Blerg! Liz Lemon: Feminist?

Liz Lemon, a fictional character on the TV show 30 Rock, played by Tina Fey, is head writer for a show called TGS, or The Girlie Show.  Lemon is a white, heterosexual, cis-woman and a self-proclaimed feminist who works for the betterment of women. “By feminist, we mean each and every politically and socially conscious woman or man who works for equality within or outside the movement, writes about feminism, or calls her- or himself a feminist in the name of furthering equality” (Baumgardner 54). (“We” was italicized because there is no set definition of feminists. This definition is from the writers’ standpoint.) In the show, according to Liz, TGS “started as a show for women starring women. At the very least we should be elevating the way women are perceived in society” (quoted by Rebecca Traister). Liz often makes such statements when referring to how some of the other women characters on 30 Rock act in a sexual way, generally for the men around them. Since this is a sitcom, more times than not, most of Liz’s strides for more equal treatment across the board are shown in a humorous and a much less serious tone.  Liz is often making strong statements about women overall; yet the next statement is usually a joke about women.  For instance, after making statements about how TGS needs to “elevat[e] how women are perceived in society”, she cries out in pain because of her menstrual cycle, as a moment of PMS, and collapses (Traister). She takes two steps forward, and one step back, essentially. There are several other issues that cause many to find Liz Lemon problematic for women as an icon, i.e. her relationship with her boss, or other women on the show.  Yet, all of these flaws make her relatable, and certainly do not make her a ‘bad’ feminist. Lemon, regardless of being ‘good’ or ‘bad’, is important to feminism.

As stated previously, there are some problems with Liz Lemon as a role model.   Many point out that Liz is portrayed as a rarity. There are but two other main women on the show, neither are portrayed as funny, smart or as independent as Lemon (Dailey). According to Dailey, Liz creates “mixed messages about what women should aim for….it’s interesting that ‘smart’ and ‘funny’ get to stay in the picture, as long as the looks, the success and the happiness are toned down’.”  Due to this difference between the pretty and the smart, Liz is said to be a level above; therefore, she does not interact with these main on a personal basis. To many, this is one of Liz’s biggest problems (Dailey). Kelsey Wallace, writer for Bitch Media, mentions how Jack, CEO of Kabletown, as well as Liz Lemon’s boss, mentor and father figure, seemingly always helps Liz with her issues, whether it is about men, her work or life in general. There would be some issue or conflict that Liz takes to Jack, who argues his point until Lemon agrees, solving any of her issues in the end. This interaction sends the message that men are superior to women and that Liz Lemon herself, with all her flaws, simply plays into the stereotypical lines (Wallace).  As Jonah Weiner (quoted by Wallace) states, “Flawed people are funny, sure, but  why does Liz Lemon have the traditionally gendered flaws she does? Elaine Benes and Murphy Brown, for example, were strong, feminist- friendly characters and funny, to boot.”

There is no denial that Liz Lemon has flaws, like everyone; yet, because of her flaws, Liz Lemon is unfairly, automatically condemned as a poor role model. Dailey herself says that looking at Liz Lemon only for her poor character traits rather her better traits causes the biggest problem. “Grading women’s attitudes towards empowerment- ‘good’ feminism vs. ‘bad’ feminism- does more harm than good.” Yes, she can be pathetic when it comes to men troubles or baby wants. Still, she has stronger qualities that seem to be dramatically overlooked. “As a character, Liz Lemon not only runs TGS, but is in charge of a team of mostly men. Her power and strength [lies] outside of the sexual prowess and ability to get a man,” states a reviewer of Wallace. Firstly, even though the cast is predominantly male, this can only illuminate Liz’s professional power and strength, along with other women on the show, showing that these women can stand ground amongst men. Previously mentioned, the other girls are shown as beautiful and more “slutty”.  While this is not the best way to portray women in society, often these characters make Liz’s power, which is absent from her sexuality, become even more apparent. Liz even goes a step forward on several different occasions throughout the entire series to point out that this behavior, while it exists in real life, should not happen, and that women should not play into the male fantasy.  The reviewer continues, “She (Liz) has her position based on her talent, hard work and merit. She’s able to have strong friendships with the men on the show without have a sexual under (or over) tones.” This is an obvious goal for women to stride for. This shows that a woman does not need to “spread her legs” in order to climb the corporate ladder, but that with intelligence, women can reach the top of such ladder, as well. Reviewer continues to mention the relationship between Lemon and Jack.  “With Jack, as much as he helps her she helps him, like with Elisa or his dad problem. Her awkwardness shows that women don’t have to be perfect to be successful” (Wallace).  Lemon does stand ground against men, but sometimes the ground is shaky. A flaw, but a realistic, understandable and relatable flaw.  Lemon “strives and struggles to ‘have it all!’ as a creative writer, business woman, single woman on the New York dating scene, and a sometimes ‘clock-a-tickin’ wannabe mother. While jokes are made about Lemon attempting to ‘have it all’, she fairs pretty well, while also pointing out to us – comically- the hardships of a successful urban woman having to date, maintain friendships [like Jenna’s and hers], and be respected as a boss and a professional [women amongst all men], “ states Colleen Claes, writer for Cultural Voice-Over.

