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).