In June 2017, Netflix released a new original series, titled GLOW, “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” that illustrates feminism, empowerment, and sexism by following a group of women as they audition and prepare for televised wrestling. A group of previously unemployed actresses work under a has-been film director to create this dissident, wrestling project sponsored by a ‘too rich for his own good’ millionaire’s heir. The story is centered on a particular character, Ruth, who we witness as a struggling actress in LA and also as the engine that pushes the women on to complete the televised wrestling stint. Like many characters in the TV series, she is an untraditional woman and represents particular aspects of feminism that bring the concept to life. Through an engaging plot of overcoming physical struggles, mental blocks, and societal expectations the women come together in a man’s world to depict a message of rebirth in women’s roles.
The show GLOW does an excellent job of showcasing modern views that occur in 2017, while simultaneously displaying sexist views toward women in 1980. In modern culture, there has been a drastic shift toward creating dominant female presence in media. This includes giving females roles that focus on issues that don’t revolve around men and giving females a more ‘realistic’ portrayal in terms of body type and appearance. In the 1980s, women were commonly seen in media roles that made them appear insignificant or for the purpose of serving a more important male character. Essentially, females existed for the purpose of reacting to their male counterparts and were not to be seen as the lead role. GLOW is written for the purpose of serving both of these cultural ideals in the sense that it showcases the way that women are suppressed by men in the media during the 1980s, while providing a group of women that want more from their life than just to be seen as objects.
The very first episode of the show starts off highlighting the drastic differences between men and women in media roles. The show opens with the main character, Ruth, auditioning for a role in a movie and reading lines for the wrong part. She instead read for the male character because she thought the lines were better, and honestly, she wasn’t wrong. The male’s part was empowering and demanding, where the female character is a one-line role for a secretary. This scene is key as it exposes the submissive way that the media views the role that women should play, and translates the role that men at the time thought women should play in life as well.
The media portrays women as dismissible in their roles, only being drawn attention to when their reacting to a male counterpart. The treatment of women in media appropriates behavior in the real world where men are then able to identify as above females. In GLOW, the director of the show, Sam Sylvia, bases his decisions about casting on a girl’s obedience to simple direction and if he likes the look of their face. By casting females in wrestling roles based on their appearance alone discounts their credibility. Moreover, when the girls ask what GLOW is about, Sam describes the show as “wrestling like with men, but you know, girl on girl”. In saying this, Sam indicates that when men wrestle it’s a sport, but when women wrestle, it’s pornographic. The wrestling moves he describes are tit grabs and crotch punches. Overall, the show GLOW is created for the male audience to derive pleasure and to objectify the women involved. The role of Sam the director embodies the issues of male dominance at the time.
Ruth is portrayed as a woman that has a dream of becoming an actress and will go to great lengths to see that dream come true. It is in this drive that many of the other characters develop a dislike for her. Additionally, she does not have the typical appearance of movie stars at the time, meaning that she is not blonde, bodacious, or overly feminine; adding to the representation of poor appeal. Because she does not align with the way that media thinks a woman should look or act, she is not able to be successful in the pursuit of her initial movie star dream. This shows that going against the grain at this time wasn’t necessarily the best route for women to take to get to success. However, Ruth was able to discover through uniting these women and looking beyond herself (as she even accepted the undesirable villain role) she found a greater purpose. This was one of leadership, empowerment, and creating a message. Feminism isn’t all beauty and it isn’t all success. It is a battle to be thought of as more than those 80’s social norms represented in this show and a way to give voice to show what is truly powerful about a woman, what’s within.