Another issue with Lemon to some is that even though sensitive topics are inserted by Liz and viewed on the show, the way that they are presented, even dismissed in the end at times, is the problem.  Wallace states, “While the very fact that a sensitive issue like preferential treatment based on race and gender was explored n a network sitcom is a great thing, once again the resolution reinforced the notion that these topics are better left alone.” Wallace is referring to an early episode where Jenna, a white actress, switches places with Tracy, a black actor, for a day to see who is “worse off” in a sense. They quickly switch back by the end of the twenty-two minute episode, however.  There have been other episodes of Liz and Tracy exchanging lifestyles for the same cause that end the same way.  Liz Lemon takes on sensitive subjects frequently. Whether it is race, or women in comedy, this character/show is not afraid to point out the flaws. One cannot condemn Liz, or the show, as a poor model due to the comic relief she/it gives to serious topics; the show is a sitcom. As stated before, this is only putting a tear in feminism, placing a battle between ‘good’ feminism and ‘bad’ feminism.  One needs to realize that Liz does speak out about gender, race, etc.  There are times, especially in recent episodes, that Lemon states clearly a well-thought serious statement about women, with no joke following. For instance, as Traister points out, “At one point, when jealous Jenna…tells Liz she must destroy lollipop-licking competition for mal adulations, Liz responds, ‘No, Jenna, that’s exactly the problem: men infantilize women and women tear each other down.’ No contradictory punch line here. Liz spoke the truth!” This does not always make up for when she does make a joke about women. Yet, as Traister states about Liz as a character, “[she] has made huge, feminist strides for women in comedy at the same time that she has made comedy at the expense of woman. Such is the life when you attempt -–as we all should! -- to bring gender criticism out of the pure ether of sociopolitical discourse and attempt to deploy it in the real, messy world of commerce, consumption and popular culture.”

Liz Lemon has flaws. Yet, even her harsher critics say she is “a step in the right direction”; the mere fact that this sitcom has a strong, funny leading woman who illustrates issues in society is a step in the right direction, and a gateway for other women in real life (Wallace).  As Claes states, “She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s independent. She’s not perfect. And she’s like us. What more could you ask for in a fictional feminist icon?” Lemon’s greatest characteristic is that she is relatable. She is not very model-esque. She eats junk food, wears sweat pants, and has boyfriend troubles. She does not always have the answers to her problems, and so she seeks help. Yes, she seeks help from a man; but, again, it is not because men know the answers when women do not. It is because this particular man is older, therefore wiser, and has been through most of her issues before (not to mention Jack also goes to Liz for help at times too, when he is in a new situation where only Liz can help out). So what if Lemon is no Brown? The fact that Liz Lemon is different does not mean that one can simply ignore, or write off, her and her work for feminism. “Different strands of feminism—or any kind of social activism—can work in contradiction to each other. Just because there’s no one correct answer doesn’t mean that the questions are useless or boring; they’re interesting enough to plot a sitcom around” (Traister).  Whether or not Lemon’s answer is correct or incorrect is unknown, along with the certain impact she has on feminism. She has flaws that bring out some negativity, but she also has many aspects that bring positivity. While the overall good or bad impact she has is unknown, it has been quite an impact nonetheless. Furthermore, as stated before, Liz Lemon (along with her creator, Tina Fey) is a step in the right direction and a gateway for other comedic women today. 

Book Review: Pink Think

Pink in Our Society

Lynn Peril, author of Pink Think, touches on many items within society that depict women, such as ads or television shows. This discussion helps expose how society holds women as whole. The images that are put forth in society generally depict how society is, or how society wants itself to be perceived. For instance, many television shows throughout time illustrate a black family that has money, or at least is middle class, and is educated to show that affirmative action is not as necessary while others are insisting it is. Another example would be a single mother raising several daughters on her own. There are shows in our society that depict single black mothers living in wealthy neighborhoods, never mentioning what their job is, and basically, living the American dream. Or, for instance, the sitcom Who’s the Boss? is about a single mother who lives in a big house in a nice neighborhood with a male as a nanny to her children. These shows inherently tell the viewers that this is how it is in reality as well, even though we know that majority of poor populations are ethnic populations and a majority of single mothers are not as well off as these fictional mothers of television. Peril takes this idea and attempts to expose the underlying messages behind everyday things social images, like television shows such as Little House on the Prairie, to information given to children and young adults in the form of textbooks and magazines.  While the information Peril presents in Pink Think is valuable, there are several weaknesses in her book: the lack of discussion on women of color and gays, lesbians or transgendered women, and lack of a strong argument stating how the images she mentions are wrong and need to be corrected. Due to her writing style, anecdotal, the book reads more like a history novel than an argument for women’s rights. While it is good to preserve historical past of women in such a book, it is also very important to remind the reader why this is not the correct way of thinking; otherwise, the reader may be confused about the overall message.

