As I aged, I found that I was old enough to stay awake for primetime television the ripe age of eleven or twelve years old. At this time, and even now, Family Guy had come to surface and began to be much more popular around my age group and beyond. Cartoon sitcoms like Family Guy, American Dad, and South Park appeal to younger audiences as our children mature faster. This is unavoidable, seeing as these shows are on FOX as early as 8pm. As a result, our youth is being exposed to blatantly sexist programming and we may find them convinced that this is standard procedure of thought.
In Family Guy, the main characters consist of an idiotic and overweight man, a pretty wife with a small waist and an even head (kept as a relatable character to allow for a sense of stability), two children with dull personalities, the eccentric baby, and the smart talking dog. A majority of the male characters look down on their wives and other women, excepting the black man who is stereotypically humble to his overbearing wife (until this certain character got his own spinoff called The Cleveland Show in which he divorces his old wife and moves to Virginia to marry a smaller, prettier woman who is, of course, passive and not terribly bright).
In the Family Guy episode I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar, his treatment of women is addressed. After an incident at his workplace with the telling of sexist jokes, he is sent to a woman's retreat. After experiencing what is apparently a pain similar to childbirth, he becomes especially effeminate. At this point, he begins to worry that he's pregnant and attempts to breastfeed his baby (and yes, it's disturbing.)
Peter proceeds to go to a convention and exclaim that it's the fault of all men that there is crime and the ruining of society. He explains that they should be ashamed.
When watching this, I found that they were mocking feminists. That this is what feminism as portrayed as- a joke and an exaggerated annoyance. In reality, though, we need feminism. We need feminism to protect our rights as women, to make our place in society move forward, and to show that we're more than what we were conditioned to be.
The episode redeems itself only slightly towards the end when Peter's wife brings Peter to a gala. She is insulted about her lifestyle and explains that being a feminist is about having choice and being able to do whatever she pleased. She exercised her rights as staying at home to cook and clean while taking care of her family because that's what she wanted. This was an interesting take on feminism, the fact that this is what she wanted.
Once again, the episode dips back down into complete garbage. Peter's wife gets into a cat fight with the woman she was arguing with and this instantly turns Peter on. Once they go back home and have sex, he basically forgets her existence and the fact that he was ever interested in feminism. Finally, he asks her to make a sandwich and she smiles.
While the episode made one measly point about how feminism is about choice, is proceeded to degrade women once more. Sure, it's all for comedy value and I respect that, but I also don't respect the fact that women are still represented in such a disposable and unintelligent light. If you want to make a smart comedy, you should figure out what you're doing with your characters and understand that people enjoy connecting and women will connect to positive and powerful female roles.
Here is another example of sexism in Family Guy to sum this up:
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