Devious Decoding

Devious Decoding

Here in America, we value high class, wealthy lifestyles. If you’re not one of the lucky few living the “high life,” you are enviously intrigued by this lifestyle. Well, at least I definitely am captivated by it. Lifetime’s “Devious Maids” gives a glimpse into this high class Beverly Hills life through the eyes of the women who clean these incredible mansions. So why is this show creating such a controversy? The sassy, independent and sexy maids are all associated with the stereotypical Latina maid. This controversial show represents this stereotype on the screen, reinforcing our role of immigrant Latina women.

The five main maids featured on this show, Rosie, Zoila, Marisol, Carmen and Valentina, all embody the stereotypical Latina maid attitude. With their feisty, quick wit and sexy looks, all these women put a dramatic spin on their maid duties. All of these women came from countries of Latin origins. The show gives a glimpse into the dreams these women possess beyond cleaning a rich family’s floor since their immigration to the United States. Produced by Eva Longoria, a woman of Latina descent herself, it is supposed to break stereotypes that these Latina immigrants cannot amount to anything. However, many argue the show has had the opposite affect on viewers.

According to outraged viewers, the show demeans Latina women by placing them in minimum wage jobs, showing that immigrants cannot amount to the high class jobs of the people the maids work for on the show (Kaplan, 2013). Even one of the show’s stars, Ana Ortiz, who plays maid Marisol, commented that she was caught off guard by the script at first glance (Kaplan, 2013). One of the first episodes features the love connection between young maid, Valentina, and her employer’s son, Remi. Valentina’s mom, Zoila, a fellow maid, tells her daughter that rich people don't fall in love with the help (“Devious Maids”, 2013). This depiction adds to the idea that these women are stuck in roles typically viewed as lower class. The love story portrays the idea that these Latina maids are not good enough for the white Americans on the show.

It does not help the stereotypical show that all the wealthy characters are upper class white Americans. When producer, Eva Longoria, was asked about the show in regards to the controversial stereotype, she claimed that the show is supposed to make light of the stereotype and show it is still occurring (Vanessa Verduga, 2013). With Longoria’s comments, audiences became further outraged that not a single wealthy person on the show is of Latino or Latina descent. In one episode, a white American wealthy woman says, “the woman cleans tile grout for a living. If you can't shield this secret from her, you're not the brilliant degenerate I married,” clearly degraded the intelligence of her maid (“Devious Maids”, 2013). Critic Eric Deggans says the show does not go beyond these stereotypes and does not suggest how these can be broken (2013). It only shows the negative view of this profession. In turn, it actually enforces stereotypes. Many of the women have dreams beyond being a maid but these dreams are shut down. One of the maids, Carmen, dreams of becoming a famous singer. When the opportunity arises, she jumps at it but is shut down and left to her maid duties. Maid Rosie left her son behind in Guadalajara and became a maid in hopes of bringing him to the United States one day. This dream is out of her reach in many episodes despite her countless efforts. When asked to comment, Ana Ortiz, Marisol on the show, discussed how her grandmother was actually a maid during her working days (Kaplan, 2013). The various comments by the show’s actresses and producers continually enforce this stereotype of feisty, hard working, lower class, Latina women.

Women who do relate to the show find the portrayal to still reinforce the stereotype. Michelle Herrera Mulligan, editor in chief for Cosmopolitan Latina, discusses with the Huffington Post that she had a similar upbringing, watching her mother and grandmother work as maids (2013). However, Mulligan finds the portrayal of this maid role in “Devious Maids” to be offensive because it does not show the truth behind this role (2013). She claims, though her family did work in that industry, the difference is that they were working for something more than just gossip between each other and sex scandals (Mulligan, 2013). Mulligan discusses that they did not gossip about their bosses or get caught up in drama, but put on the uniform to show they could run things in the house (2013). Longoria’s “Devious Maids” seems to be lacking an element of defying this maid role if it is trying to bring light to the issue.

As the first season drew to a close this past month, a second season for this controversial show was announced. Enforcing this feisty, sexy, dramatic Latina stereotype has brought in viewers, whether angry or excited, people are tuning in to watch “Devious Maids”. If this second season does not bring a change in this stereotypical role, will viewers boycott the show? As maid Carmen says, “I should’ve been born rich,” (“Devious Maids”, 2013). Frankly, most of us weren’t so lucky, and as Longoria shows, neither were these maids nor will they be anytime soon.

References

Cherry, Marc, and Eva Longoria, prods. "Devious Maids, Season 1." Devious Maids. Lifetime.

New York City, New York, 23 June 2013. Television.

