re to the aforementioned male qualities such as strength, competitiveness, etc, but more to the hope of increasing respect for typical female qualities (i.
e. compassion, patience, etc) of which these characters do not share. “Symbol of desire”The female characters portray the most perfect symbol of desire. This should come as little surprise to any media observer today. People are more receptive and become more involved with characters which display great beauty. In addition, this also serves to attract a portion of the young male audience mentioned above, who soon develop into regular viewers.
Although their esthetics could possibly alienate some of the loyal female viewers, this is more than offset by those who engage in the “fantasy” these characters’ physical characteristics lead young women into. “The price to pay”These women seem to have it all – beauty and strength. What more could someone wish for? But looking behind the facade of youthful attractiveness and physical power, a quite different picture unravels. The Haliwell sisters were raised by their grandmother, their mother died when they were relatively young, their father wasn’t present.
Neither sister is able to stay in a committed relationship. Buffy, raised by a single parent – her mother – also has difficulty finding – and more important – keeping male company. The creators of these shows make a very powerful statement: You can overcome big obstacles in life, such as growing up in a broken family, and still be able to grow and develop into strong women. These two shows also communicate quite powerfully that strong women can be very intimidating to the other sex, resulting in broken hearts and failing relationships. Being young and beautiful – what else is there to desire?In conclusion, these shows serve the purpose the producers had originally entioned when the sitcoms debuted: simple entertainment. Although they do provide a great deal of symbolism to astute viewers who hope to take societal and moral signals out of the production, most of these features are overlooked by the typical audience member.
Although not a conscious awareness, the do provide many both positive and negative postions for young, adolescent females (the main target audience) to confront. The strong feminist position (albeit dated), the notion of developing qualities women are not naturally prone too (ie. great strength), and power through co-operation are promising point of views, one must weight these against the continuing proliferation of stereotypes these sitcoms continue to foster. One could only hope that viewers take away their best qualities, and overlook their shortcomings, and in doing so, prove themselves role models to generations to come. Male dream world – female reality!Be it to safe themselves or to safe others.
It seems that both television shows are making an attempt to resist sex stereotyping of both men and women. The women in these shows are strong and powerful individuals – Paying the price!Violence – usually associated with males – unfortunately is a welcome guest in these two television shows. Violence is a tremendous ratings booster – requires little imagination on behalf of the wirter, and although probably not often considered, does not require translation. (Both shows are exported to countries in Western Europe and the Far East). . The whole idea of having strong women on these shows Where does do whole notion of “warrior” women come from? They are a product of a male dream world (fantasy) / ideology.
3 girls (Charmed) are witches. The word Witch already has a negative connotation attached to it.”Women must learn the male sustem of communication,” – violenceat the end they just seem to be ridiculed – being able to deal with demons and vampires, but not being able to handle “real life” .