The overall message of all the articles that Peril mentions is the same: this is how a woman should be. The images, articles and shows that were mentioned were to “guide girls’ behavior regarding boys and dating before nature took its course” (Peril 44). Femininity, for the most part, was defined by a woman’s ability to make her attractive for men by wearing form fitting (but not too form fitting!) sweaters, wearing make-up, and having luscious hair. It was also defined by the woman’s ability to “[think] like a girl even when you’re not with a boy” (Peril 45). Meaning, she continuously had to have correct information and skill on how to sew, cook, clean and run a household at all times. She constantly thinks of being a housewife and finding a husband; after all, as experts say, that is the purpose of dating: finding a husband and becoming a housewife, and nothing else (Peril 49). A woman, who could achieve this, along with charm and grace, was considered feminine. Being feminine was everything a girl wanted and needed to be; men wanted and needed feminine girls so that they themselves could feel masculine. Likewise, girls needed boys to be masculine because “[a] girl who is feminine,” wants a masculine man “to lead her – it’s as simple as that. She craves being a helpmate to him, and these are the qualities that maker her so desirable. She likes being with a boy because he brings out these” attributes (Peril 47). If a woman was anything less than these things, i.e. a tomboy or chubby, she was not feminine. Many stories were created to steer girls away from behaving in such a way. For instance, “fatty fiction” discusses heavier girls, who have many issues, mostly boy related; the messages of such books was the same, once the girl lost weight, she became more feminine and got a date for the weekend (Peril 51). By making it so that the girl does not get a date until she looses weight subconsciously tells women that being fat is undesired, because it is not feminine and men do not find it attractive.  This issue is still relevant today. There are many television shows and books that give overweight people a stigma. In the film, “Real Women Have Curves”, Anna fights against this stigma, even from her own mother. There is still the idea that how one looks measures all of there abilities, not just their ability to catch a man. While there is a stigma, today’s “fatty fiction” is not always the same. Like other obese people, Anna was teased for her weight, and told she was would not be able to get a boyfriend or get married (almost to say those are the only joys in life); however, instead of her story telling young women that they needed to lose weight for her problems to go away. She found a boyfriend, went to school and helped save her sister’s business, all while being overweight. There are several other topics that are brought up in Pink Think; some are outdated, others are not but both categories are worthy of note.

Although interesting is Peril’s method of presenting the history of women through social media archives, there is one section she overlooked. She discusses many types of women, and the troubles they faced. The educated women and her difficulty finding a husband due to her “increased” intelligence (woman were always intelligent; yet, this fact became more apparent with women attending college. Hence, the word increased is in quotations.) The stay-at-home mother, and her responsibilities for upkeep of the household, and how society put her there. The fatty child, and how society made it so that she is seen as a failure. While these are important topics to look at, one topic, woman of color, is completely overlooked by Peril. Many of the issues presented are White women issues, as in terms of education for instance. Peril ignores how women of color, along with all African-Americans, were depicted in society.  In cartoons, television and other images that reached mainstream society, women of color were presented always as inferior. There are images that make African-Americans appear to be monkeys, symbolizing how White people perceived them to possess lower levels of intelligence. Again, such images, for all people, show how society sees people, and how they want all America to see the same things. There are plenty of stereotypes of African-American women that lower their status. For instance, the Mammy.  The Mammy is a desexualized woman.  She is usually very dark in skin color because the darker the skin the less attractive one would be. She is also usually extremely overweight, because to society overall, women who were chubbier were unattractive, and less desired sexually. The Mammy never had troubles of her own; she was there to serve other women, listen and take care of their issues. The Mammy is not the only stereotype that was portrayed by society. There is the jezebel, the strong independent women, the “servant”, none of which were even mentioned in this book about womanhood. These are very relevant, even today. Peril needs to mention them and mention how women can handle them and counteract them, i.e. self-definition, for starters. Self-definition is “essential for Black women’s survival”, along with other women of color’s (Collins 4).  These women need to define their own relations instead of going with stereotypes; with defining themselves, the stereotypes can be defeated. Peril talks about stereotypes, but only those that can be applied to white women.

