Hello World!!

A few nights ago, I attended the Laugh Factory for the first time. I was surprised at the talent that I heard would be drop by unexpectedly and just kill the audience. You never knew when people like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, or Dane Cook, love him or hate em, would perform. Unfortunately, this was not one of those nights. The talent was good, the food was better, and as long as the drinks kept coming, I was a happy camper. As I sat there listening to the routines, I noticed a similar trend in jokes that never seem to get old with the crowd….relationships. Ah yes, when in doubt, bust out the marriage routines. One by one, each comedian would whine about how much his marriage sucked or how his kids hated him because he could never do anything right, further dwindling himself into a pile of self-deprecation to the enjoyment of the audience. Now granted, this was a comedy club, so of course they’re going to put themselves down in order to get a few laughs, but what I’ve begun to notice, the issue I will be talking about in my blog, is the increasing trend in not only comedy clubs, but in mainstream media itself where men have begun to be portrayed as dim-witted idiots who are completely submissive and lack any kind of spine that would allow for them to stand up for themselves.

Turn on the TV and watch any primetime show or commercials and you will see it. Shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “The King of Queens”, featuring the husband who every episode gets an earful from the wife, often ending with her giving him an ultimatum of succumbing to what she wants done or if not, denying him sex. Commercials are especially what caught my attention to this issue. There are too many to list but if you watch closely, many of them will present it in a kind of way where the male is childish figure while the female who may be his wife or girlfriend, is the motherly figure who knows best and any attempt to see things differently from them usually results in her referring to him as “silly”. KFC had a great example of this where two grown businessmen were sitting in a stroller crying like babies because they hadn’t eaten yet. Suddenly, the wife appears with a chicken sandwich, talking to them in baby talk saying “awwww, there you go, is that much better?” The two men react by hopping up and down in their seats clapping their hands wildly.

Now much of this may sound like it’s no big deal. We’re all grown men and women, we understand that it’s an attempt at humorous marketing or an attempt to lively up a sitcom right? Yes, but what happens when these stereotypes begin to be portrayed in children’s shows? What kinds of messages are we sending to our children about what is considered “ok” and “normal”? How is this going to affect their behavior towards others when they grow up? Will young girls see that it’s ok to treat people in this fashion and more importantly, will young boys allow themselves to be treated that way? Over the next few months, I will be discussing these issues and the effects they may or may not have on our next generation of young men and women, as well as any articles that deal with this issue.