Keshia Nicole Owens
Blog post assignment 1
The evolution of Hegemony: The good, The Bad, and The Ugly
When most people think of a nerd they think of smart, unattractive, and white. Most people think this way because there were few shows that depicted African Americans as intelligent. Media has come a long way, but still have some things that should be ironed out. During the 90’s there were shows like “Family Matters”, and the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” as well as many others that broke the barriers of the stereotypical “white nerd”. In the media, people who are book smart are perceived to have “gay” tendencies because of their appearance and their desire for education as well as there “feminine aspects”.
To begin with, Steve Urkel is a young African American who is in love with science just as much as he is in love with Laura who in his eyes in the most beautiful woman on this earth. To fit into the societies definition of Masculine a man must be strong athletic and have some knowledge. Urkel struggles with winning Laura’s heart without transforming into his suave clone Stefan. Stefan is the idealistic man of what it means to be masculine. Masculinity in this world is the guy who looks overly attractive and macho enough to not fit the definition of what it means to be “queer”. Not only is the media portraying what it means to be a woman, it is also taking on the idea of oppression in a whole new way. In the article, “Patriarchy, The system an it, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” by Allan Johnson looks at how the “system” (92) is Controlling us. What he is trying to convey in his aricle is that patriarchy doesn’t mean the oppression and dominance of men it can go both way:
To have power over and to be prepared to use it are defined culturally as good and desirable (and characteristically “masculine”), and lack such power or to be reluctant to use it is seen as weak if not contemptible (characteristically “feminine”) (Johnson).
To Laura is oppressive towards Urkel because of her preference in a “normal” guy. As Urkel transform into Stefan she becomes attractive to him because of his looks and he is not as clumsy as Urkel. Therefore, the producer of Family Matters only proves Johnsons theory that society or better yet the “system” has designed male and female roles, by using Urkel to jokingly humiliate females, “we’re involved in patriarchy and its consequences because we occupy social positions in it, which is all it takes” (Johnson). Thus we as a society partake in patriarchy, male and female. To say that patriarchy just involves men would be an underlying statement.
In addition, Urkels character not only put down women, his role as a male is also questionable in the sitcom. In the article, “portraying Difference” by Newman he explores the language of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Newman talks alot about the language that is used to describe people and the authentic images that are created to separate the male and female gender, "Media images of males and females have a strong influence on children's perceptions and behaviors" (Newman). Therefore, any child watching this show would automatcially place them selves into the characters shows. A young male watching the show would want to identify himself with "mr. cool" also known as stefan because of his masculine ways. A young female watching this show would related to Laura becasue of her pretty attributes and because she is a cheerleader. A gay male watching this show would be confused because Laura and Urkel both display societies mixed up definition of what it means to be a woman. In addition, this fabricated chracterisic of men being macho is often misleading in the media. According to Newman, "textbooks still primarily portray males as aggressive, argumentative, and competive" (newman). In fact in one of the episodes Mr. Cool starts to argue with Laura and the producers show that as a sign of aggression and Laura tend to like it. On the other hand, a young woman watching the show will get false information on how a man should treat her.
To conclude, The good part about Family matters is it shows a whole other side of patriarchy. The ugly part is the producers should have made it clear that no woman wants a man that is entirely macho and can't think. The bad part about this show is Urkel is played by the same chracter to me that is a contradiction of masculinity.
Works Cited:
Newman, David M.. Identities and Inequalities. 1. McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.
Johnson, Allan G.. It's Not Just about Gender. 1. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. Print.
