The TV Show I selected is HGTV’s Fixer Upper.
- The show could have many possible and probable intended audiences. The most relevant audiences in terms of age could be from young adults extending to middle-aged adults who are looking for design inspiration on their potential homes. The factors that contribute to my awareness of audience is that, as a member of the audience myself for several years now, I have seen that there are guests from all walks of life, but the most common guests on the show are newlyweds that just bought their first home, but it needs some work on it, or a mature couple that relocated to a new place and needs the house to accommodate their needs better. The hosts are there to explain the potential options that the house could transform into, as well as, manage almost every part of the project.
- There is a relationship between the narrative of the television show and the commercials, as well as the target audience. The women who appear are different from one another and since the guests on the show are clients, who do not need to meet any requirements to participate, all kinds of women are able to appear on the show. This is reflected on the commercials that include a diversity of women, between 30 and 50 years old, that portray an average category in terms of the dominant cultural ideals of beauty; capable of being a wife, mother, and also a general contractor or designer. Joanna Gaines is a Kansas native raised in Texas, wife, and mother of 4, and TV presenter of the show. Since this is a TV channel that involves women and men doing a lot of physical work, the range of weight represented leaned on the healthier, leaner side. As part of the Fixer Upper narrative, the show presents Joanna spending time with her kids, and other times, the kids get to help out in the renovation projects. One can appreciate how she balances her different roles, as well as Chip Gaines, who is the father figure of the family and works directly with the renovations.
- Both, Joanna and Chip Gaines, attended college, and as previously mentioned, the clients are diverse and they seem to be of the working-class background. The women are major characters and they are portrayed sympathetically, genuinely, and authentically, and the show could indirectly be perpetuating stereotypes about class. I have never seen a project on this show that has a renovation project in a “not so nice” neighborhood.
- There is a need-based relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised. This is because some of the commercials that appeared were about detergents, which the women would need after a day of working and sweating on construction, crafts, or renovating the house. Men would have this need too but I do not think they would be as diligent to buying good detergent brands like Gain laundry detergent. I did not see any public representation of “men do the looking and women are there to be looked at”. The only visible influence I saw of feminism’s attempt to influence the representation of women in the media was with a Home Depot commercial, that if paid close attention, there are more multiple women visible, in different scenarios, in a thirty-second ad than men.
2.
Discussion Prompts: American Dad! – 10pm
- Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing? What factors contribute to your awareness of audience? Consider not only gender but also age, race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc.
Intended audience seems to be for 14 years and up, knowledge on history, politics, area near DC, children in school and young adults in college – similar audience to Family Guy
This is apparent to me by the viewer discretion and content warning before the show.
- Is there a relationship between the plot/action/narrative of the television show and the commercials that accompany it? To the target audience(s)? Explain. 1) Do the women who appear differ from one another, and if so, how? What is the relative frequency of women by age? By race/ethnicity? Are women (or anyone else) represented who are differently abled? According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many women portrayed fall into the categories of ‘beautiful,’ ‘average,’ or ‘unattractive’? What range of weight is represented between the women and the men and among the women themselves? 2) In what roles do women appear (or not appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?) What types of jobs do they hold? How much time do they appear to devote to their different roles? What kinds of work do they do? Can you see any difference in the roles assigned to women or to men?
Advertisements relate to young adults and attempting to get them to have healthy habits and quit bad habits.
The women are different in terms of style, but none of them seem to have important jobs.
All ages and races of women are portrayed in this show.
Differently abled people are well represented by both male and female characters.
Most women in the show are portrayed as average to beautiful normally, but most women on the show are portrayed as unattractive, average and beautiful at different times and under different circumstances.
Weight is not often discussed, but there is a healthy range of weight among men and women from anorexic to obese.
Women appear in multiple roles and settings ranging from having their own scenes to having that episode focus mainly on them.
The main two women both play the roles of wives and lovers. The two main women have also had jobs, but mostly stay at home or attend college.
The two main women have both held a range of jobs from CEO to waitress.
The different roles the women play have been expressed in wide ranges. Some episodes focus mainly on the women’s job, others as how they are in their marriages and another as a mother. They all vary.
