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Contemporary Television

Lesson Plan: Representations of Women in American TV Comedies

Mary Elizabeth Lennon 

Introduction 

The following is a one-hour lesson plan for lower level undergraduate media and communications students. Students will hold discussions on women on TV, poverty and wealth, and how comedy exposes American beliefs about poor or rich women. 

The lesson will ask students to view and analyze brief clips from four comedy/dramedy series: Shameless (2011-current), The Good Place (2016-2020), Atlanta (2016-current), and 2 Broke Girls (2011-2017). These shows have been immensely popular over the last five to ten years and have become part of the US cultural landscape. 

Of the 38.1 million people living in poverty in 2018, 56 percent were women. While the poverty line is an imperfect indicator of poverty, as it neglects certain costs of living and geographical differences, it is nonetheless a place to begin forming a definition of poverty. “In 2018, the poverty line was set at an annual income of $13,064 for a single individual younger than age 65 and $25,465 for a family of four with two adults and two children.” The poverty line is a crucial factor in eligibility for many government assistance programs. 

Despite the prevalence of American poverty, stereotypes of women are prevalent in American culture. Most notable perhaps is the trope of the welfare queen. This is an image popularized during the Reagan-era which stigmatized welfare recipients as African-American women, living easily off the government dole and breeding an excessive amount of children. While this woman is a myth, she is pervasive in American ideas of what poverty looks like. Students should note that while some of the women in the series they will analyze are poor, these poor women do work. They should also examine how women defy or challenge the stereotype of a lazy poor woman. 

Additionally, the question of race should be a focus of these discussions. The welfare queen is typically coded as black, and poverty disproportionately affects women of color. Why, then, are so many of the characters on these comedy shows white? What about white poverty lends itself to comedy where black poverty does not? Popular shows that depict black poverty, and wealth for that matter– The Chi, Queen Sugar, Treme, The Wire, Empire– are all dramas. 

While stereotypes about poor women are perhaps more harmful, they do exist for wealthy women as well. If the poor woman is the welfare queen, the rich woman is the ice queen. Wealthy women are often depicted as cold, calculating, emotionally stunted, and selfish. Students will see these stereotypes played out on screen, and should seek to articulate why, or if, they are effective methods of comedy. 

It is important that the selected shows are comedies. They exaggerate and heighten ideas about wealth and poverty, but they also expose deeply held beliefs about the women who occupy those spaces. Rosie White writes that “the ‘rule-breaking, risk-taking, inversions and perversions’ at the heart of much comic performance can disturb the ground upon which our understandings of gender rest.” Students will determine what, if anything, these shows tell us about American perceptions of women. 

Please see the notes at the end of this plan for a closer look at each clip. These notes provide background on each show/clip, timestamps, as well as an overview of the clips’ themes and possible guiding questions. 

Learning Objectives 

Students will:

  • Critique brief sections of American television comedies for key themes about gender, poverty and wealth
  • Classify the perceived roles that rich and poor women play in American society
  • Interpret how comedy exposes assumptions and beliefs about both impoverished and wealthy women
  • Distinguish why stereotypes of women—wealthy or poor—are considered material for comedy.

Pre-Class Assignment

Students should come to class ready to discuss the following articles:

Lesson Structure 

Opening Discussion (15 minutes)

Goal: Students will articulate their own perceptions of wealth and poverty. Additionally, students will explain how the readings inform their understanding of the intersections of wealth, poverty, race, and gender, and how they are depicted in comedy. 

Student participation will begin by asking students to share their thoughts on the readings. Students should share their reactions and takeaways from the material. If needed, possible discussion questions include:

  • What do you picture about when you think about poverty? How about wealth? 
  • What do the readings say about the experiences of American women in poverty or wealth? 
    • What stood out to you about the statistics of women living in poverty? 31% of people in poverty are children, disproportionate percentages of women of color are in poverty, and a higher percentage of disabled and LGBT women endure poverty. Why are those realities important? 
    • What does the welfare queen myth say about our perceptions of poor women, especially women of color? 
    • MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon CEO and world’s richest person Jeff Bezos, writes that “personal wealth is the product of a collective effort.” Do you agree? What responsibilities, if anything, do wealthy people owe society? 
    • How do Krutnik and Neale define comedy? What elements are needed for something to be funny? What does comedy mean to you? How could these themes, which are quite sobering, be considered funny? Does comedy make these things more digestible for you – why or why not?
  • What does society expect of poor or rich women? How might the media reflect this?

Clip Activity (20 minutes)

Goal: Students will analyze and critique these clips for the narrative and stylistic choices made by the show’s writers, creators, and characters. Students will evaluate how these choices depict wealth or poverty (and intersecting themes), and what commentary they are making. 

