I’m a skin-whitening, body-griping, anti-racist feminist. Yup.

I might as well come right out and say it.

I have and continue to engage in skin-whitening practices.

Things I do include staying indoors when it’s too sunny out, worrying about my skin when I forget to put on sunscreen, carrying an umbrella or a hat around with me and yes, using skin-whitening facial products.

I have had to sort through many feelings of guilt and shame for engaging in these practices so I recognize that for me to ‘admit’ this in a public forum – on my blog, today- is an act of personal resistance.

I refuse to accept the shaming that happens to me and so many other women of color who most will label ‘race traitors’, women who hate our brown skin, women with low-self-esteem or women who have been victimized by the ‘system’. I reject the narrow interpretations and judgments of my actions. I reject the shaming of black and brown women who engage in skin-whitening practices.

What exactly is the point of shaming women for pursuing beauty when it is one of the few sites of power available to us while ignoring the sexist and racist systems that set up this situation in the first place???  It is unproductive. It robs us of our voices. It denies us the luxury of being contradictory and imperfect – like everybody else.

Skin-whitening has been a long running interest for me, both personally and professionally. Intellectually, I started engaging with this material in 2011 as a capstone paper for my Women Studies undergrad degree. Since then, I have presented my thoughts at several conferences including the F-Word conference at UBC on April 28, 2011 and the 12th International Conference on Diversity in June 2012. Un-intellectually speaking, I started skin-whitening much, much earlier.

As I did more academic research into this issue, I became increasingly upset. I would read tons and tons of articles written by self-identified feminists who would judge, shame, poke fun and generally caution women against skin-whitening. After talking it over with a good friend (shoutout to Jennifer!), I realized I was actually reacting to the massive shaming that was directed at women who chose to engage in skin-whitening practices. This type of ‘holier-than-thou’ critique typically comes from white women or lighter skinned brown women towards their darker-skinned counterparts. Some examples are Jezebel’s Lindy West who did this with her piece on groin-whitening feminine wash in India and Tyra Banks’ 2008 episode on skin-whitening among Black women from the Tyra Banks show. Just type ‘skin whitening feminist’ into Google and you’ll find more articles that tell you how bad it is to whiten your skin, how you are such a sellout/victim if you do it etc etc. Enough guilt and shame all around, really. Fun.

So I did what I usually do when I get angry – I wrote. And as I wrote, I came to realize my own stand on this issue. It is important I write this and put this out there for people to read. I want people to know that the issue of beauty, health and women’s self-esteem deserves more complex treatment than we have been giving it so far.

I feel it is important to shift the discussions around skin-whitening AWAY from the shaming and veiled policing of brown and black women and TOWARDS acknowledging that the issue is much more complex.

Skin-whitening practices are embedded in systems of capitalism, colonialism and male dominance. We need to acknowledge that women of color have to navigate through this ‘triple threat’ daily. We receive contradictory messages about how we should look and how we should be every fucking day of our lives and we are the ones who have to live with the imperfect choices we make. If we start to try to complicate this matter, we can start to do some justice to this issue.

First, we need to understand that the skin whitening phenomenon has a long history spanning Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the African continent. White women were actually the target of skin whitening from the Greco-Roman period up into the mid-20th century. Marketing for skin-whitening products towards women of color only started in the 1950s when the press began to notice use of skin whiteners among African-Americans.  Today, the skin-whitening market is estimated to be worth $5.6 billion in Asia alone.

It’s no secret that historical and ongoing colonization sustains the ‘white is right’ ideals of beauty. One of the most obvious ways that this ideal of whiteness has stubbornly persisted throughout the centuries are the systems of pigmentocracy that developed globally across many communities of color. A pigmentocracy is ‘a social hierarchical structure based on favoritism of white skin and European-looking features’ (thanks to Hernandez-Ramdwar at Ryerson University for this).  Basically, the less white and European looking you were, the lower you are on the social ladder.  Different pigmentocracies developed across the world – specific to the histories of colonialism, capitalism and male dominance of each location – although the underlying idea of ‘white is right’ is the same. The pigmentocracy in Brazil is different from India, which is different from Jamaica, which is different from the Philippines which is different from Singapore. You get my drift.

