Film TV Review “Jane the Virgin”

1 Film / TV Review: “Jane the Virgin” When I was five years old I was playing dress-up using my mom’s clothes with a friend and we came across her wedding dress. The second I put that beautiful white dress on I felt like royalty. From that moment, I began to select the details of my celebration from the ring to the flavor of the cake. I knew I was destined to have a wedding, while the concept of marriage was still unknown to me. Regardless of my ignorance to human sexuality and gender, I knew that all I needed to complete this wedding equation was a man. Lifting the Veil by Chrys Ingraham explores the concept that from infants we are trained by our culture to install meaning systems to almost every aspect of our lives (Ingraham 4). I believe that pop culture is utilized by dominant populations to introduce and nurture these meaning systems. Jane the Virgin is a satirical romantic comedy-drama that focuses on the life of Jane Gloriana Villanueva’s life who is accidently artificially inseminated by her gynecologist Luisa Alver. The show is focused around Jane’s pregnancy and parenthood as well as how it impacts those closest to her such as her mother Xiomara, grandmother Alba, and the father of her child Rafeal Solano. Throughout this paper, I will aim to demonstrate that Jane the Virgin supports dominant ideologies of marriage, sexuality, and gender. 2 What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a wedding? Is it love, partnership, family, sex, or the cost? In the beginning of the series, Jane's fiercely religious grandmother Alba makes her hold a white flower then tells her to crumple it. After failing to restore the beauty of the flower, Alba tells the young Jane that her virginity is something that could not be restored or taken back. Jane learns from this experience that her sexuality is meant to be given to one man on the terms of a life-long commitment. This understanding is a prime example of Ingraham’s theory that marriage is a contract in which men claim ownership of a woman’s body and reproduction (Ingraham 19). “Television seasons frequently end with weddings tying up the romance that has been building all season” (Ingraham 11). In Jane the Virgin, this occurred in the final episode of season two. Jane and her fiancé Michael’s relationship over the past two seasons had been faced with many challenges including her pregnancy, conflicting sexual desires, and romantic interest. Viewers waited in anticipation and angst as the wedding continued to be postponed, until the day finally came that they were to wed. This production technique makes the viewer feel personally invested in the success of the couple as they have accompanied them through the evolution of their relationship. As citizens of western society, we have been conditioned to place importance on the meaning and ritual associated with weddings. By airing these rites of passage Jane the Virgin strengthens existing heterosexual stereotypes. 3 Sexuality is a fluid concept, transforming according to environment, culture, religion, and politics. Within western society, women are taught that their most valuable feature is their sex appeal. Jane the Virgin showcases a variety of understandings and displays of sexuality. In many episodes, Jane’s mother Xiomara is shown enjoying the appeal of her physical features to the male gaze. She works to gain the attention of men by suggestive body language, revealing clothing, and hypersexualized vocal patterns. On the other hand, her daughter Jane is incredibly conservative due to her grandmother’s influence. In the beginning of the series, Jane is nervous and unsure of what sex would be like as it is a topic rarely discussed in the household. When mentioned, sexuality is vilified by Alba due to the shame she holds over Xiomara’s teen pregnancy. Ida Craddock describes how women to as late as the 70’s received inadequate sexual education that resulted in them being unprepared on the night of their wedding. “Uneducated about sexual intercourse, many young brides were traumatized by the experience” (Craddock 17). The consummation of these women’s marriages were met with avoidable shame, disgust, and harassment due to a societal failing in the preparation of either sex for intimacy. 4 From the moment we are born, we have a gender label assigned to us and a subsequent set of behavioral expectations. The impact of having identity assigned as either male or female has influence that far surpasses the argument of whether to paint the nursery pink or blue. Rather than a child with a penis assumed to be a male and therefore have an inherent sexual attraction to females, society’s understanding of identity has proven sex, gender, and sexuality to be fluid. Children are taught that their gender will not only define their sexuality, but their interests and valued qualities (Dempsy 18). The majority of the series conforms to stereotyped gender performance such as the inability for Jane, her mother, or her grandmother to live independently. While these women are shown to be strong and intelligent, their lives revolve around the presence and behavior of male characters. This content supports the dominant ideology that women are unable to survive on their own without male rule (Ingraham 19). In season three, episode 20, Jane’s father Rogelio de le Vega and his ex-girlfriend Darci Factor get pregnant and have a baby. While Darci originally took the dominant parenting role in the raising of the child, Rogelio eventually requests to have a more balanced distribution of care. While taking on a larger parenting role, Rogelio begins to feel the effects of postpartum depression and discloses his diagnosis publically to act as an advocate for awareness. The public responds negatively to this disclosure, claiming it to be a disease only women who have given birth can develop. By introducing this conflict, producers showcase the popularity of gender roles as well as the existence of deviation (Dempsy 8). 5 Throughout this paper, I aimed to demonstrate that Jane the Virgin supports dominant ideologies of marriage, sexuality, and gender. This show has over 670,000 viewers (Mitovich Ratings: Jane the Virgin Ticks Up, Taken Slips to New Lows, Five-0 Tops Night) with children watching as young as the age of 12 (Ashby Parent Reviews for Jane the Virgin | Common Sense Media). Jane the Virgin demonstrates the contractual nature of marriage, as well as its designated importance as a rite of passage. Various forms of sexual performance are shown within the series, as well as the failings of sexual education. Lastly, Jane the Virgin demonstrates the strict division of gender put in place by dominant society, as well as the existence of deviant behavior.