It seems as if both men and women keep their lives together professionally but do have their wild moments. There is a mixture regarding roles. In the household of the main cast, the husband has a steady job (most of the time) while the wife is a stay at home mom, but the daughter seems to work more than her husband.
- What level of education do the men and women seem to hold? Do you find women represented who appear to be of working-class backgrounds or to be poor? Are they major or minor characters? Are they portrayed sympathetically or used in ways that perpetuate stereotypes about race or class?
All men and women in this show seem to have similar levels of education of knowing a few things, but also not knowing plenty of other things.
Working women represented seem to be working class, are minor characters and are used in ways that perpetuate stereotypes.
- What is the relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised in commercials? Does it vary from program to program, from channel to channel? Is there any evidence of a famous assertion that in public representations of gender, men do the looking and women are there to be looked at? What influence, if any, can you see in the three decades plus of feminism’s attempts to influence the representation of women in the media?
Habits, food, relevant shows, devices and medicine for children seem to be the relationship of women in the show and products being advertised. This does vary from channel to channel.
There is evidence that men do the looking and women get looked at, an entire episode actually.
I see that feminism is being represented in the show a slight amount.
3.
- Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing? What factors contribute to your awareness of audience? Consider not only gender but also age, race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc.
I believe the intended target audience for the TV sitcom Roseanne ranges from young pre-teen children to middle aged adults. The show can reach many audiences especially the working class and those who are average Americans. The show portrays a realistic family and is relatable to those who are a little odd and out of the norm compared to what is portrayed in today’s society as normal and beautiful. Although it is noticeable in the show that it may not be trying to reach those of different races because the majority of characters and all the main characters are white.
- Is there a relationship between the plot/action/narrative of the television show and the commercials (or product placements for streaming services) that accompany it? To the target audience(s)? Explain. 1) Do the women who appear differ from one another, and if so, how? What is the relative frequency of women by age? By race/ethnicity? Are women (or anyone else) represented who are differently abled? According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many women portrayed fall into the categories of ‘beautiful,’ ‘average,’ or ‘unattractive’? What range of weight is represented between the women and the men and among the women themselves? 2) In what roles do women appear (or not appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?) What types of jobs do they hold? How much time to they appear to devote to their different roles? What kinds of work do they do? Can you see any difference in the roles assigned to women or to men?
There was a total of six commercials, two of which were for diapers, one for banking, one for car insurance, one for a cleaning product, and one was a laundry detergent commercial. I think the commercials were appropriate for the audience because more than likely adults would be watching Roseanne than children. “The series is centered on the Conners, an American working-class family struggling to get by on a limited household income. The family consisted of outspoken Roseanne, married to husband Dan, and their three children. Many critics considered the show notable as one of the first sitcoms to realistically portray a blue collar American family with two parents working outside the home, as well as lead characters who were noticeably overweight without their weight being the target of jokes.” (Roseanne ,2020) The commercials were products the most families in general would have or might need including diapers, insurance, banking, cleaning products and laundry detergent. The commercials seemed to based on a very general audience. I watched the first episode of Roseanne that aired in 1988 and there was a very big difference between the people portrayed in the show versus the commercials. The show had many white people and those who were overweight and even strange. Many of the women in the commercials were of varying races but all were thin and beautiful. Based on today’s standards in society. The women in the commercials often varied in age from their twenties to the thirties. The women and girls in the tv show ranged from preteen to middle aged women. The main character Roseanne plays the roles of mother, wife, sister, and factory worker. The women in the commercials were playing roles inside there household as a homemaker, wife, and mother. The men in the commercials we wearing suits and worked in either an office or showing the bank. The main Male character was a construction worker. The males in the commercials played more educated roles than the women. In the tv series the married couple were working equally while the mother played a more active role with the household and children. In this very first episode Roseanne (the mother) goes to work and has to leave work early in order to meet with one of her children’s teachers and buy another a backpack because Dan (the father) has a new construction job he has to do that day. At the end of the episode Roseanne comes home to find Dan had been at a friend’s drinking while she ran all the errands. She asked him to fix the sink because that’s “the mans” job. It shows that even in that time period in the late 80’s women still worked and weren’t just stay at home moms. While the men in the commercials were shown as educated the men in the show were less educated hard laborers.
