Mary Tyler Moore Show: Depiction of How Powerless Women Are

AP 5
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AP 5
The issue of gender equality has been in debate for many years. Although much has been achieved in bridging the gender gap, more needs to be done if women are to be equal to men. Popular culture provides us with a perfect view of women's conditions in society. In the workplace, the gender pay gap is yet to be bridged. In relationships, more men continue to exact gender-based violence than women. This paper examines scenes from two different TV shows to show how women are forced to submit to men's will. The first is from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. In this scene, Mary Richards is seen asking for more pay. The other two are the opening sex scenes on the TV show Girls.
In all the scenes, women appear powerless to men. For instance, in the scene where Mary asks for more pay, she is forced to submit to her superior's argument. After noting that her predecessor, a man, used to receive more income than she does, Mary demands equal pay. However, her superior points out that her predecessor had a family to support, hence his higher salary. Given that Mary has no family, she realizes that she has no right to ask for more pay. However, after walking out of the office, she realizes that family is not a good enough reason to explain why her predecessor received more compensation. Specifically, she points out that using the family principle, the employee who has mor...