The Three Television Programs Watched
The chosen TV series include Family Ties (premiered September 22, 1982), Everybody Loves Raymond (premiered September 13, 1996), and Breaking Bad (premiered January 20, 2008). The three television programs were from three different decades- the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s.
Did the Men in the TV Programs Have Traditional Jobs?
The main male characters of Everybody Loves Raymond and Family Ties had traditional jobs. Steven Keaton (played by Michael Gross) in Family Ties is a branch manager of a PBS station. Raymond Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond is a sportswriter. Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) in Breaking Bad is a high school teacher, a female-dominated profession since the mid-1970s going on into the 21st Century.
Did the Women in the TV Programs Have Traditional Jobs?
The main female characters in Everybody Loves Raymond and Breaking Bad have traditional jobs, albeit what some may presume to be traditional ‘gender roles.’ Debra Barone (Raymond’s wife) is a housewife and mother of three children- Michael, Ally, and Geoffrey (Isaac, 2013). Skyler White (Walter White’s wife) was initially a housewife when the series premiered. She’s had several meager sources of income over the years- she worked as a bookkeeper for Beneke Fabricators in Albuquerque, she’s written several short stories and even sold items on eBay (Chisum, 2019). She quit her job as a bookkeeper because of her boss’ (Ted Beneke) sexual advances but later opted to return to work when her family was struggling financially before her second child, Holly, was born. Her sister Marie (played by Betsy Brandt) is a housewife, married to a DEA agent named Hank Schrader.
Elyse Donnelly Keaton in Family Ties is an educated mother of four children and a successful architect, representative of the hippie counterculture witnessed in the 1960s (Saenz, 2016). As a liberal, she does not necessarily have a traditional job, let alone life.
When Comparing TV Programs from Different decades, Were the Jobs Held by Women and Men in Earlier Decades More Traditional than in Recent Programming?
Elyse Keaton does not have a traditionally female job as compared to the other main female characters in the other series, although Family Ties premiered before the other two series. The latter released programs show women assuming more traditional jobs and roles within the socio-cultural spectrum. Although Walter White in Breaking Bad is a chemistry genius, he resorts to working as a high school teacher, a traditionally female occupation since the mid-1970s. All the other male characters in both Breaking Bad and the other two series have traditional male jobs (Chisum, 2019). As such, men and women in the three series have traditional jobs and roles, albeit for a few exceptions that make the TV programs one of the most prominent TV programs in modern history.
Does the TV Programs’ Portrayal of Men and Women in the Workforce Realistic?
The TV programs’ portrayal of men and women in the workforce is realistic because they explore the various socio-economic and socio-cultural dynamics regarding traditional male and female professions (as well as roles). For example, Elyse Keaton’s successful career as an independent female architect in the 1980s shows the cultural divide that defined the 1980s. Although she celebrates her achievements and encourages liberalism, her children opted for a contradicting socio-cultural ideology, embracing conservative politics and materialism, similar to many other young people in the 1980s (Saenz, 2016). It showed the struggles Elyse had to go through, dealing with conservative attitudes at home and at work. Walter White, in Breaking Bad, is a depressed high school teacher barely able to take care of his family. His salary is not enough to meet his family’s needs and is forced to take up shifts at a local car wash. He is embarrassed about his lifestyle and failures. His struggles represent the reality of many underemployed men who take up traditionally female jobs and are seen as failures because of their employment (Chisum, 2019).
On the other hand, characters that hold traditional male or female positions also show realistic struggles facing people aligning with these traditional presumptions of employment. For example, Raymond’s wife in Everybody Loves Raymond frequently complains of how as a housewife, she feels overworked, stressed out, and underappreciated, which leads her to frequent fits of rage, often attacking inanimate objects (Isaac, 2013).
The Type of Message About Gender and Careers Presented in the TV Programs
The selected TV programs aimed at portraying the socio-cultural progression of American attitudes towards gender and careers. Family Ties shows the effect of Reaganomics and how they affected younger generations. It showed the cultural shift that occurred in the 1980s that spilled over in the 1990s when Everybody Loves Raymond was set. Breaking Bad shows the challenges posed by continuing with these traditional precepts of gender and occupation. The cost of living rises, and employment opportunities dwindle, forcing men and women to cross the now blurred line of gender-based occupational preferences and precepts, albeit without acceptance.