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
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