Nancy Botwin was your typical stay home soccer mom. She had two sons and a husband who she loved dearly. She never finished college or entered the workforce, instead opting to stay home and take care of the kids while her husband worked. This stereotypical role is assigned to many other women on TV, Debra on Everybody Loves Raymond, Amy Matthews on Boy Meets World, Peggy Bundy on Married With Children, and so on. This role though suddenly changed for Nancy when her husband suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack and she had to support her family.
This scenario familiar? That’s because it’s the plot of Showtime’s hit show Weeds. We’ve all heard stories of strong single mothers going out and working her hardest for her family to barely get by, but Nancy’s case is different. She decides that instead of getting a “real job”, she’s going to sell weed to support herself and her two sons. The occupation of professional drug dealer in the media, and also if you think about it in real life, is associated almost, if not always with the male gender. Weeds is especially interesting in this sense when examining the role of gender. It not only portrays a very strong woman going out and doing what she has to do to support her family, but it also puts her in a very stereotypical male profession.
Her gender throughout the show plays a major role. If drug dealer moves into another’s territory henceforth eliminating business from the latter, one would think there would be dire physical consequences for the new-comer. Not for a rich suburban soccer mom drug dealer. Nancy’s gender is used by those above her as well to do many illegal things that the authorities would never expect this poor widow to be doing (i.e. smuggle drugs across the Mexican border). In other cases, her female sexuality also is often used to her advantage to help her avoid many potentially dangerous situations, a feat I don’t think many male drug dealers could accomplish.
While this ground breaking new series in many ways challenges the role of gender in the modern American society, ranging from a wealthy suburban community to the drug dealing, crime ridden streets, it in many ways feeds into the many stereotypes women have been fighting for decades. Would it have portrayed women in a better light had a strong, smart woman such as Nancy gone out into the job world and work her way up from the bottom to make an honest living on which to support her family? Of Course. But then how do you work in sex, nudity, drugs, and profanity… the things people really want to see in their television shows.
5 comments:
I think 'weeds' is a great show that really shows that a woman is just as able, and can handle a 'male dominate profession', selling drugs, to make a living. Gender is a critical component of the show. I like the point you made that Nancy evades many dangerous situations when most males would have no chance.
I agree that it is uncommon to see women selling drugs, and that this show was meant for entertainment purposes. And watching an attractive widowed mom selling marijuana to get by is very entertaining.
I think "Weeds" is a great show for modern day television, because it presents viewers with a challenged view of feminism and of the female gender. Although the female portrayal has developed over the years to convey more women as being successful outside of the home, in corporations and in business, no show has really portrayed a woman in this type of "business" before. Even more so, the mother in "Weeds" is the main character and basically "runs the show" in regards to her family life, love life, and drug life. The fact that this character is able to juggle so many roles shows how strong and capable a woman can be, even without the support of a man.
Very interesting post. What do you think about the notion of "non-traditional" non-traditional occupational choices by women, e.g., college students who dance in bars to make enough money to finish school? What do you think about the presence of "gender" in this show? Many people can identify that the main character is a "woman," but most would not (probably) identify "gender" as a central theme. What do you think?
I agree with Casey, that this is a very unique, but empowering show for women. I'm not advocating the job of a drug dealer/smuggler, but the way in which Nancy carries herself is very strong. She is dealing with the loss of her husband and the raising of two interesting children, and she tries to do whatever possible to keep the family together. Her decisions are far from admirable, from her job to sexual partners to parenting style; but there is the underlying tone of her strength and love for the family, which makes everyone in America still root for her.
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