Evolution in Depiction of Men /Women/Children in Popular Culture (1 Viewer)

[LanceJ]

I see - they are saying that guys like gadgets, but to *women* this is suppsoed to be something to be looked down upon? Bummer, because the last time I was in my college's engieering wing the number of men was waaaaaay more than the number of women.

speaking of shiny things :b , this is one of my favorite Radio Shack beginner kits Imade as a kid: the "goofy light" (about halfway down). Suprisingly, it was really quite mesmerizing & was really cool at night. Later I made their color organ, a kit for the "advanced builder" (it used a 120V power source).

 

[Yee-Ming]

Considering which sex actually craves those ultra-shiny (or rather, sparkly) baubles known as "diamonds", most ironic...

 

[andrew markworthy]

Actually, the pendulum hasn't swung all that much. What has changed is that instead of laughing at the weak, we laugh at the strong, but in doing that we are recognising that there continues to be a power disparity. To explain:

(i) until we (rightly) got sensitive about mistreatment of minorities (ethnic, level of physical health, gender) it was okay to poke fun at the weak. You have only to look at stand up comedy routines from the 60s and 70s to see the truth in this.

(ii) when comedy's principal source of humour was removed, a new fall guy had to be found, and what better than white middle class males? It was okay to laugh at them because deep down we knew they coudln't be hurt as they were the guys in control.

(iii) and if you don't accept that in spite of surface changes in our attitudes we underneath are pretty much the same as back in the 60s, then I'm afraid that psychological research is against you. For years surveys of attitudes have shown apparent improvements in our egalitarian attitudes. But recent research has shown that if we look at our subconscious reactions (principally time to make egalitarian judgements, etc) the old attitudes are there (basically, we take longer to make egalitarian responses about minorities - it's as if the brain has a gut reaction that has to be reined in and a more politically correct response put in its place, and obviously this takes longer than responding straight from the heart).

Does all this mean we should throw in the towel and be discriminatory? No, of course not, because over the next generation things will even out and we should get away from this silly posturing of only making white males the butt of jokes. I personally think that nobody should be immune from being made fun of, provided it's relatively gentle teasing. If someone is made to feel as if they are special and not to be treated as the rest of the mainstream then in effect they are being told they aren't part of the mainstream.

 

[MichaelBA]

Interesting post, Andrew.

But I would have to say that the stand-up comedy of the 60s and 70s was much more daring and far less politically correct than the last 20-25 years. From Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl, to George Carlin and Richard Pryor, etc. Those were peak decades, I should think. Of recent date, Chris Rock has certainly been challenging and brutally candid in terms of race, but most comedy is milquetoast today.

 

[James Edward]

Andrew,
At the risk of making more of this than I originally intended:

(1) The routines that I have heard(and heard on record at the time) from the 60's and 70's did not poke fun at the weak and defenseless. Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, and even Don Rickles- he insulted everybody. Albeit these are all Americans; perhaps the world scene was different. What I DO find has changed are the 'office jokes' that circulate. They used to be far more racist and sexist than today.

(2) I don't see this either- in fact, most shows that had a predominantly black cast in the 70's were watched by more whites than in the current polarized world of TV. I don't recall 'Good Times', 'Sanford and Son', 'The Cosby Show', 'Julia', etc., etc., as portraying minorities in a poor light. Quite the opposite. There just weren't many of them shown at the time. And the big caveat here is this: I think most males, not just white ones, are portrayed as idiots in current shows and commercials.

(3) You are making a case for real life- I was only pointing out the portrayal on TV and in commercial

The underlying issue about discrimination is one we can't really discuss here, but that was messed up long ago, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to rectify today.

 

[MarkHastings]

I couldn't agree more. The problem though is, I'll NEVER be able to claim unfairness (or even start to say anything about it) because I am a 35 year old white male. No matter what happens to me, since the majority of white males aren't discriminated against (as much as others), no one could ever possibly imagine that it can happen to me.

You guys even did the same thing here. The VW commercial made fun of the guy and you think it's ok, you switch it around to make it sound like it's the guy who's the strong one. That's fine in certain areas, but it's also harmful because anytime we have situation where a guy is being mocked or put down by a female, anyone can always say "well, that's because females don't understand men" or "it's harmless because most of the time, the guy has all the power", etc.

I can do the same thing in reverse, but I guarantee you I'd be criticized because it's not ok to put down minorities.

It's like, most people have that "well, even if it's true, it's not as bad as (insert minority here), so your complaints are moot" idea.

EDIT: Sorry, I was in a foul mood when I wrote the above, so be gentle

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

I think there are two reasons for this:

1) Demographics. If you want to make your product appeal to a young, hip crowd, you will go the PC route and appeal to the "progressive" nature of a strong female model compared to the male. The reason that many shows/commercials do not cater to the older crowd is because the older crowd just doesn't seem to be as persuaded by commercials as the younger crowd. There are still LOTS of shows/commercials that have strong male characters, but whenever families are involved, it seems that a lot show the male as a bumbling idiot. I suspect that much of their target demographic is not married.

2) Everybody wants to be the next Simpsons. The Simpsons is/was very funny and has been very popular, and just like Hollywood loves a remake of a popular film, many shows are basically shooting for a live action Simpsons.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Eh, back in the 1960's you had the Flintstones. Fred was an exagerated caricature of good-humored boyish ineptitude and the wives always knew best. They were always going to "teach those boys a lesson".

If you can force yourself to read the comic strip "Cathy", you'll come away with the idea that all women are shallow, neurotic pinheads who obsess over men, their mothers, shopping, and fitting into outfits. If a man made jokes about women that way he would be critized. But since a woman writes it, it's okay.

I am getting pretty tired of the "Tim Allen" masculine ideal, where men like tools, sports, and are child-like morons with get-rich quick schemes and are enslaved by their sex drives. It's just too easy to make jokes about that stuff. TV writers are lazy.