Essay Television Series Leave it to Beaver - 555 Words

Leave it to Beaver was one of the most popular television series of the 1950’s where June Cleaver was the personification of a traditional wife. The show depicts a traditional family where Ward Cleaver, the father, with his wife June raise their two sons: Wally and Beaver. You giggle at the antics of their two boys as they grow up during an innocent time with problems that would seem laughable today. In the Leave it to Beaver series episodes â€Å"Teacher Comes to Dinner† and †Teacher’s Pet† you see June take on the feminine gender role and Ward take on the masculine gender role (â€Å"Teacher Comes to Dinner† †Teacher’s Pet†). Upon deeper analysis of both episodes you observe June gaily take on the traditional role of caretaking the family yet†¦show more content†¦If the husband becomes unhappy with his wife he could leave and the woman would potentially have no money for herself and children not to mention any ret irement. In the episode â€Å"Teacher Comes to Dinner† the gender roles are clear when we hear Ward quip about the teachers at Beaver’s school â€Å"that those teachers make a dismal salary† showing women in jobs work for meager wages (â€Å"Teacher Comes to Dinner†). The message to Wally and Beaver is that women take these types of jobs and that is what you should expect from a woman. June is vulnerable if Ward would ever leave her. Furthermore, as a traditional housewife, you are alone a lot but we never see June alone. In prisons, one devastating punishment is solitary confinement. Prisoners who are banished with this type of punishment suffer great psychosomatic distress (Keim). Housewives, although not in complete solitary confinement, can become depressed as they have no one to interact with which can be especially exasperating if they have young children. We do not see June when she is alone during the day so we can’t gauge her mood perhaps she seems happy all the time because she is around her family; but more than likely, she is depressed. Being a woman in a traditional role can be rewarding for women as they can thrive in this caretaking role as shown with June Cleaver. Yet, there are many women who suffocate and never reach their real potential leading an unhappy life. Regardless of which role a woman has trendsShow MoreRelated The Evolution of the American Television Family Essay1151 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican Television Family Television is not just a form of entertainment, but it is an excellent form of study of society’s view concerning its families. This study focuses on the history of television beginning in the early 1950s and will run through present day. It examines the use of racial, ethnic and sexual stereotypes to characterize the players of these shows. 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