Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is More Feminist Than Most ‘Woke’ Shows — And Funnier Too
Redefining women in media part 1
Women Have It Tough” — Logan Paul
Despite a continuous growing wave of feminism, to quote Logan Paul, “Women have it tough” (sorry for sounding like some woke asshole). From blatant discrimination, to an infinite number of microaggressions that speak to a more superficially enlightened society, the ex-WWE boxer and Prime drink co-founder appears to have stumbled upon a saddening truth.
Girlbosses, Matriarchs, and the Case of Missing Realism
To make matters worse, tv shows that depict women in the workplace often have worse writing than the infamous WWE fights - that is to say, predictable and painfully out of touch. From archetypes like the matriarch, or the girlboss (which is really just a male boss in a wig), representation in cinema is either Wonder Woman solving sexism in 15 minutes, or lackluster to the point of South Park satire. Because despite the fact that in America, women still earn only roughly 83 cents for every dollar a man earns in full-time, year-round position (which is worse for people of colour), I rarely see TV shows exploring these challenges. That is why I wanted to talk about Amy Santiago, and how Brooklyn Nine-Nine navigates the obstacles faced by women in our society.
Detective Santiago started out as a hardworking, competitive member of the precinct. She would engage in a rivalry with the main character of the show (Jake Peralta), whom she would ultimately marry.
The Life Calendar Is Stressing Me Out
One of the earliest episodes where we (the audience) see this is in ‘Chasing Amy’ (Season 4 Episode 18), where Santiago’s anxiety about falling behind her “life calendar” is revealed to also extend to fears about a promotion affecting her relationship with her partner (Jake). This speaks to a wider issue of how society expects women to not be ambitious, or chase a successful career, and how men find it ‘demeaning’ to work under a woman. Yes, this issue is often hinted at in sitcoms, yet the butt of the joke is often the men for working under the woman, and we never see an exploration of the negative consequences of this attitude.
“Moreover, stereotypical sex-typed behavior is also socially reinforced because violations of prescriptive gender norms can engender social penalties and backlash” (Heilman & Eagly, 2008)
Santiago Stress Scale
Wedding Dresses and Other Professional Threats
Once Amy was promoted to Sergeant, she still faced a challenge faced by many other women in leadership positions - earning the respect of others. Whilst this isn't exclusive to female leaders, it is often worse for them (often due to issues mentioned earlier). This manifests as Amy feeling that she has to hide her ‘girly’ side, as she throws her laptop in the bin rather than revealing to her close friend that she was looking at Wedding Dresses (I must admit, probably not the strangest reason someone has deleted their browser history so quickly). However, her friend (Rosa) challenges this by forcing her to try on dresses during their break, despite mild reluctance. This ends with one of my favourite scenes in the show, where Amy chases and detains a robber in a wedding dress, whilst a wedding song plays in the background.
Particularly, success at tasks or in jobs that are perceived to be gender-incongruent has been shown to elicit lower likability and greater derogation from evaluators for women and less respect for men (Heilman & Okimoto, 2007; Heilman & Wallen, 2010; Heilman et al., 2004; Rudman & Glick, 2001). These negative evaluations have also been linked to organizational consequences such as lower promotability and lower rewards (Heilman et al., 2004; Heilman & Wallen, 2010).
Grey Star Mutual S5 Ep 18
“You Have a Beautiful Mouth” - A Day In The Life Of…
Season 6 cops (get it?) a lot for being a decline in the standard of previous seasons, and whilst this may be a fair summation, there is an episode that stands out as one of the most powerful in the show - “He Said She Said”. Whilst I wish I could do a whole newsletter on just the episode, it does raise 2 major issues faced by women - how they are treated by members of the public, and sexual harassment. In the episode, we see examples of how the experiences of Jake and Amy differ in their daily life - Amy is faced by creeps, people making inappropriate comments (“you have a beautiful mouth”), and someone asking her - when she was in full uniform - where they could find a police officer for help.
Moreover, whilst the episode already sheds light on workplace sexual assault, the anecdote of Amy’s plight further humanises this issue. When asked about why she cares so deeply about this case, it is revealed that she is part of the 37% of women (who reported it) who have faced sexual harassment - and what makes this even more heartbreaking is that, out of fear of judgement from others and questions about her ability as a detective, she did not report her old boss.
Baby on Board… and So Is the Career
Arguably one of the largest challenges often faced by working women is if they choose to have kids, especially if their partner works full-time. Historically, women are expected to leave their jobs to stay at home full time, work part time or take such a long parental leave that it damages their career. This gender norm is usually mirrored in sitcoms, with few exceptions. Stories of women who had a promising career in front of them, but ‘nobly’ took the role of caregiver.
Note: There is nothing wrong with wanting to become a stay at home parent, instead of working. The issue arises when this is considered to be a woman’s role in society.
Not Just Critique — A Blueprint for Change
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in usually B99 fashion, flips this on its head, by having Jake, Amy's husband, retire from his dream job to look after their son. In the series finale, Jake provides Amy with the opportunity to fulfill her ambitions, and she does - working on police reform at One Police Plaza. Not only does this subvert the stereotype of women giving up their career, but it also models how men can act - because whilst many shows highlight issues, they rarely depict what could be done differently - and better. And guess what! The Earth didn’t stop rotating because a guy wanted to be the best father he could be for his son. Shocking…
The Final Scene: Crime Solved, Stereotypes Dismantled
Brooklyn Nine Nine manages to explore the majority of issues faced by women that most shows are too afraid to discuss, or do so horribly. Not only that, but it goes one step further by providing practical ways that people can respond to injustice, challenge norms, and support one another.
Honourable mentions to the scene where Amy challenges the norm of boyfriends seeking validation or permission from the father’s of their girlfriend, and the 3rd Halloween Heist, where Amy proves that she’s more than just Holt’s lackey or Jake’s girlfriend by beating both teams - alone.
Amy Santiago being crowned Queen of the 99
Drop down your favourite Amy moments!