The Change in Television Family Portrayal 1960-2000
The Change in Television Family Portrayal I grew up watching television families like the "Brady Bunch" (1969-1974) and "Leave it to Beaver" (1957-1963). I always wanted to be part of those families. Now that I am an adult, I still watch television families and notice the difference in how families are portrayed today compared to the 1960s. "How are families portrayed today compared to the 1960s?" When I was growing up, shows like "The Brady Bunch" and "Leave it to Beaver" portrayed wholesome families with the father working outside the home and the mother being a stay at home mother cooking, cleaning, and baking all day long in a dress and high heels shoes. These women were warm loving mother figures. They were often the female counterparts of their wise and forbearing husbands in happy middle-class households. They were more likely to work with their husbands in solving problems than to work around him, although the husband remained superior in their relationship. If father knew best, mother was usually there backing him up (Lichter 1994). The fathers did not play a major role in the lives of the families until the end of the episode when he would come home from work and basically ask, "What lesson was learne
Al was a lowly but chauvinistic shoe salesman who had been married for 15 years. In 1996, a fresh new family drama called "7th Heaven" aired featuring a minister and his wife sharing love, laughter, and life with their seven children. Because the show dealt with topics of concern to adolescents in a way unlike any other teen drama to date, it was soon taken seriously by parents, educators and scholars as well" (DuMont 2004). By the end of the 1960's and the beginning of the 1970's, there came a shift in the domestic comedy family. Instead, these families were the ones most likely to be your next door neighbors if not your own family unit. Smart, determined and difficult, she does not suffer fools gladly" (DuMont 2004). "Some of the issues dealt with on the program included learning disabilities, prejudice, divorce, date rape, sexuality, alcoholism and drug use. She rejected them both, saying she preferred to raise the child alone. "This family was unlike other black families previously seen on television in that it was solidly upper-middle-class--the Huxtables lived in a fashionable Flatbush brownstone, the father was a respected gynecologist, and the mother a successful attorney" (DuMont 2004). Gone are the images of the 1960's television families of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, the Cleaver family and "Father Knows Best" (1954-1963). Played by Jean Stapleton, Edith usually endured Archie's tirades in a manner meant to avoid confrontation" (DuMont 2004). His wife, Peg, was a lazy housewife who almost never cleaned or cooked, and their semi-delinquent kids Kelly and Bud were forever at each other's throats. Two popular shows of this type in the sixties were "My Three Sons" (1960-1972) and "Family Affair" (1966-1971). This family is truly a family of dysfunction. Storylines touched on such topics as the Holocaust, hate crimes, violence in schools, drug use, vandalism, drinking and driving, teen pregnancy and homelessness (WB 2004).
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Acceptance Essays
