Mooks and Midriffs
Mooks- incompetent, stupid, crude- the ideal male figure according to the media.
Midriff- the ideal woman. Sexy, objectified, simple, and dumb.
I have seen both these stereotypes in the media, but displayed in more tasteful ways than when this documentary was filmed. I feel like the media hasn't cleaned up these characters really, just given them more depth and personality vs. the surface level characters portrayed before.
The first example of a midriff that comes to mind is not a traditional one. In a previous post I talked about Burn Notice. The female lead, Gabrielle
Anwar playing Fiona Glenanne, uses her sex appeal to help her with her job. She is trained in guerrilla warfare and works in Miami with her boyfriend as "people who solve problems". This often involves being held at gunpoint or holding someone at gunpoint, blowing things up, or engaging in hand to hand combat. She has a strong work ethic and personality. To approach a male target, she uses her femininity to lure them into playing whatever part she needs them to. For example, in one episode she acted like a helpless gold-digger housewife
to get her enemy to eliminate her as a threat and underestimate her so she could overpower him later. She kind of uses her role as a midriff to her advantage.
Another show that has a powerful midriff character is Psych. While Maggie Lawson, playing Juliet, does not dress "slutty" or act unintelligent, she is the romantic interest of the male lead from the first episode on. She's the sexy female character, but she also can fend for herself, similar to Fiona.
Even characters written to be stereotypical midriffs with no personality end up developing a sense of empowerment within the boundaries of their characters. In Gossip Girl (don't judge me I got sucked into it and watched the whole thing it was a moment or six seasons of weakness), Blair and Serena are the main characters, and prime examples of what girls wanted to be. the were the epitome of everything going on in the media degrading women. Despite this, they each developed intricate personalities, making viewers either love or detest them. This show is also unique for its time period because it has a fairly equal number of female and male leads.Though the girls are presented as the love interests to the males, I feel like the males are equally represented in this derogatory way. They aren't mooks, they are more like the guy version of midriffs.
When the midriff phenomenon started, it was not only to use sex appeal to attract audiences, it was also supposed to be to empower women to take control of their sexuality. The way women evolved in TV shows and video games to be purely sex objects is horrific. But, I feel that in more recent years progress has been made on this front. We have more characters that are sexy and strong- Black Widow, Veronica Mars, and Wonder-woman, to name a few.
Even the vulgarity of mooks I feel has decreased. Starting with representation in the media through Caddy-Shack and Animal House, continuing in comedy skits on SNL and stand-up, it has evolved to Weird Al's Tacky, Adam Sandler's dad jokes, and cartoons like South Park or Family Guy. In the well known media, men are less offensive. that being said, in the darker parts of comedy central, you have Eric Andre, the epitome of a mook and an absolute terror to society.
There are extreme examples of mook and midriffs both from when these stereotypes first came about and from today's media landscape. I think kids are more aware of the influence media can have nowadays then they were before, just because all of crudeness is so mainstream now that it is not shocking anymore. I think that as long as people are aware that these examples of men and women are not accurate nor feasible, they are entertaining characters that are harmless. As soon as people let the images put out by the media get to their head, though, that's when it becomes a problem. That is a difficult thing to control because the media is all around us. I don't think these stereotypes and media in general have an inherently negative influence over society- we choose how much power it has over us. Recognition that limitations on that power should be set and that the audacity of these characters is meant only to entertain and sell, not model, will benefit society in the long run in this lifetime struggle with media's values and misrepresentation of gender in media.
Midriff- the ideal woman. Sexy, objectified, simple, and dumb.
I have seen both these stereotypes in the media, but displayed in more tasteful ways than when this documentary was filmed. I feel like the media hasn't cleaned up these characters really, just given them more depth and personality vs. the surface level characters portrayed before.
Anwar playing Fiona Glenanne, uses her sex appeal to help her with her job. She is trained in guerrilla warfare and works in Miami with her boyfriend as "people who solve problems". This often involves being held at gunpoint or holding someone at gunpoint, blowing things up, or engaging in hand to hand combat. She has a strong work ethic and personality. To approach a male target, she uses her femininity to lure them into playing whatever part she needs them to. For example, in one episode she acted like a helpless gold-digger housewife
to get her enemy to eliminate her as a threat and underestimate her so she could overpower him later. She kind of uses her role as a midriff to her advantage.
Another show that has a powerful midriff character is Psych. While Maggie Lawson, playing Juliet, does not dress "slutty" or act unintelligent, she is the romantic interest of the male lead from the first episode on. She's the sexy female character, but she also can fend for herself, similar to Fiona.
Even characters written to be stereotypical midriffs with no personality end up developing a sense of empowerment within the boundaries of their characters. In Gossip Girl (don't judge me I got sucked into it and watched the whole thing it was a moment or six seasons of weakness), Blair and Serena are the main characters, and prime examples of what girls wanted to be. the were the epitome of everything going on in the media degrading women. Despite this, they each developed intricate personalities, making viewers either love or detest them. This show is also unique for its time period because it has a fairly equal number of female and male leads.Though the girls are presented as the love interests to the males, I feel like the males are equally represented in this derogatory way. They aren't mooks, they are more like the guy version of midriffs.
When the midriff phenomenon started, it was not only to use sex appeal to attract audiences, it was also supposed to be to empower women to take control of their sexuality. The way women evolved in TV shows and video games to be purely sex objects is horrific. But, I feel that in more recent years progress has been made on this front. We have more characters that are sexy and strong- Black Widow, Veronica Mars, and Wonder-woman, to name a few.
Even the vulgarity of mooks I feel has decreased. Starting with representation in the media through Caddy-Shack and Animal House, continuing in comedy skits on SNL and stand-up, it has evolved to Weird Al's Tacky, Adam Sandler's dad jokes, and cartoons like South Park or Family Guy. In the well known media, men are less offensive. that being said, in the darker parts of comedy central, you have Eric Andre, the epitome of a mook and an absolute terror to society.
There are extreme examples of mook and midriffs both from when these stereotypes first came about and from today's media landscape. I think kids are more aware of the influence media can have nowadays then they were before, just because all of crudeness is so mainstream now that it is not shocking anymore. I think that as long as people are aware that these examples of men and women are not accurate nor feasible, they are entertaining characters that are harmless. As soon as people let the images put out by the media get to their head, though, that's when it becomes a problem. That is a difficult thing to control because the media is all around us. I don't think these stereotypes and media in general have an inherently negative influence over society- we choose how much power it has over us. Recognition that limitations on that power should be set and that the audacity of these characters is meant only to entertain and sell, not model, will benefit society in the long run in this lifetime struggle with media's values and misrepresentation of gender in media.
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