Introducing America 's New Family

The average family: a married man and women, 2.5 children, with a beautiful home that has a white picket fence and a dog. However, this “average” family image has changed drastically over the past decade particularly with the acceptance of gay marriage and green cards that are easier to obtain; this has had a substantial influence not only on our society but leverage on social media. An example of this changed media dynamic is displayed through the comedic mockumentary, Modern Family. Within this fictional, interview style comedy series, three families that are extremely stereotypical, live their interrelated lives. The series follows these three families, an “average” American family featuring a married

On September 20, 1984 a show aired that changed the way we view gender roles on television. Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes and in reflecting them TV reinforces them by presenting them as the norm (Chandler, 1). The Cosby Show, challenged the typical gender stereotyping of television, daring to go against the dominant social values of its time period. In its challenge of the dominant social view, the show redefined the portrayal of male and female roles in television. It redefined the gender role in the work place, in social expectations, and in household responsibilities. The Cosby Show supported Freidan in her view of “castigating the phony happy housewife heroine of the

Largely a result of the lifestyles portrayed on suburban-based television shows, the suburbs have consistently been deemed the ideal environment for the ideal family of high moral standards From the initial episodes of "Leave it to Beaver" in the 1950's to the modernized episodes of "Home Improvement" in the 1990's, suburban TV sitcoms have bombarded America with images of hard-working and devoted mother/father pairs who guide their essentially "normal" children through the obstacles of childhood and adolescence. As the television critic Michael V. Tueth revealed in a recent publication of the Journal of Popular Film and Television, these television shows allowed suburbia to evolve into the home of "parental wisdom and spousal forgiveness" as well as "children's fantasies and nonsense" (98). Surprisingly, because America's actual suburban children record and obtain overall success through adulthood, these television lifestyles did not seem too far-fetched. Unfortunately, through recent years, this affirmed connection between the suburbs and the "perfect" family environment has become more of an intended assumption rather than a reality.

The television show 'Modern Family' is such that places its emphasis on "female gender stereotypes to further promote a male-dominant family ideology." (Lehmann, 2011, p.2) Lehmann reports that the tendency of the mass media "to

Over time the image of a family on television has changed, these changes highlight important issues in society - which can be seen through the comparison of Leave-It-To-Beaver and Modern Family. One of the main issues portrayed significantly is gender roles. In the 1950s, the World War 2 aftermath encouraged the traditional gender roles to be put back using sitcoms such as Leave-It-To-Beaver, which heavily highlights gender roles. On the other hand, 2000s family portrayal on television began to defy these ideals through switching the otherwise established roles of the mother and father in a family.

Television, since its inception, has had a knack at being a mirror for the current state of society. Through this medium, one is easily able to spot the changes our culture has gone through since TV was first created. One example of this social shift, is that of the woman's role in television starting from the 50’s to the present. In 1950’s

Media, whether it is social media or television, magazines or books, has played an important part of shaping the American view on the queer community over time. Media has been the main source of information of popular culture and has shined a light to the issues facing this community. Television shows are the products of historical changes and their content and themes provide indications of shifts in the American societal views and culture of the time period. The understanding of gay sexual relationships on television in shows such as Modern Family, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder, show the gradual shift away from the negative stereotypes that have followed the characterization of queer people in television, towards a more normal portrayal of the queer as people, members of their families and communities.

What could have influenced TV so strongly? American society has been impacted by several factors such as the rise of feminism, the Watergate scandal, and the World Wars. These events played a major role in shaping television today as it changed society’s views and attitudes toward the family dynamic. The rise of feminism is a major contributor to the changing roles of fathers on TV. Feminism first arose in 1920’s when women were granted their basic human right to vote, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s where it really took off. We began seeing women in the

Television is not just a form of entertainment, but it is an excellent form of study of society’s view concerning its families. This study focuses on the history of television beginning in the early 1950s and will run through present day. It examines the use of racial, ethnic and sexual stereotypes to characterize the players of these shows. The examples assist in tracing what has happened to the depiction of the American family on prime time television. It reveals the change of the standards employed by network television as disclosed to the American public. Finally, I will propose the question of which is the influential entity, television or the viewing audience.

The evolution of today’s tv shows is greatly reflecting the way society views themselves. While the main character in the past would have most likely always been a man, relating to the importance of having a father figure in the family, and the importance of masculinity, nowadays, it has become a much more psychological connection. As a person with low social skills, it has been rather difficult to understand the world around and ultimately the world inside me. Growing up with little to no friends, I found sanction in the characters that would appear on the screen of our family television. Gradually, I began to understand the similarities I shared with many of the “people” I grew up with.

Since the 1950s, the portrayal of families in television shows has changed and progressed with equality and representation. Gender roles have almost completely been redefined. Women now have jobs instead of only cooking and cleaning and marriage is more of a partnership. Children’s roles and expectations have become less strict. Kids would always obey and follow adults, but now the children are more self-reliant and have their own lives.

We have decided to conduct this study with the focus on three sitcoms from the 1980s which are Fresh Prince, The Bill Cosby Show, and Full house. In addition, focusing on three sitcoms for comparison in todays time, 2000s which are Full House, George Lopez and Family Matters. Each of these research samples display a variety of roles played, race, gender and change in family perception. There will be significant differences in the family structures as a function of time and race/culture of sitcoms aired in the 1980’s versus in the 2000’s. More specifically, it is expected that there will be a significant differences in the portrayals of family size, social class, locations, origin, and gender roles.

Television is a powerful influence in determining the roles of men and women in society. Throughout the history of television, the representation of women as the housewife, mother and subservient woman has changed to a working, powerful and dominant female of today’s culture. In early television, during the 1950s and 60s, the female characters were depicted as submissive towards and dependent on the more assertive male characters. While the male characters were depicted differently in diverse roles, the female characters always played the same submissive role of mother, wife, daughter or girlfriend. As time progressed, the roles of women in television or sitcoms have been evolved into a more authoritative, independent, and non-reliant on men.

The family sitcom has always been a form of entertainment that has brought people together, and has played a pivotal role in American society. Family values often change over time to reflect the issues being faced by each family member generationally. Media and entertainment are often affected by the social and political issues of their time. Many of these issues, and the way that these issues have shaped American values, have often influenced the content of television sitcoms. Although family sitcoms often reflect the values of real American families, in the 1970s, many television families had very few flaws, as opposed to the real families of the 1970s.

Over the past two decades, the impact of gender role stereotyping on our society has been examined in numerous studies. The purpose of these studies was to determine whether the sex bias portrayed in books, TV shows and social media is still as prevalent as in the past. Modern Family is one of the TV shows that clearly prove that, the roles played by males and females have changed in by the time. Modern Family show is about a family that tackles normal, everyday problems. The show features three combined families Jay and Gloria, Phil and Claire, Mitchell and Cameron and how different genders in each family act. Because of gender stereotype issues like gay marriage, house wives and large difference in age between married couples, this show focused on challenging these stereotypes and solving such conflict in our society.