- What level of education do the men and women seem to hold? Do you find women represented who appear to be of working-class backgrounds or to be poor? Are they major or minor characters? Are they portrayed sympathetically or used in ways that perpetuate stereotypes about race or class?
I could not tell the education levels of the women in the commercial as they seemed to play ordinary motherhood or housewife roles. The family in the TV show were working class. The women Roseanne was a major character of the show. I believe the show gives a very truthful expression of the day to day chaos that women go through as workers, mothers, and wives. All the women in the commercials were nicely dressed and in nice houses regardless of race.
- What is the relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised in commercials (or product placements in streaming services)? Is there any evidence of a famous assertion that in public representations of gender, men do the looking and women are there to be looked at? What influence, if any, can you see in the three decades plus of feminism’s attempts to influence the representation of women in the media?
The commercials that were about cleaning and diaper sells did not include any men in them and the show did not have much relation other than most households have cleaning products and diapers if they have children. The commercials all had very attractive women in nice clothing that would show the assertion that women are there to be looked at. In the laundry detergent commercial the women was shown as being prim and clothes that were free of stains and wrinkles while the male in the commercial had an old shirt that was stretched out and untidy also showing the same assertion of the public representation of women.
4.
Show: Mrs. America
I chose this show because it was a new show that I had never heard of. It also is a show that I usually would not watch, since my usually into action, zombies, and crazy things. I also thought that it would be a good show to allow me to analyze women in media in the 70s. Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing? What factors contribute to your awareness of audience? Consider not only gender but also age, race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc. I would have to say that the intended audience is for women. If I were to put this more in detail I would say women of voting age, mothers, women without kids, women of different races and women in the United States. One of the factors is the title, I would also mention that within minutes of the show starting there are women in bathing suits on a runway. Is there a relationship between the plot/action/narrative of the television show and the commercials (or product placements for streaming services) that accompany it? To the target audience(s)? Explain. 1) Do the women who appear differ from one another, and if so, how? What is the relative frequency of women by age? By race/ethnicity? Are women (or anyone else) represented who are differently abled? According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many women portrayed fall into the categories of ‘beautiful,’ ‘average,’ or ‘unattractive’? What range of weight is represented between the women and the men and among the women themselves? 2) In what roles do women appear (or not appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?) What types of jobs do they hold? How much time to they appear to devote to their different roles? What kinds of work do they do? Can you see any difference in the roles assigned to women or to men? I would have to say that one of the first commercials that I recall seeing was a progressive commercial and Flo and another progressive female were at a table or bar and a guy comes up to them trying to hit on one of them. To me It shows a relationship between the show and commercials being aired, I think the show is about women being more than just a pretty face and more about how they can stand up for what they believe in. Yes, I believe all the women in the show are different in certain ways. In the beginning of the show the main character/actress is in a bathing suit walking down a runway in some sort of political event, shortly after she on a tv show, showing how smart and knowledgeable she is on politics. They are different ages, size, mother, non-mothers, single, married, are from different cultures and of different races. The show also shows that men are dominant, and women are the ones who should be staying home and not to know anything but homemaking things. In this show they all play multiple roles and one of the biggest roles is fighting for their equal rights. They spend a lot of times showing how women were fighting for their political rights. What level of education do the men and women seem to hold? Do you find women represented who appear to be of working-class backgrounds The show seems to show that men hold degrees and lots of knowledge of politics. It also shows that some women are educated in politics to include the main character Phyllis. Even though they may be educated as well; there biggest job is to take care of the children and home. What is the relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised in commercials (or product placements in streaming services)? Is there any evidence of a famous assertion that in public representations of gender, men do the looking and women are there to be looked at? What influence, if any, can you see in the three decades plus of feminism’s attempts to influence the representation of women in the media? I don’t believe that there is an actual relationship in terms of the progressive commercial. I think it may just be a coincidence that the commercial of a man hitting on a woman came during commercial break. I do think that television does make the assertion that men hit on women and women are the homemakers. I think that there has been so much influence due to feminism and representation of women in the media. I believe that this Mrs. America really shows what women attempted to do in order to be more involved in politics and in media. Another example that shows this is women in this show were also writers and their books were popular among other women fighting for equal rights.
