Topic:
For this assignment, your task will to be to watch two or more episodes of a
television program that centers around family life, and to consider the ways that
show undermines or reinforces traditional, Leave it to Beaver-style images of the
family form. Questions to consider are:
Nuclear Family --Does the family fit the stereotypical, 1950s structure,
with two parents and kids?
Alternate Family structure Or does the show feature a single parent, a
stepfamily, or some other new family form?
Which is a best outcome? Does the program support the prevalent claim
that the Leave it to Beaver family is the best and most desirable form?
In what ways, and for what purpose, does the family structure presented
in the show you’ve selected subvert or re-affirm the values of the
stereotypical 1950s family?
You may choose one of the following shows* to deal with in your paper:
The Simpsons Family Guy
Desperate Housewives Brothers & Sisters
Everybody Hates Chris Weeds
Two & a Half Men
Required Text:
Olson, Beth and William Douglas, “The family on television: Evaluation of
gender roles in situation comedy.” Sex Roles 1997
Available via Proquest.
Please note:
Do not structure your essay chronologically, and do not get caught up in summarizing or reviewing the
show you have selected. Your argument must be built around a concept.
Be sure to use good, specific examples from the TV shows. This might include a brief description of a
scene, a line of dialogue, or a character’s action(s). In any case, you will need to back up your claims
with concrete support, so it is advisable that you take good notes as you watch the programs. Use of
outside sources to elaborate on the themes you noticed in the show would be of use.
Think about what the shows seem to be trying to accomplish, and about how the individual characters and
their roles in the family are treated/regarded. For example, does The Simpsons want us to laugh at
certain failings within the family? Are single mothers presented in a positive light in Desperate
Housewives?
Above all, give careful attention to the ‘why’ of the prompt. What is at stake in the subversion or re-
affirmation of traditional family form in the media?
As always, the essay should be typed, stapled, paginated, double-spaced, 5-6
pages long.
It will be due on Thursday, October 25th.
12:30-1:45
Google:
are nuclear families the best type of families? 200,000 mix of results
Google Scholar
The Burgess Award Lecture: Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of
Multigenerational … - Find it @ USC - all 4 versions »
VL Bengtson - Journal of Marriage and the Family, 2001 - JSTOR
... No one type predomi- nates: With one fourth of ... family issues will be advanced best
by a ... divorce have weakened so many nuclear families, these multigenerational ...
Cited by 115 - Related Articles - Web Search - BL Direct
Explain: content of results. Explan Find it @ USC.
Eg for example the reading:
www.usc.edu/findarticles
Olson, Beth and William Douglas, “The family on television: Evaluation of
gender roles in situation comedy.” Sex Roles 1997
Explain Library Links Explain Cited By
Better search use library research skills
Social Science –limit by discipline
Intergenerational Families – use a phrase
Vocabulary Building
Intergeneration
Multigenerational
Extended Family
Nuclear Family
Or Traditional
Proquest Nuclear or Traditional - citation & abstract
Family or Families
34720 documents found for: (nuclear or traditional ) AND (family or families)
(((LSU({FAMILIES & FAMILY LIFE}) OR LSU({FAMILY})) AND LSU({VALUES}))) AND SU(television )
Name of TV show “Everyone Hates Chris and Family
Expanded Academic –nuclear family . Out of the Picture: A Study of Family Drawings by Children: From Step-,
Single-Parent, and Non-Step Families.(Author Abstract).Judy Dunn, Thomas G. O'Connor and Irit Levy. Journal of
Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 31.4 (Dec 2002): p505(7).
JSTOR –simpsons