I’m a huge sitcom fan. I usually spend my late night evenings watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond, Roseanne, Home Improvement and even everybody’s favorite cartoon family, The Simpsons. This selection of sitcoms constituted a good portion of my television habit when I was growing up in the nineties and I’m sure that many of you would agree. Growing up in the nineties provided us the opportunity to watch some fantastic (and hilarious) sitcoms. The best shows came out in the 80s and 90s and the newer sitcoms today tend to showcase a similar family dynamic.
But what is this shared family dynamic between sitcom families? When thinking about what I was going to blog about this week, I was hit over the head with a topic when indulging in my late-night TVLand binge of Everybody Loves Raymond. Sitcoms are just swarming with notions of gender roles—what are “feminine” traits for females and what are “masculine” traits for men. I was watching an episode where Deborah thinks Raymond isn’t spending enough time at home with the kids. When she finds out that some of the other sports writers work from home, she forces Ray to work from home, so he can hang out with the kids. Surprise surprise. Raymond stays home and takes care of the kids for one afternoon while Deborah does errands and messes everything up. The kids destroy the house; he can’t find his twin boys, etc. etc.
And this is generally the trait in many sitcom families. In this article that I read by Sarah Macarelli , she explores how much sitcoms have changed the “dad” vision over the years. We have steered away from the caring, competent dads of The Brady Bunch era and into the era of sitcom dads who “are either ‘dead-beat dads’ or the funny, clueless type.” The sitcom father generally has very few parenting skills and will often mess everything up, if he is left to care for the kids. It is then that “supermom” sweeps in and makes everything better. Sitcoms today tend to showcase a self-indulgent father, who is much more concerned with getting his beer at night than talking to his kids.
Check out this clip from Everybody Loves Raymond:
Deborah had asked Ray to accompany her and the children to Happy Zone (a play place for kids) as a family outing, but Ray makes some excuse not to go and raids the fridge instead. But even though the woman is supposed to have more power as “supermom,” it is obvious that she submitted to her husband’s wishes by allowing him stay home instead of going to the play place with their children. The father still calls the shots.
What kind of message is this sending to children who are watching the show? That their father doesn’t care about them, or that he’s just supposed to sit at home watching TV and mom is there to take care of them? Macarelli explains that a “supposedly harmless skit on tv can be internalized by a child and help shape their view of fathers and men.” In H. Leslie Steeves’ article “Feminist Theories and Media Studies,” she discusses cultivation studies done with children concerning gender roles and feminism in media. The children were remarkably perceptive and created visions of the “man” and the “woman” easily. She says, “Interviews with children indicated that even at a very early age they bring considerable knowledge of gendered behavior to the viewing situation and use this knowledge to interpret and embellish what they see” (397). The “masculine” father comes home from work, cracks a few jokes then sits down to watch the game and drink his beer. The "feminine" mother nags him, complains and takes care of the house.
In his article “A ‘new’ Paradigm,” Zoonen says, “…the definition of femininity present content: submission, availability and compliance are characteristics held up as ideals, and consumption is presented as the road to self-fulfillment” (48). Even today, these traits are still present in sitcoms. The mother does everything because the father will mess it up, but by doing that, she is preventing the father from learning how to be a caring dad. She is submitting to him instead of teaching him and she may be doing that because she wants to prove her own self-worth—she is the only one who can get the job done and women do matter. Female characters may now be able to do anything that a man can do, but they’re still being displayed as possessing original feminine traits.
Has feminine advancement really been made in how sitcoms portray women? Do you think that children really are internalizing how mothers and fathers respectively are supposed to act and what roles they play in their lives? Is a child going to approach their mother for everything they need and think of their father as a statue on the couch? What kind of negative ideas might they be forming about their mothers and fathers? Gender roles and the wide expanse between masculinity and femininity are easily seen through the mother and father characters on sitcoms. This light and entertaining television genre may be imposing lasting effects on children today.