It is also important that we understand the pursuit of skin-whitening is not an aspiration to become white or ‘look like a white girl’. It is a quest to separate yourself from the Indigenous Black and Brown ‘look’. In insular South East Asia for example, rising through the pigmentocracy means separating yourself from the working-class, dark-skinned, Indigenous Malay look to an upper-class, lighter-skinned, Eurasian beauty. This is fundamental to understand because it adds more complexity to the issue versus simply thinking that all black and brown women want to become white. In a sense, we do want to ‘become white’ but it’s not the blonde hair, blue eyes or pale skin we covet…rather the gifts that come with whiteness. Its multiple and unyielding privileges.

Skin-whitening practices should be considered an “active strategy used by some groups to claim power over others in the same society’ (Lipsitz, 1998).  People who can ‘compete’ for the privileges of whiteness are those who can afford to participate. High-end skin-whitening products can cost anywhere between $20 – $500 a bottle and the ‘full range’ of products (facial wash, toner, moisturizer, day essence, night serum and spot-on correctors) can easily go up to $1000. Ironically, those who can afford expensive skin-whitening products are constantly reminded that we have to ‘keep this up’ because skin-whitening is rarely permanent. It takes money, time, dedication and constant vigilance to achieve and maintain fair skin and its privileges. A harsh reminder to folks of color that whiteness is not something that is earned, it is a privilege some are born with and others aspire and work towards.

If we start to look at skin-whitening as an ACTIVE strategy employed by black and brown women, we can start to move away from thinking that these women are PASSIVE victims of the systems who need ‘help’ and ‘advice’ from those of us who ‘know better’. Let’s be honest here – giving unsolicited advice, however well-intentioned and shaming women who choose to engage in skin-whitening is patronizing. I know, deep down, that I am fine the way I am. I know I shouldn’t fret over my freckles. I know I shouldn’t fret over my double A cup size. I know I shouldn’t think about the acne scars on my back. I KNOW all this. You don’t have to keep telling me.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the choices we make with our beauty routine have everything to do with the pressures we receive about it. For me, this angst comes from my mother who still frets over her freckles. To me, she will always be my beautiful mother but now I know that telling her to stop fretting or that she is ‘pretty no matter what’ denies her own experiences of living in this shitty world which insisted on telling her otherwise. Telling her to stop fretting would also mean that I am myself, in denial about my own gripes with my body.  I grew up not only watching my mother fret but my grandmother, my aunts, my cousins and my friends fretting. If it was not their dark skin, it would be something else about their bodies.

Does this mean that I blame the people around me for ‘making me’ think this way? NO. By choosing to go through with my weekly ritual of skin-whitening, does it mean that I don’t love my Brownness, or that I’m not thinking of the examples I am setting for the young girls watching me? NO. Does it mean I wholly blame colonialism and capitalism for making this world the way it is and abdicating my personal responsibility for continuing to practice skin-whitening? NO.

Women make hundreds of choices everyday, and unless we are walking around in their heads, we have no idea what led them to the decisions they make. (many grateful thanks to Renee from Womanist Musings for this nugget of wisdom).

So yes, I am a skin-whitening feminist. And I am also an anti-racist activist.  My world is not a binary. I do not have to choose one or the other or be put into categories. This is how I choose to see the world. Because of this, I can embrace the complex, the complicated, the messy, things that don’t make any fucking ‘sense’ and things that don’t fit into the colonial viewpoint of right and wrong, black and white, skin-whitening sellout or staunch anti-racist feminist. I can be both because I choose to be both.I can learn to live with my contradictions.

One day, I want to be able to stop griping about the freckles on my face, my flat chest, and my acne scarred back (among other things). Until then, spare me the guilt and shaming. PLEASE.

As long as we live in a society that experiences ongoing colonization, capitalism and male dominance, the skin-whitening industry will always exist. We need to start complicating the notion of choice while also recognizing the need to access it. When we can begin and continue to complicate, decolonize our concept of beauty and disrupt its connection to the value of a person, we will allow ourselves to imagine a world that is far different than the one we inhabit today.

Indigenous women and women of color RESIST

I am featured in a blog post as part of blog series titled ‘ How Does She Resist?’ – Resisting Media Representations to End Violence Against Girls and Women’ hosted by the Battered Women’s Support System . The blog series commemorates Prevention of Violence Against Women Week (April 15 -April 21) and aims to engage the online community to resist media representations as a way to prevent violence against girls and women.

