For a couple generations now, entertainment media has traded on the theme of “men as idiots.” Virtually all sitcoms play on the theme that men are incapable of doing the right thing without a woman leading or correcting them.
We all laugh at the husband, who is able to provide for his family but is somehow unable to function at home. His kids give him no respect and his wife uses him as the butt of her jokes.
This post by JoJo Tabares lays out examples going back to The Honeymooners in the 1950s. As Jolo points out, media’s message to our kids significantly taints their sense of what a man is. Girls learn to put down their partner and men learn to be a man he must be sensitive in a feminine way.
Where are the models of men being strong and sensitive, or caring and committed? The mindless watching of TV pollutes the hypnotic suggestions for a struggling relationship. I’m not saying TV or media is THE cause of failed marriages. I will say that it’s not the ideal model of success. We’re all floundering in a void of wimpish men dominated by cynical women.
Where are the models of healthy, communicative marriages where the partners are different but equal?
What are your thoughts?
Photo: Wikipedia