One question that has always intrigued me is 'How did these ideas become thought of as natural, or just the way it is?' It baffles me how people try to argue that certain ideas of masculinity and femininity are "natural" and "inevitable." This idea is touched on in the Gill reading under Marxist ideas. If it were true that these ideas are concrete and developed through nature, then wouldn't it be characteristic of everyone? Wouldn't all males be relatively the same? Wouldn't they all fit all categories of masculinity such as being muscular, insensitive and hairy? This just simply is not the case. There are men that fall everywhere on the "masculinity spectrum" and the same can be said for women.
I particularly liked the analysis on Sabrina the Teenage Witch because it showed many different ways in which the show tried to challenge these notions. It showed that males having a feminine side is just as natural as them being masculine. While there were some flaws to the show in a feminist sense, I think we could use more shows like this one, today. I wasn't an avid watcher of the show as a child, but I have seen a few episodes and I never noticed all the feminist themes. The theme I thought was the most important however, was the femininity of Harvey. While having a strong, intelligent, independent female lead is crucial, I believe having a respected male supporting the woman and showing his femininity is just as important. Not only does it send the message that girls are capable of achieving great things and becoming amazing young women, it also sends the message that they will be respected by men (and women) for doing so. In addition, it also shows boys that it's okay to love a powerful woman, and ask for help sometimes. I never realized how empowering the show truly was, but this article did an awesome job of making that clear.
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