Deggans, Eric. "Can 'Devious Maids' Really Break Stereotypes About Latinas?" Code Switch.

NPR, 27 June 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/07/02/196204084/Can-Devious-Maids-Really-Break-Stereotypes-About-Latinas>.

Kaplan, Don. "Eva Longoria’s ‘Devious Maids’ Spurs Backlash from Some Hispanic

Viewers." New York Daily News. N.p., 24 June 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <Eva Longoria’s ‘Devious Maids’ spurs backlash from some Hispanic viewer Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/devious-isn-maid-order-viewers-article-1.1379551#ixzz2fyRAR5RN>.

Mulligan, Michelle Herrera. "Devious Maids Misrepresents Latinas." The Huffington Post. N.p.,

09 May 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-herrera-mulligan/devious-maids-eva-longoria_b_3248787.html>.

Verduga, Vanessa. "'Devious Maids' TV Show Review: It Isn't Offensive — Pure and Simple."

PolicyMic, June 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/51511/devious-maids-tv-show-review-it-isn-t-offensive-pure-and-simple>.

The Wire and Stereotypes

Stereotypes in The Wire

            HBO series, The Wire, has caught the eyes of many viewers from all around the country.  This television series is shot from inner city Baltimore Maryland, or “Bodymore Murdaland” as some people like to call it.  It’s a show based on the inequalities of the inner city, the drug scene, and it’s mostly shown through the eyes of the drug dealers and law enforcement.  I’m a new viewer to The Wire, even though the first season was aired in 2002, however, I have already begun to pick up on some potential stereotypes within the show.  These stereotypes range from the tv series being filmed in Baltimore, a crime known city, to “welfare queens” to “drug dealing thugs” and the characters living in poor urban black neighborhoods with little educational background.

            Schools like the University of Iowa and even Harvard are teaching a course on The Wire for students to have a better understanding of urban inequalities and social conditions in inner cities in America (Chaddha, Wilson, 2010).  For students at Harvard, they don’t necessarily understand the inner city life because they are generally white people with money (or is that a stereotype?).  Some people are trying to argue that teaching The Wire to Harvard students is going to create more stereotypes because the students are only seeing how “ratchet” the inner city life LOOKS on The Wire and aren’t actually getting a real “in-person” experience of how it really IS.  While this could be some what true, others think its very educational because of the way it displays the inequalities that some families truly do go through living in the inner city black neighborhoods that maybe white people from good homes don’t quite understand. 

            The Wire focuses a lot on the drug trade industry which is making a lot of people upset because it’s stereotyping the black drug dealers, and they don’t understand why the show couldn’t have used something less stereotypical such as a gun dealer selling guns illegally, and maybe have the dealers not all be black. (Singal, 2010).  This show does what no educational book can do.  The Wire teaches students (especially ones whom are unfamiliar) about the inequalities, bad schools, job losses, drugs, imprisonment, and shows just how much the actual situation continues to feed off of itself (Chaddha, Wilson, 2010).  People that are in these living situations generally continue to repeat the cycle because they have no other options.  The situation continues to feed off itself because they have to get money somehow, even though it’s drug dealing, because a lot more comes with getting a job that people don’t necessarily understand.  You have to have transportation to get there, clothes to wear, steady schedule, etc.  Another important point the show tries to show is the struggle of all the ex-convicts trying to find jobs.  More and more people are going in and out of jail, which obviously makes it harder for them to find jobs—making it hard to support their families.  This is generally the reason the “drug dealers” stay drug dealing, even after jail, because its really their only way of income to support their families since no where will hire them for a steady job. 

            A big reason way The Wire is considered so “real” is because the problems in the show always go unsolved, just like in real life.  Stereotypical drug dealers, lazy people, welfare queens, thugs, etc. are always going to be around, no matter where you go, and the show to me does a nice job of unraveling the stereotypes.  The show displays WHY the drug dealers are drug dealing (needing money to support their family) and why there are welfare queens (jobs are very hard to find and a lot goes beyond just getting the job) etc.  You can’t exactly get a job if you can’t shower because you don’t have running water or clothes/shoes to wear.  Basically, The Wire just does a very nice job of showing the cycle and why it always, and will continue to always, repeat itself over and over.  Although the drug trade happens elsewhere as well and not just in the inner cities, and drug use is increasing in white people, Baltimore becomes a character in the show itself because it is the primary distribution center for illicit drugs in Maryland (Singal, 2010). This is making things more realistic once you know the background of the city the show is being shot in.  This show would look ridiculous if it were to be shot in Iowa City, Iowa…that’s why it was shot in inner city Baltimore, where things like this are actually a huge concern.

