The media I will be analyzing is Virgin River, a Netflix original series, about a nurse who moves from a big city to a very small city, Virgin River, in rural California. In light of this course, I have learned that gender is represented in this form of media as following stereotypical norms. The main character woman is a nurse, the man is an owner of a company, and the second main character man is a doctor. This demonstrates a stereotype that men are typically in superior roles with more authority and power than women.
This representation relates to Sex-Role Theory, because it shows different sexes maintaining different roles. The book mentions that ‘ “Sex Role Students” usually direct their attention to three elements: gender of the main character, setting and product category’ (p.28). This can be seen in Season 1 Episode 1 of the series through specific examples which will be elaborated.
In the first three minutes of the episode, Mel (woman main character) got her car stuck in a ditch, and Doc (Doctor of the town) happened to be driving on that road, and came to her rescue. He exclaims, ‘You need to get out of the car ma’am, your vehicle is stuck in the ditch.’ To this, Mel responded in confusion and shock. This follows the stereotype that the woman is clueless on how to handle situations outside of domestic life, in this case, about the location of her car which she is currently sitting in.
I do not think that the authors meant for this to follow a stereotype when they were creating the scene because they wanted to create a dramatic situation that showed how overwhelmed Mel was at the time. Moments before the car was in the ditch, she was reflecting on her life with her late-husband and could not think straight. Regardless of the intention, viewers will watch this and it will reinforce a stereotype about both sexes and their stereotypical roles.
Shared by: Lucca Kenyon
Image Credit: Netflix