Stereotypes in Modern Family

When people discuss stereotypes in television, it is almost always about women.  You rarely hear much about male stereotypes and how it effects men in today's world.  While I think that there are TONS of examples of feminine stereotypes in television, I think men have it just as bad as we do.

The first television show that immediately comes to mind, for me, is Modern Family (my favorite comedy on television).  One of the episodes that sticks out to me is one where Phil (the husband/dad) uses a gift card to go to the spa because his wife doesn't have time to do it.

It's already ironic enough that the man in the family is going to the spa; however, while he is there, he asks other women the correct way to talk to his wife when she is having a bad day.  Phil thinks he needs to come up with a solution, but the women tell him to simply sympathize with her because that's what women want.  This demonstrates the stereotype that men are problem solvers and women just want to hear others say, "they understand," or "I'm sorry." 

The gender stereotypes on this show promotes that men are still in charge of the household and are the breadwinners of the family.  The women are both stay at home mothers, are domestic and family oriented. 

Other stereotypes in this show include: Claire, a stay at home mom, Phil, the doofy dad that doesn't know what he is doing, Lily, the adopted Asian baby, Cam, the extremely flamboyant gay man, Haley, the boy-crazy, airhead daughter and Gloria, the overly sexual Latina woman who married an older man.

While there are tons of stereotypes in this show, they do promote differences in today's world.  There is a gay couple, where the flamboyant one is also the "manly" one who has worked on a farm and does all the heavy lifting.  His partner is a lawyer but he is scared of bugs and spiders.  There is also an exampled of a mixed family; a Latina women with one son who marries another man.

I think this show works because it challenges and changes typical stereotypes and makes them even funnier.