How Gender is represented in Wire in The Blood

How Gender is represented in Wire in The Blood

Within the first few seconds of the clip from the TV drama ‘Wire in The Blood’ we are introduced to the two main characters Alex, a woman, and Tony, a man. These two characters both differ and conform to the hegemonic view of gender stereotypes.

The character of Alex is shown to be authoritative and in control which is a subverted stereotype of a typical woman. Evidence of her showing her authoritative side is when she is talking to what appear to be her staff and we are shown a medium close up of her instructing them to “talk to the neighbors... I want to know what they’ve been doing the past three days”. The use of the imperatives whilst being prominently shown her face and upper body from the camera angle is evidence of her superiority and strong head. Further proving Alex’s dominance is seen in the mise en scene as the character’s hair is very minimalistically styled and plain; it is less than shoulder length and is a dark brown color. This straight hair has been used for this character to show her sternness and non-conforming style as well as, breaking away from the hegemonic gender roles for women. On top of this the lack of non-diegetic sound that has not been added during editing while she is speaking further shows her importance and how high her character is on the hierarchy within her job because the focus is solely on her and what she is saying and the audience is not being distracted by any sounds other than the ones occurring within the scene, thus proving the importance of her instructions. Her dominance is clearly displayed as when she is talking the camera moves very little showing how the focus should be entirely on her and therefore keeping her in the center of audience attention.

Similar to Alex’s non-conformist character, Tony also goes against the standard ideologies of how a man should behave. This is seen after he is left with Alex’s son, Ben, to babysit and is very nurturing and comforting towards him. When the two are sat on the sofa there proxemics show how close together they are, their heads tilting towards one another and sat side by side, which shows how instantly comfortable Ben felt around Tony and how Tony was equally as restful. This differs from Tony’s gender stereotype as a male as the media presents them to be hands off when it comes to being around children and being nurturing, however, Tony’s character clearly defies this. Further evidence of this is again when they are sat on the sofa and Ben confides in Tony when talking about his mum saying “Mum’s always lonely. She always angry and she’s always tired.” His dialogue shows how at ease he feels with Tony and the unease he feels towards his mother. But according to the hegemonic stereotypes of men and women, women are supposed to be loving and nurturing towards their children and be very motherly whereas men are more hands off when it comes to caring for children. Women are often considered to be the best parents out of the two sexes, however both characters do not conform to this at all and Tony is presented as the more loving and caring gender, displaying how ‘Wire in the Blood’ reverses stereotypes.

However, there is evidence of Tony conforming to the stereotype of his gender. He is unorganized. This is clearly evident in the scene where Tony and Alex are making popcorn in the kitchen and it is a bit of a disaster. The shots used are mostly medium close ups, big close ups and long shots. The use of many different types of camera angles in such a short amount of time highlights the quick paced action and proves the point of Tony being chaotic in nature . The editing of the quick paced shot changes helps confirm the disorganization of Tony by confusing and disorientating the audience as they cannot get a proper view of what is going on and the action becomes dislocated for the audience. This discombobulated nature of Tony is further proved by the non-diegetic sound that has been added in editing as it is very fast pace and lacks a steady pace. This parallel sound causes the mood of confusion and rapidness to increase as it enhances the uncoordinated feel of the scene, which proves the stereotype of Tony being disorganized and unable to control the situation, because it is a domestic situation; making food and looking after a child. So despite his caring attitude towards Ben and his fatherly figure for Alex’s son, he is still an inept parent.