The Increasingly Insulting Role of Gender on Television (1971 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 0.79 on 55 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Thomas R. Sorrell - sorrelltr.at.hotmail.com (View user info) at 2007-05-22 15:44:50 EDT
The role of gender on television has changed dramatically over the years. Comparing Ward and June Cleaver to couples on modern television programs is like trying to compare dogs to fire hydrants.
In many family-oriented television programs today, men are portrayed as bumbling idiots who are either too lazy to do anything around the house to help out and too stupid to do so correctly when they finally make an effort. It's a miracle they are even able to hold down steady employment, and their lack of skills at their job is commonly referenced as a comedic medium for the show.
As a result of their apathy, the women are is cast as the head of the family, and many of them are overbearing characters who will berate their husband at the drop of a hat. Their one redeeming quality is that they are strong, independent women. While these traits were common in TV programs several decades ago, they were approached much differently for obvious reasons.
During the 1950s, men were normally the heads of their household. They worked to make the money to support their family, while their wives stayed home to cook, clean the house, and raise the children. In 1957, a television show named Leave it to Beaver debuted and was extremely popular thanks to its "better than real" life situations and husband and wife dynamic. The premise was simple: a glimpse into the everyday lives of a suburban married couple, Ward and June Cleaver, and their sons Wally and "The Beaver."
Even though June was a strong woman and had a major influence on the family, Ward was clearly the head of the house. He was a strong role model not just for his sons, but also for men all over the country, and his character served as an impromptu guide to how to be a good father.
TVLand.com describes Ward as "an exceptional TV dad, Ward doesn't gloat when he's right about something, and will always admit when he's wrong. He loves his family, and shows it by being attentive and levelheaded."
Regarding June, TVLand.com says, "Being there for her family and keeping her home neat and orderly are (her) main concerns. Like any good mother, June often worries about Wally and the Beaver, but she never fails to greet life's daily challenges with the sweet and gentle demeanor that most of us wish our mothers had."
Fifty years later, the opposite is true. These days on the family sitcoms, such as Everybody Loves Raymond or According to Jim, the fathers are nothing like Ward Cleaver, and the wives would make June Cleaver cower in the corner with fear. While Leave it to Beaver was a rose-colored look at married life, modern programs make it seem like a relationship is comparable to a trip to the dentist for a root canal.
While it's true that women have more of a say regarding what goes on around the house these days, modern television shows stray far past the point of reality. For instance, Deborah Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond spends most of her time yelling at her husband Ray and doesn't have enough time in the day to get everything done. This stresses her out and causes her to yell even more. She constantly berates him in front of the rest of his family, and acts as if he would not even be able to breathe without her help. Sadly enough, when you watch the show, she seems to be right.
While Ward Cleaver was strong, helpful, and intelligent, modern TV dads such as Ray Barone and Jim on According to Jim are helpless buffoons who can barely tie their shoes without help. They are so ignorant that they can't even remember the birthdays of their children, and their idea of the perfect anniversary gift is a blender or some other household appliance. They do not care about anyone other than themselves, and helping their children solve a problem is not a priority for them. While Ward Cleaver would go out of his way to spend time with his family, these modern TV dads avoid such issues so they can go bowling with their friends or sit on their couch with a beer and stare slack-jawed at the television.
The main character in According to Jim, is an perfect example of this trend. Wikipedia.com states that "Everything is perfect for Jim, if it wasn't for the messy situations he gets himself into and his laziness, which he often makes him search for alternative ways of doing things with less effort."
However, that is just scratching the surface of the bigger issue. Although Leave it to Beaver was not the most accurate portrayal of family life, at least both characters were strong in their own way, and together they did their best to run their family. The same can not be said today. In modern TV shows, marriages are only about what each individual wants. Only the priorities that fit their needs are important, and anything else is not something they can be bothered with. As a result, there is much less respect between couples, and there is usually much more loathing than love.
Rather than provide a template of a solid marriage, their relationships instead serve as comic fodder as each individual attempts to one-up the other for a cheap laugh. When one of them, especially the man, is wrong, they refuse to admit it, and when they are proven right, they waste no time in telling everyone who will listen and rubbing it in the other's face.
