Sunday, February 26, 2006
Module 5: Media representations
Representations of intelligent males in the mass media
Smart males in media are tie-wearing compu-geeks
Media representations of intelligent men in the media center on single, white, organized,computer nerds who love Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, black-rimmed glasses and dress shirts.
Ted Geisel couldn't have had this in mind.
In 1950, Geisel (widely known to the world as Dr. Seuss of children book fame) amusingly rhymed the lines of his 1950book, If I Ran The Zoo: "And then just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Prooa Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"
The term nerd was coined.
It seems since that moment, smart males have been put in their own predicable, caged box in the mass media. Predominantly, being smart is associated with being a nerd in the media. From television shows to advertisements to print media, smart people are depicted as single, white, brilliant outcasts. They are loners, sickly (yet high wage earners) and unattractive. Often smart males are depicted as lowly in social situations, wearing simple attire accessorized with a tie, and (of course) being overwhelmingly "nerdy."
The male intelligence is also defined by glasses, typically black and largely rimmed. The more intelligent, the lessgood-looking. Intelligent representations of males such as speech writer Will Bailey of NBC's West Wing tend to be more focused on logical and concrete results rather than their relationships, romances, or personal life outside of work.
Leonard Nimoy's Spock character on the original Star Trek episodes defines an intelligent male as successful, yet lackingemotion or empathy for others. Ironically, intelligent males are also depicted as being obsessed with science fiction and fantasynovels, magazines, television shows, video games and movies. Often a bit character on situational comedies or on an animated series will play a joke based on a character's love for Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter or similar pop culture.
Intelligent males are rarely depicted as athletic or well-rounded. We never see the nerds from Revenge of the Nerds demonstratinggood cooking techniques or talking about NASCAR. The smart male is similar to Dwight on NBC's The Office: trying to fit in, butalways having difficulty in social situations. Advertisers sometimes embrace this nerdy/geek chic to promote dedication to thatwhich few others have interest. For instance, Geek Squad is a computer technician and help service. Their employees wear thestereotypical smart gear of the information age: a white short-sleeved shirt and black tie. An AT&T ad in the magazine Wired (March 2006) features a man named Steve, who is alone, wearing a button-down shirt in a very clean home office. He is playing a video game on his computer screen. The words read: "The World According to Steve ... No matter what she says or how she makes you feel, you arenever too old to play video games." On the bottom it reads: "Steve depends on the most complete and secure network from AT&T so he can have DSL high speed internet access to download, play and master the latest video games. The New AT&T." From this, we can decipher that intelligent males are computer nerds. If the smart white guy chooses a certain type of computer or internet provider, it must be good because the geek always knows about computers.
What is missing from the representation is any minority or female. White males tend to dominate the media landscape of being bright.
The exceptions to this in the media show an interesting shift in the intelligent paradigm. In television dramas such as CSI, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Crossing Jordan, ER, Grey's Anatomy, etc., women are shown in an intelligent light more so than men. These scientists and doctors vary from the male nerd complex dramatically. The women are glamorous and wear more sexy clothing. They are dynamic and passionate about many things. They are complex, whereas the male geeks are not. Unfortunately, (according to my scientist wife) this isn'texactly a proper depiction of smart scientists as well. If it were, America's Top Scientist would unseat America's Top Model in the ratings.
Anyway one looks at the intelligent male in the media, one thing is certain: Dr. Seuss's nerds in the zoo have been released by the media onto society.
Smart males in media are tie-wearing compu-geeks
Media representations of intelligent men in the media center on single, white, organized,computer nerds who love Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, black-rimmed glasses and dress shirts.
Ted Geisel couldn't have had this in mind.
In 1950, Geisel (widely known to the world as Dr. Seuss of children book fame) amusingly rhymed the lines of his 1950book, If I Ran The Zoo: "And then just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Prooa Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"
The term nerd was coined.
It seems since that moment, smart males have been put in their own predicable, caged box in the mass media. Predominantly, being smart is associated with being a nerd in the media. From television shows to advertisements to print media, smart people are depicted as single, white, brilliant outcasts. They are loners, sickly (yet high wage earners) and unattractive. Often smart males are depicted as lowly in social situations, wearing simple attire accessorized with a tie, and (of course) being overwhelmingly "nerdy."
The male intelligence is also defined by glasses, typically black and largely rimmed. The more intelligent, the lessgood-looking. Intelligent representations of males such as speech writer Will Bailey of NBC's West Wing tend to be more focused on logical and concrete results rather than their relationships, romances, or personal life outside of work.
Leonard Nimoy's Spock character on the original Star Trek episodes defines an intelligent male as successful, yet lackingemotion or empathy for others. Ironically, intelligent males are also depicted as being obsessed with science fiction and fantasynovels, magazines, television shows, video games and movies. Often a bit character on situational comedies or on an animated series will play a joke based on a character's love for Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter or similar pop culture.
Intelligent males are rarely depicted as athletic or well-rounded. We never see the nerds from Revenge of the Nerds demonstratinggood cooking techniques or talking about NASCAR. The smart male is similar to Dwight on NBC's The Office: trying to fit in, butalways having difficulty in social situations. Advertisers sometimes embrace this nerdy/geek chic to promote dedication to thatwhich few others have interest. For instance, Geek Squad is a computer technician and help service. Their employees wear thestereotypical smart gear of the information age: a white short-sleeved shirt and black tie. An AT&T ad in the magazine Wired (March 2006) features a man named Steve, who is alone, wearing a button-down shirt in a very clean home office. He is playing a video game on his computer screen. The words read: "The World According to Steve ... No matter what she says or how she makes you feel, you arenever too old to play video games." On the bottom it reads: "Steve depends on the most complete and secure network from AT&T so he can have DSL high speed internet access to download, play and master the latest video games. The New AT&T." From this, we can decipher that intelligent males are computer nerds. If the smart white guy chooses a certain type of computer or internet provider, it must be good because the geek always knows about computers.
What is missing from the representation is any minority or female. White males tend to dominate the media landscape of being bright.
The exceptions to this in the media show an interesting shift in the intelligent paradigm. In television dramas such as CSI, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Crossing Jordan, ER, Grey's Anatomy, etc., women are shown in an intelligent light more so than men. These scientists and doctors vary from the male nerd complex dramatically. The women are glamorous and wear more sexy clothing. They are dynamic and passionate about many things. They are complex, whereas the male geeks are not. Unfortunately, (according to my scientist wife) this isn'texactly a proper depiction of smart scientists as well. If it were, America's Top Scientist would unseat America's Top Model in the ratings.
Anyway one looks at the intelligent male in the media, one thing is certain: Dr. Seuss's nerds in the zoo have been released by the media onto society.
# posted by Jim @ 9:47 PM 
