So a few nights ago, I was sitting in the common room of Pauley Hall and the Flintstones came on. I, being a complete child at heart, WANTED to watch the Flintstones! (The 50th Anniversary of the Flintstones was yesterday). Then the Jetsons came on! I was SO excited. These were shows I grew up with as a child on Cartoon Network. The episode that came on was The Jetsons: Jane's Driving Lesson. You can watch the 30 minute show if you would like. The hyperlink above will take you straight to it. The show is entirely about how women should NOT be allowed to drive. While I watched the episode with three male friends, they could not stop laughing! I will admit, the jokes did not phase me much at all and I occasionally laughed too but it was very weird to see that the notion that all women are bad drivers and should not be allowed to drive was being portrayed through a children's television series. It is a funny episode, or at least I thought so, but it does dive into gender roles and gender stereotypes. So, if you're interested, give it a look and comment on what you think.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Jane's Driving Lesson
So a few nights ago, I was sitting in the common room of Pauley Hall and the Flintstones came on. I, being a complete child at heart, WANTED to watch the Flintstones! (The 50th Anniversary of the Flintstones was yesterday). Then the Jetsons came on! I was SO excited. These were shows I grew up with as a child on Cartoon Network. The episode that came on was The Jetsons: Jane's Driving Lesson. You can watch the 30 minute show if you would like. The hyperlink above will take you straight to it. The show is entirely about how women should NOT be allowed to drive. While I watched the episode with three male friends, they could not stop laughing! I will admit, the jokes did not phase me much at all and I occasionally laughed too but it was very weird to see that the notion that all women are bad drivers and should not be allowed to drive was being portrayed through a children's television series. It is a funny episode, or at least I thought so, but it does dive into gender roles and gender stereotypes. So, if you're interested, give it a look and comment on what you think.
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The episode "Jane's Driving Lesson" is pretty funny. The stereotypes of gender and gender roles in the episode is intriguing. Like most fiction at the time it was made in "good humor." This is not like the "blackface" stereotypes because this was not made to degrade a group.
ReplyDeleteHow does one's reaction to the video differ based on one's sex? I feel like both of your comments on the episode differ quite a bit... perspective, I guess?
ReplyDelete@Becca Patch
ReplyDeleteI found it pretty funny personally. I guess it is because I am not the subject of laughter though. And once again, I do not find this episode to be a dangerously degrading stereotype of women like blackface is.