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Continuities and Change in Historical representation 

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Continuities and Change in Historical representation 

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The identity I explored was being a woman, specifically in America, and how women are represented in media. Women have historically been represented as homemakers to push the idea that men should go to work and women should care for the children. The media has been used as propaganda to portray "Americanism" or push the "American Dream", and women have always been shown to fill the same role on tv: wives and mothers. The Gilmore Girls episode "That Damn Donna Reed" showed a continuation of this representation. It pushed the same idea that women should be in the kitchen and even that they should listen to their husbands (or in Rory's case boyfriend). In contrast, however, there have been changes in the way women have been shown on TV. There's a variety of shows and movies that portray strong female characters that wouldn't have been seen in the early to late 1900s. Although this change exists, the media industry is far from perfect, and there are still many shows and various forms of media representation that need to give women more modern roles.

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the show Gilmore Girls was created in the early 2000s and was considered to be relatively progressive for that time. It depicted a single mother raising her daughter that she had when she was 16. However, throughout the show, there are many politically incorrect slip-ups. In this episode "That Damn Donna Reed", Rory and Dean watch the "Donna Reed" show and argue about the role of women that's depicted on the screen. Donna Reed cooks every night for her family and Dean thinks that's normal and great, but Rory disagrees because she argues Donna didn't have a choice. This however doesn't stop Rory from dressing up as a 1950s housewife and serving Dean dinner to make up with him later in the episode. This episode did not progress with modern times and didn't represent the evolution of women in the workplace that was occurring during the 2000s. Instead, this episode sent the continual "American message" that women were better as homemakers.

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In the context of this show and episode, "That Damn Donna Reed", Rory Gilmore dresses up as a woman from the 1950s and cooks her boyfriend dinner after a fight. The argument between them was on whether or not women should cook for their husbands and families every night. This portrayal of Rory dressing up as a housewife and cooking dinner set women back about 50 years (the show came out in the 2000s). It showed impressionable girls who watch the show that women should have to cook for their families and that even today it should be normalized. Although throughout the series it's out of character for Rory to show such blatant internalized misogyny, this episode sent a terrible message to young girls. This shows a continuity of the way women have been perceived in media, always as the homemaker, and did nothing to progress those views. It was disappointing to see the way women throughout history have been portrayed and to see the continuation of the same idea that women should remain housewives.

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COMMENT: My thoughts on Gilmore Girls -Blythe

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COMMENT: My thoughts on Gilmore Girls -Blythe

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Something I noticed when watching Gilmore Girls was the lack of a happy ending for Rory. I know it's corny, but Rory worked her butt off her entire high school career to get into Yale. Then, she literally drops out. This episode freaked me out because it sent me the message that even with all of the hard work that I'm putting in to school, I will still fail. I think a lot of young girls look up to Rory as a role model, she is someone people can easily idolize in the earlier seasons. However, the missing happy ending shows viewers that women will still fail, no matter how hard they try.