Women in TV: an uneven balance

I’ve got to admit that this was mostly brought to my attention after the watching the almost unbelievably passive Bella in the Twilight “saga” and reading some insightful words from the brilliant Maureen Ryan (TV critic for the Chicago Tribune, who’s quite vocal on this subject). And although I just mentioned Twilight, I’d be happier just to focus on TV whilst remaining well aware the issue is more widespread than that.

So, you must forgive me while I mostly ignore sitcoms (where virtually every character is defined by the relationships they keep), and look at drama on TV. Even my favourite show, Lost, essentially boiled down to the conflicts between a bunch of men, leaving the women relegated to the sidelines (as much as I want myself to believe there’s more to her - Kate did essentially just create a love triangle and raise someone else’s baby). I’m really not a count-by-numbers feminist (I mean... I haven’t got some sort of tally of how many female characters there are or how many lines they have), however it’s hard for me to ignore the fact that the lead roles on TV are still mostly filled by men.

Furthermore, many of the characters that women play tend to be non-threatening and boring. If you’ve got an attractive female there’s a high chance she’ll be either ditsy or a tough-girl. If they’re less conventionally attractive, then that’s usually either made obvious (think Ugly Betty) or she’ll be nerdy or quirky. It’s a type of sexism that’s rather less overt than it was before the sexual revolution - however it’s still understated discrimination and it comes across as patronising. While I’m a big fan of these shows, the lead female characters in Chuck, Doctor Who, Californication and Burn Notice (to name just a few) are frequently little more than love-interests and are largely treated as sex objects. At the top of this all, it’s clear that TV executives see their female characters as dispensable: US network CBS are dealing with budget cuts by effectively cutting the entire female cast of Criminal Minds - I don’t know about you but that certainly doesn’t make me think they see them as important! Talking of Criminal Minds - have you ever noticed how often the murder victims in police shows like itself and CSI happen to beautiful mutilated women?

Television is a largely male-dominated business behind the scenes. Women only make up 25% of "all creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors and directors of photography working on situation comedies, drama and reality programs” (according to the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University). I’m not going to sit here and blame the fact that the majority of people in any given writers’ room are men for the lack of interesting female characters in TV, but I’d be blind to think that it’s not got something to do with the problem.

Needless to say, this has got to change. Of course, I’m perfectly aware that this doesn’t apply to every single show on TV (I’ve just finished watching through the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica which has a really well-balanced spread in its cast). However, for as long as over half the population are represented by characters who are left as stereotypes or sex objects, we can’t expect to see TV tap into the potential for stories left untold and perspectives left unseen. For the sake of storytelling and equality - it’s time to level the balance.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.