It concerns me that most popular sitcoms on television feature such unhealthy relationships. Sure, we laugh at their dysfunction, but underlying themes such as "men are stupid and lazy," "women would be better off in their lives without having to take care of their idiot husbands," and "marriages are the cause of everyone's problems," are not ideas we should be embracing.
The problem is, people tend to believe what they see and hear. The idea that this is how people view their roles in gender is quite concerning, yet these are the roles as defined by family entertainment. Like it or not, these shows do reflect the attitude of a society as a whole.
Even though the gender roles have changed so drastically, it does not mean men should be portrayed as bumbling idiots, nor should the women be shown as shrill dictators who must rule with an iron fist to keep order. While I am not pining for the return of show like Leave it to Beaver, I would like to see a shift towards healthier relationships where each individual has positive qualities. After all, that is reality.
User Reviews
Submitted by ilikesteak (user info) at 2007-05-25 16:35:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I've said it before, and I will say it again. America is in a moral and socioeconomic decline. Social evolution no longer has a saftey net, and no longer functions properly. Children are no longer being taught the values of the past generations.
Like dogs who are not trained properly, children are combative, ignorant, weak willed, slow, lazy, weak minded, and will attempt to assert their role as the dominant being. The actual solution is obvious, but it'll never be put into effect, as it requires a conscious, collective change in our society.
Submitted by Girlwithaclue (user info) at 2007-05-25 16:17:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Did you write this for your freshman Media Studies elective?
----------------------------
Ditto!
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2007-05-25 16:17:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
television
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2007-05-25 16:10:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I read this the first time but must have forgotten to rate.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-05-25 15:56:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hey, dipshit:
I can hook you up with that gig. The current sports beat guy is on my speed dial.
Email me.
Submitted by d_prime (user info) at 2007-05-25 00:29:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
http://www.ubersite.com/m/108566#2421201
Anyone who needs to leave long irritating gaps of white to explain themselves obviously has some mental defect.
Submitted by d_prime (user info) at 2007-05-25 00:28:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Everyone seems to be bringing you down because they don't want TV to be real.
But actually, fucking neurotic relationships are everywhere. Wouldn't it be better if TV showed us something better, instead of more of what most people unforuntately are?
Submitted by d_prime (user info) at 2007-05-25 00:26:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Less intelligent things have been said.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-05-24 08:12:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This must have taken some time to write.
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2007-05-23 18:50:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
People are flawed - so watching idealistic representations of 'family' simply isn't credible, entertaining or all that funny.
The very premise of a sitcom is to create situations where some comedy can be produced.
I have never even smiled at a re-run of leave it to beaver... mind you I've never made it through a full episode either.
Submitted by sideshow (user info) at 2007-05-23 18:30:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
excellent points
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-05-23 11:30:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2007-05-23 09:18:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-05-23 06:55:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You have a point. But you feel chauvinistic.
-------------------
What!? He was advertised as feeling refreshingly silky and smooth!
______
Somebody done lied to you, Berty.
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-05-23 10:42:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Yeah, but those shows are actually funny. I don't watch tv for realism.
Submitted by Tom (user info) at 2007-05-23 10:35:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well, Berty, if you want to embrace the mediocrity, have at. I won't stop you.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2007-05-23 10:13:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:13:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Did you write this for your freshman Media Studies elective?
-------
If held down and tortured I might claim to have written it for an associate's Composition Something class and received an A, and figured what the fuck -- might as well post it on here since I have nothing better to do.
------
knew it.
worth reading though.
Submitted by DasHeer (user info) at 2007-05-23 09:33:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
yeah, a healthy relationship is me coming home, my childrendoing their homework and chores dutifully and silently, me flopping on the couch and my wife bringing me an open beer... naked
we then fuck and she makes dinner, the kids go to bed, and I fuck my wife again, if she gives me lip, i smack her
it's simple, why don't women get it?
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-05-23 09:27:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Whatever happend to thing like Married with Children where EVERYONE was an idiot? Now thats accuracy!
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2007-05-23 09:18:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-05-23 06:55:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You have a point. But you feel chauvinistic.
-------------------
What!? He was advertised as feeling refreshingly silky and smooth!
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-05-23 06:55:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You have a point. But you feel chauvinistic.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-05-23 05:49:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:48:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:36:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The phrase "There is nothing on TV" is true on every level.