            Because I love TV shows like “NCIS” “Law and Order” etc, I absolutely love the show The Wire. The Wire is similar to those shows in a way, only it’s better because it’s more realistic, as the crimes often go unsolved and the cycles repeat.  The show is purely shot out of the eyes of the drug dealers themselves and law enforcement, so you tend to get more connected to the characters within the show.  Showing the inequalities of urban black neighborhoods in a realistic TV show ultimately gives students at Harvard, and even the University of Iowa, a more realistic view of the lives these people are actually living, and how good we really do have it in comparison.  The Wire isn’t stereotyping certain people or ideas, but actually is trying to do the opposite by showcasing why the stereotypes are created, and why the cycles will always continue to repeat themselves.

Works Cited

Chaddha, Anmol, and William Wilson. "Why We're Teaching 'The Wire' at Harvard." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 12 Sept. 2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091002676.html>.

Signal, Jesse. "Is 'The Wire' Racist?" Boston.com. N.p., 30 Sept. 2010. Web. <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2010/09/is_the_wire_rac.html>.

            

Gender Roles in "Weeds"

Leah Baack

Blog #1; TV Criticism

September 24, 2013

Gender Roles in “Weeds”

            What would you do if you discovered your own mother was a drug dealer? In the show Weeds, the main character Nancy Botwin, played by Mary-Louis Parker, is exactly that. After the unexpected death of her husband, Judah, Nancy is faced with the financial burden of maintaining the suburban lifestyle that her family has grown accustom to. Her quick fix solution? Becoming the neighborhood pot dealer. She may have started off small, but that is no longer the case. She has not only grown and developed her own strand of weed with her partner, Conrad Shepard, ironically called “MILF,” but has quickly expanded the customer base throughout her suburban community. As the show develops, Nancy becomes more involved with illegally activity, and eventually finds herself in a situation that she can’t get out of (“About the Series”).

            One of the reasons I decided to start watching the show was because after reading the storyline, it struck me as being very out of the ordinary. It’s not everyday that you see a show structured around a singer-mother gone drug dealer. As I have continued to watch the show, one thing that comes to mind is that it doesn’t demonstrate the typical traditional gender roles. The show not only challenges the stereotypical gender roles of women, by having Nancy as the upper-class mother, who is a drug dealer, but it also plays into stereotypical roles as well. For example, Nancy is what society deems to be desirable for a woman – white, thin, and beautiful. To outsiders, she seems to have everything together, whether that be her designer handbags and clothes to her always well-kept fancy house maintained by the maid. Nancy is a pro at leading a double life.

Not only does Nancy’s character reinforce dominant stereotypes of women, but her over the top opinionated “friend,” Celia Hodes, does too, in regards to her physical appearance and similar class status. In the show’s opening scene, Nancy walks in on Celia leading the PTA meeting, where both of their children attend school. It is blatantly obvious that, “it’s a no man’s land” with the other women, “whispering gossip to one another or becoming absurdly adamant about a minor matter affecting their own precious children” (Franklin, 2005). This depiction of women only adds, “to the reinforce stereotypes in the viewers’ minds, furthering negative assumptions about subordinate groups,” which in this case, the subordinate group is housewives, and their tendency to only sit around and gossip with other housewives (Mittell, 2009, p. 309).   

Another example of how Celia’s character reinforces dominant stereotypes of women is how she continuously, and relentlessly pressures her young daughter, Isabelle, to conform to society’s ideal image of being skinny. She goes as far as putting laxatives in her food, and forcing her to participate in exercise classes, talk about extreme.

             The ways in which the show resists stereotypical gender roles of women is through Nancy’s somewhat secret profession of being a drug dealer and her personality. While her profession is clearly out of the ordinary for a suburban single-mother, her profession is not the only thing breaking dominant stereotypical roles of being a woman. For example, when she’s not pretending to be her superficial self, Nancy is strong-willed, independent, and has a ‘no tolerance for bullshit’ kind of attitude. Even with her lack of work experience, she manages to start and operate her own business, an extremely successful one at that. Ironically, all her employees are men, which include the city councilmen of her picturesque community, Doug Wilson, and a somewhat successful lawyer, Dean Hodes. She isn’t afraid to stand up to male authority and because of this, it makes her a threat to other drug dealers within her community. But, her stubborn personality also blinds her from the dangers of her profession. For example, she often plays the damsel in distress to get herself out of sticky situations and because of this, it coverts back to dominant stereotype that woman are often clueless when starting something new and have to be rescued. Nancy’s character switches between both breaking and reinforcing stereotypical roles of women.

