As a former drama geek and ardent lover of musical theater, the prospect of a new show about a group of misfit high schoolers struggling to find their place in the teenage hierarchy under the guidance of their earnest, wide-eyed Spanish teacher, Will, left me positively giddy. And last Spring, when FOX opted to preview the series premiere of Glee , I was not disappointed. There was pep, punch, a slight quirkiness that left me wanting more ...
... and there was feminisism.
Since Glee 's return to the fall circuit a few weeks ago, relevant feminist topics have been mentioned in both episodes.
Last week, one of the central characters, Rachel, a talented and outspoken young woman, attended a Celibacy Club meeting in the hopes of becoming closer to a boy she liked. Repulsed by the real-life personification of the virginity myth she found, Rachel spoke out, telling her peers, "This is a joke! Did you know most studies have shown that celibacy doesn't work in high schools? Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain! ... The only way to deal with teen sexuality is to be prepared. That's what contraception is for ... You want to know a dirty little secret? ... Girls want sex just as much as guys do!"
Speaking out against abstinence-only education, and tearing down the sexual myths of our gendered society... um, can I get a "Hell yeah!"?
But that's not all!
In this week's episode, one of the central plot lines dealt with a high schooler student's sexual identity, and navigating the waters of coming out. Also, it should be noted that Rachel, the comprehensive sex-ed advocate, is the daughter of two gay men.
The show also satirizes the consumer-driven aspects of the heteronormative nuclear marriage (the Spanish teacher's wife, a shrill, superficial, Pottery-Barn-ahololic, is not cast in a good light), and simultaneously encourages empowerment, stressing the importance of finding yourself and respecting yourself enough not to conform.
Today, in a world where teen television is ruled by sexy-vampires and Gossip Girl s it's both refreshing and inspiring to see a television show take an openly liberal stance on reproductive education and LGBTQ rights, while simulatneously advocating less political, but equally pertinent topics, such as the importance of confidence, bravery, and kindness.
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I was initially really turned off by the commercials for this show. My experience with my high school's equivalent of a glee club was awful- it was all popular kids, it was smarmy when I was going through a sarcastic stage, and it in no way challenged any status quo. But I've now had several people tell me that this show isn't like that, and I'm actually excited to give it a try.
One thing, though- I feel kinda weird about that quote you mentioned, about "Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain!" Now, I'm all about comprehensive sex ed, and I don't want abstinence-only taught to my kid. But I do actually want abstinence taught to my kid, as one of a variety of options. I think that saying kids are completely incapable of abstinence is as insulting as saying they HAVE to abstain. I think that saying kids can't abstain makes comprehensive sex ed advocates sound like we don't believe teenagers can make their own choices, which is counterproductive. It would be different if she had said that, statistically, many teenagers choose not to abstain and they need the information to protect themselves (and they need to be free of slut-shaming).
I'm not going to discount the entire show over one sentence, but I was wondering if anyone else was a bit bothered by it.
I really enjoy watching Glee, and though its not a pefect show, it is quite refreshing compared to the regular "teen" fare that tends to induce vomit and diminish my faith in my own generation.
I was also annoyed by that "Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain!" quote. Replacing the "teenagers are asexual" meme with "teenagers are hypersexual" is misrepresentative and insulting. Sex education should be about giving teenagers good information, not promoting more or less sex.
I think you make a really legitimate point, and while that sentence might undercut the overarching message slightly, it does not do so completely, and it's still refreshing to see characters addressing the importance of comprehensive sex-ed on a mainstream media network.
I don't want to be a downer and I really love the music on this show and I really love Jane Lynch, however...Glee has quite a few feminist fails in it.
Why is it that the one Black character in the show has to be so sassy and angry uttering phrases like "I will cut you..." while "busting windows" out of cars.
Why is it that the one Asian character doesn't speak minus her audition?
And the character you mentioned that came out of the closet this week, last week used the phrase "that's so gay" while referring to bad music. That one could be irony, but still...I really hate that phrase and what it perpetuates when used as a substitute for negative words.
I'm a musical theater person too, so I really appreciate the talent in this show, but I do catch myself saying "ooooooh" while sucking my teeth during quite a few spots.
I think the 'that's so gay' remark was clearly him covering because he doesn't want to be outed as gay. Everything else, though, I really agree with. The show has some major flaws-- including the fact that that one gay male teacher is some sort of sexual predator. That REALLY rubbed me the wrong way.
In all, it's a pretty mixed bag. And it just hasn't been clever enough to keep me sticking around to find out whether it turns out to be progressive or not.
It's questionable whether or not the gay teacher was a predator. Rachel accused him and he was fired, he never even admitted to being gay.
Well, they did show him feeling up a male student and then cut to Rachel giving a disgusted look. It's implied that Rachel only did it because she didn't get the solo she wanted, and that she might have exaggerated what happened, but still, he wasn't behaving appropriately.
