I found chapter seven dealing with the impact that culture has on women to be the most interesting section of this week’s readings. Wilson makes a critical assertion when she says that culture can be an agent of change and that the media can "present a huge opportunity to stretch the collective imagination, showing women and men in nontraditional roles and changing the perception of what is possible in the real world" (Wilson 119). I think the last part of this statement is particularly relevant when thinking about the acceptance speech that Sally Field TRIED to give during the Emmy Awards on Sunday night. Field was given an award for her role in the TV show "Brothers and Sisters" and she basically said that she was dedicating her award to the mothers of the world. Then she mentioned all the mothers at home who are waiting for their sons to come home from the war, which led her to say "let’s face it, if mothers ruled the world, there would be no god(expletive) wars." Before she could finish her sentence though, Fox censored her speech and the cameras cut to an aerial-looking view of the stage.
I absolutely love that Field put this idea out there on national television. She is a very respectable person in Hollywood and I think it is fantastic that she took advantage of her position in society to deliver a message that many people needed to hear. I hope that she opened the minds of viewers--or at least made people think about the idea of women as leaders--from the portion of her speech that was aired. I am very frustrated though by the fact that Fox censored her message. I think that the way they cut away from Field so quickly is a great example of how our society feels about women being in leadership positions.
Youtube video of Field’s speech: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mPsPVs-OM_k
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2 comments:
Wow, I didn't watch the Emmy's! But, I just watched the link you posted, and that was the worst and most obvious censoring I think I've ever seen. I took away the same message from that chapter, and this was a great example. That just shows how biased that TV station really is in regards to politics.
I didn't watch the Emmy's either, but you both are right, that definitely was quite blatant! Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for my book to come in, so until then I will have to rely on your posts to keep up with the "Closing the Leadership Gap" book (they were sold out at the bookstore.) I would just like to comment however on the subtleties that exist between being a woman leader and being a (insert not very nice word here.) Those subtleties come from the meaning that the public collectively gives to those it's watching. It's so interesting to think about (and we definitely touched on this in class last week a bit) surrounding the portrayal of women in the media and how that really contributed to some of those stereotypes that we were all so taken-aback by. At the same time though, I feel hopeful, because I think that we (as society ) are at an advantage because we can use those subtleties to work towards the change we're wanting to see in our views towards women. Also, I would like to add, that I'm SO incredibly glad to be a part of this class and a part of this group! It's absolutely wonderful to see such strong women fully recognizing their strength and asking really important questions about society, and it's positive and negative influences for us (and also, what kind of impact we can have to better this situation through the use of media.)
Danielle
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