Essay 3: research proposal

1. The media I will be researching is the television show The Office. I chose The Office because I watch it on a regular basis and have never, until now, realized how much it conforms to the norms of heteronormativity. I've never had a problem with the sexual innuendo's dislayed on the show, but I realize they exist and could be changed into something else. What interests me about changing this topic is whether or not it would be successful on TV. The Office is a successful show because of the awkward topics and comments that are presented. If I took those away, would the show still grab that success? How could I change some of the heteronormative aspects of the show, and keep it entertaining to the public?

- Working Research Question:

2. The audience I would say this is focused towards is anybody over the age of 20 or so. Somebody who is able to comprehend the sarcastic, sexual humor used in the show (and media in general). Both men and women, homosexual and heterosexual could be interested in this topic. They both would be interested in the new concepts presented due to the interesting new twists that contradict the hetero-norms. The only problem with this would be the portion of the hetero society that dislikes any sort of "homo" content presented. I don't want to lose that audience either, so I'm going to have to find a way to change things while pleasing everybody.

3. My wish would be that there are already sources out there discussing the issues present in The Office. There are obvious heternormative issues in the show that I would think people have discussed before in academic articles. If not, I plan on finding articles relating my issues to other media outlets. These same issues have been present in other shows (women in the workplace and homosexual relationships in the media).

4. - 02/25: beginning research, looking to grab 10 connective research articles

- 02/28: summarize articles, narrow it down to 5 to focus on

- 03/04: by then, bring things together; connect every article to a point I'm trying to make

5. I'm having trouble differentiating this essay from our previous essay. I feel like I'm going to be repeating myself and having the same type of thesis as before. Plus I just always have trouble starting papers.

6. I hope to get people to realize the issues that are present in a show like The Office. With revisions to specific examples, hopefully I'll be able to keep their interest in the show.

Blog 5

For this weeks blog, I'd like to focus on something out of the article we just read in Chapter 13, Taming Brian: Sex, Love, and Romance in Queer as Folk. Gust Yep and Anthony Slagle looked at a powerful myth that says that, "the love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a 'beast' into a 'prince'," (194). This quote really bounced out at me as something to think about.

I believe that this is a major issue that arrives early on in a persons life. I look back at my own personal experience in a middle school class when I was asked to discuss "girls" with a big room full of guys. One kid raised his hand and said, "Why do girls always go after the "bad" guy, the one who always gets into trouble and treats them badly". Well too bad the teacher didn't have the background knowledge (or we didn't have the brain capacity) to understand or explain why. It looks to me now like it's because the media (television, film, books, music, etc.) gives them this false belief that they CAN actually change a guy into something that they want/desire. And it's not just that, the media tells them that this is the norm as well. That all, or the "good" women, should be able to change a bad-ass man into some prince charming (and how "cool" they'd be if they could). These girls get influenced into thinking that they're responsibility and goal should be to convert their man; that only then can they feel satisfaction about their relationship and themselves.

It seems to start when they're younger (i.e. middle school), inexperienced, and clueless as to how to have a relationship (as we all were back then). It's like we need to target those adolescent girls and explain to them, as Yep and Slagle said, "people are responsible for their own actions and behaviors... and not the conduct of others," (195). Sometimes it becomes too late, and as those women get older they never see that it's only a myth. They concentrate their whole lives on finding a "beast" of a man and try to turn him into a "prince".

(I only focused on women being the main subject for this topic because the quote focused on women. Obviously this could be the same for a homosexual relationship, a guy being the subject as in the relationship between Brian and Justin we saw in class.)

Essay Proposal

a.) For this next essay I'm choosing to focus my attention on one of my favorite shows, The Office. I chose this one because usually when I watch, I never really focus on some of the gender issues that are present during the show. Just from thinking of various episodes I've seen in the past, I can come up with many different issues that inflict a heteronormative sense of sexuality.

b.) What I've came up with just from brainstorming, are ways in which the show presents both men and women in the workplace. I usually watch the show for just entertainment purposes, but after thinking about it, The Office really does show some issues in relation to heteronormativity. Just for starters, the management positions are held by men (the only woman to hold one then gets fired and files a lawsuit in reference to her sex). Also the women in the workplace seem to play smaller, less boisterous roles than the men. It wasn't until much later in the program that a woman finally got a sales job (considered to be the best) that communicated with customers. I think I'll be able to watch two or three episodes and pick out plenty of things that result in gender issues.

c.) On the television show The Office, both men's and women's workplace roles, personalities, and characteristics confrom to the gender norms of heteronormativity.

d.) From writing this paper, I hope to show my audience the ways in which both men and women are portrayed in this television show. People watching the show see a comedic working environment surrounded by jokes and laughter. What they don't seem to notice is the social norms that are still implicated in that workplace. I hope to present to people who watch the show, the ways in which heteronormativity is infliced throughout the episodes (even if it seems hidden among the comedy).