Takayan !

Hovsep Joe Takayan

English 113B

Professor Lawson

26 April 2017

Project Text: Rough Draft

Word Count: 1,603

Depicted in A Certain Way

When one watches a particular television show involving vulnerable young women who

may be focused on a first date. During the night this young teenager goes out to a park with a

guy she had just come across in school hallways. Who knew going down the slide at the park can

be the cause of a big problem. She being so distracted forgets to hold her skirts down and the guy

she had just met takes a picture of her, and that is where one act starts the bullying and rumors

through the mouths of other young teenagers, teachers, and parents. In the young adult fiction

Netflix Series 13 Reasons Why a teenager named Hannah Baker goes through the typical

situations of being slut-shamed, humiliated, and vulnerable. Young women in television shows

such as 13 Reasons Why are too often depicted in cases of fear, assault, and death. Why are

women or girls always so humiliated and always picked on the most?

Women in televisions shows are often known of by being scared, feared with lies, truth,

and secrets that they cannot hold. In the Netflix Series, 13 Reasons Why, which is mainly

about a young teenaged girl that left 13 tapes explaining the reasoning of why she killed herself.

Also bringing up everyones name in each tape describing what they did to her that made her

want to disappear and leave everyone with a mystery. So many people pick on one another but
 Takayan !2

dont often notice how much that person is hurting inside and bottling things up. Hannah Baker

who is the main character was sharing the first reason of why she killed herself and it was

because she was scared that the lies that were being spread around are going to be stuck with her

for the rest of her life and she knew that the name that others gave her, one being slut would

stay with her forever no matter what way she acts or keeps herself. She had a friend named Clay

that she really liked more than a friend and she was scared that if the truth came out about what

people called her just because of one picture that he would think of her as a slut as well. Then

there is Courtney one of the ex-friends of Hannah who is number 5 on the tapes, and she is on

the tapes because she had the fear of telling people the truth that she was gay and she had kissed

Hannah. But she also had a hidden secret that later was told by a girl who had disappeared.

Hannah was the one to get humiliated by kissing another girl just because Courtney was too

scared that her parents and people in her school would know so Hannah took the blame on her as

another burden. Also, there is, Jessica who is on tape number 6, she has the fear of a secret that

she doesnt know if has happened or not because none of her friends would tell her the truth so

that she wouldnt get hurt, but the truth always hurts. During the show, it tells, us that she was

raped by her boyfriends best friend named Bryce when she was also dating Justin, but since

Bryce has helped out Justin with everything he couldnt do anything about, while Bryce

mentioned to Justin saying, What's mine is yours, right?. Jessica never realized what actually

happened because she got drunk at the party that she threw in her house. During the tapes,

Hannah explains what had happened because she was in the closet and Hannah saw and heard

everything. Even though she didn't see Bryces face she heard his voice and remembered the time

in the liquor when he grabbed her butt. Jessica had the fear of this secret to be true because she
 Takayan !3

assumed that Hannah was lying. In the show 13 Reasons Why all the women had to fear what

was being talked about them or happening to them. Karma bites back in an unnoticeable way.

The men had some fear of getting the truth out were not as scared as the women. Justin had some

fear of Jessicas secret coming out and Jessica being hurt, but it never actually focused on how

scared or worried he was for her. With all these fears that had come to Hannah and Jessica sexual

assault had actually caused them to fear the most with their life and who they would trust. An

action that takes place once is recorded in the brain forever.

Women in television shows are often described as assault whether it is sexual, physical,

or emotional. In the show 13 Reasons Why sexual assault is the main reason why Hannah

Baker disappeared by killing herself, but the audience never know this until the very end. Jessica

was the first in the show to be raped in the show by Bryce, but she is not the only one that was

also hurt by that one character. Out of the entire cast from the show there, are four main female

characters and two of them get sexually assaulted. Towards the end of the series, before we find

out how and exactly why Hannah killed herself, she goes out of the house and out for a walk

because she had a bad fight with her parents leaving her parents with a bad thought. When she

was walking she heard the music at Bryces house and she decided to join the party knowing the

past things that Bryce has done and got into the hot tub with Zach, Jessica, and Justin. When they

all suddenly leave Bryce gets in and makes his move and as she tried to get out he stopped her

and forced her and then raped her. That action leads her to think that she was living her life for

no reason after being raped. Out of all the violent and sexual content that this show had shown

the two sexual assault scene were the longest and quietest ones, but later spoke louder to

everyone. Producers use this content in shows especially in this show because it makes for an
 Takayan !4

intense show (Orenstein, Hannah). During the entire show, there were violent fights like the one

Alex and Montgomery had, but none of the male fights were focused on. The only part the male

characters are focused on is mainly the rape scene. Women are being used in a way to send a

message to all people to be careful while trusting people and going to parties that can lead you to

get into trouble. After the sexual assault that Hannah had been through is where she started to

think about her suicide. Just by one single step, one can step into suffering.

