Gender Norms In Great Expectations, Episode 11

For Season 18 Episode 11: Great Expectations the show begins in the middle of a hockey game with 3.5 seconds left. The victim, Jack is racing to the goal but just barely misses; of course, his parents greet him with cheers of “you did great! You'll get them next time honey!” But in the locker room is a different story as his teammates show anger towards the missed “wide open shot”. The camera then cuts to Jack and his mother as they're leaving the ring and when asked if he wants to stop at the familiar pizza shop on the way home Jack collapses and his mother soon realizes the blood-stained pants and then just as other times in Law and Order: SVU Jack becomes the latest victim for the squad. The gender norms in this episode start even before the usual introduction song for the characters when …show more content…
Gender norms across society have always been more closely related to how girls are perceived based on how they dress, communicate, and carry themselves in the workplace however this episode is one of many that decided to break that social construct down and focuses on male assault in a sports environment. For example, boys are looked at as tough and Jack (the victim) shows this attitude when he tells the detectives, “nothing happened I just fell on ice”. Of course, his mother then chooses to pick a fight with her husband who makes his way into the hospital room and criticizes the push he gave their son to be a “White Cap”, which is the name of the team. To which Lieutenant Benson and Detective Carisi pull the parents to the side to explain the seriousness of the sexual assault but the dad replies with disbelief that sexual assault could happen to a boy and chalked up the hospital visit to a “prank that just went too far”. The first two suspects in the case are described as the “Bash Brothers” who are known to get a little rough but boys will be boys the coach says while