The author of the blog post is the co-founder of WAM! Vancouver, Joanna Chiu. She interviewed me for the piece entitled  ’Indigenous women and Women of Color Media Makers Resist: How to Create the Media you Want to See in the World’. I talk about media representations of women of color and queer and/or trans women.

Here is an excerpt:

Today, as I was walking down the street to write at my favorite coffee shop, I received the usual afternoon greetings from my neighbours: “Hey baby!” “Konichiwa!” “Ni hao! “Look at that ass!!”

As all Indigenous women and women of colour know, if sexism wasn’t bad enough, we encounter racism on a daily basis as well—on the street, in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the media. (See the theory of intersectionality on how oppressions like racism, ageism and classism intersect.)

In media, women of colour are often hyper-sexualized, and depicted in racial caricatures: Kung Fu ladies, geishas, sexy Latina sirens, Pocahontas types, etc. That is, if we see ourselves represented in the media at all. According to Journalism.com’s State of the Media report, race and gender issues only accounted for 1% of overall news coverage. And how many women of colour lead actresses can you name in Hollywood, or who have graced the covers of glossy magazines?

Continue reading here!

Happy Feminist Friday

Because young people make me happy. Also, it’s science fiction. And I haven’t seen any funny animal videos lately.

Since we’re talking about science fiction and youth, Disney’s John Carter comes out today – which I am putting down as another story about Pocahontas and her great white, male saviour. A review on IGN says that it’s great but let’s just say I am skeptical. It might be pretty to look at but it’s probably still going to be a racist and sexist piece of shit. C and I are going to check it out sometime this weekend so I’ll let you know how it goes.

Related pieces:

Why I’m addicted to anti-racist feminist critcism

The Smurfette Principle

Macho, macho men: Masculinities in TV and Film

why im addicted to anti-racist feminist media criticism

Sometimes, there is no reason for me to re-write what someone else has written so beautifully. This is one of those times. I’ve combined the image above with an excerpt from a post via Fangs of Fantasy below to encapsulate the reason behind my personal passion and the passion of many, many others who insist on calling out the racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic bullshit we see on TV, on the big screen and in books we read everyday. (bolded text my own emphasis)

“You cannot truly change culture without addressing the media. Ultimately, we can pass 100 laws saying that misogyny, homophobia, racism, transphobia, ableism et al are not okay. We can we fight, we can vanquish a thousand bigots, and make a thousand impassioned speeches, but if everyone goes back home to books and TV full of hate speech, stereotypes,  tropes, and marginalised servants/villains or – and most commonly – to fictional worlds where we don’t even exist – then how much can you change? “Hearts and Minds” are the key here – and it’s in the pages of books and the light of the TV screen where we will reach them.

The paucity of portrayal is further exacerbated by the limited roles that marginalised people are allowed to play, and this is particularly seen in the tropes we see reflected over and over again. When I consider straight, cis, able bodied white people in fiction, I can’t think of one single role they play, because they get to play every role. They’re the hero, they’re the villain. They’re good, they’re bad, they’re honest, they’re liars, they’re brave, they’re cowards. They’re smart, they’re foolish, they’re funny, they’re boring. They’re saints and they are sinners. They’re sexy and dull, they’re promiscuous and they’re chaste, they’re noble and they’re repellent. They’re soldiers and priests and wizards and bankers and lawyers and strippers, they’re singers and traders. They drive space ships and ride horses, they play games and fight wars, they colonise and are enslaved, they rule and they rebel, they lead and they follow.

They’re everywhere and they do everything. Their story is not only told a thousand times, but it’s told in a thousand different ways. When someone adds another story about them, it just adds to a huge diversity that is already out there – every characterisation is just one of a huge body of characterisations.

Now compare that to marginalised people. Not only do we not get even a tenth as many representations as privileged people, but the representations we do get are usually so very similar. And this is what makes them so dangerous and so damaging – this is why tropes hurt us. Is your portrayal of another gay couple who die young and tragically harmful? Probably not inherently – but when it piles up with all of the gazillion other dead gays, then it’s problematic. Are there no Middle Eastern terrorists? Yes, of course – but that story has already been told to the point of nausea. Are there no women who need rescuing? Of course there are – but there’s more to women than helpless damsels in distress, but their story is eclipsed by an endless stream of needy, desperate women rescued by men. These tropes hurt us in ways they can’t hurt privileged people, because privileged people have a gazillion other portrayals to insulate them. Privileged people can be anything, can be everything, while marginalised people walk the same tropes over and over again.

