In one of the most popular TV shows, “The Office”, gender roles and gender stereotypes are visibly displayed throughout the series. In one episode in particular titled “Sexual Harassment” (Season 2 Episode 2), it becomes incredibly clear that the stereotypes are conveyed through a character named Todd Packer. Mr. Packer is a higher up corporate manager who comes back to Scranton every now and then. In this instance, Mr. Packer is very clearly offending the women in the office through his ‘jokes’ and statements made regarding a woman having an affair with her boss. The women were clearly offended by statements and took no action to stand up for themselves.

In the episode, Todd Packer states with much delight “We’re talking blonde incompetent” (3:18). Todd then proceeded to say “Well they are women” (3:30). When he states this, the faces of the women in the office drop to the floor with disgust and discomfort. There was nothing that provoked Todd to make these claims which is why it is even more shocking to hear these claims come out of his mouth. When Todd makes this statement, he is supporting a stereotype of women that is most definitely wrong. He is stating that men are much smarter than women and that women have no place in the office, except for sex objects. No woman would stand for this type of treatment but yet in the episode, no one stands up for the women of the office. This scene is not an accurate representation of what would happen in the real world as Todd would be suspended from his job immediately. They sit there and stare blankly at Todd and Michael conversing. By doing nothing, the women in the office let Todd win. They cannot let a man like Todd Packer win against them as he will continue to walk all over them as he previously has. By doing nothing, women succumb to the stereotype that they are weaker than their male co-workers. One of the worse parts about the scene is that Michael, the man in charge of the whole operation, is laughing along with Todd and encouraging this type of behavior from him. The women might feel helpless because Michael is laughing along with Todd, which is most likely a contributing factor to the women not standing up for themselves. These actions by Todd and Michael make the women of the office to feel horrible about themselves and can lead to them questioning the quality of their work.

Another stereotype that is displayed in the episode is when Todd is telling the story. This story shows that men view women primarily as sex objects because Todd states “then she blew the whistle on the whole thing, just to be a bitch!” (3:50). Todd is not concerned with the woman’s natural rights given to her. When Todd says this he is acting like the woman is at fault for the firing of the CFO. The woman was simply tired of being harassed by her boss and wanted to stop seeing him. Todd is creating an atmosphere within the office that is unwelcoming to women and is encouraging the women to find another job. Todd is viewed primarily as a disturbance in the office and with good reason too.

The actions displayed by Todd and Michael in this episode are terrible by all accounts and are no way to treat women in general. Men will continue to act similar to the way Todd acts until they are told to stop it. The steps Michael takes at the very end of the episode by standing up for the women in the office should be the standard and takes a lot of guts to stand up to a good friend such as that.

The artifact that I decided to examine is an ESPN commercial titled ‘SC Featured: The Courage Game’. What this artifact entails is the story of a 12 year old boy Braeden Lange who is an openly gay lacrosse player. Braeden came out to his friends at a tough age and was not accepted by his peers but had the support of his family. The story of Braeden reached a pro lacrosse player who is also gay by means of Braeden’s Dad writing a letter to Andrew Goldstein. Andrew then reached out to Braeden and has developed a personal and close friendship with Braeden. Since Andrew reached out to Braeden, Braeden’s life has improved drastically and now has someone he identifies with. Andrew has started an annual event called the Courage Game which supports young gay lacrosse players like himself.

In the story, Braeden cried himself to sleep every night because of the fact that nobody is there to say ‘hey it gets better’ or ‘come talk to me at any time’. This is a concerning lack of support for an 11 year old who has the guts to speak out. The fact that society was unable to accept this kid and what he is or is not attracted to needs to change. He didn’t have many friends that were strong enough to say what he said or mentors that could speak to him. When his friends were not supportive of Braeden it struck him deep but it also speaks volumes about how strong those friendships were. The age at which Braeden came out is also a critical part of the story. At this age for boys, there is typically a ring leader who pokes fun at anyone who is different than he is. By Braeden separating himself from everyone at this age, he made himself an easy target for the ring leader. There is already enough bullying that goes on with being in middle school and it only multiplied because of the fact that he was different. Braeden represents the gay population in the sense that they are kind of looked down upon by the rest of society even though this is the way God made them. Yes times are changing and they are becoming more and more supportive for the LGBT community but it is not yet there.

When Braeden found out about the courage game and the support from such a big time Lacrosse player, it changed his life and the lives of other young men like Braeden. By having this sort of support for kids that don’t have it anywhere else but home is huge for them. This allows them to make friends with kids just like them, when it appeared that there was nobody else like them. This previous summer while coaching football, I realized that the greatest weapon every coach possess is the ability to give a kid confidence. By Andrew Goldstein, an NCAA All-American, telling these kids that they can be just as good as or better than the average lacrosse player is doing wonders for their game and for their confidence. Now by having a man that was the top of his game, telling kids that being gay is okay and we are here for you is changing the way kids view being gay. Now heterosexual kids can accept the kids for who they are and can overlook the fact that their sexual orientation is different than theirs. In the video Sam states “This is the first time I have come out publically and I think ‘The Courage Game’ as its name says, gave me the courage to do that.” (SC Featured, 00:40). Sam appears to be much older than Braeden, roughly around the high school age, and because of what Braeden and Andrew started it has given others the confidence to come out. This is turning around their social lives at school and their support networks as now they have all the kids who also participate in the game. Proof of this claim is within the video when Braeden’s Dad states that “He didn’t cry at night anymore,” (SC Featured 08:40). Braeden knew that there were others out there like him, who struggled with this feeling of being different every day.

The Courage Game made a huge difference for so many kids’ lives in ways that cannot be repaid. Andrew and Braeden can be accredited with the support for young gay lacrosse players through such a simple thing as playing the game that unites everyone. The support that Braeden and Andrew have created for other kids has been tremendous and those kids are now able to support each other as they would not have met the other players if not for this game. From this game, if a kid is bullied at school he now has a support network to stand behind him or her and say “It’s okay to be gay, there is nothing wrong with it”. That is exactly what the game was designed to do and the purpose it is serving within the community is changing the way kids view being gay.

The link to the video is below

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13536127