Gender Roles And Stereotyping In Friends Series

Friends is an American television sitcom, that was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. The cast of the show starred Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courtney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller). The show revolved around six friends in their mid to late 20s and early 30s who lived in Manhattan, New York City. The show received popularity throughout its series entirety and became one of the most popular television shows of all time. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards and won the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season.

The episodes in the series depict the friends' comedic and romantic adventures and career issues. The six main characters each have serious relationships, such as Monica with Richard Burke, and Ross with Emily Waltham. Ross and Rachel's on-and-off relationship is the most recurring storyline during the series as they repeatedly date and break up and so on. Ross and Rachel end up having a child together after a one-night stand, Chandler and Monica end up marrying each other, and Phoebe gets married as well. The series contains characters who exhibit stereotypical characteristics correlated with being male or female, as well as characters who go against those gender norms and display traits that are typically exhibited by the opposite gender. Friends implements an explicit example of how gender roles are undermined by stereotypes displayed within the series and how symbolic interactionism is applied to gender.

Gender Stereotypes

Many American sitcoms incorporate gender stereotypes within their content. Typical gender stereotypes include females as being emotional, accommodating, nurturing or working low-status jobs. Whereas men are depicted as dominant, “breadwinners”, or head of the household. Throughout the series of Friends, many gender stereotypes are portrayed within the characters thus skewing viewers’ perceptions of gender roles. In the episode “The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work”, Monica and Chandler, look into how they can adopt a baby. Chandler was let go from his job, so they had to consider the consequences of living off of solely Monica’s income. Chandler obtained the ideology that men should be the ones to provide for their families. In the series, Chandler had always been financially stable and realizes that he does not want to lose the power he had in his relationship while being employed. This example implements the idea that men are always seen to be the ones making income in the family. It hints to the cliché gender role that fathers should not be the ones to stay home with their children instead of working. Staying at home with the kids as more of a feminine role than a masculine role. In this episode, Chandler does not want his unemployment to decrease his masculine image. The stereotypes and distorted perception of gender roles presented in this episode are problematic because it presents society with the ideology that women should not be seen as the head of households or breadwinners. It also presents the misconception that men cannot stay at home fathers when in reality many men choose to become stay at home fathers.

In the episode, ‘The One with The Male Nanny,’ Rachel and Ross search for a nanny to help take care of their daughter for when they go back to work. Rachel settles on a male nanny but Ross questions if he is gay due to him applying to a female-dominated occupation. Ross bickers with Rachel because she wants to hire him but he refuses and expresses that he believes a nanny is a job for a woman. The male nanny’s character is quite emotional and possesses qualities that society views as feminine. Chaffe states that “this reinforces gender stereotypes and the sex division of labor”. This stereotype correlates showing emotion as a rather feminine quality which results in the idea that being overemotional makes a man appear gay.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is the practice of how people interact with each other through the use of symbols and social structures. As individuals who have learned the meaning of feminine and masculine gender roles and behaviors, we subconsciously transmit those to children through social interaction. Friends heavily plays into the concepts of femininity and masculinity. In the episode “The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel”, Ross panics after he witnesses his son, Ben, playing with a Barbie doll and tries to convince him to play with toys that were considered more “manly” and less “girly”. This example undermines the gender role of males because it implicitly conveys that boys should not play with dolls or other toys because it will make them look less “manly”. In this episode, Ben is only a year old so he cannot fully understand the concept of whether toys are considered girly or not. Because of this social interaction with his dad at such a young age, Ross, it is implied that Ben will grow up to have the same perceptions about gender as his father. In today’s society, this episode is deemed controversial, because it delivers the idea that just because a child is born a certain gender then they cannot wear certain clothes or play with certain toys because these items do not identify with their gender. In reality, boys and girls should not have to restrict themselves when it comes to playing with certain toys, wearing certain clothes or wearing certain colors just because their parents or the rest of society do not see it as appropriately identifying with their gender.

Refutation

While it is certain that Friends undermines gender roles by stereotypes displayed within the series, some critics believe stereotypes were not used to undermine gender roles but solely to provide comic relief. For example, Rachel’s character displayed the most gender stereotypes among the main female cast. Her spoiled, dependent, “dumb blonde” charade was used as comical relief in many episodes. In many scenes, candid laughter was used whenever Rachel spewed her “I’m daddy’s little girl” tantrums or referred to her best qualities as her breasts. Therefore, some viewers may believe that the gender stereotypes displayed in the show were only meant as jokes and comic relief instead of portrayals of stereotypical gender roles.

However, this objection does not triumph as the skewed depictions of gender roles within the show are displayed in almost every episode of the series. If gender stereotypes were used solely for comedic relief then they would only be implemented in a few episodes and not be incorporated into the characters’ actual qualities and personalities. Rachel’s character as a whole was centered around her being dependent, a sex-symbol and working low-status jobs. In addition, Joey's character was centered around being a “ladies man”, strong and “macho”.

Conclusion

Based on the above reasoning, it is concluded that Friends undermines gender roles by the stereotypes exhibited within the series. The series also showcases how symbolic interactionism can negatively be applied to gender. Chandler’s misogynistic view of wanting his wife (Monica) to stay at home with their baby while he works and Ross thinking it is too feminine and socially immoral for men to be nannies are strong indicators that Friends revolves around gender stereotypes and cliché gender roles. In addition, Ross creating and teaching social constructs about playing with “manly” or “girly” toys to his son depicts how symbolic interactionism is applied to gender.