Umair Shaikh Muhammad
Student #: 1001214562
TA: Tyler
WGS204h5
5th October 2015 Media Review Gender and identity are considered important issues in our current society. Over the years, the representation of gender and other facets of identity in the media have greatly changed. The mainstream media now finds time to represent the diversity that exists in our modern society. To illustrate how the influence the current media has in creating awareness about our diverse society, the paper below will look at an episode of the television series known as “ Modern Family” and focus on how it represents gender and other elements of identity such as race, culture, class, sexuality, and age. Modern family is a television show with a comedic …show more content…
The two adult females in the show Gloria and Claire are stay at home moms. To make matters worse, Gloria is portrayed to be sort of a trophy wife married to the older guy Jay. Claire used to have a successful job that she had to leave when she got pregnant. This represents the traditional role of women, where women were always expected to stay home and take care of the family and raise the kids. This image does not give a clear reflection of our modern society where women are also known to be hard workers holding their jobs. This is not the true representation of the current American society, where in many families with kids both adults hold jobs. Many of these American families need both parents to work to make ends meet. On the other hand; Gloria appears to have no incentive to work and is seen to be a bit modest. Gloria’s Character can be seen to fall just as much into the trap of gendered stereotypes. Another facet of identity we see in this episode of the show is that of class. The image that is associated with the white Americans and their class in society. White people are depicted as being more successful than the other races. Jay is retired and owns a successful construction company. Phil is a real estate agent while Mitchell is a lawyer. Gloria appears to be basking in Jay’s success. This may perpetuate the idea that minorities cannot achieve success. Gloria’s character does little to ratify the image of effective self-made
Student #: 1001214562
TA: Tyler
WGS204h5
5th October 2015 Media Review Gender and identity are considered important issues in our current society. Over the years, the representation of gender and other facets of identity in the media have greatly changed. The mainstream media now finds time to represent the diversity that exists in our modern society. To illustrate how the influence the current media has in creating awareness about our diverse society, the paper below will look at an episode of the television series known as “ Modern Family” and focus on how it represents gender and other elements of identity such as race, culture, class, sexuality, and age. Modern family is a television show with a comedic …show more content…
The two adult females in the show Gloria and Claire are stay at home moms. To make matters worse, Gloria is portrayed to be sort of a trophy wife married to the older guy Jay. Claire used to have a successful job that she had to leave when she got pregnant. This represents the traditional role of women, where women were always expected to stay home and take care of the family and raise the kids. This image does not give a clear reflection of our modern society where women are also known to be hard workers holding their jobs. This is not the true representation of the current American society, where in many families with kids both adults hold jobs. Many of these American families need both parents to work to make ends meet. On the other hand; Gloria appears to have no incentive to work and is seen to be a bit modest. Gloria’s Character can be seen to fall just as much into the trap of gendered stereotypes. Another facet of identity we see in this episode of the show is that of class. The image that is associated with the white Americans and their class in society. White people are depicted as being more successful than the other races. Jay is retired and owns a successful construction company. Phil is a real estate agent while Mitchell is a lawyer. Gloria appears to be basking in Jay’s success. This may perpetuate the idea that minorities cannot achieve success. Gloria’s character does little to ratify the image of effective self-made