Is The Feminine Archetypes In Elizabeth Meriwether's New Girl

632 Words2 Pages

The show New Girl developed by Elizabeth Meriwether, is a cultural artifact focused on the different archetypes of what it means to be feminine today. New Girl, Jess, is a very feminine stereotypical ‘girly girl’ who moves in with three single men, all of which have different feminine traits. None of the male characters; Nick, Winston, and (my personal favorite) Schmidt, are your stereotypical strong masculine characters, though they all seem to wish they were. Through the lense of a quirky sitcom, focused around circumstantial comedy, we can see what producers of the show say is “not meant to be emblematic of all women. Instead, a realistic, emotionally driven character”, who in their words is simply “Adorkable”. The show’s original title, “Dicks and Chicks” pretty much sums up what 20th …show more content…

Zooey wanted to show that even women who want glitter, ribbons, and cute animal backgrounds for their phones can still be great feminists. It begs the question, why in a world that wants women to be who they are and do what they want, do we find the need to shame women who are comfortable being more feminine than most? New Girl gives us a view into the life a very loveable character, Jess, who just wants the world to be a brighter and nicer place. Through the short 23 minute episodes, we see her struggle to fight a Chinese restaurant wasting paper, teach kids how to play “Eye of the Tiger” on jingle bells, and finally decide if Nick is the one she wants to be with --in my opinion, she can do better. While there may be better ways to view femininity than just the two main categories, I think the juxtaposition is justified in the fact that Zooey wanted to show the distinction between her character and the rift her personality creates with other women. This rift, being caused by the judgement of others, is the reason I think New Girl is a Cultural

Show More
Related

  • The Role Of Women In The Book 'Trying Neaira'

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women were not always treated the same way they are treated today. Decades ago life was completely different for women. Women did not have any rights to vote, to drive, and most importantly to be independent. In the book, “Trying Neaira”, a greek woman named Neaira who was a courtesan was on trial because it was alleged that she illegally married an Athenian citizen and misrepresented her daughter as an Athenian citizen. During the trial, there were back and forth debates in whether she was guilty or not. Neaira is not guilty due to the fact that she was a victim for revenge, and there were lack of evidence with no proof. Neaira was a collateral damage for the ongoing feud.

    Read More

  • Social Issues In The Show 'That 70's Show'

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, this show focuses on many aspects, particularly gender roles and sexism. Although this show could have more diverse characters, it focuses on male and female stereotypes very well. I appreciate that there are several strong female characters who aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves and perform typically masculine

    Read More

  • The Influence of Gender in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is essentially a set of instructions given by an adult, who is assumed to be the mother of the girl, who is laying out the rules of womanhood, in Caribbean society, as expected by the daughter’s gender. These instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The reader may see these instructions as demanding, but these are a mother’s attempt, out of care for the daughter, to help the daughter to grow up properly. The daughter does not appear to have yet reached adolescence, however, her mother believes that her current behavior will lead her to a life of promiscuity. The mother postulates that her daughter can be saved from a life of promiscuity and ruin by having domestic knowledge that would, in turn also, empower her as a productive member in their community and the head of her future household. This is because the mother assumes that a woman’s reputation and respectability predisposes the quality of a woman’s life in the community.

    Read More

  • Gender Expectations In The House On Mango Street By William Shakespeare

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novels, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, and the play, The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare, all had protagonists who were affected by gender expectations in their novel or play. Dante lacks the gender expectation of being physically strong in your society, while Ari does not, which proves to be a benefit for Ari, showing the men in his society that he is capable of becoming one. Esperanza is given the expectation of becoming a housewife in her society, as this is the only job a woman has. For Katherine, by the end of her play she has been tamed by Petruchio, her husband, and has become kind and obedient.

    Read More

  • children stereotypes on tv

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, there were also other gender stereotypes in the show as well. The girl, Dlionay was often shown as the kind of “damsel in distress.” A few times a boy was sent to rescue her. For example, one of her friends was stuck out in the water and instead of getting him herself, she plead to the other boy to please save him. This shows the stereotype that men are stronger and braver than women...

    Read More

  • The Ugly Truth: An Examination of Stereotypes in Media

    1938 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl, are two very famous stars who represent America’s acting industry as two of the most highly regarded feminine and masculine actors. Both are thought to represent femininity and masculinity and very. It comes as no surprise that these two characters were chosen to play the parts of Abby and Michael within The Ugly Truth. The Ugly Truth displays a lot of stereotypes of men and women or what is expected to be masculine and feminine. According to Gendered Live: Communication, Gender, and Culture by Julia Wood, “A stereotype is a generalization about an entire class of phenomena based on some knowledge of some members of the class” (Wood, 2011, 122). Stereotypes can cause a lot of problems in society if individuals don’t fit the particular mold or idea of what it means to be feminine or masculine. Within The Ugly Truth, the first stereotype which arises is that women in powerful roles cannot have a relationship (Luketic, 2009). As an example, this particular stereotype causes a large amount of trouble for Abby when she takes to...

    Read More

  • Title IX

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ew ideal woman, the public has changed its expectations of a woman to coincide with the ideal. It is relatively uncommon to see a woman on a television show that does not work, and oftentimes they work at high positions such as doctors or lawyers. If she is married, she often has more say in the relationship than the man, a complete switch of earlier roles. These new ideals have mostly improved the public's view of women and improved women's view of themselves.

