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22
is therefore the opposite of what we consider the female body and femininity to represent.
Since Mary was not physically strong or aggressive, something categorized as masculine,
she can therefore be labeled as feminine. It was not until the 1980s that the Glass Ceiling
phenomenon really gained public attention. Finally, women were playing roles as
executives, and thus “masculinized” characters. Television series such as Murphy Brown
and Ally McBeal highlighted women in their attempt to break the glass ceiling,
showcasing a newscaster and lawyer, respectively (“Murphy Brown” & “Ally McBeal”).
Both shows portrayed women in professional fields and illustrated assimilation of
masculinity to find their place in those professions (Dow, 1992, p. 145 & Hammers,
2005, p. 167). As the female screen image stepped away from traditional female roles
seen in Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, the media represented successful
women in a whole new light. It seemed as if the women who held professional executive
positions had given up their femininity. In an article by Bonnie Dow (1992), Murphy is
described as “workaholic, Amazon….tough,” which are characteristics that women
typically do not encompass (p. 145). In the case of Murphy Brown, Murphy “works hard,
loves hard, drinks hard, and smokes one cigarette after another” (Saltzman, 2003, p. 6).
She is one of the guys, participating in popular masculine behaviors seen in the media in
the 1930s and 1940s (p. 6), but possesses these “tough” characteristics that undoubtedly
label her masculine and opposite Mary Richards’ character in the preceding decade.
Richards begins her career as an insecure newsroom girl but eventually leaves for bigger
and better things as a confident professional by the end of the series. Brown, on the other
Object Description
| Title | Power party girls, good looking crowds and one hellish boss: The portrayal of the female entertainment publicist on reality television |
| Author | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Author email | chashem@usc.edu; chashem87@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Arts |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Relations |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-04-01 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Thorson, Kjerstin |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Floto, Jennifer Saltzman, Joseph |
| Abstract | This thesis is an examination of the portrayal of the female entertainment publicist shown in reality television. With the large success rate of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City in the 1990s, female interest in public relations has increased, and good or bad, Jones has served as one of the predominate images of the publicist in the entertainment industry. Those who have performed critical analysis of the image of the public relations practitioner have deemed these representations as showing negative characteristics of those in the profession. While there has been previous research on the image of public relations in media, analysis of the female entertainment publicist in reality television has been left untapped.; The project consisted of a content analysis as well as interviews with various women in entertainment public relations. Three reality television shows featuring female entertainment publicists were watched: MTV's PoweR Girls (2005), Bravo's Kell on Earth (2010) and E! Network's The Spin Crowd. After conducting this analysis, the author found that the female publicist is put in one of two gender categories, the masculine bitch or the overtly sexy "PR Bunny." Other findings inferred that the dominant images within each series suggested that public relations is overall an easy field to enter, with little or no experience or professionalism needed. Finally, although the three series had some subtle differences, public relations is still shown as a glamorous job.; Interviewee responses showed that the negative representations of entertainment publicists on reality television are not indicative of the real life job itself, but that media's representation of it has led others to believe false or skewed images of the profession. Since these three shows' target demographics include young women about make a career decision, the impact they may have on this demographic, and how it may affect the future of public relations and the expectations of those about the enter the industry, is also discussed. |
| Keyword | communication; entertainment; media; public relations; reality television |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3875 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Hashem-4503 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Hashem-4503.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 22 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 22 is therefore the opposite of what we consider the female body and femininity to represent. Since Mary was not physically strong or aggressive, something categorized as masculine, she can therefore be labeled as feminine. It was not until the 1980s that the Glass Ceiling phenomenon really gained public attention. Finally, women were playing roles as executives, and thus “masculinized” characters. Television series such as Murphy Brown and Ally McBeal highlighted women in their attempt to break the glass ceiling, showcasing a newscaster and lawyer, respectively (“Murphy Brown” & “Ally McBeal”). Both shows portrayed women in professional fields and illustrated assimilation of masculinity to find their place in those professions (Dow, 1992, p. 145 & Hammers, 2005, p. 167). As the female screen image stepped away from traditional female roles seen in Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, the media represented successful women in a whole new light. It seemed as if the women who held professional executive positions had given up their femininity. In an article by Bonnie Dow (1992), Murphy is described as “workaholic, Amazon….tough,” which are characteristics that women typically do not encompass (p. 145). In the case of Murphy Brown, Murphy “works hard, loves hard, drinks hard, and smokes one cigarette after another” (Saltzman, 2003, p. 6). She is one of the guys, participating in popular masculine behaviors seen in the media in the 1930s and 1940s (p. 6), but possesses these “tough” characteristics that undoubtedly label her masculine and opposite Mary Richards’ character in the preceding decade. Richards begins her career as an insecure newsroom girl but eventually leaves for bigger and better things as a confident professional by the end of the series. Brown, on the other |
