Television shows showcase gender roles and norms directly and indirectly; on Project Runway, outdated stereotypes are both destroyed and built up simultaneously.
For those unfamiliar with the program, Project Runway is a competitive reality-show in which sixteen contestants compete for a chance to show their collections at fashion week; three finalists are chosen for this honor. The final winner receives $100,000 to start their own line.
The show targets young people, mostly women, interested in the world of fashion and its creative aspects. The show generally has a very equal amount of women and men contestants. Most of the men are gay. This makes it an unusual program; usually television programs (with the exception of Showtime's groundbreaking program, The L Word), whether or not they are reality show, do not prominently feature more than one or two gay characters. This makes for quite an interesting interaction between people and judges.
This diverse group of people of all different ages, sexes, and sexual orientations, helps diminish gender stereotypes and norms our society places on people. There have been a few gay black men, and this season one contestant was a gay Mormon man. Some have talked about their identity struggles. This openness is promising -- thousands tune in to Project Runway and hear these candid expressions.
On the other hand, the show does reinforce some gender roles. The models, of course, are the most obvious source of gender stereotypes. The modeling industry continues to stand by the fact that tall, thin women are the best way to showcase clothing, but it cannot be denied that models present an unrealistic ideal for women to look up to.
The show incorporates designing for "real" people, as well however; in past seasons, designers made garments for women who had recently reached lower, healthier weights. This season, designers made over-the-top outfits for drag queens. This were women (biologically male) who were not only destroying stereotypes regarding gender and sex, but also regarding ideal looks.
Project Runway presents a host of different gender issues to examine.
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2 comments:
I love project runway and agree that it presents many different types of gender stereotypes, while depleting them as well. However, I have found one of the greatest stereotypes on the show to be that the only men that can be involved in fashion are gay. There have been many men on the show, however, very few have been straight males. This suggests that straight men are still lagging behind in the fashion world, which may be true however, I feel that the show should try to find more straight men who have an eye for fashion in order to break this gendered stereotype that only "gay men" know fashion.
I agree with the post that the show presents many different stereotypes, whether it is the gay man or the ideal model. Although the show seems to reinforces certain stereotypes, such as the one that states that most fashion designers, if males, are gay, some stereotypes are broken. I agree with Kim that the show should try to include more straight men to show that they are lagging behind in the fashion world.
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