REPRESENTATION OF GENDER IN TV DRAMAS.Anthony Luongo

TONY SOPRANO (JAMES GANDOLFINI)

Tony soprano reinforces the stereotype about males. Stereotypically, males are seen to be dominant and controlling whilst also showing a lack of emotion. All these features can be seen in within the character of Tony Soprano, a mob boss. Firstly, Tony Soprano has a very big figure, maybe not the muscular figure with pulsating abs and large pecs, but possessing a large figure is the generic convention to males in films and TV dramas. One emotion that can be seen with Tony is anger, as seen in the image above Tony Soprano is a very intimidating character when he is angry and this is one of the masculine conventions.

WALTER WHITE (BRYAN CRANSTON)

Walter White is a character which challenges the typical male stereotypes. Although further in the series we see Walter in a new light to the begin, he still challenges the stereotypes set out for men. The way in which Walter White challenges the stereotypes of males is seen within the image on the right, this shows Walter sitting on a chair watching something. As you can see by his face he looks very innocent and therefore this already goes against the stereotype of men being dominant as something that is innocent isn’t seen as being dominant or controlling. The fact that within the series he has cancer which makes him live life in fear and makes him look weak which again goes against the masculine conventions. Eventually he becomes a drug kingpin which leads him to be very dominant which one of the conventions.

KAT SLATER (JESSIE WALLACE)

Kat Slater reinforces the feminine stereotype. As you can see from the image above she is working in a bar, which reinforces one of the stereotypes that women are domestic. Another stereotype about women is that they need protection from their male companion and in some cases in EastEnders were one of the residence of the square may shout at her or abuse her and which in some cases may ask for her husband to stand in and deal with the situation.Another aspect which reinforces female stereotypes is the revealing clothing she is wearing, this can be seen as method to overpower the males as her physical attraction appeals to them and would make them aroused, this is linked to Mulvey’s theory based on the male gaze, this could be seen as a method to achieve gratification from the male viewers.

HANNAH MCKAY (YVONNE STRAHOVSKI)

Hannah McKay challenges the feminine stereotype. Stereotypically women are seen to be weak and vulnerable. Although she is good looking and could be used for gratification for the male audience due to her physicality which mulvey’s theory of the male gaze, she has alternative personality which goes against feminine stereotypes. Within the TV drama Dexter, Hannah McKay is a mass murder killing people across three different states, this shows that she is very powerful and dominant as their have been a number of victims that she has killed, this clearly challenges feminine stereotypes.