Jezebel 
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New York, 11:37 AM
Fri Nov 27
2 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/29/09
"Equal rights means equal fights."
I sincerely hope that nobody takes this to mean that I condone violence against defenseless women, real or imagined. In fact, I have a big fucking problem with it (and sorry if I already sound like an ignorant douche setting up a giant "but").
BUT, from what I can tell from my absurd amount of television watching experience, the violence I see against women on network TV often has to do with the women on the shows being bad-ass motherfuckers, which I mean in the most fawning, ass-kicking, action hero-y type way.
Yes, there are some shows that seem to exploit the victimization of women for entertainment (SVU par example, or Claire and her ability to be a superhuman punching bag "Heroes"), but more often than not, I see more and more strong women that resemble the awesome ladies that I grew up with. Specifically, the women who could, and would, routinely kick my ass in my martial arts classes, even when I was a 2nd dan black belt.
Finally I get to see these incredibly strong women mixing it up on television! These days, it even extends beyond Joss Whedon shows! (though I must say that I do love me some Buffy, Faith, Echo and Zoe) I mean, women are finally being portrayed as the action heroes I always knew they were, and frankly, I feel as though it would be a disservice to the gender to not show them rolling with the requisite punches just as well - and often better - than their male counterparts.
I see this as cultural progress. I'm truly overjoyed to see that we've moved on from the days of glamorous, aloof, and pristine action-heroines on shows like Charlie's Angels. It seems to me that we've finally embraced the idea that women can be just as rough and tumble as men, and I think this fact is probably buried in the deeper context of the study's data.
The 29% increase in beatings? Women are now portrayed as engaging in fisticuffs. The 18% in credible threats? Women are both steadfast heroes and Machiavellian villains, and both get threatened by their enemies. 11% in shootings? Cop shows have enjoyed a huge boom as of late, and the female officers are shown doing (gross exaggerations of) their jobs.
From my small corner of the infosphere, I see violent, yet inspiring wonders on network TV: Echo nearly killing Agent Ballard in an intense kitchen brawl; Sarah Walker kicking ass and taking names (and blows) on Chuck; Det. Beckett routinely saving Castle's ass in shoot-outs. If I look to cable TV, I see Wendy beating the everliving fuck out of Cartman after he insulted her, then threatened her; Starbuck routinely pulverizing men in boxing matches; Sweet Dee taking the same physical and emotional abuse as the rest of The Gang on "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia".
And you know what? I rejoice. #violenceagainstwomen
10/29/09
I usually refer to CSI as SCI: Sexy Crime Investigation. Almost all the story arcs revolve around heterosexual sex and homicide. Dead naked women everywhere! With flashbacks to the sex crime as it happened! Spin offs! It just gets worse and worse. At least Mad Men frames violence against women in a manner that makes the women sympathetic. CSI (and it's imitators) always show women being punished in some way for being sexual/deviant/false. It promotes violence against women AND rape culture and it's just not cool at all. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
If you read the linked articles, you'll see that the claimed "120 percent" rise is a complete misuse of statistics. Out of about 4,000 total violent acts during a two-month period (a number that has barely changed in five years), about 200 in 2004 were specifically directed against women, versus about 400 this year.
In real terms that's a rise from about 5 percent to about 10 percent of the total acts of violence. (The rest, presumably, were directed at men, children, and people of unknown gender.)
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I personally think there are too many cop shows that focus on depictions of graphic violence, including the "Law & Orders"s and "CSI"s. And the fact that "Dollhouse" is essentially a show about sex slavery pretty much ruins it for me, even if the ultimate goal is the end the practice. (The survey only looked at broadcast TV, not cable, so references to "Mad Men" and "Dexter" don't apply.)
But it would be a mistake to read too much into this study, which just counts up individual acts of violence with no context, and makes a big deal about the fact that one segment of the whole -- violence directed against women -- has gone up from a tiny percentage to a slightly larger but still very small percentage of the whole. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
10/28/09
Many regular cable and network shows are interpreting "pushing the envelope" as a substitute for "quality writing, acting, and directing" as a result. They can't do it with sex, so they're doing it with violence instead. #violenceagainstwomen
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With Dollhouse, the intent is showing the brutality of that world and by comparison, ours. The Dollhouse and what it does to the dolls is meant to be creepy and to show the exploitation for what it is. A lot of people think that kind of scenario would be a harmless fantasy. But they're showing that it's anything but. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
10/29/09
Whenever I get sad, I am going to try and remember that there is a cop out there who thinks this. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
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10/28/09
To be honest, I think the topic will be way better portrayed in well-done* documentaries and commercials that DIRECTLY talk about it, explain why it's wrong, and what we can do to help.
I don't think we can really get people to care/internalize the whole problem through TV series. It can even have the opposite effect of, as you have said, normalizing the whole thing.
My 2 cents.
PS. And by "well-done" I mean something interesting, not overly graphic, that presents facts and data, that gets to the people; i.e. something cool and classy (not something reminiscent of a lame reality show).
10/28/09
Like, if domestic violence is an issue in a show, but it's dealt with in an intelligent way, I don't think I'd see that as bad . . .
I don't know if I'm making any sense. But I can tell you that being on the IMDB boards for "Dexter" are absolutely appalling- people (they can't all be trolls, can they?) saying that Dexter needs to "go a little Paul" on his wife (Paul was her abusive ex-husband), and that she needs to be beaten, abused, or killed because she nags, can be overbearing or even- gasp!- didn't attend to the baby when it was crying and Dexter specifically said "I've got it." and went to take care of him. It's enough to make me insane. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
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I also thought that scene where Jason pretends to be a vampire to scare Dawn was SO creepy. She was genuinely terrified and he went along with it for far too long. #violenceagainstwomen
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I think it's because I can't completely relate to the somewhat sensational aspect in SVU (and certainly not to caring law enforcement), but Joan's face? Far too close to home. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
/bitter bitter bitter. I watch plenty of shows that involve violence, and I wouldn't want to analyze it in terms of raw numbers of incidents of violent acts because a) women are victims of violence, and that can be portrayed thoughtfully... sometimes, and b) if a woman is going to be an action hero ala Sarah Connor or, well, any male action hero like Jack Bauer, it means getting beat up once in a while. And sometimes shows manage to even not bring in some sexual component.
But that being said, I've quit watching shows over the sheer amount of exploitation and outright misogyny in their portrayal of violence against women. I don't know if it's gotten worse, but I will say it definitely doesn't feel like it's gotten better. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
It's possible that some of this is on account of their employing different people with different subjective judgments today and back in 2004. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
I would love to see a similar report issued by a feminist advocacy group. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
Facts clearly refute any such relationship. Violent crime has been in decline for decades which access to violent films, television, and video games is the highest it has ever been.
I support the efforts to encourage writers to be more creative with their efforts to heighten drama and elicit sympathy rather than dipping into the same old well of the battered woman, etc. But the specious reasoning of groups like these undermines genuine efforts to make a positive change in fictional media of all sorts. #violenceagainstwomen
10/28/09
10/28/09
If anything a lot of studies indicate men my age or younger (38) are having a harder time coming home from war than previous generations did, and this i with the benefit of more modern understanding of PTSD and training which is supposed to minimize the impact. #violenceagainstwomen