Sexuality and Gender Roles in Tv Sitcoms
Sexuality and Gender Roles in T.V Sitcoms
Society places a lot of blame on daily interactions and public views through what people observe and learn from television sitcoms and movies. Parents believe that children are now being confused about their sexuality just from watching television shows and movies. People believe that what they view in today’s popular television sitcoms and movies are ways to act in every day society. Most sitcoms and movies however, are just enabling sexuality and gender conflictions within today’s youth. According to the author bell hooks “What does it mean that media has such control of our imaginations that they don't want to accept that there are conscious manipulations taking place and that in fact, we want to reserve particularly for the arena of movie making a certain sense of magic?...it's not about like pure imagination, creativity, it's about people consciously knowing what kinds of images will produce a certain kind of impact.” (Cultural Criticism and Transformation). As people watch sitcoms such as Family Guy it becomes quite obvious how the media portrays sexuality and gender issues as jokes so people accept them into daily living situations. For the most part, prior to the twentieth century sexuality in society was largely ignored. According to the author Richard Guy Parker, “social movements have been crucial in calling attention to questions of gender and sexuality”( Framing the Sexual Subject: the Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Power). As people became aware of sexuality and gender issues, jokes were brought up as ways to deal with the uncomfortable feeling associated with the subject. Men and women generally are seen as “equal” with equal rights. The UK’s National Centre for Research annual survey reported that “The traditional view of women as dedicated housewives seems to be extinct. Only around one in six women, and one in five men think women should remain home while men go to work.” (Practical Guideline
Society places a lot of blame on daily interactions and public views through what people observe and learn from television sitcoms and movies. Parents believe that children are now being confused about their sexuality just from watching television shows and movies. People believe that what they view in today’s popular television sitcoms and movies are ways to act in every day society. Most sitcoms and movies however, are just enabling sexuality and gender conflictions within today’s youth. According to the author bell hooks “What does it mean that media has such control of our imaginations that they don't want to accept that there are conscious manipulations taking place and that in fact, we want to reserve particularly for the arena of movie making a certain sense of magic?...it's not about like pure imagination, creativity, it's about people consciously knowing what kinds of images will produce a certain kind of impact.” (Cultural Criticism and Transformation). As people watch sitcoms such as Family Guy it becomes quite obvious how the media portrays sexuality and gender issues as jokes so people accept them into daily living situations. For the most part, prior to the twentieth century sexuality in society was largely ignored. According to the author Richard Guy Parker, “social movements have been crucial in calling attention to questions of gender and sexuality”( Framing the Sexual Subject: the Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Power). As people became aware of sexuality and gender issues, jokes were brought up as ways to deal with the uncomfortable feeling associated with the subject. Men and women generally are seen as “equal” with equal rights. The UK’s National Centre for Research annual survey reported that “The traditional view of women as dedicated housewives seems to be extinct. Only around one in six women, and one in five men think women should remain home while men go to work.” (Practical Guideline
Cited: Hooks, Bell. "Bell Hooks, Cultural Critisism and Transformation." Media Education Foundation | Educational Videos for Teaching Media Literacy and Media Studies, Featuring Sut Jhally, Jean Kilbourne, Jackson Katz & More. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. . Parker, Richard Guy. "Framing the Sexual Subject: the Politics of Gender, Sexuality, and Power." Google Books. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. . Voss, Brandon (2008-02-26). "BGF: Seth MacFarlane". The Advocate (PlanetOut). Retrieved 2008-02-15. Gauntlett, David. "Media, Gender and Identity: an Introduction." Google Books. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. .