http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/51314Prime-Time TV Sweeps: As Demeaning Images of Women Rise, So Do RatingsBy Sandra Kobrin, Women's eNews. Posted May 2, 2007.
As TV networks head into their big sweeps and hotly compete for ratings and advertisers, Sandra Kobrin gapes at the demeaning and downright scary portrayal of women in our most powerful communication medium.Last week began sweeps month, when networks put on their season finales, bring in special guests and do everything they can do to get more viewers and higher ratings so they can charge more to advertisers.
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But what's worse than the quantity is the quality of women on TV.
Bimbo, Bitch or Ball BusterFor a long time TV has cast women in one of three basic roles: bimbo, bitch or ball buster.
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Just look at NBC's newest hit, "Deal or No Deal," which will air its 100th show during sweeps. There are 25 women on the show, but they're more like wallpaper. They stand posed in the background waiting submissively for host Howie Mandel to point at them so they can open a case, smile or frown. They are identically dressed in short tight cocktail dresses. They march down the steps in unison, stand identically and smile the same plastic smile. Silent. While their names and ethnicities vary, they are undistinguishable in their commodity-like appeal.
But what really scares me is the way women are portrayed in reality TV: in the big-budget and intensely popular shows such as "Trading Spouses," "The Bachelor," "America's Next Top Model" and "Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll."
We have hit a new low, with what Jennifer Pozner, director of Women in Media and News, describes as "the cultural arm of the backlash against women." Of course reality TV doesn't actually have much to do with reality. Writers and producers typically have a "show arc" already written and wait for a "moment" to film what they already expect or want to happen.
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