TV Shows Supporting Sexism

I really liked this essay because it talks about a huge role of gender stereotypes that most people overlook. Most popular TV shows have a huge, random audience. That means people of all ages, race, religion and gender watch them. These TV shows make a huge impact on our society by constantly giving subtle messages as to gender roles and racial roles. African Americans and Latinos are rarely seen in these shows, showing their insignificance and how they are lower than Caucasians. African Americans are only shown as on welfare or prostitutes in a very negative light. This does not just effect children, but everybody. Its another piece of our society that is reinforcing negative and false attitudes. These TV shows air for years at a time. People watch them weekly. So this sexism and racism that are subtly built in have a long time to create a change in someone.

The women in most TV shows are portrayed as dumb to be funny. Men are not dumb to be funny, they are witty. Many young girls I grew up with honestly believed they had to pretend to be stupid for people to like them or find them funny. Many TV shows reinforce this self-limiting belief. Many women in these shows give off the illusion of strength, but in most episodes, they are talked down to by men or overpowered by them. Many women are shown as scared to speak their full minds or give their opinion, but the women who do are bitches. So you are labeled as a push over or a bitch. It seems that no matter what women do, either choice is made into an extreme and labeled with a negative characteristic.