We also cannot deny the effects that such erasure – or such poor portrayals – have on marginalised people on an individual level, and especially on marginalised youth. Repeatedly we see book after book, and TV show after TV show where we don’t exist at all, or have only the most minor or reduced roles. The message is clear, over and over again that our stories aren’t worth being told. We don’t get to be the heroes, the saviours, the important people. We’re never centre-stage. If we’re lucky, we get to be important tools in someone else’s life. Adjutants to some privileged person’s important story – someone we can help, serve, support, be rescued by or, in some cases, die horribly so they can grieve and grow as people. We are secondary, passing references or mere extensions of a privileged person’s life. We don’t get to come out of the wings except for those few occasions when we get to stand behind a privileged person on the stage. We’re never centre-stage ourselves.

What does that do to people? What does it do to kids?

But beyond all these weighty reasons why what we do is important, and beyond the effect on  culture, on society, on our youth, on how we’re treated and on our own sense of self, there’s also a basic wish that we could enjoy fiction as well. Why can’t we pick up a book and escape to a brilliant world without having to leave ourselves behind as well? Why can’t we have a character we can identify with? Why don’t we deserve to be able to kick back, relax and read something or watch something that actually includes us in a way that doesn’t make us cringe?

We’re not asking for a lot. And this is why we do what we do – because we deserve to be included, because tropes need to be challenged, because we deserve to be presented as equal and valuable and, ultimately, we are part of this world. That needs to be acknowledged – we exist and we matter.The media seems to have no problem accepting our money but somehow respecting our person is unfathomable and they have structured these stories in such as way as to appear innocuous, even as we are suffering.  We deserve to see ourselves – and see ourselves presented well – in the media that we love.”

Related pieces I’ve written:  

The Smurfette Principle

Macho, macho men: Masculinities in TV and Film

Being a cultural maid

For those of you who know me  and know me well enough, you probably know that my primary interests in feminism and social issues revolve around representations of women, men, women of color, men of color in the media.  I write about skin-whitening ads, I think about the movies I see, the television shows I watch, the music I listen to. The ‘recent’ issue (which is in fact not at all recent but an ongoing one) with George Lucas’s movie ‘Red Tails’ and the Internet hullabaloo about the difficulty with getting movies with all-Black casts done has shined a torch in an area of Hollywood that is consistently ignored, explained away or dismissed. RACISM not only on the screen but off the screen as well.

I’ve written a bit about this topic in this article for Morning Quickie where I talk about the ‘re-imaginings of Snow White’. The piece I wrote is nowhere near James McBride’s piece entitled ‘Being A Maid’ where he talks about racism in Hollywood and what it means to be a black/brown/Asian/Muslim/Native American/Latino/Gay/Lesbian/Disabled storyteller in the context of Hollywood. What does it take to get these stories heard? Do they ever get heard?

Below are some of my favorite parts:

America is a super power not because we make the biggest guns. We’re a superpower because our culture has saturated the planet: Levis, Apple, Nike, Disney, Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Jazz, Rhythm n Blues, Rock ‘n Roll, and Hip Hop. Our culture dominates the world far more than any nuclear bomb can. When you can make a person think a certain way, you don’t have to bomb them. Just give them some credit cards, a wide screen 3D TV, some potato chips, and watch what happens. This kind of cultural war, a war of propaganda and words, elements that both Hollywood and Washington know a lot about, makes America powerful beyond measure.

….

But there’s a deeper, even more critical element here , because it’s the same old story: Nothing in this world happens unless white folks says it happens. And therein lies the problem of being a professional black storyteller– writer, musician, filmmaker. Being black is like serving as Hoke, the driver in “Driving Miss Daisy,” except it’s a kind of TV series lasts the rest of your life: You get to drive the well-meaning boss to and fro, you love that boss, your lives are stitched together, but only when the boss decides your story intersects with his or her life is your story valid. Because you’re a kind of cultural maid. You serve up the music, the life, the pain, the spirituality. You clean house. Take the kids to school. You serve the eggs and pour the coffee. And for your efforts the white folks thank you. They pay you a little. They ask about your kids. Then they jump into the swimming pool and you go home to your life on the outside, whatever it is.  And if lucky you get to be the wise old black sage that drops pearls of wisdom, the wise old poet or bluesman who says ‘I been buked and scorned,’ and you heal the white folks, when in fact you can’t heal anybody. In fact, you’re actually as dumb as they are, dumber maybe, because you played into the whole business. Robbing a character of their full dimension, be it in fiction or non fiction, hurts everyone the world over. Need proof? Ask any Native American, Asian, Latino, Gay American, or so called white “hillbilly.” As if hillbillies don’t read books, and Asians don’t rap, and Muslims don’t argue about the cost of a brake job.

