Blog 2

I am an avid fan of the television show "Dawson's Creek" which was actually canceled in 2003, but reruns can be seen on TBS every weekday morning. I have all of the DVDs and was watching a few episodes the other night. I was watching an episode in which one of the main characters, Pacey (a guy) was going to enter a beauty pageant. Nowhere in the rules was it stated that he could not enter because he was a male, but the pageant directors insisted that it was against the rules. He ended up being able to enter, and did quite well. It got me thinking about "Dawson's Creek" through a feminist lens. I was thinking about the two girls that are main characters named Joey and Jen. Joey is the all American good girl while Jen is the bad girl from the big city. I was analyzing all of the episodes I have seen and really started to notice how each of them are portrayed, one to seem "good" and one "bad." Joey was always dressed conservatively, never in clothes that would give any hint of what her body looked like underneath it all. Jen, however, was always dressed in tight, body-hugging clothes that revealed her ample cleavage. Even though I love the show, I hate how women can be judged simply by their choice of clothing. I know it is a show, but it portrays an image of reality. People can see Joey as good and pure and Jen as bad and promiscuous because they see those things in reality all the time. This example of "lookism" stood out to me because of the things I have been learning in this class. I think that if more people were introduced to these stereotypes, maybe bigger changes could be made. Before, I never thought about it that way because I liked the show and was involved in each character. Now, I know how to look at things through a feminist lens, and I think it would benefit society to learn to do the same.