Representation of Family Life in Contemporary Television Programs

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Representation of Family Life in Contemporary Television Programs
In a report published by MSN ADDIN Mendeley Citation{4bb725d6-8efd-49fc-b0fa-04155bb9b18e} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Mark Trumbull", "given" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Christian Science Monitor", "id" : "ITEM-1", "title" : "Poverty now comes with a color TV", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=4bb725d6-8efd-49fc-b0fa-04155bb9b18e" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Mark Trumbull)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Mark Trumbull), it said that even the poorest of American families owned a colored TV. In another study ADDIN Mendeley Citation{c65f8a08-da88-4fb0-803c-292efed779a1} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "The Nielsen Company", "given" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2009" ] ] }, "title" : "Television Audience 2008", "type" : "report" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=c65f8a08-da88-4fb0-803c-292efed779a1" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(The Nielsen Company)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (The Nielsen Company), survey shows that the number of television owners has grown by 43% since the 1990s and that more than 50% of US homes have three or more televisions. From these statistics alone, one can already have an idea on the impact of television on the lives of Americans. It affects not only the private sphere, but also, public policy, gender roles, the family, the community and many others.
Because of its scope, many scholars have started to take interest in television and how it portrays or shapes the American society. The television is like a mirror of the American life and experiences ADDIN Mendeley Citation{fe8194fd-5c94-4a8a-a729-9b5ec7d60ae2} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Katzman", "given" : "David M." } ], "container-title" : "American Studies", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "2", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998" ] ] }, "page" : "5-12", "title" : "TV and American Culture", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "39" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=fe8194fd-5c94-4a8a-a729-9b5ec7d60ae2" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Katzman)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Katzman). Television programs typically had the same values and norms which characterized the society. For example, in the 1950s, shows like I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke Show show closely knit families where moms were happy to stay at home to clean and took care of the family. Meanwhile, The Brady Bunch of the 1970s showed the perfect (and relatively well off) American family where disagreements were resolved before the day ended. The 1980s became more realistic with Bill of The Cosby Show who gave punished his chil...