Television representations of gender in popular shows

Popular Culture and Gender Identification

In the United States and throughout the world the popular culture has both reflected and created the identity of the individual and that larger population. One of the most important aspects of a person's identity is their gender. This is a socially constructed label that is applied to someone, most often based upon their physical sex. However, there are many cases wherein a person's gender identification is different than their physical sex which makes them "other" in the community and makes them the easy target of emotional and sometimes physical abuse. Popular culture is an important part of the structure of identity and this can include gender identification. In such television programs as How I Met Your Mother and South Park the ways in which characters illustrate their own gender identification and the value that they have in society based upon the strength of that identification reflect the psychology of the American cultural landscape.

Gender identification is usually classified as male or female, man or woman. According to the article "Barbie Girls vs. Sea Monsters," children and their social group dictate the identity of the individual long before we are cognizant that this is happening (Messner, page 384). In that case, Messner witnessed two groups of children, one of boys and one of girls. The set of boys began listening intently to a group of girls singing and dancing to the traditional female toy, Barbie. When the boys became aware that other boys besides themselves were listening to the girls, the need for maleness took over and the boys began protesting the girls' conduct. Individually, a single boy may have the inclination to play with the girls and interact in behaviors that were suited to the opposing gender. However, when they are in a group of other boys, the need to seem masculine and not other supersedes their need for individuality.

Women in the past were referred to as "the weaker sex." It was believed that because a person was born with the physical attributes of a woman, this somehow demanded that she behave in a certain way. This societal demand confuses sex with gender. A person's sex refers only to the biology of their bodies; whether or not they are born with the genitals which determine if someone is physically male or physically female. Gender is the sociological construct which designates certain attributes to a person based on whether or not they are male or female. Whereas male and female determinations are determiners of sex, genders are based on femininity or masculinity. If someone is biologically female, then society demands that they behave with feminine characteristics such as gentility, a nurturing character, a dislike of violence and sporting activities. Similarly if someone is born male, then society demands that they behave with masculine characteristics, such as aggression, competitiveness, and rugged enterprises. A person who is of one sex but who behaves with the gender of the other is considered abnormal and subject to derision.

Even children are instructed on gender norms and are expected to behave according to the restrictions of that gender distinction. Take for example, the episode of South Park entitled "The List." In the episode, the children of South Park Elementary are in a heightened emotional state because the girls of the 4th grade have published a list which names all the boys in the 4th grade according to their appeal to the female gender. The two boys on the top (Clyde) and bottom (Kyle) of the list respond dramatically to the ways in which they have been categorized by the girls in their class. Clyde becomes more confident and becomes involved romantically with several of the 4th grade girls. Kyle, on the other hand, becomes disillusioned and highly depressed by his ugliness. The boys in the school who have achieved higher placement on the list start behaving in more traditionally masculine ways, such as flirting, wearing more mature clothing, and ridiculing those who are now viewed as weaker than themselves. The boys' appeal or lack thereof to the female gender has become directly linked to their feelings of self-worth and to the value that they have among their peers. The rest of the episode deals with the females and how they formulate the various lists. They have a pink meeting room and are only allowed to speak with language which refers to such gendered adjectives as "sparkles." These girls are stereotypically female, indicated by their meeting room and the fact that they are scheming in order to acquire shoes. It turns out that the list is not an accurate depiction of the boys' attractiveness but has been strategically designed to build up the self-confidence of the boys who can provide goods and services which the girls desire. Thus the females are also stereotypes of the covetous, wicked, deceitful female that goes as far back in literary history as The Bible. Stan is the only male who does not seem effected by the list and his lack of interest is what allows him and his ex-girlfriend Wendy to identify the secret behind the list and the motives of the young girls. The theme of the piece becomes abundantly clear: those young men identify themselves heavily by their appeal to the opposite sex. Those who have less appeal or who do not fit into the gender classification of male have the option of self-destruction or of isolation, such as Kyle. It is a harsh reality which is an unfortunately true statement about the world in which we live. Quite often, self-confidence is linked to the attention that is received from the opposing gender group and when someone is ignored by that group and additionally isolated from their own gender group either because of physical sex or disinterest in stereotypical behaviors, they can feel quite alone.

A similar concept of gender and unification with like gendered people occurs in the television program How I Met Your Mother. One of the main characters on the program is an alpha male who lives his life according to "The Bro Code." This is a system of rules whereby men pledge to put their friendships with other men as their main priority and sexual or emotional relationships with women are always secondary to this system of rules. In the episode entitled "The Goat," the character Barney has had sexual intercourse with the female character Robin who once dated Barney's friend Ted. Part of the "Bro Code" states that a man must never have sexual contact with any female who had once been involved with a male friend. Barney, by violating this rule has not only betrayed his friendship with Ted but has led him to question his fidelity to these established rules. The impression here is that the fidelity to the male friendship is far more important than any relationship a man may have with a female. Barney is not concerned with building a relationship with Robin or with having sex with her again. His only concern is that his actions have jeopardized the male-male relationship with Ted. For this program, the writers, actors, and producers are reflecting the cultural concept that in the United States, it is our friendships with people in our own gender group that matter and emotional or sexual relationships are secondary, if indeed, they rate that high on the scale.