Another way in which the show resists dominant gender roles is through the character of Nancy’s brother-in-law, Andy Botwin. His character goes against the stereotype that men are suppose to be the majority breadwinners of the family. Granted their family structure no longer fits that of a ‘traditional’ one, he still naturally assumes the dominant male figure of the family since he unexpectedly showed up and announced he would be living with Nancy and the boys. Instead of being the majority breadwinner, he assumes the role of a ‘stay at father’ and looks after his two nephews, Silas and Shane, while Nancy is off making all the money. In addition to being Silas and Shane’s primary caregiver he also cooks and prepares meals for the family throughout the week. While Andy gets involved with Nancy’s business for a short period of time, he never earns more than she does and continues to be an unmotivated freeloader after she fires him.

Through the show Weeds, it demonstrates the complexity of gender roles by both reinforcing and resisting dominate stereotypes through different character professions and personalities. The show’s out of the ordinary storyline proves that in order to break a traditional gender stereotype, switch-ups need to be made. By having an upper class, single mother dealing drugs, the show accomplishes just that.

References

About the series. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sho.com/sho/weeds/season/1

Franklin, N. (2005, September 5). Dealing housewives. The New Yorker, Retrieved from  

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/09/05/050905crte_television

Mittell, J. (2009). Television and American culture. Oxford University Press, USA.

Four Types of Women

The series Sex and the City (SATC), is a romantic sitcom about four single women in their mid-thirties living in New York City. SATC is about four girls who are best friends who are constantly talking about their sex lives, and there relationship problems. The four characters in SATC are so different and they all have very unique different ways of dealing with their problems. This show gives us four unique representations of women and how each one of them breaks through the traditional gender roles they have.

                The first character Carrie Bradshaw is every woman’s dream she is this energetic New York columnist with amazing fashion sense and has the best and worst relationships. Carrie breaks many of the traditional gender roles that we are used to in this series. For instance in an episode of SATC carries says, “The only thing I've ever successfully made in the kitchen is a mess. And several fires”. She is not the traditional women who cooks and cleans for a man; she is more worried about what she is going to wear to dinner. Carrie also surprised us when her character was the one that would have the commitment issues in her relationships, she was always the one to run and hide when things got too deep in a relationship. Typically men are the ones with the commitment issue but not in Carries case. Carrie is also a smoker for part of the series and she is one for breaking the rules.  But Carrie also follows some of the stereotypes of women, like she is led by her emotions, she strives for acceptance in relationships, and sometimes she can be selfish in relationships. Carrie likes to step out of the box and resist the dominant roles of women and give women the chance to feel free to talk about and do whatever they want.

                Samantha Jones is the firecracker out of the group of friends, she plays this successful business women who knows what she wants and gets it most of the time. Samantha Jones is describes as “Samantha embraces her uninhibited sexuality with a diverse (and large) group of lovers, from wrestling coaches to power bachelors to a studly farmer. Forget wedding dreams; Samantha takes lust over love any night, and she's proud of it” ( HBO). She is not following the traditional gender roles either, usually women who have sex with multiple men, and freak out when they hear the word wedding, are categorized as promiscuous women. She breaks the traditional gender roles and proves that she doesn’t need a man to take care of her ( only in the bedroom) and she comes off as this very independent women who doesn’t have a sensor.

                Charlotte York plays a very different character then the two I describe above, Charlotte is described as “an essentially sweet-natured woman who likes her job well enough, but who harbors romantic dreams of marrying a nice, preferably rich guy and having beautiful children, and who believes there’s one “right” person out there for everyone.” (ZACHAREK). Charlotte’s character is the stereotypical sweet young lady who has a plan for everything and dreams about the day that she will get married and have children. Her character reinforces the dominant roles of women. She tries to live this perfect little life and lets everyone believe that everything is just fine; her character is the role model of how women should act. Charlotte is the nice one that can rarely get mad at anyone and who would do anything for anyone. Her character represents the American woman and how they should act according to the culture.

                Lastly we have Miranda Hobbes who plays this smart, successful, single mom who is proud of her accomplishments, but more proud of the fact that she did it one her own. Charlotte is the well rounded friend who thinks things through before making a big decision. She plays the untraditional women who becomes partners of a law firm, raises a baby, and buys her own apartment; her character is portrayed as the successful independent woman who doesn’t need a man to get what she wants. This is not something that our culture is used to, so it gives women the idea that they can do it to if they put in some hard work. You may think Miranda has it all, a good job, a baby, and an apartment, but she has a hard time finding a good relationship through much of the series.

                After describing these four characters from SATC you can see how each and every one of the characters is different and how each of them at reinforce the dominant roles of women, but they also resist these roles and challenge them. SATC uses these four different characters to show women that its ok to stray from the normative culture and do what makes you happy even if it’s not the “Female” thing to do.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Half mortal, Half Witch, Completely Feminist?

