There’s Way Too Many Women On Television…Or Not
You know what’s really been lacking on television lately? White, straight men. At least according to the co-creator of Two and a Half Men, Lee Aronsohn.  In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Aronsohn had this to say about the recent uprise in female centered sitcoms:
“Enough, ladies. I get it. You have periods,”
and
“…we’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation,”
After all, there’s so few male main characters on current sitcoms. There’s only: Wilfred, Louie, The League, Archer, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Unsupervised, American Dad, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, The Cleveland Show, Napoleon Dynamite, Raising Hope, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Eastbound and Down, Californication, Shameless, The Office, Community, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and of course, Two And A Half Men.
Women, meanwhile are taking over television with: New Girl, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Girls, Weeds, Are You There Chelsea, Whitney, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23, Cougar Town, and 2 Broke Girls.
For those of you keeping track, that brings the grand total to men: 21, women: 11.  So despite the fact that women are half the population, but helm a third of sitcoms, we’re reaching “labia saturation†on television.  Riiiiight.
Hollywood seems to consistently struggle with the inclusion of women in films and television shows. And it’s important to remember, that even when women are the main focus of shows and movies, it’s not always a good thing. ABC’s newest comedy calls the main character a “Bitch†right in the title of the sitcom. 2 Broke Girls hasn’t been without plenty of controversy. 30 Rock, Whitney and plenty of other sitcoms have recently attempted to make rape hilarious.
Aronsohn has since apologized for his comments on twitter. Considering how he regularly (and I’m sure will continue to) treat women as second class citizens on his show, I can’t say I take his apology too seriously.  According to Aronsohn: “What makes men damaged?  Sorry, it’s women.”
What I find most offensive (and there’s a lot of offensive material here) is referring to women on tv as “labia saturation”. Reducing women to literally a couple of inches of flesh is repulsive and demeaning and only shows the ignorance and immaturity of the speaker.
Comment by Eden — April 11, 2012 @ 10:51 am
[…] The blog “Feminist Fatale” highlighted the lack of women in TV. […]
Pingback by Favorite Picks: Another Collection Of Good Articles « Ruby Soup with Pearl Juice — April 24, 2012 @ 9:39 am
Wonderful post. Aronsohn was completely out of line with his sexist comment. It’s time someone pointed out the prevailing inequality of public broadcasting. It’s completely absurd for members of the establishment to criticize and complain about finally meeting a healthy dose of competition. It’s as if the over-privileged feel obnoxiously entitled to have a free ride by public viewers. …Again, excellent post with quality points made. Cheers!
Comment by Dani — June 2, 2012 @ 6:49 pm
In Poland woman to man is 50 percent.. but population of women are increasing, so for 10 years woman’s will be more than man… I think is ok. Best regards from Poland
Comment by Form Warszawa — June 18, 2012 @ 12:34 pm
Feminist Fatale are very interesting blog…
Comment by Anonse erotyczne — June 18, 2012 @ 12:36 pm
[…] thing that really riles me is the (apparently contagious) notion that there are too many women on television, when in fact most films and TV shows have trouble passing the Bechdel test. The […]
Pingback by (the first of many posts on) film and television « femme fandom — October 8, 2012 @ 6:34 pm