Distorting Reality: Reality TV Shows and the Male Gaze - Essay Example

Question 2: Is contemporary popular culture organized around the male gaze Distorting Reality: Reality TV Shows and the Male Gaze There can be no denying that media plays an important role in the molding of social values and in the legitimization of personal perceptions. It has been said that media is even more potent than formal education, in that its effects seep into the subconscious and accost individuals wherever they may be, whatever time of the day. According to Paik and Cornstock (1994), 98% of households have at least one television, 70% have more than one television, 70% have cable, and 51% of households with children have a computer. However, a particularly vulnerable sector or demographic are adolescents, not only because of the access they have to virtually all forms of media - such as the internet, television, radio, newspapers and magazines - but also because they are at an age where they are particularly vulnerable. They have yet to develop sufficient maturity and discernment necessary to filter out potentially destructive messages and unhealthy ideas streaming in from various media sources. Laura Mulvey (1990) has come up with the theory of the "male gaze", a theory that visual pop culture is tailored around pleasing the heterosexual male spectator and satisfying his desire for pleasure. Says Mulvey: In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfield to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire. A very good example of what Mulvey is talking about can be seen in reality TV shows. There have been a slew of reality TV shows out in the market over the past few years. Some of them test one's physical mettle like Amazing Race, others have to do with the search for love like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, others test one's aptitude in various fields of endeavor like The Apprentice, and yet others talk about undergoing physical transformations like The Swan, a reality TV series in the United States produced by Fox TV. This paper will focus on the last-mentioned classification of reality television: those that ostensibly aim to make one a better person by simply altering physical appearance. The Swan: Key Themes In a write-up of "The Swan", a television series produced by Fox news, it was described in the following manner: The Swan offers ugly ducklings to transforms themselves into a beautiful swan. It offers women the incredible opportunity to undergo physical, mental and emotional transformations and follows them through the process. This groundbreaking idea culminates in a pageant in which one woman will be crowned "The Ultimate Swan." Each of the contestants will be assigned a team of specialists -- a coach, therapist, trainer, cosmetic surgeon, dentist and stylist -- that will work together to design the perfect individually-tailored program. The final reveal will be especially dramatic because the contestants will not be permitted to see themselves in a mirror during the three-month transformation process. The core theme of the TV show as it is packaged is about self-improvement, wanting to better oneself, wanting to overcome one's insecurities. While it is certainly good to aspire for betterment, the way it is packaged in The Swan is such that self-improvement is inextricably intertwined with physical beauty and that one is less of a person if one is not bestowed with the gift of pulchritude. There seems to be a sublimation of the other equally important values like intelligence, integrity, interpersonal skills and the like. By making it into a beauty contest, i.e., the reality TV show ends in a coronation night for the woman who undergoes the most radical transformation and who is the most beautiful in the lot of former "ugly ducklings", the TV show proposes the theme of competition and gradations of beauty. It reinforces the idea that there is a standard of beauty to conform to, that it is wrong to believe that each woman is unique unto herself, and that if one is not able to pass the standard then one is deemed a loser or not good enough. Finally, there is the part where the contestants are made to meet their family and friends, all of whom gush when they see their newly-refurbished wife, girlfriend, daughter or sister. The message or theme that this communicates is that the love and acceptance of their family members or significant is predicated on how they look and not on how they are, and that they would be loved more or would be more important if they were more beautiful. The show "The Swan" is rife with political and sociological meaning. While it is indeed very entertaining and riveting, it is loaded with so many negative messages that present trouble for the impressionable adolescent girl-child. The notion of the "male gaze" in relation to pop culture TV shows has several deleterious effects. First of all, it breeds stereotypes. It has long been established that factual and fictional media portrayals have a propensity to activate culturally shared racial and gender stereotypes and affect judgment involving those who belong to stereotyped groups (Murphy, 1998). Even news reports, for all its declarations of impartiality and objectivity, may be guilty of stereotyping. In his landmark study, Ungerleider (1991), states that a news report has the implicit agenda of "casting" characters as heroes, victims or villains. Members of minority groups end up either ignored or cast in the role of villains. In a parallel fashion, beautiful women are cast as damsels in distress. Since these stories are repeated over and over with this same angle, they become the "accepted understandings among those to whom alternative interpretations are not evident." (Murphy, 1998) Werner-Wilson, Fitzharris and Morrisey (2004) wrote a paper entitled "Adolescent and parent perceptions of media influence on adolescent sexuality". According to them: The media passively reinforce gender and ethnic stereotypes (Gerbher, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1986). Passive reinforcement of gender and ethnic stereotypes was demonstrated in a content analysis of Rolling Stone magazine, a popular adolescent periodical, which examined gender and ethnic themes in issues published in the years 1968 and 1988 (Wilson, 1990). Results from the content analysis suggested that women and people from traditionally underrepresented groups were rarely the source of stories; when they were featured, they were depicted unflatteringly. The stereotypes of women in media are easily evident. In television shows for instance, who has not seen the dumb blonde, the soccer mom, the girl next door, or the corporate go getter Though the stereotypes have undergone revamping since the 1950's, with less of the Brady Bunch images and more diversity with regard to the depiction of women, some stereotypes continue to persist and this is severely affecting the adolescents - particularly adolescent or prepubescent females who are only beginning to define their identity and chart their path in the world. Even is sports, studies show that there is the notion of gender-appropriate sports behavior (Kojvula, 1999). In "The Swan", the stereotype being propagated is that of the "woman as Barbie doll." Politically, this has