Follow Up Post 2/3

Susan Douglas continues in chapters 4 and 5 of Enlightened Sexism to tell us about the media and other outlets have developed women into a place of non-equality and subservience to men. I particularly liked Douglas’ interpretations of Miss Congeniality and Legally Blonde because these movies are two of my favorites. I am very familiar with them which helped me to fully understand Douglas’ meanings. Douglas helped me to see why these movies have subtle digs at women and poke fun at strong women and how masked these things are in the fact that the movies are supposed to be funny. I also like how she described Oprah’s role in this and how Oprah has been a great role model for many women she also plays into the world of men and plays into doing things for the money she can get from people. But through all this Oprah is a black woman whose opinion is respected and she has a lot of financial power that she shares with downtrodden people. In thinking about Oprah it is sad how much she has risen from her childhood yet she is still controlled by money and what other people want from her. She may now have the financial freedom to leave her show but if she wishes to keep making money she must still conform in some ways. I also like how Douglas described how Oprah and other black women used different ways of talking in different situations so that they were relatable to both black and white people and how this was representative of how black women felt they needed to behave in the world in order to be accepted/respected. I also enjoyed when she discussed Bailey’s role in Grey’s Anatomy and how she was unique because of her positions as a married black working mother and woman.

It seems as though Douglas is moving towards even more present time so I am excited to see what she picks out of things that I will be even more familiar with.