Unruly

Alex Schlegel

Politics of Popular Culture

Blog Post 1

July 11, 2014

 Unruly

Over the past three years HBO’s selection of shows has changed immensely and one in particular, Veep is changing the way we view a modern day women in a variety of ways, that is. In this respect the show not only has one powerful female character being the Vice President, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-dreyfus) but a handful of female characters that offer a myriad of female gender roles, which ultimately strengthens femininity and deflates modern female stereotypes. A term that helps portray Meyer in the show is the idea of the unruly woman, which I will discuss later throughout my blog post, but here is a quick definition to get you thinking about the idea. “The unruly woman is often associated with sexual inversion – the woman on top… less about gender confusion than about larger issues of social and political order that come into play when what belongs “below” (either women themselves, or their images appropriated by men in drag) usurps the position of what belongs “above” (253 Rowe). The term power, as the quote allocates, is a key player in the feminine situation, it’s not the end all be all, but it heavily influences the way we define equality or inequality. In this blog I will analyze and explain how female characters like, Selina Meyer and a few minor female roles breaks away from typical female hegemony through the idea of the unruly women, i.e. particular verbal and physical actions as well as power through status, in the show television series Veep.

One of the ways Veep and its characters defer from the stereotypical female spectacle is by portraying its characters in a completely different way from hegemonic femininity. “It’s impressive that a woman is portrayed as the vice president, but that’s not even what makes this show so fantastic. What makes “Veep” great is that most of the female characters are power-hungry, nasty people. They don’t care about each other or the people they are supposed to serve. They care about getting ahead by any means necessary” (Kwederis). Veep maybe outrageously funny because of the way the female characters act but by doing so they are tearing down the boundaries of modern female stereotypes that are associated with feminism. Meyer is not by any means overly lady like or dainty, if anything she puts on a front to act that way when conversing with certain politicians, thus allocating means to gain access or power or as Rowe put it, “she has to reinforce traditional structure. But she has to help sanction political disobedience for men and women alike by making such disobedience thinkable” (253).  Many times in order to make change one must conform to create a bridge between the two. “Feminism is its voracious desire to…develop new ways of correcting and coping with female voicelessness…and yet there is a tendency to normalize categories, routines, ideologies: to set some standard for politically correct thought and behavior” (Bauer & McKinstry 241). Even with modern feminism there are still set rules or boundaries to follow in hopes of being politically correct or in attempt to fit in. However, Meyer never seems to follow this ethical or political aspect of feminism, instead she uses vulgar quotes such as, “Now why don’t you just go and fuck yourself in your own asshole” (Veep). As appalling as this quote is it really sums up how much Meyer in the show Veep sets a brand new standard for the word feminine.

Meyer’s actions, language, etc. all add up to idea of the unruly women. However if you take a step back and look at a couple of other female characters offered throughout Veep you get a fuller understanding of how this show in particular erases inequality and strengthens some part of the feminist agenda all the while breaking away from the stereotypical roles or the baggage that comes along with hegemonic femininity.

“One of the goals of feminist representation in media isn’t for every woman to be powerful or every woman to be a wonderful person. The goal is to have a wide variety of representations of women: nice women, pathetic women, nasty women, power-hungry women and heart-of-gold women. The kind of varied representation that has been afforded to men on television since its inception is what women deserves. “Veep” contributes to this by having hilarious and even horrible female characters anchoring the show.” (Kwederis).

A prime example of a horrible female character or a character the writers purposely want the viewers to hate is the first lady in the white house. Both her and Meyer have a handful of altercations, mainly the first lady doing everything she can to look good with media and throwing the veep under the bus. So, obviously the first lady is portrayed as the nagging female character. On the flip side there are many characters that bring comedy to the table, which sheds a completely different light. For instance, Meyer’s secretary Sue Wilson comes off as a total nihilist who in the grand scheme of things is the glue that holds the fort together, so to speak. Her dark sense of humor is what brings comedic relief when necessary and her attitude is extremely different from many of the female characters on the show. With the combination of these women’s attributes, powerful, snobby, funny, bitchy, etc. provides viable proof that in today’s world hegemonic feminism is a thing of the past and women come in all shapes and sizes, both literally and figuratively speaking.

            By portraying Selina Meyer as a character who has no problem with telling her staff to “fuck off” and her status as Vice President strongly allocates the idea of the unruly woman. What adds to this is the fact that the entire show Veep embraces all kinds of women from funny to smart to down right ferocious, which ultimately excludes the idea of female hegemony that is so prevalent in today’s society. Shows like Veep can make such a huge impact in eliminating societal stereotypes and changing the way we perceive certain groups of individuals. It’s wonderful how much impact it really can have because personally I would have not even considered writing about female hegemony or touched bases on feminists movements had it not been for shows like Veep or Orange is the New Black and it’s a good thing I had because it has open my eyes to a greater era where both men and women are portrayed in a multitude of ways on television, which indefinitely will cause a change hegemonic society today.

           

Works Cited

Bauer, Dale M., and Susan Jaret McKinstry. Feminism, Bakhtin, and the Dialogic. New York City: Suny Press, 1991. Print.

Glenn, Susan A. Female Spectacle: The Theatrical Roots of Modern Feminism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print.

Lengermann, Patricia Madoo. Modern Feminist Theory. N.p.: George Washington University, 2002. Print.

 Michigan Daily. University of Michigan, Apr. 2014. Web. 11 July 2014. <http://www.michigandaily.com/blog/podium/feminine-critique-equal-representation>.

Rowe, Kathleen. Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011. Print.