….

I used to think that if only there were a peaceful way, we could make Hollywood listen to the sound of America’s true drumbeat: the voices of working class poor, blacks, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, and the so-called rednecks of this country; the people that walk the land, work in the K-Marts, run the fast food joints, drive the trucks, stand in line at 4 a.m. for the i-phones, go to church for redemption, and sell the knockoff s on ebay. But the new breed of Republicans have taken that high ground. They’ve gotten rich off it. That leaves me with nothing but the notion that Washington and Hollywood may be just alike. They’re engaged in a cultural war. They take your gun and use it on you, and it makes you sorry you drew your gun in the first place. It makes you wish you were a maid.

Friends, if you have 5 minutes today, I highly recommend that you read the whole piece here. It’s worthwhile and it’s powerful.

If this piece doesn’t make you think, you must be a zombie.

Happy National Writing Day!

It’s National Writing Day in the US of A today and although I am not an American citizen or am physically living in America, I will not deny the influence of American culture in my life and on my writing. I won’t detail it here (there’s too much to say) but I’m still celebrating ‘Why I write’ day today with this lovely quote.

It takes a lot of courage to look into yourself and even more courage to write it down for others to see.

- Benjamin Sisko, Captain of Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

Reasons why I love science fiction:

1. The creative capacity to imagine a different and often, better world.

2. The drive to strive for a better, more equal and just world.

3. The ability to tackle problems of the current time within a different imagination of how the world could be

4. There’s often a lot of action scences and more importantly, minimal mushy love stories where you just KNOW that the guy will end up with the girl or vice versa.

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Reasons why I like writing:

1. I can work through my feelings and thoughts.

2. It helps me understand myself and the world a bit better.

3. It makes me feel better.

4. I express myself more honestly and clearly.

Macho, macho men: Masculinities in TV Shows and Movies

Macho

a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin

- Wikipedia definition of “Macho”

Traditionally, the word `macho` carried many positive associations. To be `macho` was to be well-respected, embodying traits such as courage, valor, honor, sincerity, pride, humility and responsibility.

- The Macho Paradox, Jackson Katz

1. having or characterized by qualities considered manly, especially when manifested in an assertive, self-conscious, or dominating way.

2. having a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate.

3. an assertively virile, dominating, or domineering male.

- Dictionary.com definition of “Macho”

My last blog post was about the Smurfette principle and the lack of female characters and of adequate representations of women and of femininities in general. In a similar vein, this blog post explores the abundance of male characters, representations of men and of masculinities in TV shows and movies that I watch. These are of course limited to my interests in action, fantasy and science fiction but I consider these genres to be particularly interesting because they have either been associated with progressiveness (science-fiction and fantasy) or been consciously masculine in nature (action).

Let’s start by looking at the trailer for Captain America, the first Avenger:

It took about 3 seconds for the trailer to show us that Captain America was in fact, not good enough to be counted as a man because he was short and skinny. This scrawny man has to be taught how to become a real man so let’s stick him in a machine and WA LA! He emerges as the beloved (and benevolent) Captain America – white, young, able-bodied, muscular and handsome.

Many stories in TV shows and movies revolve around men and are frequently told from male perspectives.

Some stereotypical representations of masculinities often present in TV shows include:

1) Need for control

Walter in Fringe – often talks about the need to control both universes from falling apart

Peter in Fringe – often talks about the need to understand and control “The Machine” which supposedly heralds the end of the world.

Admiral William Adama in BSG – general need to control what is happening on the BSG starship

Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) - general need to control what is happening on the starship Enterprise

Eric Northman in True Blood – he wants to control Sookie and fully regulate the activities of the district of which he is in charge.

2) Need to “protect” women

Bill in True Blood – often talks about “protecting” Sooki from harm

Michael Westen in Burn Notice – often talks about “protecting” Fiona or Madeline, his mother

Logan Echols in Veronica Mars – often talks about wanting to protect Veronica. In Season 3, beats up the maker of Veronica’s sex tape twice
in the name of ‘protecting her honor’ despite her disapproval. Riggghtt.

