A huge drive for those protesting for women’s liberation was equal rights in the work place, there should be just as many women in high up jobs as men. Whether this is true or not in reality is debateable, but what jobs males and females have in popular sitcoms sends out a clear message to those watching. In Friends the three males have successful and appealing careers, Ross is a university lecturer and has a PhD, Joey is an actor in a popular soap series at one point and Chandler has a high-powered office job. The women on the other hand, although they do all have careers, are far less successful or if they are successful they are never portrayed as working hard in contrast to the men. Monica is an unsuccessful chef and caterer who only gets a break when a boyfriend makes her head chef of his own restaurant. Phoebe is a masseuse which has always been seen as a typically female profession. Rachel, despite having no qualifications, becomes high up in a number of fashion companies including Ralph Lauren. This would suggest that Friends are in fact breaking the mould with Rachel, but they undo this by always portray her as getting with her younger male secretary or other employees, she is never portrayed as working hard. Man About the House was written in a time when far less women went to work compared to when Friends was written, despite that they still had a chance to break the stereotype. Neither lead females have jobs and never mention getting jobs either. The only work you see them doing is baby-sitting, for example in Two foot Two Eyes of Blue, which is a stereotypical female job, being a carer. Robin, the lead male, is studying at university as a chef. The fact that being a male chef does slightly challenges male and female stereotypes regarding professions, is undermined but the fact that out of the three he is the only one with a profession ahead of him. Both sitcoms emphasise the stereotype that men are still the breadwinners and women are best at caring and cooking.
Both sitcoms are based heavily on sex and relationships and the roles males and females have in this is important. In Man About the House Robin clearly sees his other two female housemates as sex objects and constantly makes jokes about getting into to bed with them. For example in ‘two-foot two eyes of blue’ when Chrissy suggests there is nothing to do the first thing robin suggests is going to bed together. George Roper, the landlord is clearly afraid and intimidated by women, in particular his wife. Mildred Roper is portrayed as a confident, sexual predator who happily flirts with young male Robin. Both Chrissy and Jo think that men are only after one thing, sex. In Friends Chandler, like George, is afraid of women. He is also scared of commitment. Joey is portrayed as a womaniser, he is always referred to as sleeping with women and never calling back. This is only made a bad stereotype by the fact he is not condemned for doing this, you could go as far as saying as he is praised for it. Ross although less scared of commitment is a serial monogamist. The women in Friends are all looking for commitment; they just want to find the right guy. They see men as useless and unreliable. They constantly talk about the future and getting married. In contrast to the men they don’t think looks matter. As a whole these two sitcoms give the view that males want sex and are scared of commitment. Women on the other hand are portrayed as craving commitment. This does little to dispel the stereotypical myth that women are sex objects.
When it comes to families and childcare the stereotype that this is the women’s domain still exists from back in the 1950s when this was true. In Friends they constantly make it clear that childcare is a female activity and men are clueless about it. When Chandler and Monica are looking after three babies it is Chandler who is given the easy job because the women do not trust him. In another episode Joey and Chandler use the baby in their care to get women which clearly shows their priorities. The women however happily ‘coo’ over the baby and often talk about having their own. This is exactly what happens in Man About the House, the women look after the baby but Robin does not have a clue what to do. In one episode when they need advice on how to help the baby they are caring for, the first person they ring is Mildred as she as an older woman. Both these sitcoms support the stereotype that it is women’s natural role to care for babies and men are useless at it. They do little to get rid of the idea women should stay at home and car for the family.
In both sitcoms alcohol, sport and TV is shown as a male activity. In Friends Joey and Chandler are time after time shown drinking beer while watching the football. The women are only ever seen drinking wine or champagne at a mealtime. In Man About the House when they go to the pub the men drink whisky or pints whereas women drink softer drinks. It also always the men who buy the drink suggesting they are the ones in power. Men are portrayed as the heavier drinkers and the ones with the power by being the ones who choose and buy the drinks. Women are seen as always drinking feminine drinks as it is still culturally unacceptable for them to drink pints.
Sport has always been seen as a male activity despite the fact women participate in all professional sports. In Friends all 3 males are interested in sport, whereas the women are shown to be ignorant about it. In Man About the House is the only football fan and he only agrees to baby-sit when he finds out he can watch the football while he does it. Both sitcoms show men to be interested in sport whereas the women are ignorant and the rare times they are shown to be interested in it, it scares the men.
The mise-en-scene of both sit-coms can be relevant to gender stereotyping when shown what the males have in their room and what the women have in theirs. In Friends Joey and Chandlers apartment is full of games like table football and darts. The whole room is based around the TV and the ‘lazy boy’ armchairs. This portrays men as lazy and childish. The female apartment however is spotless with cushions, lilac walls and is centred around a coffee table. There is also a greater emphasis on the kitchen suggesting that women cook and gossip around the coffee table. The fact it is spotless reinforces the stereotype that women should do the cleaning.
The clothing sitcom stars wear also says a lot about how the male and female characters are being portrayed. The stereotype that women are sex objects is reinforced in Friends by having Rachel and Monica constantly in tight revealing clothes. This is also true of Mildred in Man About the House who always wears lacy revealing clothes in an attempt to be sexually provocative. Chandler and Ross on the other hand are always wearing suits or jumpers and jeans which show very little flesh compared to what the women wear. In Man About The House Robin clearly cares about his appearance in the hope to impress women. George however is seen sometimes wearing a pink apron which suggests he has been emasculated. Both girls in Man About the House are constantly shown putting on make-up suggesting they care about their appearance just as much as men and implies they perhaps care about it more. Both sitcoms show women’s clothes are used to emphasise their sexuality.
The synchronising motifs, due to their regular repetition, leave a lasting impression on viewers about what they represent. One of the synchronising motifs in Friends is Monica’s obsession with cleanliness which enforces the idea that women are natural house wives. Another is Joeys obsession with food which portrays men as shallow. In Man About the House a synchronising motif is Robins obsession with sex and constant references of going to bed with Chrissy. This again suggests men only think about sex and see women as sex objects.
Both sitcoms were run at prime times so perhaps if they had tried to be more controversial and attempt to challenge more stereotypes they would never have become the popular shows they did. They could not afford to alienate any part of their audience because of economic imperative, at the end of the day both shows were made for one reason, making money. Man About the House attempts in a number of areas to challenge perceived gender roles but essentially it reinforces them and the few areas it does challenge them it is insignificant compared to the amount of times they don’t. Friends, despite set in a time we women are meant to be equal, still backs the old fashioned stereotypes of gender roles.
