ipl-logo

Gender Differences In The Sitcom 'Friends'

1414 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social gender constructs in friendships/roles of gender friendships

‘Friends’ is a 1994 television sitcom that aired for 10 seasons up till May 2004 and has earned numerous accolades, leaving a prominent reputation in the film industry. ‘Friends’ is also well known for its comedic content which generically focuses on the gender roles and sexual differences of the characters in the sitcom. Sitcoms such as ‘Friends’ are powerful mediums in which the viewer’s perception of reality is altered as they redefine the average life of an American. Poniewozik stated that storyline of sitcoms redefine the idea of the average life, while still relating to society (Poniewozik, 2004). The sitcom was a popular example of these distinctions due to its characters from different backgrounds, yet fulfilling many stereotypes …show more content…

For example, the sitcom often fantasises the idea of lesbians but reprimands the idea of gay men despite both situations being of the same concept. Whitley, Wiederman and Wryobeck (2008) stated that heterosexual men often perceived lesbianism to have a high erotic value, causing less negative attitudes towards lesbianism. A study conducted by Herek and Capitanio (1999) also reaffirmed this as their investigation showed that the reaction of men towards gay men were more positive after questions on lesbianism was conducted. The fantasising of lesbianism by men can be shown in the episode titled The One With Rachel’s Big Kiss where Joey finds out that Rachel kissed a girl in college and becomes overly obsessed with the image and becomes desperate to find out intrinsic details. Despite the scenes obviously being deliberate jokes, these scenes whereby men are perceived to be obsessive over the idea of lesbianism continues to reinforce the fantasy of lesbian relationships in men, which at the same time objectifies women. However, despite lesbianism and gay men being of the same concept, the idea of homosexuality between men are often deemed unacceptable in sitcoms. ‘Friends’ often buffer the suspicion of homosexuality between men with homophobic comments and jokes (Iglebaek, 2000). Joyrich (1996) also stated that homosexuality between men is often feared within the frameworks of Northern Euro-American, heterosexual masculinities and buddy scenarios. This theory

Show More
Related

Stereotypes Of Florida Evans's Springtime In The Ghetto

596 Words | 3 Pages

The television program I chose to watch was the American sitcom that started in 1974 named Good Times. I watched episode 10 from season 1 that was titled Springtime in the Ghetto. In under a minute I noticed two stereotypes. The first was Florida Evans, the main female lead, sitting at a sewing machine making sofa covers for her sofas. Esther was having a conversation with her husband James Evans, the main male lead, where I saw the second stereotype.

Read More

Disney Channel The Proud Family Analysis

1397 Words | 6 Pages

Research Problem Disney Channel’s The Proud Family (or TPF for the duration of this paper), is an animated show about a middle class African American family that focuses mainly on fourteen-year old Penny Proud. Her family includes her father Oscar, mother Trudy, grandmother Suga Mama and baby siblings BeBe and CeCe. These characters all live under the same roof. Other main characters include Penny’s friends Dijonay, LaCienega, Zoey and Sticky.

Read More

Analysis Of The Goldbergs And The Twilight Zone

1208 Words | 5 Pages

Television programs often retain an aspect of reality in order to relate to the audience and commentate on social issues. Although both The Goldbergs and The Twilight Zone address controversial issues such as gender roles, insanity, and ethnic stereotypes, genre differentiates their approach and their audiences’ receptiveness to change. Whereas The Goldbergs, an ethnic sitcom, addresses the external world using comedic relief, The Twilight Zone, a science fiction program, delves into the human mind using imagination. Despite their common efforts to direct social change, the programs are inverse images of one another, and The Twilight Zone’s genre structure allows it to resonate more with the audience. From 1949 to 1956, The Goldbergs dominated television as the first televised sitcom.

Read More

Gender Roles In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

620 Words | 3 Pages

Every once in awhile, shows such as Leave It to Beaver or Father Knows Best come up while surfing the tv guide. While these are two examples of remarkably popular television shows of the mid 1900’s, they also portray the gender normalities of the time period. Gender roles were simply and precisely defined. Men went to work and made the money, while the women stayed home to take care of the house and kids. However, as humanity enters the sixteenth year of the twenty first century, this precision begins to blur.

Read More

Parenthood: The Braverman Family

1794 Words | 8 Pages

I. Introduction Parenthood, a drama television series, attends to the adversity of an extended and imperfect family. The Bravermans are a blended California family who face a series of both fortunate and unfortunate events but together find a way to get by (Katims, 2010). Television consumers have been introduced to many fictional families overtime and continue to fall in love with family related television shows. Historically, the media has transformed and continues to adapt to the changes in present day family types. “Writers often take seeds from real life experiences and plant then in their scripts,” consumers both consciously or subconsciously attend to cues on television and want to apply what they see to their lives.

