Political Economic Analysis of the Visual Prostitution of Women in Television Situational Comedies of GMA 7

Abstract

Sexualized portrayals of women are staples of two television situational comedies because these reflect the patriarchal society’s gender hierarchy and dichotomy as experienced by the target audience in real life. The researcher found out the audiences’ contrasting perceptions on the vulgarity of jokes. Sexualized portrayals are unwelcome in reality but are considered pleasurable within what the researcher calls as the audiences’ ‘virtual structure’. GMA 7, one of the largest television networks in the Philippines, peddles this vulgarity as a common phenomenon in sitcoms: It commodifies actresses as sex objects, which limits their character roles and creates a consciousness that using women as bait of the target audience is okay as long as it is for entertainment purposes only.