Learning about the concept of "enlightened sexism" is something that I found extremely interesting. I truly never thought about it in this way before. I have always seen women in television and movies playing roles of great power. It reinforced in my head that women held positions of power like this in everyday life. It truly put me in awe for a little, having to sit back and think about how my subconscious was formed off of this media portrayal of female characters.
As for thinking of films and television in which I find females to be portrayed more accurately, I am struggling. Some of the recent things I have watched include Thirteen Reasons Why, which absolutely comments on rape culture in a way that oppresses women. If there were gender equity, many of the things that happened within the show (and in real life) would not happen. It is interesting, how they gave the perspective of Hannah, the main character, throughout the series. She must live through the male gaze and even assault, but it focuses on her reaction. I think this was a powerful way in order to bring life and help people connect much more with this female character. SPOILER ALERT: One of the things that hurt me the most that was a subtle thing in the series was that when she built the courage to talk to her school counselor about being raped, his first reaction was victim blaming. The counselor's first reaction was to ask whether Hannah had led on the person who she said to have raped her. He continues to question her perspective, which is something that happens to those who are sexually assaulted. This oppression applies to females, because of the statistic that 1 in 4 females will be sexually assaulted in college.
While having female characters in leadership roles in media does give a false representation of our current society, I do believe there are benefits to it. By representing women in this way, it normalizes the idea of having women in power. By doing this, it will hopefully help women attain the levels of power that are displayed in television and film more than it would have without the media portrayal. Further, there are role models for the younger audience by having females in power. I am sure that there have been women in television and film that have inspired women to strive for more. One example I can think of is Leslie Knope in Parks & Rec. She is a female that is extremely strong minded and builds her career through the male dominated field of the government. There are many people that look up to her, even though she is fictional. This helps to strengthen women in their pursuit of success.
I watched 13 Reasons Why after hearing many people talk about the show, both good and bad reviews. I thought the only way to form my own opinion was to watch the show myself. It was one of those addicting shows where you have to know what happens next and yet you feel anxious knowing that the events are going to lead to this young woman's death. I agree that the scene where Hannah reaches out to the school counselor for help was heartbreaking. It's so frustrating to know that if that counselor had responded differently that Hannah would have stayed alive. I think it highlighted how important suicide prevention training is for people who work in schools.
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