Modern Family Portrayal of Women in Media

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friend so he can understand. Once again showing how women are difficult to understand and need a male to help them put their thoughts out there.

Finally, Modern Family depicts women as weak to men’s sense of power. In the b-plot of “Game-Changer,” Gloria is revealed to be an excellent chess player. Jay, Gloria’s husband, talks her out of finishing their game, which he admits to knowing she was going to win. To the camera, Gloria explains that although she was two moves away from checkmate, she is a "very good chess player, but a better wife." We can see a shockingly similar tale in the episode “Run for your Wife,” where Phil challenges Claire to a race to prove he can run faster than her. It is also the first day of school for their kids and when he reveals how sweaty he is she believes he has suffered a lot that day with the kids and let him win. Another example concerns Claire with as being weak to her husband. For example, in the episode “Phil’s New Car,” Phil’s duty for the day is to go out and purchase a new vehicle for the family as Claire instructs him to do. Now this episode starts to challenge the stereotype that men have the power in the relationship because Phil, a man, is given an order by Claire, a woman. However, when Phil comes back with a black sports car, clearly not a family vehicle, he shows it as his own decision. Claire is clearly upset at him for not purchasing a vehicle that is suitable for a family. Phil claims that his is the car the family needs and though Claire is upset he does not see it and needs to be explicitly told that he had made a mistake.

Clearly, Modern Family portrays women as weak and in need of someone to control them. Even when they possess a trait that is superior to men, they hide it and become passive in the relationship. Alternatively, if they have a trait that is stereotypically masculine and they aggressively assert it, then they will suffer in other areas of their life such as their relationships. Comedies often exaggerate these qualities to obtain easy laughs. However, even these examples are a little below the belt.