As a young tween, I vividly remember coming home from school and watching my favorite shows on Nickelodeon like “Zoey 101” and “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.” “Drake and Josh” was undoubtedly, and still is, my favorite Nickelodeon show. The wild shenanigans that Drake and Josh got into and the characters in general always made me laugh. Recently, I watched an episode of the show, and I laughed just as I remember, but I noticed something that I had never noticed before. Although the show was still as funny as I remembered, I noticed that the portrayal of women in the show is completely silly and unrealistic. I am in no way saying that the writers, producers, etc. of the show are sexist or anti-feminist, but I do think the people who grew up with the show should take time to analyze and acknowledge the show’s portrayal of women.
Drake’s Dates
Much of the show involves Drake and his “way with the ladies.” I am sure that anyone who has watched the show can say that Drake gets a lot of girls, and easily at that. He can be seen with a different girl nearly every episode, and shows ease in getting phone numbers or making out with a girl after seconds of meeting her. Most of the time, these girls are portrayed as being dumb or “easy,” when most girls in reality are not. The problem with this unrealistic portrayal is that it betrays women by not doing them justice of any sort.
Megan
Everyone who has watched the show knows about the infamous Megan. This “evil” little sister who takes joy in causing her brothers pain is a major plot point of the whole series. Whenever something bad happens to Drake or Josh, they immediately know Megan is behind their disdain. Whether it be making Josh’s salsa explode, trapping them in an unfinished tree house or causing the floor to collapse, Megan is always behind it. I believe making Megan extremely vindictive is also an unrealistic portrayal.
Helen
One of my favorite characters is Helen, the eclectic manager of the movie theater that is a main setting of the show. Her character is not as unrealistic as the other women on the show, but her main role in the show makes her like most of Drake’s dates. In almost every scene with Helen, she falls for Drake’s charm and snuffs Josh’s practicality and hard work. This makes her seem dumb like Drake’s dates and also makes her seem irresponsible as a manager.
Ms. Hayfer
This character is one of the much smaller characters in the show, but still an unrealistic portrayal of a woman. She is the teacher of Drake and Josh, and the main point of this character is to be as spiteful as possible towards Drake. For example, she immediately accuses Drake of putting her car in the classroom and threatens to put Drake in summer school if he breaks up with her daughter. Her famous catch phrase is “I hate you, Drake.”
Mindy
This character was originally Josh’s rival who always outsmarted him. She is quite smug and boastful with her intelligence toward Josh, and shows particular hatred toward Drake. Mindy was actually the one who put Ms. Hayfer’s car in her classroom because she received a B in Ms. Hayfer’s class. This is again a portrayal of a vindictive, spiteful female character. She eventually becomes Josh’s girlfriend, but her hatred towards Drake still remains.
The Mom
Out of all the characters, this one is the most realistic. She is very close with her family, especially Josh, and is portrayed as a typical mother character. The only thing that makes her like the other characters that I have mentioned is that she can be naïve when it comes to her daughter Megan. Whenever Drake and Josh accuse Megan of wrongdoings, the mom never believes them and takes Megan’s side. Considering that Drake and Josh are much older than Megan and that their accusations can seem very outlandish (although true), it is easy to see why the Mom always takes Megan’s side.
Again, I am not saying that the show or its creators are sexist or anti-feminist in any way. I am just putting forth some observations that I noticed recently. Some may say that the portrayal of the women in the show adds to its comedy, which I think is a valid argument. However, I feel like the some of the characters could have been boys and the same effect could have been made (i.e. Helen, Megan, Ms. Hayfer). Also, is it really funny that most of the female characters are portrayed as dumb or vindictive? Some people will say that it’s just a silly kid show, but what does this teach young kids, especially young girls?
In characters like Megan, Mindy and Ms. Hayfer, there is a correlation between intelligence and spite, which may send a gross message to young girls who aspire to do well in school. In characters like Helen, there is correlation between leadership and bossiness, which can also send a gross message to young girls who aspire to become leaders. These messages can translate into real life and this is where the problem lies. Growing up, I didn’t have a problem with the female characters, but now I feel conflicted with my love of the show and its unrealistic portrayal of women. The first step to fixing any problem is to first acknowledge that there is one, which I hope I have done in this article. Maybe in the future Nickelodeon will produce shows with more realistic portrayals of women. I believe that a show like that can be just as successful as “Drake and Josh.”
