life. She is shown dressed in designer fashion with diamonds reflecting the sun outside her Upper East Side loft. She too flaunts this “Queen Bee” title. She can make any man desire her with one glance. Serena, despite her many mistakes in the show, always finds a way to work out her issues through money. The show reflects an image that the white female characters, despite the drama that ensues, no matter how deeply rooted the problem is, these women can use their money to fix it. By reflecting this impression, white characters are allowed to achieve happiness.

            The only female main character that isn’t allowed to achieve happiness is… not white. Vanessa Abrams is of African American and Hungarian descent. Not only is she not white, writers of the show center this character around the idea that she cannot afford all the lavish luxuries that Blair and Serena consistently enjoy. Vanessa does not have the income to live in the wealthy Upper East Side. She cannot afford to attend the high-class private school of the other characters. She does not get accepted to Ivy League colleges like the others. She attends a public university in later episodes. Vanessa’s dress reflects this ideology too. The white characters are shown in the latest designer dresses, skirts and jewelry. Vanessa is depicted in casual clothes consisting of jeans and various tops, reflecting her lower income once again. She is constantly shown wearing large hoop earrings, a negative stereotype that can be associated with women of color (“Gossip Girl Goes Over to the Dark Side [Again]”). However, the main way Vanessa reinforces this hegemonic idea of white privilege is through her continuous love for Dan Humphrey. Dan Humphrey, a white male character, has been Vanessa’s friend for decades. However, Dan never seems to reciprocate deeper feelings for her. Though Vanessa’s feelings are obvious, in the first few seasons, Dan cannot shake his deep desire for Serena. Blair even makes cruel jokes about Vanessa’s longing to be with Dan. 

Blair sees Vanessa as pathetic and unworthy of someone that Serena would date. This sends a message that the white women will win against the characters of a different race. This set up contains the potential message that women of race can be successful and appropriates that idea through Blair’s interaction with Vanessa.  

            Nevertheless, why is it that the show chooses to represent white female characters and nonwhite characters in such a way? Many believe that it is because white viewers most directly link those types of roles with whiteness (“Whiteness and American TV”). Could it be due to the fact the Upper East Side in reality is 83% white (Olson et al)? There’s a large possibility it is because we have always associated this high-class New York City lifestyle with rich white men and women. Critics of the show fault Gossip Girl for its lack of diversity but yet, understand that breaking out of this hegemonic code of whiteness in wealthy NYC, could have lessened the number of viewers (Andrews). Despite it’s popularity, Gossip Girl represents the idea of white privilege through the main female characters. Whether it’s due to the racial representation in the area of NYC or our dominant ideology of white privilege, Gossip Girl reinforces these ideas. As Blair Waldorf stated, “once again the world has proven – anything you can do, I can do better” (TV Fanatic). Nevertheless, is Blair really better just cause of her skin color? Gossip Girl sure thinks so.

Works Cited

Andrews, Helena. "Keep 'Gossip Girl' White." The Root. N.p., 21 Oct. 2008. Web. 21 Oct.

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"Gossip Girl." TV Fanatic . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

<http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/shows/gossip-girl/season-2/page-8.html>

Hobson, Emmy. "Post #4 Hidden Racism in Gossip Girl and The Hangover." My

Media World. Blogger, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://eeh271.blogspot.com/2011/04/post-4-hidden-racism-in-my-gossip-girl.html>.

Olson EC, Van Wye G, Kerker B, Thorpe L, Frieden TR. Take Care Upper East Side. NYC

Community Health Profiles, Second Edition; 2006; 23(42):1-16.

"Whiteness and American TV." bigWOWO. WordPress, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

<http://www.bigwowo.com/2012/04/whiteness-and-tv/>.