----------------
The Spice channel still exists, right?
----------
Ok, the phrase "There is nothing on TV" is true on every level except the "There is splooge on the TV, I'd better wipe it off before it gets crusty. Again." level.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2007-05-23 05:10:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
For fucks sake Tom, these are just shows cast in the same mold as The Simpsons. If you're so obsessed with this 'genre' then take a look at Malcolm in the Middle, one of the original action Simpsons formulae, where the father is glorified and the mother is vilified.
Jesus God almighty, it's like reading a man whinge about how snack food out of a packet tastes artificial.
I suppose that you could argue that broadcasters have a responsiblity to stick to a moral message but, quite frankly, I've always considered that line of reasoning to be suspicious and bollocks. There's a broad spectrum of programming anyway so it's irrelevant.
Submitted by Franger (user info) at 2007-05-23 01:11:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
The problem is that being politically correct nowadays is too important. You have to show women as strong and in charge because to make a comedy you generally need someone stupid to make the unusual situations, and if you made it the woman you can be sure the feminazis would be up and have the show canned before it even hit the air waves. Blame political correctness for these stereotypes.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-05-23 01:01:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The bitch.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-05-23 00:42:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I once gave my now-ex-wife a toaster oven for our anniversary. Now I understand the "ex-" part.
Submitted by Bundaberg (user info) at 2007-05-22 19:26:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by Tom (user info) at 2007-05-22 18:47:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've felt exactly the same for the longest time. I fucking hate "According to Jim" and all the shows exactly like it, because each show is the same. The husband does something retarded. He hides it from the wife. The wife has some bizarre reason to adore him because of it. She finds out, and the next fifteen minutes of the show is devoted to fore-shadowing. It ends with the wife standing there having some epiphany about married life and the husband sits there looking like a moron and cracks a lame joke when she's finished.
His wife is hot though.
--
This is 80% of TV now
Submitted by Tom (user info) at 2007-05-22 18:47:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've felt exactly the same for the longest time. I fucking hate "According to Jim" and all the shows exactly like it, because each show is the same. The husband does something retarded. He hides it from the wife. The wife has some bizarre reason to adore him because of it. She finds out, and the next fifteen minutes of the show is devoted to fore-shadowing. It ends with the wife standing there having some epiphany about married life and the husband sits there looking like a moron and cracks a lame joke when she's finished.
His wife is hot though.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-05-22 18:23:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
While Ward Cleaver was strong, helpful, and intelligent, modern TV dads such as Ray Barone and Jim on According to Jim are helpless buffoons who can barely tie their shoes without help. They are so ignorant that they can't even remember the birthdays of their children, and their idea of the perfect anniversary gift is a blender or some other household appliance. They do not care about anyone other than themselves, and helping their children solve a problem is not a priority for them. While Ward Cleaver would go out of his way to spend time with his family, these modern TV dads avoid such issues so they can go bowling with their friends or sit on their couch with a beer and stare slack-jawed at the television
------
So what you're saying is that old timey TV shows created warm, fuzzy, fictional worlds, whereas modern tv shows create bumbling, comedic, if somewhat more realistic worlds.
Submitted by gravitas (user info) at 2007-05-22 18:04:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
stop gender stereotypes.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-05-22 18:01:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-05-22 17:32:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:13:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Did you write this for your freshman Media Studies elective?
-------
If held down and tortured I might claim to have written it for an associate's Composition Something class and received an A, and figured what the fuck -- might as well post it on here since I have nothing better to do.
("What the fuck" like Joel from Risky Business...minus the underwear dancing, falling in love with a hooker, and running a brothel out of my parent's house.)
Shlongy, Chris Henry didn't do heroin...he just ate a whole lot of poppy muffins with Elaine Benes.
It wouldn't surprise me if they went with THAT defense.
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-05-22 17:19:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
meh,
it seems you are reading too much into it.
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2007-05-22 17:08:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I don't like the Beatles' Abbey Road very much. Or Rubber Soul. I'm more of a Revolver or Let It Be kind of person.
