The suburban life style has been an inspiration for media since in the invention of television. Shows such as Leave it to Beaver and Desperate Housewives attempt to depict the “typical” household amongst these communities. In exchange for broadcasted entertainment the social understanding of the role of women in the household has been skewed and has set back the advancement of women’s rights.
For centuries women have been fighting to become equal members of society. As early as the 1848 when a group of 32 men and 68 women met in Seneca Falls, New York to discussion the first motions for equal voting right for women. (Imbornoni) Since then, women’s rights have taken extreme leaps forward in accomplishing voting, labor, and wage rights.
Suburban sprawl can be pulled into question when analyzing the current social outlook on women’s roles. Currently, the media portrays women under a similar light across the board of televised entertainment. Shows such as Reba, Boy Meets World, and The George Lopez Show are examples of how different stations attempt to depict different styles of women but ultimately present one solution on being a modern day women.
Within all of these shows a pattern has been set up for what a women’s role should be. In the show Reba, Reba is a single mother raising her children and has a career as a real estate agent. George Lopez Show, Angie is a married minority woman who owns here own wedding planning company. In Boy Meets World the mother is a stay at home mom who portrays a more stereotypical outlook on women in the home. All of these characters are extremely diverse and in theory would represent a wide variety of real women in the community.
Unfortunately, the patterns within these shows blanket the diversity of the characters and places all of them back into the stereotypes set up by past generations. In all three shows the mother of home is never depicted in the career field they have been explained to have. If the show leaves the setting of the home it is the man’s work place that is expressed. Also, within these shows the beauty of the women and their attire remain unchanged. Each show depicts a thin beautiful woman that supports and obeys their husband’s final decision.
It is because of these stereotypes that women feel that this is how a woman should be. Organizations have been created where women have named themselves as “Suburban Wives in Training” where they share the secrets of how to make the perfect casserole or how to get grass stains out of denim.
Women did not burn their bras in the 1960’s to be told by producers that they belong within the home. Suburbanism has not only effected a person individuality and sense of community but rather the sprawl of suburbia has presented a weapon for the media to stereotype women and set back the advancements by making women believe that this how they should be.
Imbornoni, Ann-Marie. "Women's Rights Movements in the U.S.." Information Please. N.p., 2007. Web. 22 Feb 2012.
"suburban housewives in training." tumblr. N.p., dec 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Reba. Fox: Television.
George Lopez Show. ABC Family: Television.
Boy Meets World. ABC Family: Television.
Laura, good points on the image of a housewife/mother in the home. This created several thoughts, do you think that the depicted role of a housewife not being in the working field has something to do with the difference in amount of paychecks and authority between a female and male in the workforce? I just read an article on Business Insider which stated that educated women get paid less than uneducated men- perhaps the fact that social media depicts a female's role to be in the home has something to do with this? Also, do you think that wives/mothers prefer to stay at home or rather to be working? Some may consider it more important to raise their children and take care of the family and others may consider it more important to be educated and successful in the work force in order to meet financial means.
ReplyDeleteKrystal-
DeleteI too have ready reports on the wages given to both men and women. I feel that the depiction of women in the home goes hand-in-hand with the amount of wages women earn. This idea stems back to the perception of the role women hold in home. In current day society the incentives to branch out of the home are few and far between making it difficult for a woman to classify themselves as a professional in the workforce. A co-worker of mine has considered staying home because the amount she pays in childcare for her 1 year-old is nearly equal to the amount she makes weekly at work. Her passion for design is the sole fuel that has kept her in the workforce.
Your question on the preference of women being stay at home or working is a question I do not feel I can answer. That type of life choice is a very individual based choice. I know in my family the women are driven by their careers and we tend to be seen as workaholics. But at the same time we are driven by family values and inter family relationships. We have found a balance between family and working that has created a lifestyle that suits our social, mental, and physical needs. Other families operate different and our lifestyle choice would not suit their needs.
The only definite answer I could give to you on that question is the motivation driving these women to stay at home. I am aware that some women purely feel that their place is at home with their children and their family is their only priority and work is not necessary for their lives to be satisfactory. I applaud those women for their dedication. The only question that needs to be asked is if who stay at home feel that they must stay at home because of social pressures not personal choice? I am interested to see if there are any studies out there about how many women are financially forced to be at home, socially pressured, or personal life style choice.
