The Question Initially On a show targeted at male audiences what of insults exchanged between characters are related to femininelike qualities ie You run like a girl etc New Question Are the pervading stereotypes about masculine discourse and the concept of masculinity accurat ID: 791121
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Slide1
The League
A study of linguistic behavior Among Participants in a fantasy football league
Slide2The Question?Initially – On a show targeted at male audiences, what % of insults exchanged between characters are related to feminine-like qualities? (i.e. You run like a girl, etc.)
New Question – Are the pervading stereotypes about masculine discourse and the concept of masculinity accurately reflected in the linguistic features of
The League
, a show targeted at male audiences?
Slide3Why the Question Change?I thought there was a greater % of insults related to feminine-like qualities than in actuality
My original question lacked strength
Theories that characterize masculine discourse have helped shape our understanding of it
Stereotypes surrounding the concept of masculinity can be observed almost universally (although ideas of what constitutes masculinity vary by culture)
I love television and I am more fascinated by the linguistic features of the show as a whole, rather than one small component of them
Slide4What I Observed & MeasuredI chose 3 episodes to watch through and tallied by hand:
The # of scenes per episode (~length of scene had to be > 30 seconds)
The language type used – Insults and Sexual References
Imagery – Specifically, scenes containing one or more characters consuming alcohol
Slide5Type of LanguageInsults – I hypothesized that a
tv
show targeted at male audiences would have a high number of insults
I further divided the type of insults into what I believed would be the most common: homosexual references, references to feminine-like qualities, and other (insults relating to appearance, taste, demeanor, etc.)
Sexual References – I also hypothesized that a show like
The League
would have a disproportionately high # of sexual references
“All men think about is sex!” (sound familiar?)
Slide6The CharactersRodney “
Ruxin
”
Pete
Kevin
Andre
Taco (Kevin’s brother)
Jenny (Kevin’s wife)
Rafi (
Ruxin’s
brother-in-law, only appears in S2 Episode 4)
Slide7The EpisodesSeason 2 Episode: 4 “The
Kluneberg
”
Andre buys a $25,000 painting that his friends find hilarious
Some sexual references and insults:
“You guys called me dick cream for 2 years!” –Andre
“There’s no such thing as a sex addict, there’s just guys.” –Jenny
“Eat that slutty strawberry.” –
Russel
(guest appearance)
“I’m not
gonna
let that dirty sex addict do to Jenny what this penis bird is doing to butt-mountain!” -Rafi
Slide8The Episodes cont.
Season 2 Episode: 9 “The Expert Witness”
Ruxin
is defending against a woman that is suing for additional $ for pain and suffering after being in a horrendous car crash
This episode grossly objectifies women and talks about them in a very degrading manner
Some sexual references and insults:
“That became that, because of that” –
Ruxin
“Andre you shave shaft…” –Kevin
“But you are, technically, a shaft shaver.” –
Ruxin
“What are you
gonna
do? Lure him into bed and fondle the trade out of him?” –Kevin “If that’s what it takes.” –Andre
“We [the court] just paid for you to get super hot, why would we give you more money on top of that?” -
Ruxin
Slide9Episodes cont.
Season 3 Episode: 3 “The Au Pair”
Ruxin
hires a young, beautiful Au Pair to care for his baby son Jeffrey
This episode revolves around the group of guys drooling over
Ruxin’s
young Au Pair (reminiscent of men’s stereotypical infatuation with younger women)
Some sexual references and insults:
“No, no, no, not judging on the concept, just mortified by the execution.” –Kevin
“You’re not
gonna
have sex with her at the jazz place” –Taco
“No I’m not
gonna
have sex with her at the jazz place!” –Andre “Why? Does the jazz place not have a bathroom?” –Taco
“Because she has those really fat, meaty earlobes,
meatlobes
!” –Kevin
“Someone who can cook, must be good with kids, must know how to read?” –Pete “I actually have the same requirements, but I don’t care so much about the reading.” –Andre
“I don’t want my kid going to the park, getting his dong cleaned by some
uggo
with a stash!” -
Ruxin
Slide10Similar Studies?Kiesling’s
article on the case of fraternity men – in his second section he references an earlier article written by Deborah
Tannen
in 1990 in which she “…suggests that men tend to see conversation as a contest. Because the display of powerful relationships and dominance is an important component of men’s identities, men’s language should be intimately involved in this display.”
Judith Baxter’s 2005 study of 14-15 year olds that were separated into groups, male and female, and told to identify items that were necessary for survival after a plane crash – this study was examining cooperative speech practices (typically associated with women) and competitive speech practices (typically associated with men)
Slide11The Results
Slide12The Results
Slide13Possible reasons for these results?
Stereotypes about men and theories about masculine discourse tell us that men, by their very nature, are competitive
In an effort to assert their dominance, men will often times insult or demean their “opponent” to gain superiority
Verbal-sparring is a way to demonstrate intelligence and wit, attributes prized by some members of the group
Competition in the fantasy football league extends to other aspects of the character’s lives, including their language
Bud Light (clearly a major sponsor) recognizes that product placement is tremendously lucrative – who wouldn’t want a beer after watching a show about a group of guys drinking beer all the time?
Slide14ConclusionsThe League
draws on several key male stereotypes about masculinity and gendered discourse
Competition – the guys are always competing, let the insults and verbal sparring commence
Sex – this show is rife with sexual references
Alcohol – men love beer, therefore make a show that shows the main characters drinking beer a majority of the time
Football – the show is about a fantasy football league; the only female character in most episodes is the wife of one of the main characters who must behave like ‘one of the boys’ to be accepted (she has a dirtier mouth than most of the guys!)
Slide15Conclusions
I feel that
The League
does a relatively good job in portraying men and the way they behave amongst themselves in a competitive setting
Obviously, because it’s a television show, some elements are exaggerated (The female judge in S2-Episode 9 taking
Ruxin
to her chambers and spanking him like a dog on his hands and knees)
The definition of “Au Pair” is a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with housework or child care in exchange for room and board – the third episode of season 3 has all of the men drooling over
Ruxin’s
Au Pair and at the very end of the episode
Ruxin
finds out Pete is having sex with her in his house
The linguistic features of competition, demonstrated through insults and verbal sparring, are abundant in
The League
and I believe this to be a relatively accurate portrayal of men in fantasy football leagues
Slide16Room for Improvement?Could study the series in its entirety to better gauge the linguistic trends
Could ask a better question pertaining to one specific area of linguistic study
More standardized methods for keeping track of insults and instances of sexual referencing
Slide17A few clipshttps://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNcxFUHcgqk
(
Ruxin
trash talk)
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhhNme8t_w
(play from :21)