Blog due 3-17-10
This week’s blog assignment will continue the discussion of “outside” influence on individual social development. For the last blog, we focused on music lyrics, but this week we will be working with TV shows. You will be focusing on how women are depicted as wives and mothers, and how these TV shows construct female domesticity.
Using the March 17th readings, write a 500-word response on one of sitcom choices provided at the end of this posting. While you must use one of the episodes provided below, please feel free to reference other episodes that may be pertinent if you are familiar with the show. Use the following questions to guide your response, but do not merely answer these questions. Remember that you are expected to conduct an analysis of this show and not merely describe it. Use of the course texts to inform your analysis is required (minimum two cited sources from the readings).
Please reply to two classmates postings before March 22nd 2010. Remember that responses are required.
Questions:
1. How does the episode perpetuate and/or challenge traditional gender roles about motherhood or wifehood?
2. How do the husbands treat their wives? How do children treat their mother?
3. Are their different types of mothers? Does the role of mother and wife conflict?
4. Not all maternal figures are literally mothers. How are other characters depicted as alternative caregivers.
5. How are responsibilities divided? Do the men and women have specific gender based responsibilities? For example, is the wife always depicted doing the dishes and the husband watching television?
6. How are the wives and husbands depicted physically? Do the characters fit a stereotypical appearance of the mother/wife or the father/husband?
7. How are attitudes depicted? Does the wife accept all her husbands’ wrong doings? Is the “good husband” the one that listens to his wife’s nagging?
8. Does the show make fun of gender roles through sensationalism? If so, what are the implications?
9. How does this show sustain or challenge oppressive stereotypical gendered representations of women?
10. What does this show do for a feminist discussion of women’s role in society?
Episode Choices
1. Family Guy (Go Stewie Go Season 9)
a. http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=familyguy
2. ‘til Death
a. Season 4, Episode 2: http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=death
3. Glee
a. Season 1, Episode 7: http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=glee
4. Big Love
a. Season 2, Episode 9: http://www.surfthechannel.com/video/2651/57858.html
5.LOST
a. "What Kate Does" season 6: http://abc.go.com/shows/lost/episode-guide/what-kate-does/377717
6. Army Wives
a. Season 3, Episode 16: http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/army-wives/video.
7. Brothers and Sisters
a. Season 1, Episode 1: http://www.megavideo.com/?v=654E89AL
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi! The Family Guy episode "Go Stewie Go" (which also happens to be the latest episode) is also available on Hulu here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/130897/family-guy-go-stewie-go#s-p1-so-i0
ReplyDeleteJust as a suggestion for future semesters...there are so, so many Family Guy episodes that would be perfect for this assignment, "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar", from the second season (aka the glory days of the show, imo) is particularily relevant. The episode focuses on Peter having to take a workplace sensitivity class after he offends one of his coworkers with a sexist joke. It deals with the perceptions of feminism and women's issues, including the traditional role of women as the domestic.
You can watch the episode here: http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=596689
Or read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Peter,_Hear_Me_Roar
But, really, you could pick nearly any episode of the show and use it for this assignment. Sexism and gender roles is actually a major theme of the show and is constantly used for satire.
Hi Jessica. How do you get the older episodes? I orginally wanted to do the one in which Louis learns karate but I couldn't find any of the older ones.
ReplyDeleteJessica, you can also mention other episodes if you remember them. I've seen most of show so I will be able to follow if you post about other episodes.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the show as well, I've watched it from the beginning so I know pretty much all of the episodes. The one where Lois learns karate is from the third season, it's called "Lethal Weapons"...didn't even have to look that up, yikes. One of my all time favorite quotes comes from that episode, where Lois grabs Peter's groin and yells "THIS is mine. THIS is where my babies come from!".
ReplyDeleteFamily Guy is probably the easiest show to find online...you can just do a Google search for the title of the episode along with the phrase "watch online" or "full episode" and something will nearly always come up.
Here's what I found with the search "lethal weapons family guy full episode": http://watchfamilyguyonline.org/movie/48-Family_Guy_307_Lethal_Weapons.html
The links you'll find will almost certainly be bootlegs and may be sporadically available or poor quality, though. The last five episodes of the current season are usually available on Hulu, and TBS.com has some of the older episodes, those websites are both free and are also legal versions.
www.casttv.com -every episode/every season of almost any show you'd want to watch!
ReplyDeleteThe links to Army Wives, Big Love and Brothers and Sisters don't work for me, is this a problem for anyone else?
ReplyDeleteHmm I'm sure this does not help now Rachel, but they work on my end?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the links Sarah!