Presentation Reflection

Today I presented some of the research I have found on my topic about gender portrayals in television sitcoms.  I focused my presentation on how television shows have progressed from the 1950s to the present in terms of how gender roles have been challenged, or in the case of most of my research findings, been perpetuated by the situation comedies.  I found the critiques/ suggestions from my classmates to be extremely helpful in giving me some direction to further my research.  I especially liked the idea of mentioning how sitcoms seem to be an easy place for gender roles to be poked fun at because they "work" in Hollywood.  One of the central focus points of media studies thus far has been on the function of entertainment as an outlet for society to comment on, ridicule or embrace social issues.  Sitcoms often satirize gender stereotypes, political issues or other tensions and do so in a lighthearted way that keeps viewers laughing while also encouraging them to think about the bigger issues at stake.  I think it could be interesting to discuss how primetime dramas that have focused on powerhouse, aggressive females have ultimately failed in the entertainment industry and explore the reasons for this failure in comparison to sitcoms' successes.  I feel that I have a good amount of research on the premise and impacts of various television shows from the 1950s and beyond but need to close some gaps in my research of just how much we are being affected by these gender stereotypes.