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CORPORATE BRAINWASHING
Has
"women's TV" helped us to become stronger human beings? Has it
done anything to encourage or help us escape our past when we were not
allowed to vote or own property? Actually, not too many years ago, we were
considered "property." We
at GenderGappers watched programs on Oxygen and Life and came away with
the feeling that their programming hurts more than helps us.
We acknowledge that Oxygen does show women's sports and Xena-Warrior Princess reruns, which is a plus. Also, Life broadcasts more drama written by women than any of the hundreds of other broadcast channel which should be defined as "men's TV" (Note that these channels are not called "men's TV" -- they are considered the norm, i.e. regular TV, and thus further designate and marginalize women out of the mainstream.)
We found that overall, women present themselves as silly and immature on "women's TV" There seems to be little or no serious intellectual discussion or attempt to show good role models. Instead, we heard groups of shrill voices screaming over each other to make a point interspersed with girlish giggles.
Much of their programming tends to put women right back in the role of homemaker - flirt - gadfly - airhead - slut, and encourages them to believe that they are some sort of sub-human species that must disguise themselves with makeup and bald their bodies.
We can see this same sort of thing on regular TV, however, regular TV does give us moments where we see women acting as responsible human beings. We see them making speeches and developing policies. We see them as news anchors and quite often, we see just normal women giving their opinion without resorting to giggles and posturing.
We also see women portraying themselves in ways that are detrimental. Especially odious are two so-called women's programs on regular TV that are extremely harmful because they reach such a large audience. We stopped watching "Oprah" several years ago when she insisted that it was abnormal for women NOT to shave their armpits and legs.
Oprah is becoming a poster girl for the kultur kops, who determine that all women must adhere, dress and conform to their definition of woman. This reached an apex when she touted the vomitus spoutings of Gray, whose book put women and men on different planets and speaking different languages.
"The View" features several women and various guests. It is a living, breathing example of a hen house where old and young biddies cackle and gossip in what seems to be a heroic effort to prove that women in a group all act like demented chickens. This is the portrait of women that the conservative media and TV advertisers want us to emulate.
In other words, they will not sponsor programs that show women as responsible, intelligent serious adult human beings.
There is a very serious debate raging all around us and we are taking very little part in it. The subjects are parenting and the decline of marriage. The violence expressed by our children is being attributed to divorce. While not specifically stating that both are women's fault for working outside the home, for having careers, for being human beings instead of maids, most comments we heard pander to those charges.
Bill Bennett, the self-proclaimed czar of virtue, insisted that things were so much better for families and children when people HAD to stay together. He lamented the ease of attaining a divorce now and explained that what did it matter if a few dishes were thrown now and then because it was important that children had a father.
His inference was clear. Women leaving the men they married were the cause of most divorces. Women should not be allowed to get out of a violent marriage. "What's a few thrown dishes?"
That comment voiced on "Hardball" last week got a flood of opposition letters that Chris Matthews tried to deflect by saying that Bennett was not really supporting violence toward women. His explanation was lamer than a Xena-kicked warlord.
How can we possibly expect to be treated seriously if we continually portray ourselves as immature? We should be in these discussions of children and divorce with our points of view. Failing this, we could very well find ourselves back in the good old days when we were controlled by being "kept barefoot in the winter and pregnant in the summer," continually smiling, always the happy slave.
2001-022
Copyright
2001 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished
for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that
this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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