No bro, I Love You!

Yo bro! Bromances have become an object of great attention and to some extent ridicule within the media. Movies like ‘I love you man’ show the humor in men trying to find friendship, but they also show how there is a heteronormative discourse is still prevalent in our society. Becker’s article addressing the current bromance phenomenon I think points out many critical issues that still underlie men’s' sexuality and stereotypes in media texts. The article focuses a lot of analysis on the show ‘Bromance’ where Brody Jenner has a competition to find his next best friend or ‘bro.’ The main thing I found to be very interesting about the article was that bromances are used as a way to allow men to express emotions while maintaining their heterosexuality. Yet, there is still a need for theses ‘bros’ to reinforce the fact that they are not gay, but at the same time okay with gay individuals. When a contestant on ‘Bromance’ decided to leave the show, because he felt like he didn’t quite fit in. He was openly gay and many of the challenges required picking up ‘chicks’ and he lived in a house that had women’s’ panties displayed on the walls. When he left many of the straight guys went to say how great of a guy he was, just that he didn’t fit in, and that they had nothing against gay men. They acknowledge that they are not against gay people, but that this individual didn’t fit in with their group of straight men trying to get friendship. I think having bromances makes appropriate behaviors for men much more complicated. They are told it’s okay to show emotion, but when seen together people automatically think that they are gay. I don’t think bromances are liberating because of the constant reaffirmations that the ‘bros’ on Bromance made, along with other examples Becker identifies. They are straight, but can get teary-eyed during their bro-elimination ceremony. I think bromances just make identifying what behavior is socially appropriate for men even more confusing for men. They now have to explain their actions and friendships when they hang out with other men.

"That was all ball!": Tomboys in the Media Today

In the article “Little Butches: Tomboys in Hollywood Film”, hatch discusses the qualities and transformations of tomboys in the media over time. Hatch references movies from the last several decades, including Gidget, Bad News Bears, and Annie Get Your Gun. In most tomboy texts, the tomboy undergoes a transformation from masculinity to femininity and heteronormativity. While the transformation usually involves physical appearance, it more often stresses changes in behavior and relationships towards men. It is almost never a question of gender, as the audience can always tell that the character is female (through music cues, fitted “boyish” clothes, undergarments, and other “markings”). These transformations almost always end in the female becoming submissive in one way or another to a man, thus reinforcing the woman’s “place” in heteronormative society.

While reading this article, I couldn’t help but connect the “tomboy” to the show “Whitney!” currently on NBC. In “Whitney!” the main character Whitney is dating a man named Alex. While Whitney is attractive and clearly female/straight, her character is far from heteronormative. She has a low voice, very masculine tendencies, does not believe in marriage, references same-sex relationships/encounters in her past, is very opinionated, is not very emotional… Alex and the other males are feminine and relatively submissive to the three women on the show; the women are all very attractive and currently in straight relationships, but all three exhibit most of the masculine characteristics that Whitney possesses. In this clip, Whitney is challenged to a basketball game with Alex: http://www.hulu.com/watch/298969/whitney-the-girl-can-play#s-p7-sr-i1

This clip is reminiscent of the article we read for today, but also shows many differences in the tomboy model Hatch discussed. In contrast to the "musical cues" hatch references of sweet music, pay attention to the music played when Whitney enters the court. Whitney is clearly feminine, but her attire is baggy, not form fitting, and her demeanor is incredibly masculine. She does not back off to let Alex win or become submissive in any way; she trash talks, insults, and totally schools him on the court. Whitney shows that the woman can dominate, be incredibly masculine, and be athletic without shoving the heteronormative ideals of women down our throats.

How Romance Novels Relieve Women From Their Role as Nurturer

A thought that came to me as I was reading Radway's "Women Read the Romance" was that even if there are groups of people that do not believe that Americans still live in a patriarchal society, there are women out there who still feel the pressures of taking on the stereotypical and patriarchal labels given to women from the moment they are born. 

What are the kinds of roles that women need to play? We are the mothers and wives. We nurture and we are expected to be our own bosses in the home (not that I see anything wrong with that...). But Radway brings up a good point: She shows us through her research that women use romance novels as a means of "escape or relaxation (46)" from their everyday lives as mothers and wives in the home. 

How could their not still be remnants of inequality and patriarchy if largely married women between the ages of 25 and 49 (46) are using romance novels as a form of escape? 

I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is taking a Women's Studies class at Denison for the first time. He asked me "What's the problem with men working outside of the home and women staying in the home and taking care of children?" My answer was that there is no problem if women have the right to decide whether or not that is the life that they want to live. In other words, if women have the right to choose what they do in life, then I don't see a problem with being a stay-at-home mom at all (I still believe it is the hardest job out there). But if women still feel the need to play that role, a point that Radway explains is the reason why women read romance novels, then there is a sense of being trapped in a role you did not choose.