Play clips for the students as a class (collectively, the clips run about 8 minutes total). Then, divide students into five equal groups to discuss. Each group should discuss one clip, respectively, for the remaining time of the section.

Students should consider the following questions together and take notes on their answers:

  • What are the socioeconomic statuses of the women in the clip? What do you see in the clips to support this? 
  • What themes do you see in the clip (motherhood, labor, race, sexual harassment, philanthropy, etc.)?
  • What, if anything, makes these clips funny?
  • What do you think the showrunners want you to think about wealth and poverty after viewing the show?

Post-Activity Discussion (25 minutes)

Goal: Students will synthesize their group’s discussion for their classmates, who will respond. 

Students should then come back together as a class. Each group will present, for about a minute each, their thoughts and takeaways about their clips. The rest of the class will respond and provide their own understandings or responses to the clip and the group’s presentation. Use the notes below for suggested questions or topics if conversations begin to lag. Reserve five minutes for each clip. 

Post-Class Assignment 

Goal: Students will reflect on the class discussion, readings, and clips. They will connect themes from the clips to broader ideas about media representation. 

As an after-class assignment, students should write a 200-300 word response to the class discussion. If a class discussion board exists (Blackboard, etc.), written pieces should be posted there so that students can respond to each other. Otherwise, they should be submitted to the instructor. 

In their responses, students will address one of the following questions:

  1. How does comedy allow media to expose assumptions and beliefs about poor or rich women?
  2. How are women represented in the selected clips? What tropes or stereotypes are used and why do you think the writers utilized them?
  3. Does television have any responsibility to portray life in wealth or poverty “authentically”? What do you think was missing in these portrayals, if anything?

Notes

Shameless (Season 1, Ep. 1 3:08 – 4:34 and 4:48-5:21)

Introduction: Shameless is a dramedy series that follows a poor white family in the Southside of Chicago. The family is headed by 21-year-old Fiona, the eldest of six siblings, who presides in place of her absent parents.

Clip (1): This clip, from the pilot episode of the series, introduces the daily routines and struggles of the Gallagher family. The siblings discuss raising funds for their electric bill, childcare, and jobs over morning cereal with watered-down milk.

Clip (2): This clip sees Fiona at one of her many jobs, serving concessions at a Chicago sports stadium. The men Fiona serves make suggestive comments; she then overhears them make derogatory statements about “project girls”.

Notes and themes:

  • Both sisters are serving as parental figures. Fiona takes on the traditional role of mother: we see her starting laundry, dressing Carl (8), and arranging childcare for Liam (1). Debbie (9) literally takes on the role of father, signing a permission form for Ian (15).
  • Similarly, we see how poverty can mature or age girls. Debbie, at age 9, sips at her coffee and chastises Carl for not contributing to family expenses. Carl is able to get away with not paying up, while Debbie, having already calculated the remaining amount needed, reaches into her change purse. In the end of the scene, care of Liam falls to Debbie, who is charged with bringing him along to school with her.
  • Creativity in the face of impoverished living conditions: Fiona, as the matriarch of the family, is tasked with keeping a crumbling house running. We see her water down the milk to keep it lasting longer, prop a chair in front of the washing machine door to keep it closed and running, and cover shifts to make up the electric bill.
  • The struggle for childcare is highlighted in this scene. Fiona cannot both work and watch after Liam, and it is down to her to arrange alternative care. The solution comes in the form of Debbie—note that Ian and Lip’s (16) complications of school and work are sufficient to leave them out of the running, but Debbie’s schooling is not so.
  • Why are these images comedic? It is jarring to see a young girl sip coffee, lecture her equally young brother about “pulling his weight,” and haul her toddler brother off to elementary school. This scene, while light in tone, shows us the fast-paced, often chaotic nature of poverty.
  • Meanwhile, in the second clip, Fiona encounters sexual harassment at work. “The accommodation and food services industry, which includes restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, and other hospitality establishments, accounted for 14.2 percent of sexual harassment claims filed to the EEOC from 2005 to 2015.”
  • What makes sexual harassment so pervasive in low-wage service jobs? There may be something in the transience of the encounters, or the expectation of service. What makes these men feel entitled to Fiona’s attention?
  • This clip also demonstrates ideas about poverty and childbirth. These men are reinforcing the stereotype of poor women as excessively reproducing.
  • Overall, what does Shameless, or at least these clips, say about women in poverty? They are the default caretakers, vulnerable to sexualization, and looked down upon by men they are required to serve.
  • The Gallaghers are a white family, and most of the people in their orbit are also white. The South Side of Chicago is a predominantly African American area of the city. Why choose to focus on white poverty in a black neighborhood? Is there anything about white poverty that is inherently more susceptible to comedy?

