Gender Roles in Film and TV: Through the Decades

Since television history began, in 1928, there has been major stereotyping of gender roles. Women are typically seen as homemakers, while men are the breadwinners. This follows popular shows since the 1950s and gender role stereotypes, or lack thereof, within them. 

1950s- I Love Lucy, starring '50s icon Lucille Bell, portrays major gender stereotyping. Lucy, the wife, is a stay at home mom who waits on her husband. While he is out at work daily, she cooks, cleans, and maintains the household. She is shown as a silly, unintelligent woman who consistently gets herself into trouble when trying to step out of her gender box, such as by joining the workforce, as shown in one episode. Her husband works hard then comes home to save her from whatever problem she got herself into.

I Love Lucy 

1960s- Leave it to Beaver didn't stray from the "I Love Lucy" ideal. It shows the typical housewife, June Beaver, who supports the man of the house and stays home taking care of the home and the children. Ward Beaver, the husband and father, held a white collar job and was the decision maker and bread winner of the family.

Dad on Leave it to Beaver talking to son

1970s- This decade saw a shift in women’s media portrayal. For example, in the classic movie Grease the men are still headstrong, smart leaders, but the women gain a greater sense of self importance, and show more sexuality through clothing and behavior. The sex kitten stereotype became more popular in the '70s with Charlie’s Angel’s. This series is about three young, beautiful women who worked as investigators of crime. They solved issues on their own, and showed intelligence, strength, and independence not really seen before this series. They also always showed off their bodies, going undercover in very revealing costumes, and are rarely ever shown without tight, skimpy outfits.

Charlie's Angels star in action

1980s/1990s- The '80s and '90s showed a major shift in gender roles, with shows like Full House and Roseanne.  Full House depicts a family that led by three men and no women. The guys work and take care of the home and three young girls, which was very revolutionary in that time. Roseanne shows a full figured, headstrong, wildly outspoken woman who works, was the primary decision maker in the family, and constantly balanced the line between gender roles. Women in the workforce and single-father families was a major shift from the '50s gender portrayals.

Full House family

2000-Present- Grey’s Anatomy, the hit series of the 21^st century, showcases a huge change in gender stereotyping. Females and males hold white-collar, demanding, equal jobs in society. Both genders are seen as respected and intelligent. High School Musical, a popular movie for tweens, shows females and males dancing and singing in a school play, which can be seen as a female activity.

Grey's Anatomy Cast

Future- Currently, many television shows and movies still hold gender role stereotypes, but there are also many that are breaking away from them. The future will hopefully show well rounded women who do help in the home, equally with their male counterparts, but also hold jobs and are independent. For men, I hope to see more of the less head strong, “macho” stereotypes that the media tends to show.