Family Guy: An Epitome of Normative Masculinity
Editor’s Note: This article is written in the style of Vulture.
Family Guy, a TV show known for it’s controversial and exaggerated humor, has lasted on television for over a decade.
Despite it’s frequent usage of inappropriate jokes, it is still on-air as one of the most successful cartoons enjoyed by a wide range of audiences. But some may ask, how can a show with racial slurs and sexist commentary make it this far?
The show thrives to represent a large spectrum of characters ranging from sexuality, race, social class, and masculinity. The director and writer, Seth MacFarlane, weaves in stereotypes and current issues that occur within our daily lives.
Peter Griffin — the father, the husband and one of the main characters from the show — embodies masculinity according to the way men are viewed today. Normative masculinity can be defined and seen in several different ways, however, there is a common ground when it comes to the way men are presented in the media. He is a classic example of a white heterosexual male, the breadwinner of the family, and treats women how ever he likes.
Peter Griffin’s actions and behaviors towards certain situations help strengthen his masculinity presented in the show. Anyone who sees Peter at first glance will immediately notice his hefty and masculine build as shown in the image above. This portrayal alone already emphasizes the ideology of how men should be “manly looking” — even in a cartoon. It is clear that he is the one in charge, and throughout the show his physical appearance correlates to the way he behaves and interacts with the other characters.
The show consists of 283 episodes — an overwhelming amount — so let’s take a look at one episode closely.
Season 2, episode 8, “I am Peter, Hear me Roar” is a classic episode that not only portrays Peter’s character beautifully but it also gives a gist of what the show is like. The episode kicks it off with a sexist beer commercial of two naked women sunbathing. Peter’s wife, Louis, is offended by how the commercial portrays women and comments on how it was most definitely directed by a man. Peter follows up with the quote, “Of course a man made it, it’s a commercial, not a delicious Thanksgiving dinner,”
Peter does not have any shame in looking down on women. The unsurprising part is how Louis does not say anything and just moves on because she has already accepted the fact that he is the man of the family and there’s not much she can do. The reality of masculinity becomes amplified because women are expected to follow their husband’s orders.
Next, the family gets a mail about receiving a free boat if they attend a timeshare meeting — once they get there, Peter gets lured to take the mystery box instead and completely disregards Louis’ input. Once again, proving how the man in the family gets to ultimately make the final decision for the family.
Peter and Louis go to a comedy show where Peter has too much to drink. He gets plastered, loses control, and acts irrationally at the bar. He ignores the presence of his wife and acts rude — embarrassing Louis in front of everybody. To Peter, it didn’t matter if his wife was there or not, he believes he can be reckless without anyone stopping him. And as a bonus, he thought people were laughing at him because he was making hilarious jokes — boosting his ego and confidence as a man.
With this ego boost, Peter showcases more of his masculinity by making offensive jokes about women to his co-workers (who are conveniently, all men and they all thoroughly enjoy the sexist comments made by Griffin). The other male characters (Joe and Quagmire) in The Family Guy also broadcast masculine characteristics too.
Peter proceeds to tell the offensive joke about women to a female co-worker, Sarah Bennett, in which Bennett decides to sue Griffin and the company for sexual harassment. Even in a serious situation like this, Peter continues to goof around and constantly make inappropriate jokes about women. He says, “Women are not people, they are devices built by Jesus Christ for our own entertainment,”. Unfortunately, masculinity becomes apparent especially in moments like this when sexism is involved. He thinks it’s okay to make these sorts of comments because he is the leading male figure of his family and of his own world.
The episode then proceeds to a small clip titled, “Women in the Workplace”, where a man describes women as “emotional, fragile, insecure” and other insulting adjectives. These sorts of descriptions against women feeds masculinity to rise. It helps create the strength and power men have in the media and potentially in our own society too. Peter embodies this idea of normative masculinity by putting women down.
Even though the attorney who represents Bennett sat down Peter and told him the consequences of his actions, he proceeds to say, “You know if I wasn’t so sure you were a lesbian, I’d say you were coming on to me,”. He even adds homophobic comments to bring down the woman. No matter the time or place, Peter shines his masculinity.
The episode overall continues to illustrate Peter’s masculinity through his thoughtless actions and words that put down not only women but the LGBTQ community as well.
After attending the “workplace sensitivity training”, Griffin develops a more open minded perspective on women. However, his efforts are irrelevant because he exaggerates his actions on Louis — Peter performs his behaviors sarcastically.
The episode overall continues to illustrate Peter’s masculinity through his thoughtless actions and words that put down not only women but the LGBTQ community as well.
The way the writer portrays Peter’s character can come across as offensive. But this show is a satirical and comical animated show that excels in bringing important topics including but not limited to race, class, gender, and sexuality. All in all, The Family Guy is a great show that covers many aspects that are controversial in today’s world.