Abstract
After first examining several theoretical concepts related to the construction of gender on television and the way in which women are characterized, this paper examines the television show Roseanne to explore the way it changed the representation of a feminist on television. No longer did women have to be childless and career-minded to be equal to men or in some cases better than men, as the character Roseanne Conner reveals on the show. Rather, women were able to articulate their feminist outlooks through their opinions, expressions, and actions. I break the show into four distinct notions of gendered representations: socioeconomic status: the “choice” to work; women and the body: disrupting the “imperative” to be thin; husbands and wives: navigating the “second shift” in the home; and women as parents: resisting the “perfect parenting/perfect children” discourse.
Recommended Citation
Ghanoui, Saniya Lee
(2013)
"Mediated Bodies: The construction of a Wife, Mother, and the Female Body in Television Sitcoms: Roseanne,"
Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association: Vol. 2012, Article 5.
Available at:
https://docs.rwu.edu/nyscaproceedings/vol2012/iss1/5