Hot Shot: gendered signifiers and the depiction of women in a Taiwanese sport idol television drama

Abstract

This article explores the depiction of female characters and the gendered signifiers that are presented in Hot Shot, a sports-themed television drama featuring a cast of popular Taiwanese idols or icons whose stories centre on basketball and the connections between sport, dreams, love and friendship. In order to understand the function and value of female characters in Hot Shot, Chatman's (1978) narrative structure was deployed as the analytical framework to deconstruct plots and settings. In addition, an adapted version of Propp's (1968) classification of the actions of characters was used. The findings revealed that the plots of Hot Shot were focused on competition, training and success, and the settings were mostly basketball courts and tournaments. Although female characters involved in these settings were associated with competition and training, they were marginalized in supportive roles. Moreover, strategies of representing women in Hot Shot, including disparagement of athletic ability to emphasize femininity and feminine body image, highlighted the female characters' subordinate roles. Finally, in relation to gender-appropriateness, stereotypes drawn from male sport were pervasive in Hot Shot, resulting in a gendered discourse permeating the text.

Keywords:

• sport
• TV drama
• narrative analysis
• masculinity
• gender roles
• gender ideology

Notes

^1. The first was My MVP Valentine, which was jointly produced and aired by Sanlih E-Television and the Chinese Television System. In addition to entertainment stars, the show featured a retired basketball player from Taiwan's national basketball team in the leading role. The second was Hooping Dulcinea, which was a sports TV drama produced and aired by Sanlih E-Television. The show featured a cast of popular idols and stars.

^2. In Chinese Characters, Ying means win. In the Hot Shot, Li Ying also known for helping teams have victories. W is the abbreviated version of her name and coaching achievement.

^3. The Chief is Jie Er's alternate identity when she plays street basketball. The Chief is a street basketball master. In the show, she is portrayed as an excellent player, and a mysterious figure who always wears black sports T-shirts with hoods, black sports pants and a mask. Many fans imitate her style of dress. Before Jie Er's secret identity as The Chief was revealed, her athletic skills were not shown in any scenes or plots.

^4. She only appears in sportswear during the team training in Episode 8 and occasionally when at home.

^5. The quoted text number (01-3738) indicates that the texts were excerpted beginning from 37 minutes 38 s in Episode 1.