The Jerky Guy

This week's episode of 9021o featured Naomi and her new love interest, Liam. They both were on a spring break trip with Habitat for Humanity. Liam was forced to go, and Naomi went because she wanted to spend time with him. Liam is always a jerk to everyone that he meets. He treats Naomi meanly on a regular basis. He ignores her and acts like he is mad at her frequently. However, when the mood strike him, he sweeps her off her feet and makes out with her. He is totally bipolar towards her, yet she is still completely infatuated with him. She thinks he is extremely attractive, and she finds his bad boy vibe appealing. The more that he ignores her, and the worse that he treats her, the more she is drawn to him. Her ex-boyfriend tells her that he thinks Liam is a jerk, and she agrees, but then says he's hot and she wonders if he likes her. The episode demonstrates the classic girl falls for boy who doesn't treat her right scenario. The media portrays these jerky men as incredibly desirable, and they almost try and justify their mistreatment of other people as sexy and mysterious. This is a dangerous message for young girls. It tells them that it's okay for guys to treat them badly because it's all just part of their bad boy charm.

Fight, Fight, Fight!!

In this week's episode of 90210, the longtime feud between Naomi and another girl on the show is finally resolved. They had been having a long and bloody "war" over Nathan. Naomi had been dating Nathan for a long time. However, they broke up. Then the other girl moved here from Kansas. She originally was friends with Naomi. Naomi reached out to her when she first moved there and asked her not to pursue Nathan. This request was disregarded because the other girl thought she and Nathan were soulmates. Therefore, she was willing to throw her friendship with Naomi away in order to pursue a relationship with Nathan. Their feud continued for the long duration of their relationship. However, in this episode, she and Nathan break up. She apologizes to Naomi and says that she is very sorry for what she did, and that she knows she acted like a jerk. Of course, the two girls are willing to makeup and let bygones be bygones. Girls fighting over boys is not a new idea put forth by the media. It is a common stereotype of feminism. They are often portrayed as catty, and likely to fight over trivial matters, and forfeit their friendships for guys.

ANTM!!

Catfight!! This week's episode of America's Next Top Model opened with a serious girl fight. Every season catiness breaks out among the competitors of the show. This of course fits with society's usual stereotypes of girls never being able to get along with each other. After only a few episodes, the house has already split between "us" and "them." Celia called out Tahlia at the last elimination for wavering in her dedication to the competition. Tahlia and her group of friends in the house were of course outraged at this "backstabbing" move. Yet again, television portrays girls as two-faced. Of course, this disagreement ends up erupting into a yelling match in which Amita makes a total fool of herself. She tells Natalie that she is making herself look stupid. But, the irony is that Amita, who keeps yelling "you stupid, stupid, stupid" makes herself look incredibly idiotic. Whereas, Natalie portrays herself as being much more mature. Sarcasm, double-handed comments, head weaving and finger shaking filled the room. The show portrays what seems to be a very true stereotype involving girls and what it means to be feminine. The episode displays the catty, back-stabbing nature of girls.

America's Next Top Model

America's Next Top Model (ANTM) continues to follow the traditional beauty standards for feminine perfection. However, they also step outside the box of traditional beauty. In all the past seasons, they have had a height requirement of 5' 7", this goes along with the fashion industry standard that tall is the ideal and beautiful. ANTM also goes along with society's traditional standard, that to be physically perfect you must be a 00 and waifishly thin. Many people criticize this standard and complain that it leads to unrealistic goals and self-esteem issues among young girls. But, the media and models should not be blamed for girls' self-esteem issues. The girls should merely see these models as a motivator for them to achieve their best bodies. ANTM also includes one or two plus size models, which steps outside the traditional views of what a model should look like. While, ANTM embraces the traditional ideal body type, they also venture outside the traditional ideal of beauty when it comes to the visage. Many of the girls that they choose have unusual, if not downright weird looking, faces. Most of them do not fit the classic blonde girl next door standard of beauty. ANTM represents society's views of beauty and femininity very well. It shows that society is starting to embrace a more diverse definition of of beauty. They have girls on the show of all ethnicities, shapes, and facial structures. Society is becoming much more accepting of differing standards of feminine beauty.

Groovy Baby!

Society has determined that the ideal man should be attractive, confident, athletic, and powerful. Austin Powers does not quite fit most of these categories. We can safely say he has confidence under control. After all, he uses his confident mojo to win over the ladies. However, he in no way fits the ideal of masculinity when it comes to physical appearance. He is a short man with a beer gut and bad teeth. He also has a carpet of hair laying on his chest and back. Yet, somehow Mr. Powers seems to be completely confident about his ability to attract women. The film shows that everyone should, and can be confident, even if they don't fit society's standards. This also demonstrates that even though society puts so much pressure on looking good as a means to happiness, confidence is really the secret ingredient. Society may tell Powers that he is unattractive, but he still thinks he is incredibly sexy. Masculine and feminine ideals are extremely lofty. But, Mr. Powers demonstrates that society can not tell you what are the perfect feminine or masculine traits. You can decide that for yourself.

Pink is Awesome!!

Legally Blonde challenges society's stereotypes. Society portrays blondes as being ditzy and vapid. At first, Elle Woods comes off as a rich, sorority sister, who cares about nothing but shopping and parties. However, it is soon proven that she is an intelligent and hardworking woman when she gets accepted to Harvard Law. She quickly rises to the top of her class despite her obsession with pink. Society expects intellectuals to be like the preppy, uptight Vivian. But, Elle shows that bubbly, stylish girls can also be very smart. Of course, going along with stereotypes, the reason she decided to attend Harvard was to win back her boyfriend Warner. He had broken up with her when she thought he was going to propose. He said she wasn't serious enough for him. So, she proved that despite her sunshiney demeanor, she could be an intelligent law student. The film also plays up the power of beauty. Elle uses how attractive she is to help gain entrance to law school (her admissions video featured her in a bikini). However, she exceeds in school because of her brain, which just happens to be accented by beauty and style.

"You're On My Heart Just Like a Tattoo!"

There were some serious role reversals on this week's episode of 90210. Silver and Dixon have been dating for a long time now. Dixon finally works up the courage to tell her he loves her. Silver doesn't respond. She is very cynical and opposed to love, along with pretty much all societal expectations. Dixon ends up breaking up with her because of this. One would generally expect the girl to drop the L-bomb and the guy to be the commitment-phobe. However, these roles are reversed in the show. Later on, the episode returns to more typical gender roles. When Silver thinks Dixon is dating someone new, she flips out. She finally tells him she loves him because she realizes she will lose him otherwise. Silver immediately turns into a sappy, cheesy, ridiculously emotional individual. She used to ridicule individuals who were in love. She also deemed Valentine's Day a ridiculous commercial ploy to make money. Now she is obsessed with creating a perfect Valentine's Day. She even gets Dixon's name tattoed on her hip. She tells him that she wanted something that could be a sign of the permanence of their love. Dixon's face was very expressive following this exchange. He was visibly freaked out and surprised. Now, Silver is the stereotypical girl who is big on committment and having a serious relationship. Dixon on the otherhand is concerned about how serious Silver is getting. He is obviously concerned about just how permanent she expects their relationship to be. This is more fitting with the fear of commitment, which is part of the male stereotype. This episode is a very extreme version of the committment scenario, especially since they are both still in high school. But, it still demonstrates societal stereotypes very well.