The episode i chose to analyze comes from a TV show that's been on air for quite a while. "Friends". To give a little background on this show and episode that i watched it comes from the first season. There are six character who are all connected over a small period of time. The two characters Ross and Rachel tend to be two of the most important characters to me because of their background history. Rachel has moved into an apartment with her friend Monica because she recently divorced her husband. Ross is very attracted to Rachel and he continues to try and tell her how much he loves her but he also has an ex-wife who is now a lesbian that is having his baby. This shows displays a lot of heterosexuality couples or groupings. Carol, Ross' wife, is sometimes considered to be out of the ordinary because she is lesbian but none of them make a big deal about it.
The Episode I am analyzing Focus mainly on one seen out of the episode. In this scene Joey is trying to teach Ross how to talk dirty to a female. While Ross is in the act of talking dirty to Joey, Chandler happens to sneak in from behind and catch the last of Ross' words. They all find it funny but with Chandler not knowing whats going on, it puts a bad look on Joey and Ross. This draws from minoritizing discourses because everyone is considered to practice hegemony unless they come out and say otherwise (Lull "Hegemony"). The only character in 'Friends" that is known to be lesbian is Ross' ex-wife, so everyone Else is considered straight. This scene also draws from minoritizing discourse because while Joey is pretending to be Ross' female friend, Ross has to perform in a feminine way as if Joey is a girl standing right in front of him. Joey begins to act overly feminine while Ross takes his time to tell "her" how he wants to corress her butt and body. I found this to be one of the most important parts in the episode but i don't want to leave out the way they displayed their minoritizing sexuality.
Each time i watch "Friends' i always typically see the guys competing for masculinity. Whether is Joey and Chandler, Chandler and Ross or Ross and Joey they all seem to have a desire to impress women by either how strong they are or how women would react to them fixing on things. In this episode Ross and Chandler meet two very beautiful ladies who happen to be their next door neighbors. Their refrigerator happens to break and Joey and Chandler end up arguing over who can fix it better just so they would have a chance to enter the women's home. Eventually they get tired of seeing both men argue and shut the door. Joey and Chandler argue a lot about who has more masculinity and most of the time this stops both of them from succeeding in anything.
This show did not show much of any universalizing discourses because everyone represented their sexuality, race and gender in the same way. The only one who would have been different from any of them was Carol Ross' ex wife who didn't play a part in this episode at all. For the most part i observe how the men and women on Friends express their sexuality, gender and race so this is how i observe the minoritizing discourses.

The Female Image

For this blog i decided to analyze how women's bodies are portrayed and understood to the male eye. The picture above shows a women in a swim suit that only covers half of her body. Notice that the angle of the photo is directly shot to show the figure of her breast, which are barely being covered by her top. The shot of this photo is taken to attract the male spectator in a sexual way. When most males view a photo like this they look around the fact that she's a pretty female, SEX immediately becomes their primary thought. We admire photos such as this one because it signifies how you would want your girl friend to look. She has a flat stomach with a very thin waist line. Her tan skin and long hair adds on to her beauty and would be a perfect fit for the male gaze.
The site of this photo would grab the attention of a male quickly. I say this because females attract most males with not only their facial looks but mostly the shape of their body. Fatness is considered not to be excepted or admired by men. Women tend to think less of themselves when they are expressed as fat or unhealthy. This is only because of the ideas being put on the t.v from time to time about how both men and women should lose weight to become healthy and engage in sexual activity.
This image engages with the gender gaze because it gives men the idea of how we should want our women to look when they go to the beach. You could look at this picture and think maybe she took it by the water to signify her feminine activity. Who Knows? However, it still becomes appealing to the male and his sexual fantasies. What we have picked up now from the media is that men and women should have thin figures with nice curves just so they can attract someone of the opposite sex. Or at least you can say that would be the best way. Women are looked at as sex objects when pictures such as this are viewed by males.
In one of our power points it mentioned how feminine identity could either be bought or sold. These are the type of women that are being sold by the media everyday. To most women in America, this particular body is what they all want to work for. It gives them a sense of beauty and makes them feel attractive. To my understanding, no one knows the exact definition of what a perfect body is but we can show each other what one looks like. We no longer view the female body more than one way. It seems as if everyone is pushing for the same thing, the slim and toned figure the men and women have in magazines and commercials. Until men and women decide to stop letting the media pick and chose how we should look, they will continue to work for a model body.

Dreamworld

The movie dreamworld really opened my eyes on why a lot of people stereotype certain men and women. Although the showed women being mistreated in so many ways both in videos and in the real world, i feel that the finger should be pointed at both men and women for the way they are treated. I say this because i feel first off that men shouldn't even have the mind set to downgrade a women of any kind like that. The second reason is because the women except it. In this movie there weren't many women that had a problem with showing their body parts or being disrespected in so many ways. If they aren't going to stand up for who women are as a whole then what do they expect for men to think. Overall i didn't like what the movie showed me about men and it made me feel bad to even know that it is my gender that takes the leading role in this.