Homeland and Masculine Hegemony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The television show Homeland from the Showtime Network attempts to portray a strong female lead in a stereotypically male dominated field as a CIA agent whose job is to fight terrorists and prevent attacks upon the USA. At the beginning of the shows production, Irene Shih wrote that “[Carrie] twists arms and breaks rules to follow her instincts, and no personal relationship ranks above her work” with regards to the shows female lead (Existential Heroines: Zero Dark Thirty and Homeland, 2013). However, throughout the series the hard hitting heroine disappears and a melancholy female begins to emerge.  The purpose of my paper is to show how Homeland, while having a female lead in a dominantly masculine profession as a CIA spy is consistently undermined by masculine hegemony. Much of the focus on the female lead involves periods of sobbing and mental instability while she falls in love with the wrong man and compromises her job. The male characters in the show consistently have to warn her to keep her behavior and erratic emotions in control. Homeland at face value appears to transcend gender barriers with their female lead but fails in developing much more than a stereotypical, incapable female who requires the love, assistance and approval of the men around her.

Kim Akass and Janet McCabe note that in many television programs women are acknowledged as female by making compromises in regards to their gender (What Has HBO Ever Done for Women, 2013). In Homeland, the character makes this compromise by being seen as less mentally capable of handling the stresses of her job than her male counterparts.  An example of this would be when her character bursts into tears in front of her former boss when she finds out that she will not get her job back (Gansa, 2012a), or throughout the series as she compromises her own safety to protect the man she loves. The viewer is asked to forgive what would be seen by anyone else to be an unprofessional demeanor and feel sympathy for the character. However, when her male counterpart and mentor, Saul Berenson challenges his higher up when he is denied a promotion the show portrays him as an intelligent, capable man standing up for what he believes in (Gansa, 2012b). The gender divide and the manner in which the program perceives the emotions of femininity and masculinity within a professional environment is made abundantly clear.

            The program also further degrades the strong female lead by introducing a love interest. Despite the love interest being suspect number one in a terrorist plot, Carrie falls in love and is eventually impregnated by him. Eliana Dockterman, a writer for Time Entertainment notes that men in television are seen as heroic when they fall in love, where as women are portrayed as weak minded (TV’s Strongest Female Characters Share One Stupid Flaw, 2013). Carrie’s inability to separate her attraction from her job is a sign of her weakness. This storyline is another way that the creators of the show remind the viewer that Carrie is female, and unlike her male counterparts is not responsible nor in control of her own emotions. Saul Berenson in particular must assign himself to be her caretaker and warn her not to get involved romantically with someone who they suspect of being a terrorist. This mentor/mentee relationship that is formed between the two characters is a representation of male hegemony, where the man must enable the woman to control herself as she is incapable of being in control of her own emotions. The pregnancy reminds the audience of Carrie’s poor choices, and the consequences she must deal with as a female. The viewer is asked to watch as a woman becomes devoid of the ability to sort between right and wrong, and make consistent poor decisions because love clouds her judgment.
            Because of Homeland’s desire to feminize the character of Carrie through stereotypically feminine emotions it creates a set of contradictions between a strong female lead, and an emotionally flawed character which is made glaringly obvious throughout the program. The viewer is asked to believe that a woman who is incapable of handling her emotions and falls in love with terrorists has spent fifteen years as a top CIA official. While the males in the program are capable of upholding professionalism, Showtime asks the audience to not only forgive but embrace the lead characters lack of professionalism, not because she is great at her job and defeating terrorists, but because she is a female and therefore incapable of controlling herself.  By surrounding her with male figures who are there to keep her in line, the show exacerbates this point and creates a show where we are asked to root for the female, but in the end accept her place in a male dominated world.

 

Works Cited

 

Akass, K., & McCabe, J. (2013). What Has HBO Ever Done for Women. In G. R. Edgerton & J.P. Jones (Eds.), The Essential HBO Reader (303-314). Kentucky. Publisher: University Press of Kentucky.

 

Dockterman, E. (2013, October 10). TV’s Strongest Female Characters Share One Stupid Flaw. Time Magazine. Retrieved http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/10/tvs-strongest-female-characters-share-one-stupid-flaw/

 

Johanessen, C.. (Writer), & Ferland, G. (Director). (November 4, 2012). A Gettysburgh Address [6]. In A. Gansa (Producer), Homeland. Los Angeles, California: Fox 21.

 

Shih, I (2013). Existential Heroines: Zero Dark Thirty and Homeland. Kennedy School Review, 13. 98-103

 

Stiehm, M. (Writer), & Kerrigan L. (Director). (October 14, 2012). State of Independence [3]. In A. Gansa (Producer), Homeland. Los Angeles, California: Fox 21.