Leave It To Beaver Gender Roles

If people believed what is shown on television re-runs of classic shows from the 1950s, that would mean the conventional American family has two children, a stay at home mother, who cleans while wearing pearls, and a father who works hard and yet constantly has time for his kids. The big issue with the idea offered in those old television shows is that the classic family portrayed is actually nothing more than a miss myth. Stephanie Coontz claims that

The Old Spice commercial uses the Idea of Transfer which isn’t so obvious. Hirschberg states that the ideas of transfer are “ideas, attributes, or feelings from outside the product onto the product itself.” (Hirschberg 228 UCC) One subtle technique is the background images. One image is the beautiful ocean scene with the seagulls in the background. Also they use the beach with beautiful white sand and palm trees. Then they use objects that everyone desires. They man has diamonds pouring out of his hand. This is kind of like the example that Hirschberg uses. Hirschberg talks about the different idea of transfer used in cigarette commercials. The tobacco companies things such as waterfalls in the background and blue and green coloring on their packaging. The reason for the coloring and waterfalls is that cigarettes are commonly associated with burning tobacco leaves and dryness. But by putting the blue on their packaging and having waterfalls in the background the consumer doesn’t think about that. Then it also uses a kind of catchy whistle in the end. And now any time you hear that whistle you know it’s for Old Spice.

During the time of the 80s, there were many television shows that portrayed traditional families. A traditional family, which is two married parents of the opposite gender and their child or children. Even though, Full house doesn’t necessary mirror the traditional family values that all society knows, it’s one of the shows that helped break gender stereotypes. For example, the whole family tradition “norm” was that women would be the caregivers and men would provide for their family. In Bittney Davis article, “Recognizing Gender Roles in Nostalgic TV Series Full House” she mentions, “The expectation of a male’s purpose in the household is to provide for and

The definition of the "typical" American family has changed considerably over time. Ever since the age of television dawned on American culture, situation comedies have tried to portray the typical American family in an attempt to reach as many viewers as possible. In the 1950's, there was "Leave It to Beaver" which represented a generic view of the American family during its time. There was a father whose responsibility was to financially support the family and be a role model for his children. There was a mother whose job was that of a typical housewife, taking care of the home and caring for the children. And there were the children who had no responsibilities, except to respect their parents and listen to their advice when

In an article ' The Plug-In Drug ' the author Marie Winn discusses the bad influence of television on today's society. Television is a ' drug ' that interfere with family ritual, destroys human relationships and undermines the family.

This type of advertisement is selfless in that it seeks to achieve satisfaction from the possibility of stopping its intended audience from smoking and nothing more. It even asks at the bottom of the picture if the individual needs help. Following up with a smokeline expresses concern for the person. In its design, the layout has a depressing background. This gloomy image is possibly representing what comes along with each deed. A glowing white font captures the viewer’s eyes, but is present to sort of highlight and make it clear that the

The ’50s boasted the archetype for the model family. As document H exemplifies, suburban families, coined the nuclear family, resided in ideal neighborhoods for raising the family, were

Suburban sitcoms coming out in the late 50’s early 60’s portrayed usually an average family with average problems it solves by the end of the episode, most sitcoms including “Leave It To Beaver” followed the same formula; two white parents, a mother, and father, and 2-3 children; every episode followed the same steps, there’s a problem, the problem is solved by the end of the episode, and a lesson is learned by the main character. This held up perfectly in the 50’s and 60’s society, but sitcoms needed to adapt to fit their society, as time progressed, more important issues showed up in the shows, and as the US became more diverse so did the sitcoms. Today suburban sitcoms couldn’t be more different. As society became more diverse, more sitcoms were made to cater to the new audience.

In her book Marriage a History Stephanie Coontz explains the male breadwinner family model and its dominance in family life during the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s. An illustration of the male breadwinner model is composed of a father, mother, and two children; typically a boy and girl close in age. Funded by their father’s well paying middle class salary, the wife and children live a comfortable life in suburbia and participate regularly in consumer trends. Perceived as the head of the household, the father was the sole financial provider. On the other hand the mother was the head of domestic life and was responsible for the children. The popular 1950’s TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet exemplified this family model. With regard to the male breadwinner family model, imagine having eight other brothers and sisters. Imagine growing up without a mother, and with a father who worked constantly. Then consider living this life alongside your peers who come from the “normal” male breadwinner families Coontz describes… How would your family differ from your peers? What would be your thoughts and feelings towards family life? More importantly, how would these unique circumstances change your perception of the nuclear family?

The traditional American family comes from the 1950s, when TV shows like Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet were released. They were the model to follow and create the family that the myth promotes. Parents happily married, nice house in suburbia, and a harmonious home are common traits of the model American Family. The myth of the American family creates a template for other families to follow; however, it only reflects to Caucasian families and creates a disappointment on today’s society.

As Stephanie Coontz explains in her essay “What We Really Miss About The 1950s,” these shows set a precedent for how a family is to act. If the Taylors (Home Improvement 1991-1999) or the Andersons (Father Knows Best 1954-1960) are behaving a certain way, then surely that is how all American households are supposed to function. Gary Soto describes this phenomenon in his own life in his essay “Looking for Work,” where he documents how his younger self thought that the first step in the path for his family gaining prosperity was to get his brother and sister to wear shows at the dinner table just like they did on television. The challenge with this concept of television mirroring real life is that it simply cannot be true for most

Where the wife would stay home and cook, while the men went away to work and to provide for the family? Isn’t that a stereotypical family in the United States 1900s? Wasn’t Barry trying to formulate a way to disband that stereotype? That’s how these stories can connect to each other, through deception, and the stereotype of gender equality.

Somewhere in the 1960’s Lucky Strike ran a national television commercial to promote their premium Roasted cigarette brand. The commercial had a basic structure

As early as 1950, television families have depicted not only the way we live today, but also the way we ought to live (Tueth, 2003). Hence, television has continued to present comedies about family life that ranges from the didactic model of domestic conventionalist and gradually to non-conventionalist ways of life. By conventionalist, I mean the depiction of the “nuclear” family that consists of clear roles, responsibilities, and gentle lines of authority that flow from the wise dad and understanding mom to the obedient children (Kutalas, 2005). Examples of these types of shows between 1947 to 1990 that constructed more than 60% of family sitcoms included: The Cleavers, The Cosby Show, Father Knows Best, Family Ties, and Growing Pains

Traditionally, many advertisements released by cigarette brands under the Philip Morris label have depicted happy people joined together in friendship (supposedly due to their common habit). Other advertisements attempted to associate cigarettes with sleek mystical figures, sometimes even sexually desirable ones. All this has changed, however, due to recent legal developments in which the cigarette giant was pressured to offer anti-smoking ads, in addition to the usual fictional ones depicting happy mannequins. In no way were they to advertise cigarettes, and they were mandated to help stop youth smoking. These requirements placed Philip Morris in a difficult situation. They needed to satisfy the