Modern Dads and Challenging Stereotypes

Women, by default based on their gender have typically been assumed to occupy the caretaking and nurturing role within the family setting consequently enabling men to hold the almighty breadwinning position. A family hierarchy of this nature has been established throughout history continuously reinforcing the idea that androgynous tasks which have the potential to be performed by any person are tethered to, and inherent of a specific gender. “Gender roles are the product of the interactions between individuals and their environments, and they give individuals cues about what sort of behavior is believed to be appropriate for what sex (Blackstone, 2003).” Television has had to ability to perpetuate the idea that a male figure should naturally situate themselves as the head of the household. However, with the increasing number of women entering professional positions, Modern Dads an A&E television reality series invites viewers to experience the lifestyle of an atypical representation of a conventional family structure. Modern Dads presents a gendered role reversal depicting the daily lives of four stay at home dads fulfilling the maternal duties of play dates, child care, and grocery shopping while their wives and girlfriends are hard at work tending to their highly paid occupations in order to support their families. It’s evident throughout the series that the women are fully capable of taking on a male dominant role of supporting a family by presenting themselves in a professional fashion. Whereas consequently, the comedy lies within the men’s’ inability to grasp the concept of functional and organized child care resulting in a lot of dude to dude collaboration between the dads about the best way to baby proof a house or throw a princess birthday party.

Although the show challenges dominant gender roles, it does so in a way that also challenges the viewer to determine who is truly the butt of the joke; enabling various interpretations to be derived from the context. For example, Rick dubbed as the ‘veteran’ dad, attempts to show Nate (the new dad) how to child proof a house stating that “It’s not rocket science”. This lesson consisted of utilizing duck-tape to cover electrical outlets, foam pool noodles wrapped around the sharp edges of furniture, all followed by the advice that more toys scattered around the house will distract the children from anything dangerous (A&E). This could potentially be read as evidence leading to the interpretation that men are not capable of taking into consideration the dangers that common house hold items can pose to children indicating that they are not cut out for the child care position that women are accustomed to holding. This interpretation therefore frames men as inadequate nurturers insinuating that women should fulfill this role.

Contrary to this interpretation, another scene depicts Sean (the stepdad) attempting to construct a wooden prop in the backyard. When his skills of being a handy man reveal to be less than desirable, Rachel takes over and constructs the wooden prop in an efficient and effective manner (A&E). This scene indicates that women have the ability to do constructive labor that would typically be expectant of a man. The clip provides further evidence that within the household she holds the position of power, not only financially but also when it comes to taking care of manual labor, enabling the audience to interpret Sean as less of a man being overplayed by the abilities of his girlfriend. Additionally, another episode features Sean’s attempt to ‘sound proof’ the couple’s bedroom. The purpose for this endeavor (which consisted of buying upwards of fifteen mattress pads that he planned to line the bedroom walls with) was because Sean was becoming increasingly antsy that the couple could only engage in their sexual escapades while the children were asleep. This excerpt of the episodes plays off of the stereotype that men think about sex every other second, feeding into the inadequacy of his parenting skills placing his needs before his children.

So what exactly should the viewer derive from these skewed and transparent gender roles being exhibited throughout the show? It effectively grasps the interpretation that women have the ability to be the breadwinner within the household; yet even though this is considered a positive point for the advancement of women in the workforce this idea is kicked down a peg by harnessing the dysfunctional home life that is positioned as inevitable if children are to be raised by a stay at home dad as opposed to a stay at home mom. According to Mitovich, editor at TVLine.com “This trend seems to perpetuate the dusty stereotype — and lazy joke — that the women of the household are expected to hold things together and properly parent kids, while the fathers are hapless man-children, all thumbs when it comes to folding Huggies and lax at exacting discipline.” Regardless of the evidence of inadequacy that can be derived from the ideologically abnormal gender roles within these households, Modern Dads in a quirky, comical, and fun-loving way portrays the men as immature and dumbfounded when it comes to child care; but most importantly they get the job done. At the end of the day, after betting on baby wrestling and being manipulated by their children everyone is happy and content with their positions in the household proving that fathers enjoy spending time with their children and can be emotionally connected as much as any mother can regardless of what conventional gender roles assume.

Works Cited

Blackstone, M. Amy. (2003). Gender Roles in Society [Abstract]. Human Ecology: An Encyclopedia of Children, Families, Communities, and Environment, 335-338.

Harris, Will. (2013, Aug 22). Daddy Dreariest: Modern Dads plays to Insulting Stereotypes. Retrieved from: http://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/daddy-dreariest-modern-dads-plays-insulting-stereotypes-6C10962828.