Women & Sexism, Essay Example

Abstract

The below paper is designed to reveal how women are affected by sexism and how the media uses gender stereotypes to strengthen their power in the society. Even though women now are able to make a career and are not restricted to running a household and raise kids, there are still several aspects of sexist portrayal of women in the media. The authors studied the TV show “Castle” to examine whether or not the medium aims at reinforcing gender stereotypes in the society.

Women and Sexism

The popular series, Castle is famous of featuring the sexual tension between the male and the female hero. The roles of the genders are clearly defined in the series from the beginning: Castle, the writer, who has an emotional, almost femininely sensitive personality, however, always seems to have the upper hand. He is surrounded by women who are “easy to get”. Series One of the TV program will be reviewed to detect any signs of sexism and the presence of gender stereotypes. After discussing the series with my friends, several of them stated that they never noticed that Beckett was a highly sexualized character. Further, they thought that the fact that he had several “lady friends” made Rick Castle more attractive and more masculine at the same time.

The objectification of women in Castle’s life is clearly visible in the first episode when he gets the call from a woman he knows in front of Detective Beckett. Berberick (2010, p. 2) states that “the representation of women in the media has always been exploitative”. The later sexualization of Beckett as a woman makes the viewers focus on her sexual attractiveness, instead of her wise choices, clever ideas, decisions, independence, and courage. She becomes an object first, when the Mayor allows Castle to join the investigation. It is clear from the first series that Castle has the upper hand. He is friends with the Mayor, so Beckett has no choice whether she works with him or not. She later becomes a sexual object and a “muse”, as Castle calls him, an “inspiration”. While this statement would indicate that Castle looks up on Beckett, it also contains the hidden statement that he uses her.

Smith, Choueiti & Pieper (2012) examined family films (PG) and TV series and found that over 40 percent of female characters featured in these movies, aged between 13 and 39 were thin, while over 30 percent of the characters wore sexy clothing. The sexualization of Beckett is visible in her clothing and, most importantly, the attitude of Castle towards her.

Gender roles are also reinforced in Series One, Episode One, when Castle calls the Mayor to get the fingerprints analyzed faster than it would normally take. When Beckett talks to him, he snaps back stating that she is too “hung up” on protocol. Beckett plays by the rules, as a woman, but it looks like Castle does not have to. He has his connections and shortcuts, and – as a superior male in the society – he is allowed to use them to have the upper hand. After the first day of working together, Castle kisses Beckett on the cheek. He clearly is looking for a reaction and enjoys being able to do what he wants to do without asking for permission. Even though Beckett is the leader of the team, she is not like a strong male manager. Mavin (2009) explains this common feature in television with the social role theory: “individuals form expectations for the social roles of others based on gender roles, or consensual beliefs about the traits that are characteristic of, and appropriate for, women and men” (p. 2)

The fact that – according to research concluded by Smith & Cook (2010) –  women are expected to be slim and wearing a sexy outfit in a large percentage of popular films confirms the statement that female characters are generally sexualized in TV shows. The authors also concluded that the level of hypersexuality among female characters is more than double of men’s. This indicates that popular TV programs, including Castle, reinforce the common stereotype of genders: men have the upper hand, the ability to manage and “work out” things, like Castle, while women are associated with being an object of men’s desire or a tool to help them achieve their goals.

The above short review has revealed that the female character of Castle, Detective Beckett, is portrayed in a highly sexual manner. Her portrayal is also reinforcing gender stereotypes that women should adhere to the rules, while men are allowed to do what they want.

References    

Berberick, S. (2010) The Objectification of women in mass media: female self-image in misogynist culture. The New York Sociologist, Vol. 5, 2010

“Castle”. TV Series. Series One. ABC Network.

Mavin, S. (2009) Gender stereotypes and assumptions: Popular culture constructions of women leaders. Conference Stream: Gendered Issue in HRD

Smith, S. & Cook, C. (2010) Gender stereotypes: An analysis of popular films and TV. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Prescott, A.& Pieper, K. (2012) Equity or eye candy: Exploring the Nature of sex-roles in children’s television programming. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.