It’s interesting that you’ve chosen to write about this particular topic, because I have never realized this ‘lazy dad in sitcoms’ trend before. Now that you have mentioned it, you have opened my eyes to a realization. I think of King of Queens, Family Guy, Married with Children- the list goes on. There is indeed an overwhelming portrayal of lazy men who are obsessed with sports in television. As we’ve both discussed and read, there is an ongoing debate on the influence of socialization through media. Of course, there are some people who are more susceptible to influence than others and researches say that gender, education, class, and other variables are a factor in determining how media affects certain individuals. As Liesbet Van Zoonen mentioned in the article entitled “A ‘new’ Paradigm”, “Audience reaction is conceptualized as a dichotomous activity of accepting sexist messages or rejecting them.” (52) Some viewers might not be aware of the effect that gender portrayals might have on them, while others (such as media studies students) are more conscious of the effects of media. If there are common traits among men and women portrayed in the media, it might distort our perceptions on gender roles. Danny Tanner (played by Bob Saget) broke the mold of lazy father figures on Full House, but he seems to be a rare case. Why is the common stereotype of men to be sports crazed, selfish characters that refuse to clean or take care of the kids? Not all men are that way. Nick Trujillo, however, spelled out the distinguishing features of hegemonic masculinity in his article we read on Blackboard. “Media critics and scholars of gender ideology have described at least five features of hegemonic masculinity in American culture: 1) physical force and control, 2) occupational achievement, 3) familial patriarchy, 4) fronteirsmanship, and 5) heterosexuality.” (Trujillo 2). Those five traits might as well be guidelines. Most of them apply to the majority of men in sitcoms. Their actors might be different, but their personalities are mostly the same. There is hardly any variety. I have faith that while kids might have distorted perceptions due to gender portrayals in the media, that they will have enough evidence to draw from elsewhere and create a more realistic view of gender roles.
ReplyDeleteRhiannon’s youtube clip from Everybody Love Raymond, is a perfect example of how family dynamics are captured in the media. Since the media is so influential, as we have learned as Media Studies majors, it is no surprise that people would tend to think that this portrayal was normal. As Liesbet Van Zoonen says in chapter 3 of McQuail’s Reader, “…gender to be shaped within ideological frameworks, as socially constructed by cultural and historical process and acquired by individuals by socialization through family, education, church, media and other agencies” (49). In other words, gender roles are ideological, they are built in our minds a certain way; usually influenced by social situations and media. Like Rhiannon said, are these appropriate messages? What about the full time working mothers of the world? What about the children that don’t know their fathers? Even though we love to watch the sitcoms for the humor or the drama, is this an accurate depiction of most American families? How do we fix this problem?
ReplyDeleteSocial situations and media are only the beginning of figuring out how our society has displayed these ideological gender roles; we are all to blame. Have you ever heard a couple talk about what they wish their sex of their baby will be? The mother usually says she wants a girl so she can dress her up and put bows in her hair while the father disagrees and demands a son to play football with in the yard. Parents determine the roles of male and female before a child is even brought into the world. In the article written by Nick Trujillo titled Hegemonic Masculinity on the Mound, Trujillo states how sports have given males character traits. “Hegemonic masculinity in mediated sport also has negative consequences for men…’sports encourage men to forever compete with one another, never trusting and never feeling, and to regard women as frail underlinings…” (14).
Sitcoms are a great example of how the media portrays family and gender. But what is more powerful, the media or how we are raised? If our parents raised us as the opposite sex, would we still think like we do? We always want to blame the media for swaying our views, but if we think about our childhood, who bought us that Barbie or that Hot Wheels car?
It is a common trend to see stereotyping and gender roles in sitcoms and other forms of media that we absorb on an everyday basis. Looking at the proposed topic by Rhiannon Adams, the resources that linked us, gave us insight from both the views of female and male perspective of gender roles in the media.
ReplyDeleteBased on the McQuail reading, “A New Paradigm”, by theorist Liesbet Van Zoonen, we received insight on how gender roles have developed throughout the years. Concepts such as distortion, socialization, culture, and imitation are some of the root terms that continue to portray woman as being solely “home makers” in the United States. However, in modern culture it is known that his job is not only a woman’s responsibility. “Linda Lazier-Smith accuses the advertising industry of not keeping up with the changes in society.” She continues on saying that though our culture and demographics have made a complete turn around from being stuck in our traditional gender roles, we are still viewing these same roles being bestowed on us in the media. We have what they call a “cultural lag” in that the change that society has gone through has not yet been displayed in media. These traditional gender roles are still seen in modern television shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and various other sitcoms.
