Situated within previous research on working-class representation in sitcoms (Butsch, 2009; Leistyna, 2009; Mills, 2008; Senzani, 2010; Sheehan, 2010), this textual analysis will analyze the representation of working-class mothers on television in two domestic sitcoms: Frankie from The Middle and Virginia from Raising Hope. Through an intersectional approach and sociohistorical framing, this research will consider to what extent working-class mothers are portrayed as conventional or subversive in the most recent season of these sitcoms.
As Morreale (2003) noted, the sitcom offers a space for audiences to identify with situations and experiment with the resolutions to frequent problems. This can be achieved under the pretext of humor. The type of humor that Americans interpret as funny is particularly effective, specifically because it is situated within cultural norms and expectations. Researchers have often traced the histories of sitcom representations not to evaluate specific shows or characters, but in an effort to understand what society views as normal. “In these ways, sitcom becomes not only representative of a culture’s identity and ideology, it also becomes one of the ways in which that culture defines and understands itself” (Mills, 2008, p. 9). By focusing on the family in domestic comedies, the audience’s concentration is on the family and their individual problems and not broader social hierarchies (Mills, 2008). Thus, domestic sitcoms typically exercise the authority that personal, individual concerns are more important than larger, social concerns.
Consequently, this project will question to what extent domestic sitcoms and humor can be used to reflect, transform, and potentially revolutionize our understandings of broader social forces, particularly those focused on the working-class. Through its examination of dominant media representations that emphasize collectivistic class and gender consciousness, this research can be the beginning of a deeper discussion about social inequalities.
References: Butsch, R. (2009). Five decades and three hundred sitcoms about class and gender. In T. Ore (Eds.), “The social construction of difference and inequality (4th ed).” Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Leistyna, P. (2009). Social class and entertainment television: What’s so real and new about reality TV? In R. Hammer & D. Kellner (Eds.), “Media/Cultural studies: Critical approaches (pp. 339-359).” New York, NY: Peter Lang. Mills, B. (2008). “Television sitcom.” London: British Film Institute. Morreale, J. (2003). “Critiquing the sitcom.” Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Senzani, A. (2010). Class and gender as a laughing matter?: The case of “Roseanne.” Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 23(2), 229-253. DOI: 10.1515/HUMR.2010.011. Sheehan, S.T. (2010). “Pow! Right in the kisser”: Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason, and the emergence of the frustrated working-class man. Journal of Popular Culture, 43(3), 564-582.
About the presenterNancy Bressler
Nancy Bressler is currently an Assistant Professor at James Madison University. She will be graduating December 2014 from Bowling Green State University with her Ph.D. in Media and Communication, as well as a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies. Her research interests include media studies, with an emphasis on the intersections of critical/cultural studies, feminist theory, and popular culture. Her previous research has concentrated on the role of media in American culture and how television images influence and contribute to American identity. Specifically, she focuses on the intersections of gender and economic class on television and the role humor plays in the concealment and identification of common ideologies.