 |
The Role of Sitcoms
Author: Olivia Hunt  | Posted: 07-07-2007 | Views: 82 | Rating: (51)  (?) 
Sitcoms worked to naturalize woman’s place in the home, and, as the Leonard review quoted above indicated, at the time of All in the Family‘s debut, sitcoms depicting women within familial settings were still a dominant form. The significance of the shift from this premise was underscored by the career trajectory of Brady Bunch that moved from playing an exemplary goodwife in The Dick Van Dyke Show for most of the 1960s to the consummate career woman of the 1970s, a fact noted in press coverage of All in the Family. All in the Family expanded the limited parameters of the single adult woman comedy, which, although existent since the beginning of television, was hardly a dominant form in the way that domestic sitcom was. At the very least, All in the Family liberated single-woman sitcoms from narratives dominated by husband hunting.
That media coverage ultimately functioned to divide the women’s movement into “legitimate feminism and illegitimate feminism” that, generally, followed the divide between liberal, reformist feminism and radical feminism calling for cultural transformation. The arguments purporting to demonstrate the existence of public discrimination against women received, by and large, more sympathetic treatment in the press. Wage disparity, discriminatory laws, and the low percentage of women in certain professions were easily documented with statistics, were understandable in terms of basic American values like equal opportunity, and were located in the public sphere, which reporters saw as the realm where legitimate news resided. The critique of sex roles, the patriarchal family, and the false consciousness created by the mythology of romance and heterosexuality were treated with much more scepticism and, often, outright ridicule. These issues were associated with the “angry” and “militant” radical feminists who were depicted as «ugly, humourless, disorderly man-haters desperately in need of some Nair” (Janet, 1992).
That Leave It to Beaver achieved solid popularity through its pairing with the most explicitly relevant sitcom of the 1970s, All in the Family, underscores the extent to which relevance became associated, both then and now, with situation comedy. It completes the pattern of the classic father and child problem-solving plot familiar from Leave It to Beaver. The child has a problem and goes to the father, who tells the child to do the right thing, which the child intuitively knows she should do anyway. With the advice and pressure of the parent, the child overcomes her reluctance, does what is required, and the situation is resolved happily, reaffirming the wisdom of the father.
Rate this Article:
Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/the-role-of-sitcoms-177480.html
About the Author:The article was produced by the writer of Essay-Paper.net. Olivia Hunt is a 4-years experienced freelance writer of Essay Writing Service. Contact her to get information about essay writing service and online writing at our website.
|
Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free! |
|
Related Articles
Sitcoms Today
By: Olivia Hunt | 07/07/2007 | News and Society
The way of portraying men in the sitcoms of 1970s is important for understanding gender roles in sitcoms. Men were portrayed as the only decision-makers and the only responsible and “adult” persons in the society.
Sexism in Sitcoms
By: Olivia Hunt | 07/07/2007 | News and Society
This article discuses, analyzes and compares the feminism-related TV sitcoms of 1950-70s with current sitcoms. Both groups of sitcoms are focused on the life of thirtieth, unmarried, working women and their network of friends and co-workers in USA.
Sexism in Sitcoms: Leave it to Beaver
By: Olivia Hunt | 07/07/2007 | News and Society
Leave it to Beaver has received substantial attention from television scholars. These discourses include popular understandings of second-wave feminism encouraged by media coverage of feminist activity, the generic parameters and functions of situation comedy, and the history of television representations of women. Leave it to Beaver is a fitting «baseline» example because of its popularity, longevity, and resonance in American cultural memory.
Sexism and Sitcoms
By: Olivia Hunt | 07/07/2007 | News and Society
The traditions of media coverage of sexism issues change in the late 1980s and in 1990s. One final sign of the ascendance of post-feminism in 1990s television was the decline of the primary form for representing feminism in 1980s television: the single working-woman sitcom.
Sexism in Sitcoms: Interrelation
By: Olivia Hunt | 07/07/2007 | News and Society
King of Queens is the easiest to define as the post-feminist sitcom. King of Queens’s plot is about two divorced mothers, who were friends since childhood, and who now live together in the apartment in New York, bringing up their three children together.
Porter’s Five Forces Theory: Strategies. Part One
By: Olivia Hunt | 06/07/2007 | Strategic Planning
On the assumption Porter recommends to use one of three strategies in order to strengthen positions: 1. Leadership at the expense of economy on costs. Companies which have decided to use this strategy direct all their actions towards costs reduction.
Totalitarian Regime in the Modern World: Part Two
By: Olivia Hunt | 06/07/2007 | College and University
The book review briefly analyzes the totalitarian regime and its influence on people’s life. Totalitarian political system is the direct opposition to democracy. People do not have positive aspects in a totalitarian state.
The Critique of the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Part One
By: Olivia Hunt | 06/07/2007 | College and University
A tragedy is ‘a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror’ (Webster's dictionary).
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
How to write a letter
By: geryslav | 24-11-2007
how to write a good letter
What resources can a writer access for paying opportunities to write books and articles?