deleterious consequences for the women's movement that has already made significant inroads where changing public perceptions of women are concerned. It is a throwback to the times were women are rated merely for how they look and not for what the can do. Certainly, it is a potent mechanism for oppression. Even the concept of "pleasing to the eyes" is loaded with ideological baggage. The eyes are a potent symbol of power. To be able to lock eyes with someone is associated with equality. The authority to command a person's gaze is considered power. When one averts his or her glance, then that is deemed acknowledgement of one's inferior status. But when the slave decides to stare into his or her master's eyes, then that is the beginning of his or her struggle towards freedom. Says bell hooks (1999): I know that the slaves had looked. That all attempts to repress our black people's right to gaze had produced in us an overwhelming longing to look, a rebellious desire, an oppositional gaze. By courageously looking, we defiantly declared: "Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality." Even in the worst cases of domination, the ability to manipulate one's gaze in the face of structures of domination that would contain it, opens up the possibility of agency. A slave, therefore, who cannot look at her master but is looked at by her master, or presents her body for his pleasure, has not yet been freed. In a sense, reality TV shows replicate this slavery and this unequal power relationship. What does this assume about the audience This assumes about the audience that they empathize with the lack of self-identity and self-worth of the women who participated in the TV show, and that the issues that they hold resonate with many women. However, the danger is not only that the television show reflects this negative self-perception; but that it actually reinforces it. The adolescent years may be considered the period when one is most insecure about her body - always seeking reassurance, craving approval. Unfortunately, media has not done its part to help young women counter their negative perceptions about themselves and in fact have provided a barrage of images that only succeed in creating unreasonable yardsticks. According to the Media Awareness website: "In 2002, researchers at Flinders University in South Australia studied 400 teenagers regarding how they relate to advertising. They found that girls who watched TV commercials featuring underweight models lost self-confidence and became more dissatisfied with their own bodies. Girls who spent the most time and effort on their appearance suffered the greatest loss in confidence." Another troubling phenomenon is the eroticisation of young girls. For example, the fashion industry, a multi-billion dollar enterprise, has been portraying young girls not yet on the brink of womanhood in sexual ways. Smoky eyes on a child no more than fifteen distort notions of childhood and corrupt innocence - as do suggestive camera angles and the slightly gaping mouth. According to Conrad and Milburn (2001): Popular culture communicates a set of myths about sexuality that are so ubiquitous we hardly even notice them. These myths become so ingrained in people's thinking - in the form of unexamined assumptions about the function of sex, how we should behave sexually, what is "normal" or "abnormal" - that we often respond automatically within the framework of these assumptions. The message that is being communicated is that the relationships between politics, sociology, media and culture are unmistakeably and inextricably intertwined. Politics and sociology articulate messages of power and hegemony and subversion, of the problematique between genders. It reflects age-old cultural practices that define the relations of one gender to each other and how both genders should behave accordingly. Culture dictates that women are supposed to be beautiful and mute, and should define their self-worth according to how they fit into society's definition of beauty. Otherwise, they are considered failures. The beautiful are rewarded and get ahead. The ugly lose out on opportunities. There is no such thing as uniqueness and virtue. What matters only is beautiful skin, a thin frame, long hair and a perfect smile. One must aspire for perfection, and to be ugly is not an option. It cannot be denied that the body contains political meaning. Says Holmlund (1989): An analysis of the way popular film reflects and shapes the categories of body, sex, sexuality and race remains an urgent project for film theory. Despite the incorporation of critiques made by the women's black and gay movements of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s - indeed in some ways because of these critiques - we continue to see and speak about the body as the last bastion of nature. Media, instead of attempting to correct popular culture, is contributing to it by reinforcing the negative messages. It is a complicated cycle of profit and money. Multi-billion dollar cosmetic industries fund the media through advertisements and media campaigns. Thus, media's hands are hamstrung and must pander to the dictates of the big industries. Women must be beautiful so that they can find their Prince Charmings, or so that they will not lead miserable and lonely lives. Hence, they will have to purchase make-up tools and cosmetic products that will make it possible to obtain the high standard of beauty set by Media and culture as demonstrated by celebrities and TV shows. Those who want to propagate an alternative message stand virtually no chance of being heard. Their voices will be lost in the wilderness. At the end of the day, we have to communicate the message that there is no such thing as swans or ugly duckling. Every single female is a swan for she is proud, beautiful, free and happy and she can contribute to the world around her because of her own unique qualities. She can live the life of her own choosing, unrestricted by social mores or the politics of gender. References Conrad, S. & Milburn, M. (2001) Sexual Intelligence. New York: Crown Publishers. Holmlund, C. (1989) "Visible Difference and Flex Appeal: The Body, Sex, Sexuality, and Race in the "Pumping Iron" Films." Cinema Journal, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 38-51. bell hooks. (1999) 'The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators', in Thornham, Feminist Film Theory: a reader, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Koivula, Natalie. (1999) "Gender Stereotyping in Televised Media Sport Coverage." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Volume 41, No. 7-8. Springer, Netherlands. Mulvey, L. (1990) "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", Issues in Feminist Film Criticism. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Murphy, S. (1998) "The Impact of Factual versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 560, The Future of Fact, pp. 165-178 Paik, H., & Comstock, G. (1994). The effects of television violence on antisocial behavior: a meta-analysis. Communication Research, 21, 516-546. Ungerleider, C. (1991) "Media, minorities and misconceptions: The portrayal by and representation of minorities in Canadian New Media," Canadian Ethnic Studies, vol. 23, no. 3,. Read More