"We're Not Not in Kansas Anymore"

Hi Folks, today I am going to address gender roles and sexuality in 90210. Last night, the eleventh episode of the fifth season aired. In that episode (for those who have not watched it), Annie one of the characters pictures an alternate reality in her head while she is numbed out for surgery. In that alternate reality, most of her friends did not turn out as they were supposed to.

In that episode, themes such as promiscuity and wealth are portrayed. Adrianna is portrayed in this episode as a drug addict who only cares about her alcohol and drugs. Naomie on the other hand, is depicted as a "GOLD DIGGER" (as Teddy puts it in one of the scenes). She is concerned with her looks and wants to be in a relationship with Teddy Montgomery for his money though she knows he is gay. Annie is portrayed as the unlucky emotional one.

According to me, female in this episode are portrayed for the most part as emotional, concerned with their looks, money, wealth and GOSSIP. Erin Silver is a blogger that only posts scoops on her platform. 

In terms of sex, there is no apparent depiction of sex in this episode, though Naomie mentions she cannot sleep with Teddy because "that is not who [she] is". 

It is interesting how in this alternate reality Naomie is still fool of herself despite the fact that she is not wealthy; Dickson is a music artist that could not care less about the rest of the world; Silver is a blogger that puts people's careers in jeopardy for her own sake; Teddy is gay and has not yet come out of the closet; Navid is Dickson's "henchman"; and Adrianna is a promiscuous drug addict.

I think female portrayals as well as male ones were stereotyped.

What do you guys think? What are your thoughts on the different images depicted in the episode?
http://www.cucirca.com/2013/01/29/90210-season-5-episode-11-were-not-not-in-kansas-anymore/

Mon Blog en Quelques Mots... My Blog in Short

Sexuality and gender have been portrayed in different ways in modern television series. In teen television series, sexuality has been naturalized and even 'casualized' while gender has been stereotyped. In his article "Gender and Sexual Scripts in popular US teen series: A study on the gendered discourses in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl", Elke Van Damme infers that  a big chunk of television teen series content is 'hypersexual'. By 'hypersexual' I mean explicit sex content such as lusting embraces. Nowadays, teen television series present sex as casual and natural. Through their content, they give the impression that every teenager has sex and rushes through life (gets married, gets pregnant early). In some other modern television series (not necessarily geared toward teens), sex is presented as more sacred and private. But, for the most part it is always presented as NATURAL. Representation of gender roles on the other hand are either stereotypical or challenged. Women will either be portrayed as sensitive, seductive, and "fashionistas" or strong, and ambitious.

I would like to analyze the content of some modern television series, discuss the different representations of sexuality and gender and get you guys' thoughts on those representations. I will be focusing on shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and 90210 since they are familiar to me. I will be commenting on scenes that draw my attention, and catch my eye. Since the shows air on different days, I will update posts after each episode of each show has aired.

That does not mean that I will not be checking out other shows in order to get more insight to the portrayals of gender and sexuality. Also, the discussions might not always be about gender and sexuality, but rather on other aspect portrayed in the show such as wealth.

I hope you guys will enjoy the discussions.

Here is the kind of scenes that I will be looking at when discussing sexuality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYEQEKYvKbk