Is The New TV Season Sexist?

Is "Jiggle TV" making an unfortunate comeback? asks Salon's Nik Leshi. In the old days of television, when Three's Company and Baywatch dominated the airwaves, the spotlight on many female characters was focused simply on their looks. Even shows like Star Trek, which aimed to show the progressive strides of human beings in the future, arguably displayed some sexist depictions by today's standards. Yet, maybe today's standards haven't really changed much at all, as some might say, judging by the new shows coming our way this season.

September is here and new television programming is on our doorstep, ready to come into our living rooms. TheWrap.com joined some other critics who have been pointing fingers recently at the networks for their new shows that seem to emphasize "T & A" instead of showing their female characters in what they profess should be a more positive and well-rounded light.


ABC has a remake of Charlie's Angels, the poster child (no pun intended for the late, great original angel Farrah Fawcett) of 1970s "Jiggle TV." Is the super-model-looking crimefighting trio actually an example of the empowerment of women, or are they merely serving as nothing more than eye candy for a male audience?

ABC also has a show about 1960s airline stewardesses (before they were called flight attendants) titled Pan Am. NBC, likewise, has a drama set in the '60s with ladies in skimpy bunny outfits -- the highly hyped new series The Playboy Club. Are these just retro chic shows aiming to capitalize on nostalgia and the success of AMC's Mad Men, or is the period setting just an excuse to be sexist and misogynistic with a built-in excuse that they're not actually showing women in a poor light?

In their defense, both Pan Am and The Playboy Club seem to have plots that center on other dramatics beyond the bedroom. Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, however, is calling for a boycott of The Playboy Club and some network affiliates across the country are refusing to air it.

Even the first teaser for NBC's remake of the highly acclaimed British series Prime Suspect was mildly gratuitous, showing Mario Bello in her police locker room, strapping on her gun and donning her police uniform. I don't recall a similar closeup butt shot of the original actress Helen Mirren whenever I saw an episode on PBS.

I haven't seen full episodes of any of the shows mentioned above, so it would be unfair of me to take a stand on either side of the debate at this time. Nevertheless, I do hope that the new television season provides some good characters, regardless of gender, and avoids relying too heavily on stereotypes. The human body is a beautiful thing and should be celebrated, but not at the expense of objectifying women for the sake of television ratings.
Read more on this article...

Bunnies And Stewardesses

Here's some good news about the upcoming fall TV season: There will be a marked increase in the number of actresses populating new series! Now, the other news: They appear to have packed pretty light when it comes to wardrobe, states Tim Kenneally in The Wrap...

From the tight uniforms sported by the stewardesses on ABC's "Pan Am" and the Alphabet Network's sexy re-commissioned "Charlie's Angels" crime-fighters, to the fluffy-tailed servers of NBC's "The Playboy Club," the fashion trend of the season appears to be flesh, and plenty of it. Call it the resurgence of Jiggle TV, a titillating genre that briefly blossomed in the 1970s with the original "Charlie's Angels," before giving way with the exit of "Baywatch."


Though none of the series have yet to debut, the trend of new shows featuring female leads in little clothing and subservient positions has already been met with criticism. Gloria Steinem, who gained notoriety by going undercover as a bunny at the Playboy Club in New York in 1960s and writing an exposé about the working conditions, has said that she's hoping for a boycott of NBC's "The Playboy Club," claiming, "It normalizes a passive-dominant idea of gender. So, it normalizes prostitution and male dominance."

Christine Baranski, co-star of "The Good Wife," has similarly chimed in, telling New York Magazine, "I'm rather appalled that they're now making television shows about Playboy bunnies and stewardesses ... I think, 'Really? Haven't we gone past that, well past that?'"

Apparently not. But why now, in particular, does there seem to be a resurgence in flesh-centric TV fare? Certainly, AMC's "Mad Men" seems to have loosened the jar lid with its highly successful exercise in flesh-friendly, misogyny-laced nostalgia. And it might be no coincidence that the upcoming series -- like "Mad Men" -- all have retro elements to them. ("The Playboy Club" and "Pan Am" are both set in the 1960s, while "Charlie's Angels" is a revamp of a 1970s Jiggle TV progenitor.)

Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., the executive director for Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, suggests that, particularly in dour financial times, male viewers -- not to mention the overwhelmingly male decision-makers at the networks -- might be looking to retreat into less complicated, more comforting times.

"In times of economic and social upheaval and difficulty, nostalgia and a longing for an era when life seemed simpler tend to bloom," Lauzen said. That could be especially true in an era when men -- at least the ones not on TV, anyway -- find themselves losing economic and social ground to the fairer sex. "As women continue to gain economic, social and political power, there is always some sort of backlash, a desire to put women 'back in their place,'" Lauzen adds.
Read more on this article...