Laura and Krystal-
DeleteAs a mom to two girls, I have been on both sides of this discussion. Our oldest turns 5 in May and when she was born we decided that I would stay at home with her, so I did for the first year. I maintained design through small side jobs with the company I had been working for the prior 4 years. For me, staying home made me very isolated, there were not any mom groups around and my friends were at different stages in their life. It was rather bittersweet as I loved being at home with my child but I felt very alone. Once she turned one she could walk and do things that we felt comfortable enough with to send her to a daycare so that she could have interaction with other adults and children. What I found re-entering the workplace full-time was that the balance of mommy and career (8-6) was not working out the way I had envisioned. I ended up going back to school to get a teaching certificate because I wanted a career but I wanted more mommy time too and the weekends just weren't enough to fulfill this for me. Fast forward, I am teaching design in a high school and we just had our second daughter this past summer. I was able to have several months with her at home thanks to the teaching schedule and we are out of school at 2:45. My career is being fulfilled and so is being a mommy.
It is definitely an individual choice and a very expensive one--most daycares in Omaha are $150-300 a week and to some degree you get what you pay for. I have now had several corporate friends have babies and quit because their workplace will not be flexible or realize that motherhood, for many, is just as important as their jobs. It is an unfortunate occurrence with today's technology. Why can't a mother work from home a day or two a week? We have computers, droids/iphones, skype, etc. I understand that not all work can be done from home but I also don't think it would be asking much from a company to allow a mom to work 4-10 hr days to be at home 1 day a week.
It is an interesting tug of war and for many the money is what keeps them home. Check out these articles: (keep in my mind that you can always find research to say what you want it to say :-) )
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320230/50-000-stay-home-mothers-forced-work-past-12-months.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/23/heather-mcgregor-women-want-careers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/study-working-moms-are-ha_n_1152202.html
great conversation. laura i think you would really be into Dolores Hayden's "Redesigning the American Dream" book. Most o fit is dedicated to gender roles and how the notion of suburbia and the suburban house has shaped and reinforced gender stereotypes. also remember harriet beecher's contribution to generating thoughts on the home for the woman and efficiency in the kitchen, etc...from "Building Suburbia: Green Fields to Urban Growth". there are many texts related to the relationship between gender roles, women's rights, and suburban stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteon another note, i am wondering why this is why we see websites like ETSY, PINTEREST, and an explosion of blogs of primarily "stay at home moms" or "moms who work from home" who have established an astounding community through social media and online means. i feel that more mom's are staying at home for a variety of reasons, but to avoid the isolation that you candace among many other women have felt and to generate some income [blogging about the clothes or jewelry, etc. they make, getting advertisements on their blogs, blogging about their cooking which leads to book deals] these women have found a new way to find that balance at home while honoring the social interaction, personal interests, and financial needs. just look at the amount of growth participation in the design ALT summit annual blogging conference. and the fact that in less than a year members on PINTEREST quadrupled.
Lindsey-
ReplyDeleteGood point. Those websites are ones I am definitely familiar with and spend too much time on! It is a great way for people to connect and also help fill a void or even make being at home a new experience each day--new DIY projects, recipes, etc. For many it may be nice to have a little money coming their way for something that they really enjoy doing already.
Harriet Beechner came to mind right when I read this. First of all, love the bra inuendo. I think in this day in age, it might be safe to say... it's our own fault. Women in the 50s played an entirely different role within their home. Now, we work and if we stay at home we're harrassed about it. Thinking back on the reading referring to Harriet Beechner, it is crazy to think that a home was solely designed around the essence of women. Women are still portrayed throughout the media as if this is still our role, but there are few families that I know that live up to that standard. Who do we really see in our societal media that goes against these standards?
ReplyDeleteI am late to join to this conversation but, I really enjoyed while I was reading that. Your point is the admirable Laura. I think working or staying at home is sometimes individual selection, also sometimes necessity. For some family, only man/husband working is not enough for fulfilling the needs of family and wife also has to work for contributing to family budget. Besides that, some family don't have a problem about bringing home the bacon. In such a case, working or staying at home is women's decision. At the same time, working time is very important about this decision. If your working time is really long and you don't have spare time for spending with your children, you have to choose staying at home. Such as my cousin worked at a bank and she was working from 9 a.m. until 8.30 p.m. She could be at home around 9.30 p.m. because of traffic jam and when she was at home,her child was sleeping. Because of work hours of the bank she had to quit her job and started to stay at home with her child. Equally important,while the woman has a baby or child, if she works at a company or studies at university, I believe that is an ability of the woman because, having a role of mother and a successful business woman are very difficult. For instance, Candace, she is a mom, a design teacher in a high school and at the same time, she is a graduate student at a university and, I hold in high esteem her and I wanted to revere her because of those.
ReplyDelete