The National Organization for Women recently released its second annual look at major television networks which included some bizarre choices. NOW ranked programs based on their gender composition and diversity, level of violence, sexual exploitation, and social responsibility. But their recommendations don’t exactly sound like standard feminist fare. As Lisa de Moraes noted in an article for The Washington Post
The best of the bunch is “Gillmore GIrls,” that family-friendly WB drama series about a hot, young, intelligent, size 0 single mom and her hot, even younger, super-intelligent, size 0 daughter and what a totally more-like-girlfriends relationship they have.
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On the other hand, NOW’s No. 3 most feminist-friendly show this year is WB’s “Felicity,” a program whose ratings rise or fall depending on the hair length of the lead character — a hot, young, intelligent, size 0 college coed who’s biggest dilemma in life seems to be choosing between cute Noel and cute Benjamin.
One thing we can be very glad about is that nobody writes programs to fit NOW’s guidelines. For example, they give a show like The Weakest Link high marks for treating men and women the same, but then severely mark it down for its hosts “nasty demeanor.” Similarly, one of my favorite shows, Star Trek: Voyager gets high marks for having a diverse range of actors and a woman in charge, but gets marked down for being part of the “typically male world of action and violence.”
Any list that recommends “Felicity” while ignoring “Star Trek: Voyager” has some serious problems in my book. I suspect a show that met all of NOW’s criteria would be so boring that it would quickly get cancelled by network executives.
Sources:
NOW’s bewildering picks and pans. Lisa de Moraes, The Washington Post, July 2, 2001.
Watchout, Listen Up! Feminist Primetime Report, Update 2000-2001. National Organization for Women, July 2001.