Feminist Analysis of "American Dad"

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Feminist Analysis of American Dad Seth MacFarlane, creator of many popular cartoon style comedies, has a quintessential American television classic for the modern era: American Dad. American Dad explores a stereotypical traditional “American” viewpoint in a satire-style way; frequently calling on the audience to question everyday occurrences, such as the roles gender plays in our current culture and the superficiality of our gender equality. Gender roles throughout the television series are shown to fit this “American” viewpoint and give a provocative insight into a quasi-conservative-American way of defining genders. The main characters of this show are the Smith family. The parents being Stan and Francine; the children being Hayley and Steve. During the episode presented “The Phantom of the Telethon”, in an effort to preserve the CIA, Stan Smith decides to host a telethon. Throughout American Dad “The Phantom of the Telethon” women are put beneath men, directed to be dim-witted, and valued solely for their body and sexuality. This results in a society that is ultimately harmful to the women involved. Women are put beneath men throughout American Dad “The Phantom of the Telethon”. During the telethon, women are never given any truly substantial role. Francine, Stan’s housewife, is told to help Stan simply by encouraging him while off-stage. Throughout the telethon the only female act is an elderly woman who is portrayed as crazy. By having women in no significant positive roles, the women in the audience of the telethon are led to believe that the current system is to be expected. The women in no way challenge their role, but rather accept it. This leads to the ultimately harmful effect of women never achieving anything on the same level of achievement as their male counterparts due to lack of opportunity. Women, in the society shown by American Dad, are shown

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