By: Author | 08-11-2007
What are the best resources and online bulletins that a writer can access for paying opportunities to write books and feature articles in the area of business, leadership, and personal development?
Treasure Island
By: BRATVANE | 08-11-2007
How would u put this to be a book report
What´s your favorite children´s story book?
By: Grace Hernandez | 08-11-2007
What´s your favorite children´s story book?
Does this website pay?
By: sophielc | 04-11-2007
I haven't written anything on this site yet, but is this another site where you need to get so many readers before you get paid?I made 0.09 $ so far for my writing on other sites, why do we have to work so hard at advertising, we should get paid based on the quality of writing!
Exemple of persuasive essay simple
By: med | 02-11-2007
exemple of persuasive essay simple
Q&A Powered by: 
Latest News and Society Articles
How the E.U Plans to Combat Global Warming
By: Chris Woolfrey | 16/08/2008
Climate change and global warming - indeed, how to control them - are becoming more central to politics with every new development. Sustainable energy is the method of our times, and government's across the globe are under pressure - from each other, from environmental groups, and from individuals - to...
The Solar Decathlon - Giving Solar Power a Makeover
By: Chris Woolfrey | 16/08/2008
In the Autumn of next year, the third 'Solar Decathlon' will take place in Washington, D.C.
When it is under way, the experts and spectators alike will see some of the best examples in the world of the relationship between design and solar power.
Comprising 20 teams - each representing universities or...
How Could Parents Forget?
By: Johnny Summerton | 16/08/2008
It's a question that has preoccupied many here in France over the past month, and sadly made the headlines far too often. It's also one to which it's difficult to provide an answer.
Over the past four weeks there have been three separate incidents of young children or babies - being...
The Logical Art of Furniture
By: Tony Nibbinsworth | 16/08/2008
The period of time of the nineteen sixties was a turbulent time around the world in lots of ways. While many of us think of this time in terms of the political and cultural revolutions that swept the world, the impact of the music and cultural views of the time...
Furniture Designer: Alvar Aalto
By: Tony Nibbinsworth | 16/08/2008
Not only was Alvar Aalto a well-known designer of furniture but he was also an architect and accomplished working with glassware and textiles. Among Scandinavian artisans he is often referred to as the "Father of Modernism." His furniture, textiles, and glassware creations, much like his architecture, offer a modern appeal...
May The Force Be With You: Adult And Child Star Wars Costume
By: Susan G West | 16/08/2008
Everybody wants "the force," right? Since the movies emerged onto the big screen, every little girl wanted to be Princess Leia or Queen Amidala and every little boy wanted to be Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, a storm trooper and the dreaded Darth Vader. Adult Star Wars costumes are much like...
The Wine Boom!
By: Sarah Martin | 15/08/2008
Winemaking in California has never been an unsupervised industry. The first vines were brought to the Pacific shores by Cortez. When the ruthless conqueror of Mexico failed to find gold he decided to develop the country as an enormous vineyard. He commanded every landowner to plant, every year for five...
Sweet Grass Baskets - From Africa to America
By: Beverly Sugarman | 15/08/2008
When many people think about baskets and basket weaving, the first people that come to mind are Native Americans or Africans. There is, however, a whole group of talented basket weavers that have also carried the tradition of this art form through the generations that are located in the Carolinas....
More from Olivia Hunt
Sources of Happiness
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | News and Society
Subjective notion of happiness has been studied in many disciplines over centuries. People spend all the life searching for happiness and peace. They try to reach frivolous dreams in a hope to find happiness.
Dieting Experience
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | Nutrition
The phenomenon known as ‘yo-yo’ dieting is very dangerous for health. Only imagine what is going on in your stomach when you start eating chocolate, sweets, pizza and etc.
A Mixed Method Design
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | Education
This article is devoted to a mixed method research design. In the article special attention is paid to quantitative and qualitative approach for the design of a research as essential components of a mixed research paradigm.
Dieting: Friend or Foe
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | Nutrition
In our society when abnormally thin models have become an icon, fat people sometime become ‘laughing-stocks’. They suppose that if they become slim, their life will cardinally change.
Causes of Scientific Revolution
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | College and University
The Scientific Revolution became a real break in the development of science. It influenced the development of philosophical and religious thought being the major contradiction and innovation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and had a great influence on the life of educated people of the Western World.
The Scientific Revolution in the Western Civilization
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | College and University
Despite of the Eastern Europe where the scientific thought did not exist as a notion and the notion of science was replaced by a notion of phylosophy, in the Western Europe the power of religion existed controlling all the spheres of state.
Analysis of the Film Cinema Paradiso
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | Movies
The article analyzes the film critically making allowance for its setting, color and sound, editing and effects, plot features, screening, design, camera work, acting and directing. At present, cinema is widely recognized for its power as a way of cultural production.
The Italian Film Industry
By: Olivia Hunt | 08/07/2007 | Movies
This article gives the analysis of the Italian film industry in general and then goes on to the film “Cinema Paradiso". In 1942 there was screened “Four Steps in the Clouds” directed by Blasetti.
|
|
News and Society 
