(Photo courtesy of bostonglobe) “The shameless retooling of Kevin Can Wait”
Amy Lam
Connector Staff
Imagine a husband in the kitchen wearing an apron and rubber gloves to clean the house and watch their children for a day which ends in a disaster. The husband cannot cook, feed his children, or wash the dishes properly. These montages are accompanied by a laughing track seeing as he is incompetent at these basic tasks. When the wife returns home, she picks up after his mess calling him out on not helping out with the responsibilities. Adding a laughing track to the scene, downplays the seriousness and opinion of women adding to the subtle sexism within the media.
It isn’t the only scenario where men are praised for their crude behaviors towards women. This can be seen in sitcoms such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “Kevin Can Wait,” “Modern Family,” and “The Neighborhood,” More prominently, reality shows also express the same misogynistic sentiment as in “Love Is Blind,” “The Bachelor,” and “Too Hot to Handle,” In movies, “Bad Moms” and “Don’t Worry Darling” also show examples of this. Another source prompting these misogynistic ideals is through exposing young men to right-wing podcasts where the “traditional” standards are valued.
The UK’s televised show “Kevin Can Wait,” criticizes sitcoms where the laugh track is a pivotal device in the stark realities as seen through the lens of the character Kevin and Allison. Kevin does many shenanigans much to the dismay of Allison. In his point of view, the scenes are bright, and the laugh track makes Allison, the nagging and frustrated wife, the joke dismissing her entirely. The switch to Allison’s point of view changes the scene to a darker tone, where she expresses her resentment alone in a separate room. If shows remove the laughing track or music to set the scene like in “Kevin Can Wait,” it would change the context of them entirely by displaying the true nature of sexism without it being sugarcoated. Other media normalizes these behaviors in men causing a culture of toxic masculinity that harms not only women but men’s development as well.
Despite numerous misogynistic shows, there are shows where there is a healthy balance between partners on how to share responsibilities. Examples of this are Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” where they had clear communication and respected each other without anyone being the punchline. Unlike the characters in the previous lists, Jake cooks, cleans, and supports Amy without her need to notice his “help” with praise or a reward. It is something that is expected of them both, an equal partnership without a hierarchy between them. The TV series “Ted Lasso” is also another great example of healthy masculinity. It shows that men are allowed to be vulnerable, empathetic, and supportive without keeping their emotions in to look tough, addressing the loneliness felt.
When I came across a YouTube short showing me several sitcoms where the women are the punchline for being efficient at domestic work while the men were applauded for their incompetence, it becomes difficult to empathize with any actors and actresses who perform in those roles as I would get heated. They continued to pop up on my feed, ever since. Consuming the media was stressful, I would read the comments and get angry while attempting to see what’s so funny and attract people to these shows where sexism is a common trope.
I wanted to know. The subtle and not so subtle tones of these shows were always popular compared to shows where healthier relationships aren’t highlighted as much. Dismantling the toxic masculinity culture is a must when it comes to the media. I’m tired of seeing the same message shoved in our throats about traditional values when partnership should be promoted because it is about standing on equal ground and knowing that there is a bond with a partner that is based on trust. This is where the media should move to portray healthier relationships for young girls and boys alike.
