This critical review will take a close look at Joel Gwynne’s article ’Might as Well be Dead’: Domesticity, Irony and Feminist Politics in Contemporary Animation Comedy. The article was published in Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television’s 10th volume, second issue in 2015. The issue in question handles the topics of gender and television comedy and while Gwynne’s article is accompanied by other works on gender, his manages to be the only one focusing on animated comedy. In the introduction to the issue, James Legott, Sharon Lockyer and Rosie White introduce the topic as follows; “this special issue seeks to expand the existing body of material on gender and television comedy by showcasing papers on programmes
…show more content…
Gwynne’s answer to this prompt is to look at the shows the Simpsons (Fox, 1989-) and King of the Hill (Fox, 1997-2010) and “exam the ways in which contemporary animation comedy series […] employ the figure of the housewife to actuate a feminist critique of domesticity” (2015: 55). Gwynne wants to look at the position of the housewife in these comedies that have been described as liberal and subversive, and see whether feminist politics are allowed to exist in this space (2015). The aim of this critical review is to interrogate this article and see how it manages to discuss these topics. The following paragraphs will look at how the article is set up and how it interacts with feminist and television research, and focus on the chosen shows and report any of the findings.
Gwynne starts his article by mentioning Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), which is an influential piece of work regarding early feminism, debating the position of the middle-class housewife. Friedan’s work acts as the starting point for Gwynne’s aims to place the article’s arguments among feminist discourse. Gwynne spends time discussing the position of the housewife in regards to feminism and how these two have worked out their relationship through time. Gwynne takes into
Gwynne’s answer to this prompt is to look at the shows the Simpsons (Fox, 1989-) and King of the Hill (Fox, 1997-2010) and “exam the ways in which contemporary animation comedy series […] employ the figure of the housewife to actuate a feminist critique of domesticity” (2015: 55). Gwynne wants to look at the position of the housewife in these comedies that have been described as liberal and subversive, and see whether feminist politics are allowed to exist in this space (2015). The aim of this critical review is to interrogate this article and see how it manages to discuss these topics. The following paragraphs will look at how the article is set up and how it interacts with feminist and television research, and focus on the chosen shows and report any of the findings.
Gwynne starts his article by mentioning Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), which is an influential piece of work regarding early feminism, debating the position of the middle-class housewife. Friedan’s work acts as the starting point for Gwynne’s aims to place the article’s arguments among feminist discourse. Gwynne spends time discussing the position of the housewife in regards to feminism and how these two have worked out their relationship through time. Gwynne takes into