For years women have been portrayed as the weaker of the two sexes.  This portrayal had been never been more evident than on TV.  Women had been given secondary roles to that of men in power, an assistant to the boss, but never the boss.  In an article written in the New York Times in 1999, its author clearly denounces the use of women on TV in roles that were seen as powerful yet women were portrayed as weak in them.

            In television courtrooms, as in real life, the judges we have been accustomed to seeing are men.  But on the screen and in the courts, there is change.  Networks have law-based series that portray women as judges.  While that brings to the screen something we are not used to seeing – women in positions of power – these judges are generally presented as bimbos or sexual predators, as dangerous or incompetent (Goodman, 1999, p.47).

            The truly unfortunate issue is that young girls who watch such programs are lead to believe that women, although given the position of authority, do not always received the respect of that position.  In case of one such TV series, the women judge, while given the responsibility to decipher right from wrong, is portrayed as letting her feelings cloud her decision making.  Wear as a man would have handled the same responsibility with stoic demeanor and reserve.

            As in most courts, the case load and social problems are overwhelming.  They are problems that male judges would have difficulty resolving, but they would not be likely to describe themselves as incompetent (Goodman, 1999, p47).

            To believe that the interpretation of the female sex will change quickly, is to be that there is a “man” on the mood.  Over time change has happen, female doctors hold very prestige positions as head of medical facilities, there are top female military officers, as well as senators, cabinet heads, and foreign dignitaries.  But it is still believed that men in these same positions do a better job and in many cases are paid “handsomely” for them.  But change is happening, roles are being reversed, ability rather than gender is recognized, and women are becoming empowered.

            An interesting twist, the New York Times that this article appeared in 1999, has just elected in September of this year, its first female Executive Editor, Jill Abramson.  The times they are changing, even if slowly.

 

Goodman, E. (1999, December 12). Seducers, Harassers and Wimps in Black Robes. 

   New York Times, 47. http://libproxy.mcla.edu:2070