The most recent episode, "Preggers," certainly portrayed him as a not-so-likable character with his eagerness in helping Sue Sylvester break up the glee club, as did "Acafellas" where we found out he was stalking Josh Groban.
Sue Sylvester's character is not my favorite either. They make her out to be a tough-talking, feminist-sounding woman (even though her other political views, as shown as on her news segment, are hardly feminist or progressive) but she's a very vicious, cruel character who doesn't care who she steps on to get what she wants, and works her students to death. I feel like this gives bad messages about what feminist, tough women are like.
I only saw the preview, but I felt the same way. The overused minority stereotypes killed it for me. The black girl, Asian girl, disabled boy, and gay(?) boy have no depth to their characters. As a black woman myself, I am so utterly sick of seeing black women always in the same one-dimensional supporting role as the angry but sassy black female who tends to speak picturesquely. The of course sassy, black girl screaming "hell to the naw" in the first episode cinched it for me.
Maybe I will watch another episode just to see if they make the characters more complex, but I have little hope.
Like Zaneta, I have a complex response to this show. On the one hand, Rachel's speech was pretty cool, and I applaud the show for including a gay character (from what I hear, his coming out will be addressed further in upcoming episodes - he's not just going to stay in the closet and be miserable) and gay parents, yay! But...then you have a character like Sandy, the creepy (implied) gay teacher, who just seems to embody some negative gay stereotypes (he's kind of a pedophile! He stalks celebrities! etc) And while I appreciate that Glee shows the downsides of the stereotypical heterosexual marriage, I wish Will's wife was less of a cartoonish villain - she is just so greedy and selfish and materialistic (and she has a "hysterical" pregnancy? Really? There's not another way to describe it?). Like Sandy, she just seems to embody some negative stereotypes, this time relating to women.
And of course, there's still the issue that the people of color, and the disabled character, so far haven't done a whole lot - the show's mostly focused on the pretty white leads and their romantic entanglements. I think the show has promise and definitely has a feminist bent, but it has a ways to go before I could comfortably call it "feminist"
I think it IS actually called a hysterical pregnancy. But, yeah, I agree with the majority of your points.
I think the scene that really captured this show for me was the black girl (sorry, I don't know any of these characters' names) singing that song about smashing windows. On the one hand, it was totally kick-ass. She was the lead and being backed-up by the skinny cheerleader-types. On the other hand, it played dangerously close to the 'black women are AGGRESSIVE!' meme, and it pissed me off that her back-up dancers got to be sexual but she, as an overweight girl, was not allowed to be portrayed as such. Overall, I give this show an 'Eh'
susantohelit said:
I wish Will's wife was less of a cartoonish villain - she is just so greedy and selfish and materialistic
I haven't watched the show after the first episode for this reason. Her character was so over the top with the "I want things and you're a bad person for following your dream and not being able to give them to me", and then to have her contrasted with little miss "Oh, I'm weird but cute, so that makes me lovable" (I have a major hate on for the so-called quirky chicks in movies anyway), it was just too...gah, no thanks. I don't like having a pairing shoved down my throat.
Maybe it gets better from there, maybe they actually gave the wife some redeeming traits and the guidance counselor some flaws that weren't meant to be endearing, but I couldn't bring myself to stick around and find out. Which is a shame, because as a former chorus member I was really hoping to like this show.
I also think that her character is a way to give the Spanish teacher an 'out' if he cheats on her. He is the quintessential good guy and would never cheat unless pushed to the brink. You know, having an overly materalistic, self obsessed, liar as a wife can free you morally to be an adulterer. If she were painted in a sympathetic or even realistic light, cheating would contradict the selfless hero persona they have created for him.
I agree with most of what everyone said on here.
I think one of the major problems with the show is the presentation of the characters - there are only a FEW complex characters - the football player who wants to be good, the unpopular girl who is really talented, the teacher torn between his passion and his responsibilities. But pretty much EVERYone else is some kind of one-dimensional trope of a character. the hysterical materialistic wife, the "i'll cut you" black girl, the effeminate gay boy, the pedophile older gay man, the silent asian, etc, etc, etc.
but I also agree with the OP in that this show has major potential. and i'm really hoping that all it needs is some time to develop these characters into more complex beings.. otherwise it's going to get old really fast. by the third episode i was already tired of the storyline with the wife. crossing my fingers that things start looking up..
This was fascinating to read, because while watching Glee I was actually really pissed off at a number of things.
Firstly, exactly what was said in the comment above me re: one-dimensional stereotypical characters, esp in terms of race, disability, and gender.
Secondly, how all the characters treat each other, though this is a bigger problem that I have with general television. People lie. Constantly. And they never try to work out their problems by being honest with each other and talking it out, until after INTENSE DRAMA happens - that's what makes the show. And it's annoying. I'd rather watch a show about people who actually try to work out their relationship troubles honestly and with integrity, instead of having to go through major drama first. Sometimes it happens, but sometimes it doesn't, and it's never the second category on TV. Including Glee.
