Roles In Black-Ish

It is a universal acception of what the maternal and paternal roles are of a family. Mothers stand to support, care, and nurture the family, while the fathers are to provide as well as be the symbol of discipline and strength. As time has lapsed, the conventional mother and father have begun to share both parts of the responsibilities. Mothers take up jobs, and fathers are finding themselves more active in the duties and routines of the home and children. Particularly in Black-ish, the ABC sitcom, the semi-shared responsibilities of the maternal and paternal role take a toll on both parties when the parents switch roles. “…“Black-ish” broadly speaks to a fertile topic regarding minority communities — the fear that greater assimilation to embrace a non-ethnic mainstream comes at a price.”(Lowery) The struggle …show more content…
A fathers societal role of being the provider makes men feel needed. When money is not enough the father will feel the pain directly of what is lacking to provide for the family financially. One would expect a father to be clueless to the details of what entails in the routine of a mother. The surface perception would be that the father would not be able to keep up, but Andre shows himself to be quite the fit for his wife’s position. His first day was filled with unnecessary praises for being an “involved father”, which is code for doing the same things his wife does on a daily basis. “…I’ve been receiving emails about my cupcakes all day...” (Blackish) As Bo and Andre switched roles in this particular episode, there was a sublime revelation of how fathers need to hear praise. This made Andre crave the praises to the point he became obsessed with receiving the gratification his wife went so often without. Andre went on to, later in the episode, verbally assault Harriet Tubman and several other adults in front of a group of children. Which is where we get the title of this episode “Crazy