3) Physical prowess characterized by abundant muscles and/or  formidable height (if not formidable, then taller than the rest of the men in the show)

Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O - often displays his physical prowess by refusing to catch criminal suspects in a car, preferring to run on foot and subsequently tackling them to the ground

Steven Bloom in Undercovers – tall, muscular, dark and handsome. What more needs to be said?

JavierEsposito in Castle – muscular and handsome Latino man. Again, nuff’ said.

Kyle Hobbes in V – Framed as the exemplary “soldier” of the war against the Vs. Often displays his muscles by wearing tight black T-shirts.

Cpt. Lee Adama or Apollo in BSG - Often found working out in the gym. In Season 3 when New Caprica is established,  Apollo is shown to be a fat captain of BSG who has been disillusioned by his role. When he finally realizes that he can pitch in to help the escape of New Caprica, he magically loses all his weight and becomes muscular Apollo once again who saves the day.

Lt. Warf in ST:TNG - Tall, muscular Klingon. Tactical officer and head of weaponry aboard the Starship Enterprise D. Considered to be one of the two strongest people on the main bridge. The other is Lt. Commander Data, an android.

Wallace Fennel in Veronica Mars – a superstar basketball player

4) Lack of feeling or general hesitancy and aversion towards any emotion other than anger, vengeance and occasionally, love.

Steven Bloom in Undercovers – Stoic with no feeling most of the time.

Leo Nash in Undercovers -Engages in activities like alcohol, women and drugs to ‘distract’ him from what he really wants and refuses to acknowledge – a settled life with a woman he loves. This is a classic “Playboy” trope in male characters. Usually, it is paired with someone on the show who is the “opposite” i.e. ‘the family” man. In this case, the “family man” is Steven Bloom.

John Casey in Chuck- Hates discussing his feelings and views them as “weak”.

Jayne Cobb in Firefly – Again, hates discussing feelings and sees them as “weak”.

Colonel Saul Tigh in BSG- Often appears stoic in the face of adversity. Or just very very angry.

Picard in ST:TNG- Appears calm and stoic in the face of adversity. Or very angry.

Steve McGareett in Hawaii-Five O – Vengeful, angry man.

5) Favours physical, emotional, psychological or financial violence

Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O – often uses physical violence as a way to capture criminal suspects. Also threatens violence on other people in the name of avenging his father’s death.

Castle in Castle – He has frequently manipulated his way into Kate’s life and recently, manipulated a fellow writer so he would not have to share Kate as a muse (see my blog post : Kate Beckett: A Muse? )

Logan Echols in Veronica Mars – Uses emotional and psychological violence on Veronica several times in the show. Uses physical violence when he wrecks Veronica’s car in Season 1 and beats up suspected sex-tape maker in Season 3.

Tyler Evans in V – constantly emotionally manipulates his mother, Diana.

Eric Northman in True Blood – Allows Sookie to “accidentally” drink his blood and subsequently, stalks her emotionally without her knowledge.

Boyd Langton in Dollhouse- asks Topher to dismember the body of a killed client to hide the evidence.

Chuck Bartowski in Chuck - often tries to use emotional manipulation to get his way with Sarah.

6) Clearly (hetero)sexually viable and attractive as mates  -  e.g. we see them in bed with a woman or as a LT partner to a female character

Chuck  Bartowski in Chuck

Morgan Grimes in Chuck

Tyler Evans in V

Kyle Hobbes in V

Bill in True Blood

Steven Bloom in Undercovers

Castle in Castle

Malcolm in Firefly

Steve McGarrett in Hawaii
Five-O

Leo Nash in Undercovers

Javier Esposito in Castle

Bill in True Blood

Michael Westen in Burn Notice

Cpt. Adama (Apollo) in BSG

Admiral Adama in BSG

Will Riker in ST: TNG

Wallace Fennel in Veronica Mars

7) Get the job done without necessarily having the brains to  figure out how

Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O – often depends on Kono, the Smurfette or Chin Ho for intel and suggestions

John Casey in Chuck - likes to blindly follows Beckman’s orders

Will Riker in Star Trek: TNG – We never see Will contribute intelligent suggestions to the Captain that help solve the situation they are facing in the episodes. Yet he is Number 2 and often sent out on away missions.

