Female Portrayals in 30 Rock

I admit, in my spare time over the past week I've been watching an embarrassing amount of 30 Rock. What can I say? The episodes are short and Netflix is an enabler. In any case, it's a well-written show that pokes fun at a large number of things, and I can't help but be amused by their portrayals of gender, particularly women. The characters of Jenna (an actress on an NBC show), Liz (a writer for NBC), and Cerie (Liz's assistant) provide for a very interesting study in female stereotypes when compared and contrasted.
Jenna and Cerie seem to both embody the female courtship strategies found in the study by Kim et al.- even when they're not courting. Both of them strive to showcase their physical appearance and play up their allure, though Cerie is considerably more passive/ effortless in her approach to doing so. Though both are comfortable objectifying themselves, Jenna explicitly credits using her sexuality to get ahead (or at least try), while Cerie nonchalantly wears inappropriately revealing clothing to work- much to Liz's chagrin (and her male staff's delight.) An example of this is found here:

Not only does Cerie not understand why her outfits are problematic, she questions Liz's own decisions to dress conservatively and assumes that Liz only does so because she either has children (she doesn't) or "like, one of those body image things." 

Which brings me to Liz. 

Liz is the antithesis to Jenna and Cerie in nearly every way, but their contrasts are especially evident in the way they express their sexuality. The way that Liz conducts herself is essentially a contrary script to everything that we have studied about female sexual stereotypes on TV. As previously mentioned, Liz doesn't wear revealing clothing, a lot of makeup, or a complicated hairstyle. She loves food and unapologetically indulges in it, instead of trying to maintain a particular shape in order to attract men. She also makes references to not enjoying sex; when Jenna asks how her sex life is with her boyfriend Dennis, Liz replies, "Fast and only on Saturdays- it's perfect." 

Her decision to behave in a way that is not overtly sexual or "feminine" garners a lot of criticism from Jack, a network executive who, in the pilot, pegs her as a "New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says 'healthy body image' on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for... a week." Additionally, because of her behaviors, mannerisms, and gender-neutral clothing, he assumes she is a lesbian and tries to set her up with a woman.

While all of the women of 30 Rock can be seen as caricatures in their own right, having the goofy and unfussy Liz balance out the sexualized and empty-headed Jenna and Cerie gives the impression that having these different personalities is 30 Rock's attempt to provide a parody of traditional stereotypes of women. And an effective one, at that.