Women in television shows are also illustrated with death and suicide assaults. The show

13 Reasons Why is based on the story of a girl who killed herself, because of her surroundings.

Throughout the story, the tapes are played by her friend Clay. Clay hearing what she had to say

then bringing about more attention to bullying. This whole story was focused on the point that

she killed herself and why. A lot of the time in shows when it comes to death whether it is

murder, suicide, or anything else gives a simple explanation of why it happens or other than that

there are shows with a full explanation of why they did what they did. Many shows have shown

that they have been killing off women more that they have of men. But for this particular show

even though they killed Hannah off she is still the main character and she still plays a major role

in most of the show with Clay.

Women might not be the only ones in television that are depicted in a certain way. Men

have been knowing to have the same types of role. They are also known to be killed off in shows,

but that also has to do with how there are more male characters that female. Most male

characters are known to not be in fear, and they have to be the hero. In this show, Clay has

broken this stereotype that most male characters have been known the act like. There are these

stereotypes in the show like Bryce and Marcus, they have been the typical teenagers that act
 Takayan !5

crazy and think that every girl wants them. Then there is Clay who is the opposite of ever male

character in the show. Even though the male character might be depicted in a certain way they

are always being changed up in the roles they play. Most of the women that are playing roles

have been similar to what is known for women to play.

In conclusion, women that are in televisions shows are put on the most challenging and

hard times. They have many obstacles and flaws that have to be shown. Young women in

television have been portrayed in ways like fearful, assault, and even death. The way the actor

have to actually portray the characters, it shows how much thought is put in a way a women

story is put. Many women are depicted in certain ways, and that has to do with stereotyping them

in how we think women should act. This particular Television series 13 Reasons Why has

shown how women are the main roles that feel fear, assault, and even death. There might be

small parts the show male characters feeling these emotions, but for women play these big parts.
 Takayan !6

Works Cited

Ahsan, Sadaf. Bad Blood: Why Are so Many Women Being Killed off Television Shows Right

Now? National Post, Word Press, 25 Apr. 2016, news.nationalpost.com/arts/television/

bad-blood-why-are-so-many-women-being-killed-off-television-shows-right-now.

Accessed 1 May 2017.

Bell, Crystal. 13 Reasons Why Cuts Painfully Deep Into The Pangs Of Adolescence. MTV

News, MTV, 29 Mar. 2017, www.mtv.com/news/2996756/13-reasons-why-dylan-

minnette-katherine-langford-adolescence/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2017.

Ceron, Ella. Why '13 Reasons Why' Was Hard for Me to Watch as a Survivor of Sexual

Assault. Teen Vogue, TeenVogue.com, 3 Apr. 2017, www.teenvogue.com/story/how-13-

reasons-why-depicts-rape. Accessed 8 Apr. 2017.

Halterman, Jim. Male Sexual Assault Victims on TV Are Changing How People Think about

the Crime. Mashable, Mashable, 13 July 2016, mashable.com/2016/07/13/outlander-

american-crime-sexual-assault-violence-men/#0oTcuVYr6Oqc. Accessed 10 Apr. 2017.

Orenstein, Hannah. Here's Why 13 Reasons Why Handled Rape And Suicide The Way They

Did. Seventeen, HEARST COMMUNICATIONS, INC., 12 Apr. 2017,

www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/a46377/why-13-reasons-why-handled-rape-and-

suicide-the-way-they-did/. Accessed 16 Apr. 2017.

Ryan, Maureen. '13 Reasons Why' Avoids TV's Routine Exploitation of Dead Women by

Forcing Us to Care. Variety, Variety Media, LLC, 6 Apr. 2017, variety.com/2017/voices/

columns/netflix-13-reasons-why-1202022770/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2017.

 Takayan !7

13 Reasons Why. Prod. Selena Gomez. Perf. Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette. Netflix.

Apple Inc., 31 Mar. 2017. Web. 1 Apr. 2017. <https://www.netflix.com/title/80117470>.