Hate the Zooey Haters.

I don't think I knew that people hated on Zooey Deschanel so much until I completed our readings for the day. WHO HATES ZOOEY DESCHANEL?! I fell in love with this adorable little weirdo during her brief stint in Almost Famous, and perhaps that's where she started her journey into being as "indie" as she is oftentimes labeled. I just don't understand why people have such an issue with the fact that she IS indie, "adorkable," and seemingly innocent. I mean, to be totally honest, while she does fall into particular roles because she clearly fits the mold, from the few episodes of New Girl that I've seen, I think that she and Summer of 500 Days of Summer are practically polar opposites.

I remember watching the first episode of New Girl and thinking, "Wow. This should be interesting. Watching Zooey Deschanel in a role where she doesn't seem supremely confident." And that's one of the reasons that I kind of enjoy the show. In 500 Days of Summer, that seems to be Summer's problem -- she's so confident, but just doesn't necessarily buy into the idea of true love and thus ends of leaving poor Joseph Gordon Levitt heartbroken. It's interesting to see her flip the coin: Jess is quirky and childish, sure, but Deschanel pulls that off well too! I don't really buy into the idea that the show is "anti-feminist" to be totally honest and part of that might stem from the fact that I'm such a strong supporter of her as an actress in general, but what all of these articles seemed to hit on was that Jess seems to be "weak." She's not weak though, she's just girly, and it's refreshing to see a character like Jess on TV again. So what if she gets guidance from her three guy roommates? She's admittedly fallen flat on her face after having found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her (which seems pretty reasonable to me) and is simply picked up by her new friends. It seems pretty standard; no stereotypes seem to be reinforced in my opinion and Deschanel doesn't seem to play into some "damsel in distress" character. She can stand up for herself, just as Summer does, and when she needs to get down to business, she can be a bitch.

(I'm also just realizing that Zooey is in my two favorite movies after writing this post...hate the haters.)

Why Do I Enjoy New Girl?

I agree with literally everything that Sonia Saraiya says in "Is 'New Girl' Secretly Feminist?". I don't like the fact that I like New Girl because the main character Jess drives me up the wall. For example, not being able to say the word penis, or in the most recent episode, saying that she is "twirly" instead of being horny. However, I find myself enjoying the show for how she interacts with the guys in her apartment and how they interact with her. I also find myself disagreeing with the first article. As we discussed earlier there is a "knowingness" that they portray with Schmidt. Although he is sexist, he is sexist in an embarrassing way so we laugh at him and the audience knows it's not right. There are also a few moments in the show where you see a nicer side of Schmidt that you can connect with. So you are connecting with the positive and mocking the negative side of the character. I believe the show is feminist because there is a give and take relationship. Jess is too infantile and the guys are teaching her not to be. However, Jess is not always the one being pushed around. In the Christmas episode she convinces to the guys to go knock on doors at 2 in the morning to ask people to turn on Christmas lights. Jess may be obnoxious but she is also a strong character. I may not like the fact that I like the show, but people should not be angry because the show isn't feminist.

New to New Girl

Before completing the reading on Zooey Deschanel and New Girl, I had watched half of one episode, so I really had no opinions either way on the show. After reading the articles, I gathered some conflicting view points, and I wasn't sure which side I should agree with. So, I decided to watch an episode on Hulu to gain further insight. I chose the episode "Naked" mentioned in one of the articles, and I thought it was hilarious. I thought there were several great characters that each brought something different to the show. However, I could still find bits and pieces of both arguments that were made. From the first article, they made a point that the show relied on themes of "Big Boys teaching the Little Girl how to be a "woman."" In the article "Is New Girl Secretly Feminist?", they talk about how Jess is heavily infantilized. I thought these were interesting points that tie back into the impossible beauty standards placed upon women. Women are supposed to be youthful and innocent, and the fact that Jess can't say the word 'penis' really highlights that. Also, in the interview with Liz Meriwether, she mentions that Fox totally supported having the unique, odd, quirky, etc. girl as the lead to the show, but how odd is she really? As mentioned in "Is New Girl Secretly Feminist?", weird or not, she's still a "hipster goddess." In the first article, they point out that she is "clearly attractive by Hollywood standards." Perhaps this is why Fox supports Jess' character so much?

On the other hand, I felt that Jess was a very independent girl who gave just as much back to the boys as they gave her. While the guys were trying to help her with her awkward run in with Nick, she was trying to help Nick with his situation as well. Maybe it's from my limited knowledge about the show, but it seems like Jess definitely does her own thing, and she I'm not sure she should be so heavily criticized for being cute. I feel that Meriwether makes a valid point when she states, "That people equate being girlie with being nonthreatening... I mean, I can't think of a more blatant example of playing into exactly the thing we're trying to fight against." To me Jess seems confident and comfortable in her own skin, and what's wrong with that?

