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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1981)
s notebook encourages sexist stereotypes By SIOUX ANDERSON OttwEmarakf Like most people in their mid-20s, I spent a large part of my youth watching television I still remember the names of characters, of favorite shows, bits of story lines and even theme songs, even though I haven't owned a television for six years As a feminist, these memories are significant to me Since its inception, television has been the most effective and most readily available medium for socialization and propaganda By its very nature, television viewing is a leisurely occupation that relies on a mindless, unquestioning audience And now I realize that like most chil dren, I accepted television characters as heroes, heroines — and, ultimately, as role models Years later I'm haunted by values that disturb me, and I can't trace their origins Although I attribute most of these to my parenting and scmooling, I'm sure that many of my earlier perceptions were shaped by these mure subtle influences Why, for instance, do I cook for my lover? I know it's not my sole responsibility But if I don't, I'm nagged by guilt And that youre-not-doing your-job feeling hits when com pany arrives and the carpet hasn't been vacuumed Or when we re out with friends and I support my opinion with facts that contradict those of my lover and the table suddenly falls silent Literary magazine now on sale The 1981 edition of the Hon ors College literary magazine Glyphsis back from the printers The magazine is now availa ble in the Honors College on the third floor of Chapman Hall, ac cording to Robert Shepard one of the publication's three edi tors The 44-page edition of Glyphs contains poems, short stories and graphics KINKO’S 4c Self Service COPIES • Binding • Two-sided copies • Reductions 344-7894 764 E. 13th rtailu PmarnlH Whether television has been a primary source of values for my generation, it certainly has played a role in the socialization of women When young, we saw women as stereotyped by the media Protagonists were the epitome of the nurturing, the loving, the whiter-than-white middle class female Likewise, antagonistic female characters often were immoral, profane, unloved and unwed A good example from my past is the television show "Bewitched " We all remember Samantha, the good witch; Darin, the ad vertising career husband, and their children Tabatha and Adam And of course we remember the wicked cousin Sabrina, clearly Samantha's alter-ego "Bewitched" was a portrait of ideal womanhood as it was “understood” then Samantha was the perfect wife, everything a man could hope for. She was blond, slender, very attractive, a good housekeeper (her house always was spotless) and a wonderful and resourceful hostess (Darin forever was telling her at the last moment that an important client was coming to dinner) She was intelligent in her own right but always smart enough to know her place And Samantha was tireless — never too tired to greet her vic torious husband at the door with a martini Of course, Samantha had help After all, she was a witch and not many obstacles came her way that a little nose-twitch ing couldn’t remedy But she was devoted enough to renounce her powers — as Darin requested — until some emergency threatened his job, his reputation and therefore their livelihood Such a sacrifice! But clearly the television sacrifice is no less than that made by real women every day when they renounce their jobs and personhood in the name of responsibility to husband and family. But women painstakingly have uncovered and shared new facts of living We've realized that although that lifestyle may be rewarding, it’s also exhausting and certainly not the only option we have Still, knowing the options and uncovering the flaws in role models aren't enough to stop the guilt triggered by the veil of responsibility we assumed when we were too young to un derstand It’s not enough to reject old values in favor of new ones that seem more promising We have to follow every feeling of guilt or hesitation about a new lifestyle to its roots. Only then can we be certain of our motivations We have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other, to question and analyze the values and the illusions we operate under, to develop a firmer com mitment to our self-worth and to free choice jthe media still sells its stock of ready-made female proto types, and in buying we can get lost in a pattern of guilt. But the pattern can be broken by challenging ourselves and our pasts, by building a lifestyle based on personal rather than prescribed values Working the night shift? Take Vivarin. It s got what it takes to keep you going. The active ingredient that makes Vivarin Stimulant Tablets so effective is the same caffeine you d find in two cups of coffee only now squeezed into one little tablet. It has twice the active ingredient as the other leading brand. So when taken as directed, Vivarin keeps you alert for hours. 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