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the exact same name. The show premiered on September 27, 1996 on the channel ABC in its  “T.G.I.F” line-up.  It ran for seven seasons officially ending on April 24, 2003.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch won the hearts of many young girls when it first aired, including myself. I was awed by the powers that occupied Sabrina and her aunts (Hilda and Zelda). Each character has every wish at their fingertips, clothing options in seconds, full course meals in a whip of the wrist, and spells to do anything and everything one can possibly imagine, -- Want to have a date? Lets whip up some bread and shape it into a person! Voila! Instant hunk! --

Most young girls who watched this show viewed Sabrina as a powerful role model, someone they wish they could be like. Sabrina stood up for herself, won Harvey’s heart over the evil school bully Libby, lived with her two awesome aunts, fell in love, and yet still made mistakes and learned life lessons along the way. With all the good that came out of the show for teenage girls it was also viewed as having a feminist portrayal to the audience, one article states, “All of the main characters are female. Not only that, but they were strong, powerful women.  Though this might seem like it’s barely enough to qualify a show as being feminist, just take a look at all the other shows and movies out there.  Though they exist there just aren’t that many that focus solely on women and women’s lives.  While all of the other characters on Sabrina (especially the men) are kind of hapless and innocent, Sabrina and her Aunts Hilda and Zelda use their powers unapologetically.  The control and direct their own lives, as well as the lives of those around them.  They see no problem in using their powers to take control of any situation.” ("Little feminists –," 2012)

So, lets get one thing straight, Sabrina and her two aunts, are witches, and are therefore magically inclined. They are empowered women who live in a massive house, with no man in sight except their talking cat Salem who depends on them for all for survival. Hilda and Zelda are both shamelessly at the top of their fields. Hilda is a talented violinist, while Zelda is a respected physicist, and later in the series, chemist.  Sabrina is portrayed as an extremely bright student who concentrates on her studies but still deals with the constant struggles of a normal high school student like, the occasional turning people into goats, making frogs come back to life, and putting constant spells on the school bully. Throughout the series Sabrina dates a couple of different men, who are admittedly important to the storyline. But what’s often more important is what she is doing in her life.  In high school, she actually breaks up with her boyfriend in order to focus more on her studies. Sabrina’s life is portrayed as being pretty realistic. She learns who she is, grows a lot as a person, and sees many people come and go in her life.

So is Sabrina the Teenage Witch really portraying feminism? I don’t believe so and I do not think that was the intention of the show at all.  One article said it best when they commented stating; "Sabrina" follows a trend of 1980s and 1990s programs that portray the ideals of equality, inclusion and free choice. The show criticizes gender and other discrimination, emphasizes acceptance and equality on the basis of both gender and sexuality, and portrays Sabrina's aunts as self-confident, independent and talented, and Sabrina as following their model.” (Susanne, 1999) 

Now does that really sound like a show entirely based on feminism? If you still think so, take a look at it this way; with the exception of Harry Potter representations of witches are still typically female. Historically, witches have been outcasts and much of this unease clearly stems from a fear of female force. The teenage witch genre articulates a new powerful image of femininity. It’s not that the Hag and herb potions have become hip, rather witchcraft has become synonymous with power and girly magic. (Mosely, 2003)

If a mother and father would have raised Sabrina think about how different the series would have been. The non-traditional family unit makes the series that much more intriguing.   The three women form a family that seems stronger than most and remember that Sabrina does have contact with her real parents, her dad is able to visit once a month and she can still talk to him daily if she chooses and she is also able to call her mom in Peru.

If we learned anything from the show it was that high school is tough, whether you're the jock, the cheerleader, the nerd, the theater kid, or a witch.  Life will always throw obstacles your way and even magic cannot help you solve all your problems and although the show showed females to be powerful. I don’t think it’s fair to ignore that even as powerful “super” females the aunts and Sabrina could not do everything, anyone remember when they all could not get the jar of pasta sauce open and Sabrina’s dad had to save the day. BOOM! 

Susanne , R. (1999, Novemeber 10). [Web log message]. Retrieved from

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=4772

Little feminists – sabrina the teenage witch. (2012, May 3). Retrieved from

http://beafeminist.wordpress.com/tag/sabrina-the-teenage-witch

Mosely , R. (2003, February 27). Soaring teenage fascination with witchcraft is rooted

in glamour and girl power. Retrieved from http://www.religionnewsblog.com/2502/soaring-teenage-fascination-with-witchcraft-is-rooted-in-glamour-and-girl-power