The Good Place (Season 1, Ep. 12 6:27-8:23)

Introduction: The Good Place takes places in the afterlife: Eleanor Shellstrop, the show’s protagonist, finds herself in “the good place” after her death. Her place there, however, is a case of mistaken identity, as she was not “good” enough in life, according to the good and bad place “architects” to earn a place. Eleanor must figure out a way to remain there undetected to avoid being transferred to “the bad place”.

Clip: Having been detected as a fraud in the good place, Eleanor flees to a “medium place,” where she meets Mindy St. Claire. Mindy, who died in a moral gray area, spends eternity in a place that is neither good nor bad. In this clip, Mindy shares her story.

Notes and themes:

  • Is there anything inherently wrong with accumulating wealth? Why or why not?
  • Mindy, despite deciding to do “good” while alive, still focuses on herself after death, and encourages Eleanor to do the same. Why are wealthy women often portrayed as one-dimensionally selfish, arrogant, or rude? Do wealthy men fall under the same descriptors?
  • Mindy, before her death, comes to the conclusion that she ought to do something “good” with her life. Is there any kind of responsibility or obligation that wealthy people have? What is the appropriate use of wealth? Does philanthropy offset any societal ills caused by the accumulation of wealth? 
  • Mindy, having lived a life consumed with drugs and money, was destined for “the bad place”. This lifestyle, then, is considered wrong, even damned. This one act of planned charity, however, shifted the rest of her eternal life— insinuating that the desire to do “good” with one’s money makes one’s soul more “worthy”. Do you think this is the case? What argument is the show making about morality? Or is the show poking fun at this black and white idea of morality in any way?
  • Mindy is preoccupied with cocaine and drug use. What differing ideas does American society have about drug use? What is “acceptable” drug use—and for whom?

Atlanta (Season 1, Ep. 6 5:05-6:58)

Introduction:  Atlanta is a dramedy series that follows a young black man, Earnest “Earn,” as he attempts to build a rap career with his cousin and friends. Earn has a complicated relationship with his sometimes-girlfriend and mother of his child, Vanessa, “Van”. Van is a school teacher who struggles without financial support from Earn. 

Clip: Van meets her friend Jayde for dinner. Jayde and Vanessa clash over their respective lifestyles, and argue over what makes a black woman’s life “valuable”.  

Notes and themes:

  • Jayde tries to convince Van to stay out and go to a party with her – Van says she can’t due to obligations to her daughter and work. We see the contrast between Jayde and Van’s lifestyles – are we meant to see one as better than the other? In what ways?
  • Jayde dates professional athletes who provide for her rather than working on her own. Van seems to look down on this way of living. Is she justified in this? How does society view women who don’t work?
  • Jayde reminds Van that she used to make fun of girls like herself. Why do you think that is? By living as a single mother and not having a man to provide for her, has Van somehow let herself down?
  • Jayde warns Van that women, particularly black women, need to be “valuable”. What does this mean to you? What “services” must women provide to be considered “valuable”? Why do black women have to be considered valuable, instead allowed to just “be”? 

2 Broke Girls (Season 1, ep. 1 13:06 – 14:53)

Introduction: 2 Broke Girls is about two young women, Max and Caroline, working at a Brooklyn diner and struggling to make ends meet. Max has always been working class, while Caroline lost her fortune due to her father’s Ponzi scheme.

Clip: Max arrives at her second job, where she nannies for a wealthy family. She chats with her employer, Peach.

Notes and themes:

  • Think about the difference in childcare in this clip compared to Shameless. Who is responsible for raising Peach’s twins? Why are wealthy women so often portrayed as distant, uninvolved mothers? Is the “gold standard” for motherhood located in the middle class? Why?
  • What does the vapid rich girl trope say about how we view wealthy women? Compare Peach to Max, her struggling employee, who seems to have more common sense—and an air of superiority. Is there anything inherently more valuable about being working class? Both Fiona and Max are struggling and tired, but admirable.
  • Peach tells Max that she is family. How does this idea make it easy for employees to be exploited? Note that Max’s duties in the house seem to go beyond childcare, but as a confidant and gofer for Peach. Peach cannot or will not do basic functions for herself: why are wealthy women either delicate or lazy?
  • Peach is clearly an exaggerated character, which in turn makes her comedic. What role does Max play as the “everyman”? What about her life makes her more grounded?
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