Helping the media's helpless male
Christina CaldwellIssue date: 11/13/08 Section: Blogs
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I don't think women are superior to men. I don't think men are superior to women. My perfect world is where both sexes are considered equal. Cliché, I know, but things become cliché for a reason.
I preface this blog by saying that because of what the rest of it will in entail - men bashing, then defending. Moving on, then!
Lately, as I stare vacantly into my television at night, I can't help but notice how toxic some of the commercials and shows are. For example, the other night my roommate and I watched "Rock of Love Charm School," "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Celebrity Rehab" back-to-back.
After seeing "Celebrity Rehab," I swore off any amount of alcohol, then I was off to bed. As I handed my roommate the remote, I told her that my brain felt like it was rotten from all of the terrible TV we had been watching. To which she said:
"Yeah. I need to watch something smart. Aren't 'The Simpsons' on or something?"
That statement is sad in and of itself. In the '90s, parents sheltered their children from "The Simpsons" because of its "raunchy" content. Now, "Family Guy" is considered the edgy cartoon and "The Simpsons" are rather harmless.
But a common theme running between these two shows is the central character - a fat, lazy father who loves beer, bring inappropriate and in most circles would be considered stupid.
Homer and Peter aren't the only "stupid" male characters popping up in modern media. It's a disturbing new trend in commercials, film and TV. The dominant female character plays parent to her children, as well as her husband.
He's too helpless to make a sandwich, figure out the washing machine or figure out how to open the childproof bottle while super mom comes around the corner to save the day and gives her husband a look that says "Oh honey, I'll do it. Go play!"
Sure, it plays to the female ego and affirms the long-held belief by women that the female is really the head of the household. Women often like the responsibility, but some don't. The woman feels as if she has to be an all-around "have it all" kind of woman and a man feels like he has to be just the opposite.
But my question is, is this how female advertising executives see their own husbands or is this how they think the general female public think of their male spouses?
Media professors will tell you that culture impacts media as much as media impacts culture, so it's hard to tell where the stupid male stereotype came from. Either way it's just as detrimental to both sexes. It's just as sexist too.
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