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 17:07:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Everything you ever wanted to know about Director:
Registered on or around: 10-03-2006
(roughly 8 months)
# Messages posted: 101
(101 / 8 = 12.65 posts per month)
# Reviews written: 1,497
(1,497 / 8 = 187.125 reviews per month - 187.125 / 30 days = 6.2375 reviews per day)
It's nice to know you can smell your own. Question: Do we smell like Napalm or do we smell like victory?
TRICK QUESTION! NAPALM SMELLS LIKE VICTORY.
Submitted by Director (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:52:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
anyone who basis "reality" on a television show is probably someone who spends a lot of time on a place like Ubersite.
In other words, a pathetic loser, bumbling husband and shitty father with a shrill and frigid wife who is only an inch away from clobbering him upside the head with a rolling pin.
Seriously man. It's T.V. Who gives a fuck?
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:48:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:36:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The phrase "There is nothing on TV" is true on every level.
----------------
The Spice channel still exists, right?
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:36:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The phrase "There is nothing on TV" is true on every level.
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:30:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:14:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree with you here man, i feel it all started with home improvment. Which at the time was a great show, from a comedy stand point. I can't even watch the shows you mentioned above because of the disgust in charactors.
--------------------------
I never even thought of that show. Hmm. You know, when it first started it was an extension of his highly-popular (and actually pretty funny) standup routine -- specifically a show called "Men are Pigs." There were several references to it in the first show, such as his rewiring the dishwasher and acting like a dumb ass. Not a dumb ass as in "I can't survive without my wife," but more along the lines of "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm having fun breaking shit and wreaking havoc, so kiss my hairy white ass."
(He actually had a line in his routine about making a bird-feeder, realizing that he didn't like bird, and turning it into a combination bird-feeder/cat-feeder and only made it two feet off the ground.)
Anyway, as the show progressed, it focused more on the shrill wife and intolerable, snot-nosed, floppy-haired fucking children. Then they emasculated Tim and turned his shenaningans into a complete inability to perform the simplest task. This quickly became the focus of the show, and I never watched it again.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:24:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm easily swayed.
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:19:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&hl=en&q=Rebecca+DeMornay
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:18:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Produce Rebecca de Mornay and you've got yourself a +2.
Submitted by no1hasdis (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:17:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:16:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:08:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
http://www.ubersite.com/m/90349 and http://www.ubersite.com/m/90999 to this.
You went from conversing to lecturing.
--------------------
Even The Beatles made songs people didn't like. Not that I'm comparing myself to The Beatles, though I do a mean rendition of "I Am the Walrus" when I'm drunk enough.
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:14:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree with you here man, i feel it all started with home improvment. Which at the time was a great show, from a comedy stand point. I can't even watch the shows you mentioned above because of the disgust in charactors.
Although i feel that this is a sad fact, what can be done to change it. Ratings sell. Another interesting article i found, and if i can locate it again was a break down on news anchors. Women in the news dont' bother me, why would it? I'm not sexist and in no way discriminatory agains beutiful women, but watch Fox news and or CNN all of their anchors are "made up" hollywood whores.
I'm just glad i know not to get my morals and/or knowledge from television. Unless of course theres a good documentary on the history or discovery channel my tube stays off.
Submitted by BuckeyesTHEGAME (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:13:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Did you write this for your freshman Media Studies elective?
-------
If held down and tortured I might claim to have written it for an associate's Composition Something class and received an A, and figured what the fuck -- might as well post it on here since I have nothing better to do.
("What the fuck" like Joel from Risky Business...minus the underwear dancing, falling in love with a hooker, and running a brothel out of my parent's house.)
Shlongy, Chris Henry didn't do heroin...he just ate a whole lot of poppy muffins with Elaine Benes.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:08:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
http://www.ubersite.com/m/90349 and http://www.ubersite.com/m/90999 to this.
You went from conversing to lecturing.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2007-05-22 16:07:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Real Football 365 has not been good for your writing.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:59:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
A resounding shrug
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:58:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
WARD, IT'S TIME TO PLAY WITH THE BEAVER!!!!!
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Did you write this for your freshman Media Studies elective?
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:53:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:51:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:50:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I miss Mayberry
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:50:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
"After all, that is reality."
---
But I watch tv to escape reality. And the Homer Simpsons are just so lovable.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:49:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
So it really WAS Marilyn Manson's fault those kids shot up Columbine?
I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-05-22 15:49:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzChris Henry does heroinzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz