Thursday, December 04, 2003
Up with Men!
I see in the National Post that a research group is undertaking a 5-year study into the role of fathers in the family today. The article mentions the fact that fathers are portrayed in popular culture as incompetent and juvenile. I couldn't agree more. I get so mad at portrayals of men in general, and husbands/fathers in particular, in the media. Think of that stupid toilet paper commerical where some fat dude is staring at shelves of different brands of TP in the grocery store and the singing voice says: "Remember what your wife told you...yeah, that one..." How insulting to men.
I think there's something more pernicious about these portrayals of men than the fact that it might make them feel bad about themselves. It reinforces stereotypes that are limiting for both sexes. If my husband thinks he can't do the shopping (he doesn't think that, BTW), and I think that he can't either, then who has to do it?
I was just thinking last night, actually, when I was zipping through the sitcoms in search of something worthwhile, that so many sitcoms at the moment portray awful marriage relationships. "My Wife and Kids", "According to Jim" and the super-popular "Everybody Loves Raymond" all portray the bumbling yet manipulative (lying) husband and the too-good but nagging wife, and all they seem to do is argue. Why is this? The men of my acquaintance are nothing like this, though even in real life it seems that we tend to buy into the idea of the shallow, stupid man and the superior and thus overworked woman. I must admit that I sometimes believe it myself.
There are differences between the genders, thank god. Why have we gone from valuing men's abilities over women's to valuing women's over men's? The stereotypes operate as traps for both genders, no matter which way the balance tips.
I see in the National Post that a research group is undertaking a 5-year study into the role of fathers in the family today. The article mentions the fact that fathers are portrayed in popular culture as incompetent and juvenile. I couldn't agree more. I get so mad at portrayals of men in general, and husbands/fathers in particular, in the media. Think of that stupid toilet paper commerical where some fat dude is staring at shelves of different brands of TP in the grocery store and the singing voice says: "Remember what your wife told you...yeah, that one..." How insulting to men.
I think there's something more pernicious about these portrayals of men than the fact that it might make them feel bad about themselves. It reinforces stereotypes that are limiting for both sexes. If my husband thinks he can't do the shopping (he doesn't think that, BTW), and I think that he can't either, then who has to do it?
I was just thinking last night, actually, when I was zipping through the sitcoms in search of something worthwhile, that so many sitcoms at the moment portray awful marriage relationships. "My Wife and Kids", "According to Jim" and the super-popular "Everybody Loves Raymond" all portray the bumbling yet manipulative (lying) husband and the too-good but nagging wife, and all they seem to do is argue. Why is this? The men of my acquaintance are nothing like this, though even in real life it seems that we tend to buy into the idea of the shallow, stupid man and the superior and thus overworked woman. I must admit that I sometimes believe it myself.
There are differences between the genders, thank god. Why have we gone from valuing men's abilities over women's to valuing women's over men's? The stereotypes operate as traps for both genders, no matter which way the balance tips.
# posted by becca : 10:33 AM
