Dumb-blonde stereotypes Essays

Dumb-blonde stereotypes Essays Dumb-blonde stereotypes Essay Dumb-blonde stereotypes Essay Tony then arrives to let Gary know that their pub is closing down, both shocked Gary walks out abandoning Dorothy, this is a stereotypical think that men dont care about woman as much as booze, or footie.  In scene 2 Gary and Tony have a drink with the new pub landlord; the drink is seen as a stereotypical bonding way of men. Scene 3 in Debs flat is a good scene because it shows how careless men are, when Tony shows up with a condom machine badly wrapped, this also supports the stereotypical idea of men being obsessed with sex. Debs flat is stereotypically feminine in that it is tidy, clean, bright, homely and tasteful unlike Gary and Tonis flat which is dirty and overloaded with beer cans. When Debby tells Tony about her interest in astrology Tony then gives her a stereotypical male view of it guys dont believe in all that bollocks, unless they want to get off with a girl who really thinks (its true). Tony then makes a joke with a sexual overtone, you show me yours, Ill show you mine, again this stereotypical idea that men only think about sex. In scene 4 Tony and Gary go o n a pub crawl to find a new pub, as mentioned they approach this as if buying a house, as it will become their home from now on. Gary makes a list of what to look for in a pub, the list includes taking a good look at the outside step (when they are drunk), and local take-ways (stereotypical lad, them getting drunk and getting the munchies). Over the scene Gary and Tony start dancing drunkenly in the street, this is a very stereotypical. In scene 5 we see Garys flat which has been turned in a pub with the old pubs filthy toilets and the optics. They then start having a conversation about girly words like: loo, doobry, oops, potty, flip flop, being different from guy words such as carburettor, penalty shoot-out. The girly words have a more soft and connotations of home, where as the guy words are linked to stereotypical male obsessions like cars and football. When Dorothy comes in and Gary tries to explain the importance of pubs to men by comparing a pub to cathedral, suggesting that drinking is their religion. Gary then enacts all of his bad habits mentioned earlier. When Gary goes to the pub he lives to-do notes for Dorothy, and she from furry goes to the pub and does a role reversal and acts like a stereotypical lad does. Now what Dorothy does is, in effect, to expose the dominant ideology that says its socially acceptable for men to behave like this, but totally taboo for woman to do the same. The humour in this scene comes through the surprise of the role reversal/breaking of stereotypes showing us what we do not expect to see. The second comedy I am going to look at is AbFab, now the humour comes form the characters breaking the stereotypical representations of woman, unlike MBB where the humour comes form the exaggerated stereotypes. AbFab is an almost entirely female sitcom, there are hardly any men in the programme, and those that appear are usually either gay or unimportant (seen as sex objects, as woman would be seen in MBB and earlier sitcoms. The humour in this sitcom comes from Patsy and Edina acting in this extreme, and in social terms unacceptable behaviour.  The episode of AbFab that Ive studied is the first ever episode made of AbFab. In scene 1 and throughout the episode we see that Edina breaks the stereotype of being a good mother and there is a theme of role reversal in which Edina is, is a teenager and Saffy is the responsible mother figure. The scene opens with Edinas room and shes in bed as she had a hangover from the previous night. This is where we see that she had none of the qualities of a mother: as she is messy, get drunk and smokes to excess (we see bottles, ash trays and cigarette buds all over the room), she is irresponsible (as she cant be asked to get up to go to work), she is lazy and she is very loud. The role reversal is seen when Saffy comes in and starts shouting at Edina to get up and go to work (as if a parent would do to their child), Edina reacts by hiding the drink bottle under her duvet so that Saffy doesnt see it (again as a teenager would hide drinks or fags). The comedy comes from Edina breaking the stereotypical mother image. In the second scene we see Edinas kitchen and again that is also covered with drink bottles everywhere. We see the Edina is not at all domestic because she confuses the washing machine with a cupboard, this reveals that she is not a stereotypical domestic housewife and the humour comes from that.  Saffy is presented as a stereotypical mother should be: caring, responsible, practical, concerned and trying to tell Edina the difference between right and wrong (as a mother should instead its the daughter). Edina acts in a very unfeminine manner, as she is loud, vulgar, aggressive and childish (like a stereotypical teenager would be perceived as). In scene 3 we meet Patsy for the first time, now as soon as she enters the room we can tell that Saffy doesnt like her (like when parents meet daughters boyfriends and think their not good enough). Patsy arrives in a smart suit (this reflects the dominance over Edina and as if she is the man in the partnership). She has a sixties beehive hairdo, this is a throwback to the time that Patsy and Edina are stuck in. now Edina sees her relationship with Patsy more important that the motherly relationship with Saffy ( un stereotypical, as mothers should put their kids before everything else), similar to the relationship in MBB, where they see mates more important than girlfriends. In scene 4 we see Edina and Patsy doing things to excess like drinking, smoking (these are unfeminine vices), later we see them taking drugs like its a everyday, normal thing. Edina seems to have few maternal instinct and Patsy none, Patsy asks whats the point of having kids when all they do is ruin your body, and not come with you to fashion shows, Patsy only sees the disadvantages. Patsy is independent and in control other own sexuality without any maternal hang- ups at all (like a stereotypical man, who has one night stands all the time and doesnt care). Patsy breaks the stereotypical traditional feminine stereotypes as her life seems to revolve around; drinking, smoking, bitching, drugs, and drugs, those things you would expect only a man to do, this breaks all feminine stereotypes, and thats why its seen as funny to the audience as they would never expect a woman to do that. In scene 5 we meet Bubble, she is perceived as and extreme dumb-blonde stereotypes, her name presumably refers to the fact that she is an air-head, but also she is reversing the stereotype of the efficient female assistant. In this scene Edina is very much her own boss (as you would expect a stereotypical man to be), also you see how AbFab is a world of woman, as there are no men in it or the fact that no men are mentioned. We also see how ruthless, insincere, heartless and totally lacking maternal feelings Edina is (you wouldnt expect to see woman like that, it breaks away from the stereotypical representation of woman) when she organises the fashion show.