Specifically I hated how football guy kisses nerd girl and then like walks out on her. Um...I understand you have trauma issues, but running away won't help - talking them out will.
Anyway.
And what pissed me off the most was the 'rival' teacher, the cheerleading coach. First of all, she isn't stereotypically pretty AND she's a central character, which at first glance is exciting, but she is portrayed *as a feminist*, and one that we are *supposed to hate*. She speaks openly about menstruation, she fights for her cause (as opposed to any of the other female characters, who are shy and timid, except the 'aggressive' black girl), and she does it in a way that's hurtful and horrible to the other characters and is portrayed as the Enemy.
In my opinion, though I also very much enjoy Rachel's comprehensive sex ed talk, I think the constant misrepresentation of feminism far outweighs any brief positive insights into it the show may give us.
I think the fact that students don't always talk out problems with each other is not so much promoting that as just showing what teens are like. How likely is that a real-life Finn would say to a real-life Rachel, "Sorry, I have a problem with ejaculating too early?" Not very. They're teenagers.
I have a lot of issues with this show (though I still find myself loving it), but one thing I have to give it is that these characters sound way more like real high school students, like people I might have known in high school, than most other teen shows I have seen.
I like Glee. The satire is spot on and the characters are sufficiently compelling that I want to watch again. I think it's fascinating that the writers show us not only women who see the ideals of feminity as flawed and speak out against them (like Rachel) but also women who fit feminine ideals and are still poorly served by them (Quinn and Terri). Quinn and Terri may come off as evil cheerleader types, but they are both trying to be what everyone tells them they should be and wondering why they're still sad.
There are some characters that I'd like to see more developed but this is a series, after all, that is only 3 shows in. So far, I've seen enough to give them the benefit of the doubt. I'll probably watch for the rest of the season.
I love love LOVE this show. I know this sounds kind of cheesy but I actually got a little misty eyed when Kurt came out to Mercedes and she told him that he shouldn't be ashamed of who he is.
I am also excited to see that the high school villain, Quinn Fabray, is growing layers. I believe there was a scene where Quinn thanks her cheer coach for showing her that when you feel good about yourself, you don't feel the need to bring someone else down.
I like the show but it really is a mixed bag of the progressive and the just . . . not.
Was anyone else annoyed that one episode used the Kanye West song "Gold Digger" for one of the musical numbers? I never listened to the lyrics of the song before, and they are incredibly sexist. The main premise is that gold digging women will "trap" men into paying them money via child support. The song just plays into all sorts of racial stereotypes - the rich man is a (presumably black) athlete, women are only interested money, the woman tricked him by deliberately getting pregnant, now she "has him for 18 years," etc. Ick.
Interestingly, the Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" song he sampled/imitated has the exact opposite message.
I really didn't like that they chose to intercut that routine with footage of Terri complaining to Will about money and wanting things. Real subtle message, that. *rolls eyes*
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the eating disorder jokes. I'm all for dark humor (I loved Starved), but the jokes were obvious and didn't seem to really call into light why eating disorders are such serious problems.
I have now watched the three episodes and I still would not call it feminist. Taking on abstinence only education and exploring coming out issues are not limited to feminists. One can support these things without actually being in favor of furthering women's rights.
Furthermore, these are the most common plot lines for a series about high school. Sex education has often featured as a subplot or joke in t.v. shows and movies. And I disliked the presentation of the celibacy club girls as teases who were only trying to put their boyfriends through sexual hell and who were willing to offer their bodies to get what they wanted. They reinforced stereotypes that women use sex to control men. In contrast, the boys were shown discussing their legitimate sexual issues while the girls' sexuality was given no attention (except as it related to male desire). And when the main character gives her big speech, it is directed at the boys, letting them know that the girls want sex too so the boys should not be ashamed of wanting it. Had it been a real feminist perspective, it would have presented at some point how the woman were feeling and delved into the contradictory pressures to be sexually available but also chaste or the tension between sexual desire and sexual responsibility, etc.
And the minority characters are still cliches. The Asian and disabled character are practically non-existent. The gay character is utterly stereotypical, although they seemed to be giving him more depth with the closet storyline. The black character, to my disgust and dismay, continues to be the sassy but angry black woman, throwing out "hell to the naws" and breaking windshields when she is frustrated. I cringed when they decided to sing "Gold Digger" and, when asked to sing, she declared "I got this." It is crap like this that makes people think all black people listen to artists like Kanye and act surprised when they find out black people do listen to things besides hip hop. Additionally, they are not breaking feminist barriers with the materialistic wife who lies about being pregnant, or the fired gay teacher who is creepy and and has stalkerish and pedophilic tendencies, or the minority character who works at Sheets and Things. Much of the humor from this show derives from negative stereotyping.
A feminist show this is not. Yes, it has some progressive subplots and dialogue, but that is not enough to make it feminist.