Independence, Empowerment and Intersectionality: Female Representation in the Post-Network Era
Authors
Holm, Kathrine Bang ; Jeppesen, Emma Dahl
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-06-03
Pages
140
Abstract
This thesis examines how female television characters are portrayed in the post-network era, a period in which expanding demand and new distribution technologies have opened space for more numerous and diverse women on screen. Framed by the question of how portrayals have shifted from the male gaze to postfeminist icons, we conduct a qualitative, text-based analysis of three series led by women with complex narratives: Jane the Virgin (2014–2019), Broad City (2014–2019), and Grace and Frankie (2015–). The analysis integrates classic feminist film theory (e.g., Mulvey and Kaplan) with contemporary feminist television criticism and postfeminism (e.g., Lotz and Gill) to highlight both continuity and rupture with patriarchal and sexualizing conventions. We find that only Jane the Virgin includes instances of women being subjected to a scopophilic male gaze, whereas Grace and Frankie and Broad City either desexualize women or mock the gaze. Across all three, women are depicted as active agents, oriented toward careers, rejecting the housewife stereotype, and exercising sexual independence. Moreover, intersectional concerns are foregrounded: Broad City addresses issues such as race and LGBT+, while Grace and Frankie centers age and aging, indicating post-postfeminist tendencies. We conclude that these representations depart from earlier cinematic portrayals of women and that the structural conditions of the post-network era have enabled this shift, which is likely to continue.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan kvindelige tv-karakterer fremstilles i post-netværksæraen, hvor øget efterspørgsel og nye distributionsformer har skabt plads til flere og mere forskellige kvindestemmer. Med afsæt i spørgsmålet om, hvordan kvinder portrætteres i forhold til udviklingen fra det mandlige blik til postfeministiske ikoner, gennemfører vi en kvalitativ, tekstnær analyse af tre serier med kvindelige hovedfigurer og komplekse narrativer: Jane the Virgin (2014-2019), Broad City (2014-2019) og Grace and Frankie (2015-). Analysen kombinerer klassisk feministisk filmkritik (bl.a. Mulvey og Kaplan) med nyere feministisk tv-kritik og postfeminisme (bl.a. Lotz og Gill) for at belyse både kontinuiteter og brud med patriarkalske og seksualiserende strukturer. Vi finder, at kun Jane the Virgin rummer eksempler på, at kvinder underlægges et scopofilt mandeblik, mens Grace and Frankie og Broad City enten afseksualiserer kvinder eller gør grin med mandeblikket. I alle tre serier fremstilles kvinder som aktive agenter i fortællingen, kendetegnet ved karriereorientering, afstandtagen fra husmorstereotypen samt seksuel selvstændighed. Derudover viser Broad City intersektionelle problemstillinger som race og LGBT+, mens Grace and Frankie adresserer alder og aldring, hvilket peger på post-postfeministiske træk. Specialet konkluderer, at disse repræsentationer markerer et brud med tidligere filmiske kvindebilleder, og at post-netværksæraens strukturer har muliggjort denne udvikling, som sandsynligvis vil fortsætte.
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Keywords