Tonight, I remain undecided, but hopefully tomorrow after watching some more clips and having a discussion I will be able to form a better opinion of which side I'm on.

I'm Not Pickin' Up What Zooey Deschanel is Puttin' Down

Zooey Deschanel annoys me. Obviously, I've never met her, but the (almost identical) roles she chooses and the characters she portrays are obnoxiously over-the-top. Like Sonya Saraiya notes in her blog post, I understand the business side of this - that Zooey is trying to create a brand for herself and is continuing to "work it" because it, well, works.

However, her character in "New Girl" is too much for me. Mary Elizabeth Williams says in her blog post that Zooey "plays an exaggerated version" of herself. She tries so hard to be super cute, super bubbly, super feminine, and most annoyingly, she acts like she's a pure and innocent little girl. Essentially, to me it is very obvious that she is trying way too hard. She's dying to be adored by everybody, but it comes off to me as fake.

I can just hear all of her inner thoughts: "Love me, love me!!! Please?!?! But look how cute I am!!!"

Another thing that annoys me: she brands herself as the quirky, hipster, cute girl, but then in interviews she says that she doesn't like being called "quirky." Make up your mind! Own it!

Anyway, I really don't think that Zooey's character(s) offer a good feminist role model. I don't think trying to act perfect and trying to please everybody is respectable and it probably won't get you far in life. I think being yourself and admitting and owning your flaws (and no, "quirkiness" shouldn't be considered a flaw) is the mark of a real role model. Acting young, innocent and super cutesy is not empowering; she is a man's woman, not a woman's woman. As we have seen recently in advertising, looking and acting as young as possible appeals to men, not to women.

What men and women are actually watching

I was a little shocked after reading the Poniewozik and Rosenberg articles and the analysis of the Playboy Club and Charlies Angels. I am very surprised that anyone could have thought these shows to be geared towards men. Yes, there are women who are scantly clad, but more importantly they had leading roles that were filled with women and although I never watched either of these shows, they seemed to be strong female characters. As noted in the articles it might have been this confusion that lead to their almost immediate removal from the prime time line up.

There seems to be a disconnect in the greater audience and those who produce the media on what qualifies as t.v. for men and t.v. for women. This disconnect can also be seen in two other shows mentioned by Poniewozik and Rosenberg, New Girl and Whitney. The show New Girl was created and ideally marketed to men because of Zooey Deschanel's character. Ponziewozik describes it as the male fantasy character, "known as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl."However, this show is overwhelmingly viewed by women. This polarity in who was expected to view a show and who actually views it can be seen in Whitney. This show, like many of the other new prime time sitcoms and series, has a strong female leading character and was expected to be predominantly viewed by women, however, Ponziewozik points out that this is a show that is viewed by a large audience of men. The disconnect found between what is expected to be a show for men and a show for women, and what is actually viewed by men and women is so great due to the changing views of femininity and masculinity.

Where can I get a subscription to Bitch Magazine?

"I forced the angry Little Pam inside me to stay quiet and not get baited, not grab my nearest copy of Bitch Magazine, roll it up into a twat-baton..." (Pamie 2011)

The article "The Magical Vulva of Opportunity" was one of the most entertaining and informative articles I have ever read. When I was finished with the article I had to take a minute to consider everything: what we have discussed in class, what Pamie was saying, other fields where women might be placed in similar situations, and what exactly a "twat-baton" is...Throughout the article I found myself laughing, sympathizing with the author, and wondering if I would one day face the same fate in my own profession. This article, along with the Bielby & Bielby study, really lent some good insight into the world of media production and the implications gender may have.

I found the Rosenburg and Poniewozick articles to be extremely interesting as well, especially considering several of the shows they mentioned I really enjoy.  Both of the authors recognize that it is difficult to determine whether or not a show is targeted at a specific gender because there is not definite set of guidelines for MALE as opposed to FEMALE SHOW. Interestingly, both authors referenced the show “New Girl” which is one my favorite shows. Rosenburg argued that the show was geared more towards men than women because it “focuses on how the character is perceived…rather than who she is” (2011).  However, Poniewozick does not find this to be as clear-cut.  He cites statistics that indicate that more women watch the show and also speaks of anecdotal experiences that complicate the matter.

After reading these four articles my mind was very much in over drive. I was thinking about my upcoming internship at a media research firm and what implications my gender may have in that experience. I created a mental trailer for an action-adventure move written by a female writer (it was pretty awesome). Finally, I thought back of all the “New Girl” episodes and tried to come up with my own conclusion about whether the show is geared towards men or women. I ended up deciding that, in my perfect world, the show is gender neutral because it is able to cater to both genders. While it far from does this perfectly, if I were to make a boy/girl list I would hope the columns would end up being more even than not (content analysis much?).

I included this clip because it’s from my favorite episode of “New Girl” and I feel that it shows how the show caters to both men (enter hot model with sex appeal) and women (men making fools of themselves in front of said model).