In the article that Rhiannon linked in her blog post “How Men are Portrayed in Television” by Sarah Maccarelli she points out how men are also represented as “dead beat dads” that are over worked and disconnected from family life. The issue of gender roles in a “feminist” point of view is also seen for the males as well. Though it can be debated that woman have fought for many of the rights they have in today’s society, that’s why this issue is commonly referred to as a “feminist” issue.
Answering some of the questions posed in the blog post I believe that the gender roles in sitcoms for both men and woman are just the continuation of mimicking these traditional roles. We watch these sitcoms for pure pleasure in that we a breaking away from our normal stressful day. As viewers we use these shows as pure entertainment and are not fully aware of the stereotypical roles that are present in the program. In my opinion, a majority of show creators stick to typical gender roles because it is a familiar situation that has followed woman and men throughout history. Unfortunately, we cannot rewrite time like we can a television script but it is evident in current times that woman have broken this traditional gender role and become more of an independent figure rather portrayed as the “weaker sex” as mentioned in Leslie Steeves article “Feminist theories and media studies.” According to her woman in media take the role as the secondary figure in a family setting. “[Woman] are less likely to be mature adults, are less educated and hold lower status jobs.” It continues by saying “[Woman] tend to be represented in the private realms of home, personal relations and sexuality, while men represent the public realm of work, social relations and sexuality.” I feel that these gender roles do have impression on children because television is sometimes used as an easy “electric babysitter” that they are plopped in front of. In my opinion these shows give children the early semantics of how their chosen gender is portrayed in society. They can have a lasting impression on their development.
My recommendation for the next generation parents is to make sure they point out the realities of the real world compared to televisions built surroundings. I don’t think taking television away is the most beneficial tactic though I find that most parents take that route. To turn this media habit into a real life lesson is pointing it out to the growing generation so they are aware and can beat the traditional odds that are placed upon them based on their gender.
The concept of gender stereotypes in sitcoms reminds me of the video clip that was posted on a previous blog that showed commercials that portrayed only women using cleaning products. As Rhiannon mentioned, in sitcoms today, male and female stereotypes are present. I think it is very hard for the media to disregard stereotypes, in particular gender stereotypes, because in reality, most of them may be true and that is what people expect to see. Van Zoonen brings up a very interesting idea in regards to how women are portrayed in the media. The author stated that the media portrays women as stereotypical mothers and housewives, and “…that in reality many women are mothers and housewives too, ‘and what is so problematic about showing that?’” (Van Zoonen 48). This is a good point, since although women are shown in stereotypical roles in the media; television shows and movies may just be trying to portray what life is really like in reality.
ReplyDeleteI think feminine advancement has been made in how sitcoms portray women because not every single sitcom shows a stay-at-home mother. In the sitcom, The Middle, Patricia Heaton (same actress as Everybody Loves Raymond) is a salesperson at Elhert Motors, and takes care of her kids as well. I think sitcoms are doing a good job incorporating different types of families and relationships as well, but it still is hard to move away from typical stereotypes. I love Everybody Loves Raymond and the reason I think I enjoy watching reruns of the show is because it appears to be a lot like my household growing up. My grandmother is a typical Italian grandmother and I love watching how Marie is portrayed on the show. My father went to work, and my mother took care of the kids. In a way, my family is a “stereotypical family,” but I would think it was wrong if every single movie or television show portrayed that exact image.
In regard to the negative aspects that some sitcoms may suggest to young viewers, I think sitcoms use these stereotypes as a way to add comedy to their shows. It is funny to see a “lazy dad” on television and nobody wants to see “a perfect father” or “a perfect mother.” Some children may lean towards their father or their mother in certain situations, but I believe that is how society views mothers and fathers. According to Nick Trujillo, “…patriarchal representations include males as ‘breadwinners,’ ‘family protectors,’ and ‘strong father figures,” whereas females are ‘housewives,’ ‘sexual mothers,’ and ‘nurturing mothers’” (Trujillo 291). The author clearly categorizes men and female according to specific roles they may play around the house, but I think these roles have come with time, and although they are changing, I believe they may always exist. I think the media is constantly changing and children nowadays are living in a society where they see all different types of people and families, whether it be in real life and as portrayed in the media.
