Stereotype: The Modern Man as Dope, Essay Example

There is a predominant gender bias in today’s media, one developing in the last few decades and targeting, not women, but men. If media portrayals today may be trusted, men cannot be relied upon and the majority never move beyond adolescent interests and concerns. As presented in films, advertising, and TV, most can hold jobs and function, but they require being watched at all times because, left on their own, they will make poor decisions usually going to gratifying self-centered desires. While women were consistently stereotyped in the mass media of most of the 20^th century, a completely different direction was taken by the 1990s and the male figure became an object of ridicule, or at least one deserving of less respect. There are variations, but the stereotypes remain negative in one form or another, and men are universally revealed in the media as incompetent, self-centered, base, and/or fixated on male physical power (Kane n/a). While decent and intelligent male characters may be seen in media, they are a minority and also of a submissive type; far more commonly, the man in media is gone and an unintelligent teenage boy has taken his place.

The evidence of the stereotyping of men as incompetent, for instance, is widespread In advertising, as in a Verizon commercial, husbands are barely tolerated by more intelligent wives and daughters who can work the devices that baffle the men (Kane n/a). Tim Allen’s Home Improvement perpetuates negative male stereotypes by emphasizing the husband’s fixations on power and tools (Moss 36). In multiple episodes, moreover, he is inept with tools and rendered ridiculous as the tools overpower him, and his bravado is then all the more foolish. Regarding obsessions with self, the relentless selfishness of Ray in Everybody Loves Raymond is redeemed only occasionally by acting for others. In one episode, he makes his child cry by insisting on playing with a new toy first. In another, he encourages his wife’s anger at his mother because the anger translates into more aggressive sex with her. More recent and dramatic programs such as The Good Wife render the comic selfishness of the sitcom males into greedy, base behavior; it is enduring the corrupt and adulterous behavior of the title character’s husband, a powerful political figure, that earns the woman her “good” status. The message in all is the same; women are necessary for salvation, and to maintain decent values.

There are exceptions to these debasing portrayals of men as weak. In the 2011 comedy Bridesmaids, for example, the character of Officer Rhodes is gentle, competent, and mature, serving as a contrast to the cartoon baseness of the heroine’s sex partner. The latter makes it clear that he is interested only in self-gratification; Rhodes, conversely, listens to the heroine’s problems and comforts: “You’ve got something going on, Annie. You’re all right” (Bridesmaids). Unfortunately, the exception factor itself reinforces the stereotypes; this “ordinary,” decent man is now the rare male. It is also important that he is submissive to the heroine, tolerating her lack of interest and remaining available for when she recognizes his value. Even in this exception, then, the male is stereotyped as women were for so long, as “good” because he is passive.

It is arguable that, as men remain the more empowered gender in society, any stereotyping is unimportant. That is, since men dominate in real life, they themselves can afford to be so satirized: “Men don’t mind. They live by joking and putting each other down” (Petersen). Then, it is reasonable to suggest that this trend is merely a good-natured and necessary balancing of the gender scales, and one that frees men from the stereotypical obligation to be strong and wise. This idea of the male stereotyping as harmless, however, ignores the important issue of the media as reflecting social ideologies. More exactly, when media so widely debases men, men become debased in life itself because the social expectations are changing. To a degree men and women are guided in their behaviors by all that they see around them, just as women of the mid-20^th century modeled themselves on the film stereotypes of the era. That the feminist movement of the 1970s so targeted media gender bias as generating issues for women in real life, in fact, reinforces the male stereotyping as likely being influential on the culture.

It is interesting to speculate as to why men, the empowered gender, would permit or encourage this ongoing form of ridicule. It may be a male “backlash” in the culture, or even a desire to be rid of responsibility. However it arises, the results may be seen everywhere. While intelligent and responsible male characters may be seen in today’s media, they are a minority, and a passive one as well; far more common is the self-centered and incompetent man who is essentially adolescent.

Works Cited

Bridesmaids. Dir. Paul Fieg. Perf. Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O’Dowd. Universal, 2011. Film.

Kane, C. “Men Are Becoming the Ad Target of the Gender Sneer.” The New York Times. 28 Jan. 2005. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/business/media/28adco.html>

Moss, M. The Media and the Models of Masculinity. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2012. Print.

Petersen, S. “Dumbing Down Dad: How Media Presents Husbands, Fathers as Useless.” 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865574236/Dumbing-down-Dad-How-media-present-husbands-fathers-as-useless.html?pg=all>