Behind the Media

Seabury Stoneburner

Nina Perez

WST 3015

17 March 2010

“Go Stewie Go”

Throughout the years, media has demonstrated how women are depicted as mothers and wives. Television shows have provided many examples of this through their version of the construction of female domesticity. Even though most Americans enjoy these shows, they might not realize how the program lowers the role and image of women. A well-known cartoon that seems to be favorites to many-called Family Guy is a perfect example of such a television program. The marriage represented among the main family demonstrates the typical marriage feminists are trying to avoid “Steeped in a patriarchal system that looks to ownership, property, and dominance of men over women as its basis” (Kirk 317). There is one particular episode called “Go Stewie Go” that provides examples of how this television shows the treatment of women by their family to the extreme.

Lois Griffin is a beautiful housewife, by choice, and a mother of three children. Throughout the series, she generally is very responsible and makes sure all is well for her family. Peter Griffin, the husband and father, is quite opposite than Lois. Peter Griffin is a typical fat and lazy man who is generally involved in some sort of drunken shenanigans, although he does play the gender role of being the main provider of the family. These two fit the stereotypical appearance of a media’s perspective of a husband and wife relationship. Within a few minutes of “Go Stewie Go”, Peter Griffin criticizes Lois about her “grey hairs” and makes her feel unattractive. He even lowers her self-esteem by telling his daughter, Meg, and her boyfriend, Anthony, that her sex appeal has faded. Peter’s hurtful comments and ignorance towards his wife causes Lois turn into a character that demonstrates a negative stereotype of women.

In this particular episode of Family Guy, Peter’s continuous insults cause Lois to become a disloyal wife. Anthony tells Lois that she is a beautiful woman for her age, which boost Lois’ confidence in her. After over analyzing Anthony’s comment Lois talks to her neighbor, Bonnie, about how she may be attracted to another man. Bonnie confesses that she has had an affair on her husband in the past and that it is normal to want to explore your sexuality. This moment can create a false image of housewives and a negative stereotype. It suggests that this is normal and quite all right for a married woman to have sexual relations with another man. This can be harmful to our society because sometimes people tend to start believing the media’s views “from the movies that reinforce a narrow stereotype of femininity to the indie films that show another image, the media create a definition of woman to which we often turn to find our own definition” (Seely 103-104). This particular episode definitely has Lois represent a negative stereotype of women.

Lois’ mistake in over analyzing Anthony’s comment also leads her to be a disrespectful mother to Meg. Lois becomes jealous of Meg for having an active relationship with Anthony. This becomes clear when Lois accidentally sees Meg and Anthony kissing on the sofa. At first, she quickly hides back up the stairs but then slowly peeks her head out to watch and proceeds in imagining herself kissing him. Lois then takes her jealousy a step too far in two ways. First, she gives Anthony Peter’s schedule of when he is out of the house and then lies to Meg to get her out of the house. Once Meg is gone Lois confronts Anthony and basically jumps him. Meg walks back into the house to discover her mother on top of her boyfriend, causing the mother daughter relationship to go up in flames. Lois presents a horrible stereotype for all mothers. She even goes beyond and basically tells her daughter that she is more attractive than her when she was attempting to apologize “I do know a few things Meg and clearly if I wanted him I could have him” (MacFarlane). In all aspects of this situation Lois is seen as a horrible mother, which adds more negativity to the woman stereotype she exposes.

The two roles of mother and wife go hand in hand in this episode, both being very negative. The one compliment turned her moral, respectful character into a horrible, untrustworthy monster. Overall the show takes the gender roles of husband and wife to the extreme but that might be one reason why the show is popular among viewers. Even though the Family Guy might offend some women, for the most part it is seen as humorous and pure entertainment.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 317-320.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York and London: New York University Press, 2007. 93-121.

MacFarlane, Seth. "Go Stewie Go." Family Guy. Fox. FOX, 14 Mar. 2010. Television.