Men who deviate from any or all of these representations are often positioned as “lesser men” typically, in comparison to the “real man” on the show.

Tyler Evans in V – Tyler shows too much emotion, explained away by the fact that he is still young and thus, isn’t a “real man” yet. He also has no substantial role in V except as a clueless pawn and eventually, dies at the hand of a fake Lisa after having sex with her unknowingly.

Father Jack Landry vs. Kyle Hobbes  in V- Not sexually viable as a Christian priest, shows too much emotion (he cries and has a conscience towards killing innocent people). He does not have a need for control preferring instead to believe in fate as a result of his religious affliation. He is the shortest of all the men in the primary cast and does not favour violence.

Hoban “Wash” Washburne  vs. Cpt Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly – Married to Zoe Washburne who is shown to “wear the pants in the relationship”. Not very muscular and is quite intelligent in ship’s processing and engineering bits.

Lafayette  in True Blood – Is queer and does not have an aversion to showing feeling for Tara, his cousin, when she is in bad shape.

Topher Brink vs. Boyd Langton in Dollhouse – Uses intellect to get things done. Not muscular and never seen as heterosexually viable. Once, he shows fear and regret after killing another man. Boyd swoops in for the rescue.

Dr. Gauis Baltar vs. Admiral Adama in BSG – Again, uses his brain more than his brawn to get things done.

Bill Hoyt vs. Steven Bloom/Leo Nash in Undercovers  – AGAIN, uses his brain and techno skills to get things done instead of his brawn/ ability to seduce women.

Morgan Grimes vs. John Casey in Chuck – Morgan is the short, bumbling best friend to Chuck. He shows way too much care for his best friend and is thus considered weak.

Chuck Bartowski vs. John Casey in Chuck – Shows too much emotion and likes to talk things through instead of just smashing the wall in the hopes of getting rid of the problem.

Kevin Ryan vs. Esposito  in Castle – Is the shorter, more effeminate of the pair. Also, the more intelligent.

Dano vs Steve in Hawaii Five-O – Again, shorter and the one with more feeling in the pair.

Lt Felix Gata in BSG - Again, uses his brain to solve problems, not his brawn.

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge in ST:TNG – Uses his brain and does not favor violence to solve his problems. He is also rarely seen as sexually viable by women and his closest relationship is to another man, the android Data.

Wallace in Veronica Mars – Doesn’t seem to have much intelligence, just brawn.

I’m sure I missed a couple of characters here and there but I think the point is that men who are not stereotypically masculine are shown
as “lesser men” subsequently as lesser human beings and characters. Note that though most of these characters are able to emote and show vulnerabilities in individual situations,  majority of the show and their character depends on their being stereotypically masculine (read: stoic, handsome, muscular, charismatic men who save the situation and the women).

Now some of you may say “If you look for it, you will find it”. Well, it’s not like I’m looking too hard, most of these factors are on the surface of the show. They are obvious, right in our faces.

It is disheartening to see that men are given such limited roles in TV shows. I want to see shows where men respect one another, despite their differences. Where men respect women as full and complete human beings on their own terms, not on men’s terms. Where it is alright for a man to show sadness, fear, love beyond sex and care for someone other than his girlfriend, his wife or his mother. Where it is okay if they don’t want to “fight it out” and instead, sit down and talk. Where’s it’s okay to be content with fulfilling emotional relationships with other men without being accused of being gay. Where you can be gay and still be considered a man. Where it’s okay for them to be short and fat and still considered manly. Where they do not feel a need to “protect” women but to work with women to find the solution to their mutual problems. Where there is no constant need to control everything in their lives.

Again, I’m not saying it’s not wrong to watch these shows – everyone of us, including myself, need a little escape. But to watch them without
critical reception is unwise. Social stereotypes exist EVERYWHERE even when they are packaged in fun boxes labelled `TV shows and movies for pleasure`. The `for pleasure` tag might just be the thing that gets us to buy into sexism, racism and other isms that people have to live with everyday outside of the television box.

For change to be really happen, writers and viewers need to look at the characters of men just as much as they need to look at the characters of women. We can’t work towards adequate representations of one gender because that is not enough. We need to start conceptualizing of both women and men as full and complete human beings who are able to feel the whole range of emotions without being accused of being” too emotional”. We need to start looking at women and men as people in their own right.