    Read More

  • Queen Elizabeth I's Influence on Shakespeare's Female Roles

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the “Iron Queen”, was a remarkable woman of her time, she ruled with great power and longevity. She was one of the greatest feminist of time. Coming to the throne in 1558, she took the place of her father, Henry VIII. She was given one of the most difficult jobs fit for a man or King, ruling England. At the time women were second class citizens, they could not vote nor own properties and such. Surprising England with her intelligence and fierce rulings, she changed herself to make better decisions. She proved through her rulings, to everyone that females were strong and could rule just as well as a king. She refused to marry, giving a feeling of “I don’t need a man for anything.” The Queen was responsible for giving females a voice in literature and it is shown through Shakespeare’s writings.

    Read More

  • Baby Daddy Social Construction

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term social construction means the reality of the way people make sense of life is by the meaning of their experiences and from this, we can better understand the show Baby Daddy through its social construction of gender by breaking down experiences of the characters. The television series Baby Daddy is a show based on an unexpected father, Ben Wheeler, having to raise his daughter, Emma, with his roommates, Tucker Dobbs and Danny Wheeler, with the help of his mother Bonnie and friend Riley Perrin. This show exhibits several portrayals of sexuality, race, and ethnicity and how they relate to the social norms of our society, but the major social context of this series can be related to gender. Drinking and occupation are the key concepts

    Read More

  • Masculinity And Femininity Essay

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    The things that make a man “manly” have changed greatly in the past couple of decades. The show Two and a Half Men represents this perfectly by showing the alternative portrayals of modern masculinity. They performances of hegemonic sub ordinance masculinity on Two and a Half Men reconstruct and reinforce the dominance of hegemonic masculinity within our society as the only acceptable performance of manhood. It has been said that for men the breadwinner ethic is the only acceptable state for an adult male do be in, and failure of this makes you not “fully male”. This statement is inferring that if you are a stay at home father or not the one with the highest paycheck you have ultimately failed at being a male, which is completely unacceptable. To continue, feminized masculinity is known as a “soft man”, and shows traits that are not usually tied to masculinity such as housework and emotional literacy. When males show traits such as these they are typically assimilated to a gay identity. Most heterosexual males do not want to be seen as a feminine, gay identity so they stay clear of anything that would infer that, further implementing these ideals of masculine traits and roles. This is shown in Two and a Half Men when Alan has more “feminine” traits like showing emotion by mourning his divorce, and doing the housework. Alan’s representation of

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Images of Women in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    Unrealistic Images of Women in Jane Eyre Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is the story of an orphan named Jane. It describes the life of a young girl. The book begins in Gateshead Hall, where Jane lived with her aunt and her cousins. She is very much the unwanted child — a burden to the entire Reed family. In fact, she is mistreated and abused in that house.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Womanhood In The Girl's Short Story 'Girl'

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this short story, “Girl”, the mother is the anatomist. The story took place in post-colonial. This short story is about womanhood. She is telling her daughter about womanhood with this long list. It has a lot to do with cooking, and cleaning and sewing and also how to set up a table. The mother feel as if her daughter could be perfect if she could just do all of these things. However there are two characters in this short story, one is the mother or she could even be the voice of society of what their role should be in their culture, and the other one is the daughter who is extremely overwhelmed in this story. The mother is very controlling and bossy. I think the style of this story is one big long text that. It just has its own flow. Also the style of the story can

    Read More

  • Femininity In A Rose For Emily And Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1531 Words  | 4 Pages

    Eve Sedgwick writes in her seminal work The Coherence of Gothic Conventions, that in Gothic literature, character doubles are often representative of a self that is “massively blocked off from something to which it ought normally to have access” (13). In both Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and Bronte’s Jane Eyre monsters exist in the form of an other, separate, but still tied to that character. In A Rose for Emily, Emily Grierson acts as her own double; appearing as a “poor” unmarried woman to her inquisitive, judgmental town, while in reality being someone quite nefarious. In Jane Eyre, Bronte portrays two characters; Jane who increasingly adopts and upholds the notions of proper femininity as an upper

    Read More

  • Cultural Stereotypes In The Family

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    Their wives often brush off their husband’s absurd behavior, because “boys will be boys”. The producers probably chose to show men in this light to poke humor at the stereotype of men being incapable of living without their wives. These gender roles are exaggerated and placed in the show deliberately for added humor. The target audience in this show is men who play fantasy football, which is the cause for many of the character decisions in the sitcom. For example, every woman casted for a role in the show is sexualized, especially in a scene where Jenny and Sophia are discussing, as well as touching, each other’s breasts. Jenny is casted as a woman who can hang out with the guys and act fairly masculine, all while being attractive. Jenny is supposed to be every man’s dream wife. The producers clearly implemented these women to appeal to men with sexuality. This show also pokes fun at Ruxin not wearing the pants in his relationship, this basically is implying that men should be superior to their

    Read More

  • Girlhood Essay

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    I agree that the definition of girlhood has changed and adapted due to social, economic and political influences. The new research into girlhood and a new outlook of generation of women have made girlhood a more positive and supportive experience. Growing up is no longer about being pushed into an unwanted role to be a good housewife or mother or etc. Girlhood and gender identity have been redefined in social, economic and political aspects. Feminism is on the rise and equality is on the way. Women are now free to be whoever they want to be in society, as they are no longer forced to fit into a ‘normal’ stereotype. Besides, normal is just a setting on a washing

    Read More

More about Is The Feminine Archetypes In Elizabeth Meriwether's New Girl

Open Document