 The book, as shown by its title Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons, is about how women grow up fighting the mold that society historically wanted them to be. Her book is essentially oppositional knowledge; it discusses issues that have oppressed white women, and how they learn to overcome them. What the fine print should read is “Lessons for White Women, that is”, because that is all that is shown and mentioned. Peril dedicated an entire chapter on men, and how Pink Think affected them, how society and the pressures to be strong, masculine males affected them; yet, no mention of any ethnic women. The mold for women of color needs to be mentioned as well, for they are women who are dealing with many uneasy lessons, as well.

Like white women, women of color are not the only women who deal with the fight against society’s mold for women and femininity; furthermore, women of color are not the only women that Peril forgot to mention. Transgendered women also have to fight the mold of femininity, maybe more so than other women, because to many people, these women are not “real” women. They continuously fight against stereotypes of women, as well as any thing or any one illustrating trans-misogyny. According to Julia Serano, author of “Skirt Chasers: Why the Media Dresses the Trans Revolution in Lipstick and Heals”, Trans defy gender and stereotypes places by the institutions “that enable male and heterosexual privilege, the images and experiences of trans people are presented in the media in a way that reaffirms, rather than challenges, gender stereotypes” (81).  Due to this, transgendered women, as well as transgendered men, struggle even more so than the “ordinary” woman, or male. They need to be psychologically stronger to endure the critics that cross them simply because they were not born as a woman, or male. Peril ignores how femininity plays an important role in these women’s lives on a regular basis. Peril talks about how tomboys and overweight women endure hardship because they do not fit society’s ideals about women, i.e. skinny, hair done, make-up on, wearing heels and a dress ready to serve her man; but what about transgendered women and how they are fighting to be accepted? To society, and the media, because they wear wig along with make-up, and sometimes do not have breasts, but insert socks into a bra, they are seen as inferior to women. They try to act and look like a female, but simply cannot; they’re fake, and it is apparent when you catch one adjusting her wig, or putting on make-up. Never one mind that everyday women wear make-up, may wear wigs and try to enhance their breasts, or lack there of, in some way; they are never as good as a “real” woman. If a group needed to learn uneasy lessons on womanhood, this group would; yet, Peril once again overlooks the minority.

Besides the fact that peril overlooks huge minority groups entirely, there is another issue that makes this book problematic: her lack of definite argument. For instance, Peril discusses the co-ed classes that were taken in junior high and high school students, shop for boys and home economics for girls. She discusses, on page 57, that theses classes were outlawed in the 1970’s, but she does not necessarily say why, or if them outlawed was a poor choice or not. It is more as if she is telling like a history book, explaining what happened, but never saying why or if the issue had a positive or negative impact. She would present some articles in favor of one side of the given issue, and then articles that favored the other, never saying if one was right or wrong, or if neither were right or wrong, or reasons to it. She appeared more times than not to be neutral in the great debates of womanhood. There was only once, in the last chapter, about females in the workplace where her argument for why women need to be working was clear; even though, her arguments were weak (basically, it was if women did not work, they would have a psychological meltdown). As stated before, this can confuse the reader about the subject, and purpose of the book. As a woman, grownup post feminism, I understand that the issues Peril brings up are wrong, and why women should fight these ideals; yet, there are women today who do not understand that, and may pick this book up, and think she could be in favor for the stereotypes, or at least not completely against them. Such loose arguments can never helpful in fights against society’s molds.

Peril presents many of society’s ideas about women and femininity. She discusses note worthy topics about dating, obesity, workplace, and education in relations to women. However, she lacks several aspects, which generally weaken her book. The issues discussed typically are restricted to White women. She does not mention any minority groups, such as women of color and transgendered women, as if these women’s fight against society’s stereotypical way of looking at women is irrelevant. Ignoring an entire topic in an argument shows lack of critical thinking and weakens the overall discussion. Furthermore, Peril does not clearly argue a side on any topics, which can confuse the reader on the purpose of the book. Peril needs to state more directly her purpose and stance on the topics, and acknowledge other groups of women. By doing so, by strengthening her argument, acknowledge other women and their battle in the overall fight, Peril can help the movement move forward instead of simply teaching history lessons.  

Marilyn Monroe- NOT a size 16

For the Record: Norma Jean, or as some of you know her Marilyn Monroe, was not the size 16 that everyone thinks she was. Her measurements, as recorded by her dressmaker, are 36-24-37. That would make her between a size 4 and a size 6. I am sad (and slightly happy because those are my measurements!) to realize this because Marilyn was a big difference for some who are not as thin. Regardless, people who are a size 16, are still beautiful. Don’t rely on Marilyn anymore, rely on yourself and your own beauty. It’s just as good, if not better, my loves.