Read More

Father Knows Best Character Analysis

800 Words | 4 Pages

Television situational comedies have the ability to represent different values or concerns of their audience, these values often change every decade or so to reflect and highlight the changes that the audience is experiencing within society, at the time of production. Between the years of 1950 and 2010, the representation of gender roles and family structure has been addressed and featured in various sitcoms, such as “Father Knows Best” and “Modern Family”, through the use of narrative conventions, symbolic, audio and technical codes. These representations have transformed over time to reflect the changes in social, political, and historical contexts. The 1950’s sitcom “Father Knows Best” traditionally represents the values of gender roles and family structure in a 1950’society, with the father, held high as the breadwinner of the family and the mother as the sole homemaker.

Read More

Gender Stereotypes In The Office

587 Words | 3 Pages

The critically acclaimed, popularly viewed NBC television comedy series, The Office, has become a phenomenon of media, due to its monumental outbreak in the television industry from 2005 to 2013. The Office portrays the lives of Michael Scott, regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his employees through a documentary film crew that follows the cast around 24/7, capturing their everyday lives at and outside of work, as well as the ridiculously humorous antics they become involved in. The show’s distinct evolution of characters, plots, and relationships serve as the cultural foreground of the series. Each specifically placed character and relationship has its own distinct meaning, meant to represent a certain ideology for the audience to unearth and adapt.

Read More

Paralanguage In The Office

868 Words | 4 Pages

One of the all-time, greatest shows to ever grace my television screen is, none other than, The Office. Michael Scott, played by Steve Carrell, is every embodiment of how one should NOT talk and act in American society. His language and communicative style completely opposes that which is acceptable. Consequently, I thought what better for me to use in this assignment then a scene from The Office that makes me burst out into laughter time and time again – Season 3, episode 1: “Gay Witch Hunt” (17:00 – 19:45).

Read More

Society And Family Stereotypes In The Simpsons: The Simpsons

725 Words | 3 Pages

However, there is one stereotype that the show breaks. This is that just because a family looks perfect based on the house, or the number of members in the family, or even the roles of the family, does not mean that they are

Read More

Analysis Of Butch Please: The Dichotomy Of The Butch-Femme

1723 Words | 7 Pages

As well, butch lesbians are homosexual, and do not participate in the same type of misogynistic existence as typical straight men. Butch lesbians do not have the same privilege of men, and are kept at a level of disrespect both based on gender and sexuality. Even though stereotypically, butch lesbians are seen as the ‘man’ in lesbian relationships, and expected to fulfill similar emotional and sexual duties. In reality, butch women as personal identities are the bane of heteronormativity, because masculine lesbains oppose traditional gender roles, and are gay. Though, this does not stop the heteronormative binary from existing, and prevailing over other forms of lesbian

Read More

How Have Family Sitcoms Changed?

1886 Words | 8 Pages

The past decade has not seen any notable family sitcoms that has surpassed such leaps of social justice as some had in the 1950’s or 1970’s. While that may be disappointing to some, this is also a great feat for all television audiences. So many issues that were once considered, “taboos,” now, can be the premise of the sitcom altogether. Even the little things like interracial couples, married partners in the same bed, and even mentioning a pregnant woman is considered normal. Yes, the family sitcom is still no direct comparison to the modern family arrangement, but it is as close as were going to get for

Read More

Knocked Up Movie Analysis

268 Words | 2 Pages

Gender roles and stereotypes are commonly known throughout society and continuously demonstrated as film as well. Through the work of director Judd Apatow, we can compare these stereotypes to the portrayal of gender in Knocked Up and identify how this film pokes fun at gender stereotypes. As we watch this film and follow the story line of Allison and Ben, we can see how Apatow reversed the gender roles of the two lead characters, Ben and Allison and how this effected the films meaning. In romantic, geek centered comedies such as “Knocked Up”, the roles of men and women are often reversed.

Read More

Oprah Winfrey Research Paper

980 Words | 4 Pages

When Oprah Winfrey was growing up she had it rough. At the age of 14 Oprah got pregnant. She didn’t know what and how to take care of a baby. Oprah’s mother was so poor they barely had any money to support Oprah herself. Oprah had to wear potato sacks as a dress to school everyday.

Read More

Stereotypes In The Media Essay

661 Words | 3 Pages

I can also pull out an example for stereotypes from The Longest Yard. In The Longest Yard, the movie takes place in a prison and the inmates in this prison are majority Mexican and African American. This is a stereotype that a lot of people use or believe in. It’s that Mexicans an African Americans are bad people who commit a lot of crimes. This isn’t true.

Read More

Essay On Masculinity

1064 Words | 5 Pages

So far and so, even personas in the cartoons children watch are so definitive. The distinction created between the types of cartoons boys are “supposed” to watch and girls are supposed to is so great that men who want to watch cartoons like Barbie have to do it in secrecy. As goes for expression, they have to do everything that deviates from the norm in secrecy. Whether it is liking a boy band or closet homosexuality, the emotions and actions the culture of masculinity restricts is far too great. It’s too austere.

Read More

More about Gender Differences In The Sitcom 'Friends'

Related Topics

Open Document