I never meant to stay away this long.

I’m not yet in the habit of blogging every day (or even every other day, which might be more realistic for me), and last week was a busy one. I had quite a few technical difficulties at work, which set me back, while at home things were no less hectic.

My in-laws came in from Minnesota for the week to help my husband and I get our house ready for the arrival of our first baby in December. So for six straight days my house was turned upside-down, but it was well worth the short-lived chaos: at the end of the time my home office was cleaned out and a new desk was installed; the baby’s room was painted; three new closest were finished; and our entry way was re-painted.

During their stay, I had a lot of time to talk with my mother-in-law, whom I greatly respect. At one point during the week we got to talking about a few of our favorite TV shows, and the conversation turned to the portrayal of women in those shows. It was interesting to hear her perspective. Her take was that much of the way women are portrayed nowadays actually serves to turn back some of the advances made by earlier women’s movements.

She got me thinking, and in a lot of ways I agree. Just because the female medical interns outnumber the male medical interns on Grey’s Anatomy, this doesn’t automatically add up to a positive portrayal of women. The shows centers more on the female characters’ sexual practices than on their medical practices, and it doesn’t necessary portray their sexuality in a positive light. The portrayal seems more voyeuristic than anything, just another incarnation of female objectification.

I watch TV to take my mind off of other things, so it’s easy to treat a show like Grey’s Anatomy as harmless and fun (you really can’t take it too seriously, especially the way the plot has taken some ridiculous turns this past season). But the truth is that the media have the power to subtly shape society’s values, and they continue to shape the way society thinks about women and women’s issues.

My question to us is this: what are we—as women and as the church—doing to counter the values being propagated by the media? What are we doing to build the type of power that can have an impact? What role can NNPCW play in this struggle to uphold women in the image of God?

As always, I welcome your comments.

Noelle

It's true- there are more women in traditionally male roles on television but they are not portrayed in ways that in the real world would earn them the respect of their male colleagues, rather it seems that they have become more sexualized or they have had their sexuality taken away (the female cops on some TV dramas). This is just my opinion. To me, the church is responsible for counteracting the negative images of women not only on television but in society. The church is to be the example. Likewise, the members of NNPCW and CoCo need to be the example to the world that women are strong and capable, intelligent and powerful. Though it might be difficult, in everything we do, we need to set the example to counteract the negative ideas of women.

Hi Noelle,

I agree with your mother's perspective. I think our culture is so obsessed with sex that we often don't tell very good stories and women get the worst of it. I grew up reading stories about women helping with the underground railroad and stories about women during the Revolutionary War. Two favorite stories were the only two stories that Zane Grey, (if you like westerns you will know the name), wrote based on truth; they were taken from his family's diaries. I don't remember the name of one but one was titled Betty Zane and both stories featured very strong brave women. I think they helped set my path for adulthood.
I think a very good example of a woman who is both very feminine, devout,intelligent and at least strong in the Lord (and isn't that the best way to be strong)is our new moderator, Joan Gray.
May you and your new baby to be find blessings in Jesus Christ.
Viola Larson