This discussion in general goes back to the ongoing theme of our class this semester: Influences.
ReplyDeleteRhiannon brought up some valid points of discussion by citing the influence that consumption of such media as sitcoms can have on children's social perception. The assumption made is that, according to feminist theory, such depictions of mothers and fathers on sitcoms can cause children to view their real-life household in that way (thus forming gender roles). Speaking from personal perspective, I have to disagree. I grew up on watching such sitcoms and I view my real-life parents in so such way. My father is very active in family life and always has a grasp on things. My mother is a housewife but does not engage in such stereotypical sitcom conflicts as those portrayed on television. In the Zoonen reading, it is stated that "stereotypes are not images in themselves but radicalized expressions of a common social practice of identifying and categorizing experiences, objects, or persons...Stereotypes often have social counterparts that appear to support and legitimize the stereotype," (Zoonen,48). It then provides the argument that if there are a large majority of these "supermom" figures in real life, why is it so bad to show them? Media did not shape my perception of reality, but my mom is a housewife and does represent a lot of what these shows depict. It is not all that much of a stretch.
In the Steeves reading, it is cited that a theory of feminism noted in the cultivation/effects studies accentuates the believe that "decreased sexism entails increased perceptions of women as professionally ambitious and successful," (Steeves, 395). This is to say that the absence of negative is the same as the promotion of positive. Sort of a pessimistic way of looking at feminine advancement if you ask me. I found what I believe to be a true representation of what feminine value promotion in media. My mom used to watch this show quite frequently and I see it being a large example of promotion of the positive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DRpJ_7uzEQ&feature=related
In the show Reba, this divorced mother portrays a strong and witty woman who frequently engages in antics against both men and women such as the humor shown above. Reba is portrayed as a strong, independent woman. Her love life is even depicted as you would expect a man's to be (in terms of trying things and having them not work out/ending them- the men can be portrayed with traditionally stereotyped "feminine" characteristics).
Personally, I believe I shaped my own social understanding. While I can see the feminist perception of why media would make us think the way that it does, I will assert the same point that I have throughout all my blog posts this semester- media does not use or mold us, we use and mold it.
It's funny that this is one of this week's topics, as just the other day I came across one of Sarah Haskins' "Target Women" videos about women with doofy husbands in commercials. When pitching products, often advertisers will take the route of the strong matriarch and the bumbling but lovable husband who can't seem to stop spilling and breaking things.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting divergence from Trujillo's article about Nolan Ryan's representation of masculine ideals. For a man, appearing as a strong role model is closely related to his physical prowess and ability to provide for his family. However, for a woman, it's all about having control over the domestic kingdom despite reigning with an idiot at her side. What kind of message does this send about gender roles?
Furthermore, in the article, it discusses how reporters chose "to cast Ruth Ryan as the attractive woman behind the man" (Trujillo 298). It says that she never actually was able to achieve her own career aspirations due to her husband's baseball schedule, and implies that she achieves her own feeling of satisfaction through her husband's successes. In the media, she was never developed as her own person. Granted, I wasn't particularly surprised by this…how often is a baseball player's wife really thrust into the public spotlight for her own achievements? I'm not saying it doesn't or shouldn't ever happen, it's just pretty rare for sports reporters to do much other than focus on the sport itself. Or maybe it isn't. I don't know, I'm not super involved in that media sphere.
Here's a link to the video I mentioned in the beginning of the article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vtyheqPVU
I actually feel as though the standard gender roles in sitcoms have had an effect on my very own house. I've been a sitcom junkie for as long as I can remember. Even when I was little and too scared to sleep in my room by myself, my dad would be watching Seinfeld with me every night before bed. He's always liked shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens, and since television has always been the thing that my dad and I like to do together, I picked up an interest in sitcoms from him.
