Raines: Media Analysis

Roseanne and Male Oppression
The TV show Roseanne was a popular sitcom during the 80’s and 90’s. The show featured a blue-collar family, the Connors, living in a small town in Illinois. This particular analysis will focus on the relationships of the following couples: Roseanne and Dan, Becky and Mark, and Jackie and Fred. For the purpose of this paper, I have chosen to focus on the episode entitled “Girl Talk” from season seven in which Becky and Mark experience sexual problems. Feminists believe that sex and gender are two completely separate things and that one’s sex should not define one’s gender and how he or she acts in society. In the episode, the men acknowledge the fact that there are definite gender roles. They attempt to blur these roles by talking about their emotions and relationships as their wives had previously suggested in the episode. However, they eventually realize that this makes them feel uncomfortable and that they are better off in the comfort zones of masculinity. While the sitcom Roseanne portrays characters that are content fulfilling traditional gender roles, this paper will argue that Roseanne is actually an example of society’s emphasis on the need for men to display masculinity and that this is ultimately oppressive. In society, we punish or reward a human being based on how well he or she performs his or her gender role. The biggest assumption the show makes is that gender roles, particularly those of men, are necessary. We see this through their traditional occupations, their differing ideas of sex, and most of all, their unlike ways of communication.
The first assumption we see, not only in this particular episode, is that men and women fulfill different occupations based on their sex roles. “Most dangerous workplaces conflate stereotypical masculine traits (being brave, tough, and strong, for example) and competence,” says Gilbert in her article on “Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes” (Gilbert). The women on the show perform traditionally female oriented jobs involving cooking and cleaning, while the men perform more dangerous male oriented jobs involving hard labor and getting their hands dirty. While Becky is still a student in this episode, both Jackie and Roseanne work as waitresses at a local diner called The Lunch Box. All three of their husbands work for the city of Lanford as mechanics on school busses. The only other fellow employee we see at The Lunch Box is a homosexual man named Leon. The gender roles are so defined that the only man not performing a macho job is homosexual. Though the men are certainly no less capable than their wives of performing these “feminine” jobs, the men feel they must put themselves into a position that they feel confirms their manhood. This is ultimately oppressive.
Another assumption we see is that real men want sex more than women. Josey Vogels, a sex columnist and author of several books says “given our culture's belief that men want it anytime, all the time, I suspect it would be much harder for a man to admit he didn't want it. Men [and women] are conditioned to think that any way a guy can get laid is a score -- the old 'she can seduce me anytime' bravado” (Hanes). When Jackie first tells Roseanne about how Becky and Mark are having sex issues, she responds by automatically assuming Becky is the “shutting Mark down.” Once she finds out that Mark is actually the one uninterested in sex, she responds “Poor Becky! Now she is going to have to teach him to talk!” (“Girl Talk”). Though she was probably trying to be humorous, she implies that if Mark cannot perform to society’s standards sexually, than he cannot perform to any of society’s standards of manliness, even the ability to talk. When he finds out that everyone, especially his male friends, knows about the issue, he immediately becomes angry and resorts to the manly act of “punching a truck.” Mark’s entire sense of self comes from his sexual performance, and we can see how the stereotype that men are always up for sex is actually oppressive to him. Another example we see is between Roseanne and Dan. After Roseanne tells her girlfriends about something personal that happened between them in the bedroom, he tries to come up with something to make her understand why this bothers him. “What if I told everybody that you’re not interested in sex lately?” he asks. She says: “Well yeah why don’t you go tell everybody that your wife turns you down for sex all the time, that really embarrasses ME.” Dan responds with a defeated “this sucks” (“Girl Talk”). He is in a situation where he is either unmanly because he is the one who does not want sex, or he is unmanly because his wife is refusing him sex. This double bind is certainly oppressive.
The third and most obvious assumption seen in this episode of Roseanne is that it is considered “un-manly” to have discussions of the same depth that women do. In his report “Silent and Sick” Germain Dulac says Despite our post-feminist era, the majority of men are still taught to bottle up their feelings and maintain an illusion of strength…Women have far fewer reservations about relating how they feel”(Desjardins) and in her article on “Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes” Sarah Jane Gilbert says “presenting oneself as emotionally detached, unshakable, and fearless was crucial for demonstrating both masculinity and competence” (Gilbert). When Roseanne asks Dan to talk to Mark about his problems in the bedroom he says: “Men don’t talk to each other about this kind of stuff!” She responds with, “I thought you and Mark were good friends! You men, you say you have all these friendships but all you have is just another hairy person to eat chips and itch with!” (“Girl Talk). Later, Fred asks the men “do you ever think we spend too much time talking about sports and stuff? We never talk about our relationships.” The rest of the men try to avoid the subject awkwardly by cracking jokes. He continues to say, “I’m serious. Maybe we should open up a little. It wouldn’t hurt us to talk about personal things that really matter… we’ve all got marital issues like love, money, and sex… maybe we should talk more about this kind of stuff.” Dan responds with “WRONG! We’re guys! When we talk about sex there should be bragging, dirty jokes, and the occasional limerick, that’s it!” (“Girl Talk”). As feminists, we must look into the reasons men feel this way. A huge reason they are bothered when they attempt to communicate on the level their wives do is because of the pressure society places upon them to “be a man.” The act of discussing their feelings is clearly feminine, and doing anything feminine clearly makes them “gay”. For this very reason, men feel they cannot openly discuss things of importance, especially involving their feelings for one another. “The gay liberation movement clarified men's sexual concepts, bringing into question men's inability to displace affection openly and also pointing out fallacies in relevant stereotypes of male homosexuality,” says Karen Taylor in her book Transcending Boundaries. (Taylor).
Through this analysis I have found that Roseanne does indeed contain anti-feminist principles. The occupations, sexual ideals, and ways of communication among characters show us that the need to fulfill stereotypical gender roles is indeed oppressive to everyone, particularly me. This show presents the assumption that these gender roles are necessary to keep peace and order in the every day life of the Connors. However, from a feminist point of view, we now know that these gender roles are the very things oppressing them.