Gender+Themes+in+iCarly+-+Blake+Neal

During our developmental stages of life, we have learned many aspects of gender through what we view on television, which most likely is still the case today. We tend to discover what is acceptable, expected, appropriate and so on through the use of television shows in regards to gender, sometimes without even being aware of it. So with that being said, the Nickelodeon television show //iCarly// is no exception to this idea. Due to the fact that //iCarly// is aired on a kid's network, it (along with other television shows aired on Nickelodeon) tends to get the reputation of not being taken seriously because it gets the label of just being a “kid's show”, which is why the material it presents gets overlooked. Then the only time we really do hear anything that is worthy of creating any kind of controversy or buzz around the world tends to be on networks such as MTV, BET, etc., which usually is classified as being networks for “grown” individuals. Now in no shape or form am I comparing Nickelodeon to MTV, but what I am saying is that Nickelodeon's themes do not get put on the same level as MTV's themes because of the fact that Nickelodeon is a kids network, which comes across as not being a threat to society in any kind of way. But with the way we did extensive research and observations in regards to //iCarly,// my main question that I pulled out of it was “what is //iCarly// presenting in regards to it's viewers with the concept of gender?”. The reason why I propose this question is mainly because of the consistent themes regarding gender come up numerous times throughout show, even some cases that may have slipped passed my eyes if it wasn't for this class. One illustration that comes up is the whole set up of the show; the "two girl and one guy" design. With this set up, we see that Freddie is the outcast out of the three, whereas Carly and Sam have the final word and Freddie has to go along with it. Then another concept brought up is how men always lust after what they can not have. We always see Freddie trying to make moves on Carly, but ends up always getting shut down. So questions come out of these stereotypical themes regarding gender at rapid pace because of this material. Questions like “why do men lust after what they can not have?”, “why do women only become interested in things once they learn how they can benefit from it?”, "why do some genders come across as bigger leaders than others?” are only a couple that arise out of this show and bring about many more, too. So since the show brings up so many concepts regarding gender and the roles gender play in it, this is the exact reason why is wish to pursue it. 