ReplyDeleteMy house is actually like this, most of the time. My dad goes to work during the day, and when he comes home, my mom usually has dinner ready for him. They eat together, then my mom does the dishes and cleans up the kitchen, and my dad goes into the living room and plops down on the couch with a glass of wine. I can count on this schedule like clockwork; if it's after 6 PM, my dad WILL be in that same familiar spot on the couch with his nightly glass of red wine and a bottle of water. And, of course, this is irritating, so my mom is forced into the position where the only possible way to get him to do anything around the house is to nag him.
Steeves' article explains that the reason for this might be directly related to media. He states that "heavy television viewing correlates with lower educational aspirations and sexist attitudes in children" (Steeves 395). Additionally, Trujillo's article points out how often the role of men is depicted as "'breadwinners,' 'family protectors,' and 'strong father figures,' whereas females are 'housewives,' 'sexual objects,' and 'nurturing mothers'" (Trujillo 291). We like to say that we're stepping away from sexist stereotypes, but sitcoms STILL actively portray these roles... even the newer ones.
I think feminism has been advanced in the average sitcom, I think it just probably hasn't advance as far as people want. Sure, we don't have the sitcom with a house-dad and the working wife who is apathetic to household cleaning and runs control of the family. But is that was America really wants so see.
ReplyDeleteAs Media Studies students we are so influenced by the theories and ideas we have learned in our last four years here but the average family, sitting down after dinner at night to watch a sitcom wants something relatable. And for a lot of familys that it probably what is relatable to them.
Thats not to say advancements haven't been made. On How I Met Your Mother, the main female lead characters, Robin and Lilly, are both portrayed as very strong willed and career oriented. And in Modern Family, all the women are portrayed as equal- if not more than qual- control of their household. In the Steeves article on page394, Steeves quotes a study that found "Female Characters are less is evidence that males and, in many ways, are portrayed as the weaker se. They are less likely to be mature adults" Though this study is older, I believe now to be completely untrue. Woman are if anything portrayed as the more dominant one in a relationship and now more and more aren't willing to back down to their husband.
I would even go as a far to say that most sitcoms are leaning towards favoring the idea of femisnim. On page 291 of the Trujillo article, Trujillo states the five criteria of Masculinity. "Physical Force and control, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersman-ship, and heterosexuality" . Using How I Met Your Mother, again, for an example; take Marshall and Lilly. Marshall has been showed time and time again as weaker (compared to his midwest family), had a hard time and took a job he hated because it payed well, he's been portrayed as clumsy and can't follow directions, and he is has been portrayed as having bromances with people. Obviously sitcom characters no longer have to follow the traditional idea of masculinity.
I really believe the culture is now leaning towards genders as an equal playing field in sitcoms.
Kieran Wheeler
ReplyDeleteToday’s family sitcoms are a great portrayal of the gender roles that have been instilled in our minds by the media. In just about every show that I can think of which includes a husband, wife, and children, the roles of the husband and wife are usually the same. The husband is usually the funny, care-free one who works all day and then comes home and either acts lazy or does something that makes his wife mad at him. The wife is usually the one who takes care of the children and caters to the husband. The wife can often be seen trying to get the husband to do something for her and is usually portrayed as “nagging” the husband. The husband is then portrayed as too lazy, apathetic, or incapable of fulfilling the task given to him by his wife. This then leads to arguing, which usually leads to a sappy forgiveness session.
In Chapter 3 of the McQuail reading, Van Zoonen states, “It seems indisputable that many aspects of women’s lives and experiences are not properly reflected by the media” (48). In the article by Nick Trujillo, he states, “patriarchal representations include males as ‘breadwinners,’ ‘family protectors’ and ‘strong father figures,’ whereas females are ‘housewives,’ ‘sexual mothers,’ and nurturing mothers’’’ (291). Both of these statements are especially true of sitcoms. However, in the real world, there are many women who hold their own jobs, and are actually the “bread winners” of the family. There are many fathers who stay at home with their children and take care of them and are not lazy and incompetent.
When children watch these shows, as funny as they may be, chances are they are going to take away some of the very negative stereotypes about men and women and apply them within their own lives. They will probably view their fathers as dominant figures, while they see their mothers as constantly nagging. Although we watch these shows for entertainment, they can definitely be having a negative effect on children.