Sexism, racism, and power hierarchies in television shows

From our readings, Bell Hooks in particular invites us to be critical of the media, and to pay attention to the messages that they provide. So in this post, I will drift away from advertising, and analyze some television shows that display sexism, racism and power hierachies. 

Let's be honest; Television shows like CBS' How I Met Your Mother are funny, whitty and make you come back week after week. For the few people who are unaware, How I Met Your Mother follows the story of Ted Mosby, and the process that took him to find his wife, narrating the story to his two children. While the chemistry between characters in the show is great, sexism and power hierarchies are blatenly present.  

Neil Patrick Harris' character of Barney Stinson is the second most talked about character in the show. He plays a white, self-centered, wealthy, man whose character is based on the objectification and manipulation of women for sex. He  is a perfect example of what people call a "womanizer."

The women that Barney sleeps with enbody the beauty myth that they are only meant to be looked at. They are  portrayed as gullable, easily manipulated sluts who are more than happy to have sex with a man dressed in a suit, who has cheesy pickup lines and stupid magic tricks. 

"Culture stereotypes womes to fit the myth by flattening the femine into beauty-without-intelligence or intelligence-without-beauty; women are allowed a mind or a body but not both." (Wolf, Culture Pg. 59)

Barney's objectification of women is solely based on her looks. Most of the time, he interacts with women who are thin, young, beautiful and hypersexualized, and who only get to say one or two sentences. 

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It is not only important to point out the way that women are portrayed in the show, but also the effect that the character of Barney Stinson has on men. 

"Before the realities of men can be transformed, the monitator model has to be eliminated as the underlying ideology on which we base our culture." (Bell Hooks, Feminist Manhood and Pop Culture: Media Masculinity, pg 116)

The young male audience (in their teens to twenties), are getting the message that it is ok to behave the way Barney does. Even though Barney is an exaggerated portrayal of the womanizer, they are still being influenced to behave in such way. He has it all; he is young, handsome, and wealthy, and is able to get women even though he has no respect for them, so why not act like him?

"The consequences of this misframing are especially important for young men searching for ways to be men-grown up, adult and reliable, in and increasingly complex and equal world. they are clueless because of the increasing power of media images in constructing their ideas of what it means to be a man." (Kimmel, Misframing Men.)

"One of 2 Broke Girls regular characters is Han, the owner of the diner where the titular girls work. Han is a diminutive, thickly accented Asian man who is regularly made fun of for his lack of sex appeal, broken English, and general uncoolness." ( Willa Paskin, Volture.com)

2 Broke Girls is the story of two Brooklyn girls trying to make it in NYC. Although I've only seen one or two episodes, it is clear that racism in blatenly presented in the show. Han is the girls' Korean boss with whom they interact with everyday. He is  short, cheap and overworked with an extremely strong accent. While the girls continue to evolve in character, Han remains the same.