Sitcom Mom

Judy Kutulas

doi:10.5771/9781666934656

Summary

This book analyzes how situation comedies have provided cultural insight into both the good and the bad sides of American motherhood through the years. Judy Kutulas argues that while early sitcoms tended to reinforce conventional visions of motherhood, more complex and problematized mothers began rising to prominence as cultural norms continued to diversify. Ultimately, Kutulas explores and demonstrates how increasingly diverse depictions of motherhood reflect changing social expectations, new social and professional opportunities, and expanding debates about what it means to be a mother. Scholars of television, media, American, cultural, and women’s studies will find this book of particular interest.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-1-66693-464-9
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-3465-6
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 186
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. List of Figures No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 8
Chapter 1: Worrying in Pearls: Defining Sitcom Motherhood in the 1950s No access Pages 9 - 30
Chapter 2: Of Witches, Cars, and Mothers-in-Law: The Fantastical Sitcom Mothers of the 1960s No access Pages 31 - 52
Chapter 3: Reality in the “Fantasy World of Television”: New Moms—and Some Old Ones—in the 1970s No access Pages 53 - 74
Chapter 4: Here Comes Clair: Having It All—or Trying to—in the 1980s No access Pages 75 - 96
Chapter 5: Single Moms and Man-Children: Gender Wars and Motherhood in the 1990s No access Pages 97 - 118
Chapter 6: Mama Don’t Care: Mad Mothers, Bad Mothers, Yummy Mummies, and Other New-Century Developments No access Pages 119 - 140
Chapter 7: “When Did This Become My Life?”: Recent Sitcom Motherhood No access Pages 141 - 162
Conclusion No access Pages 163 - 166
Bibliography No access Pages 167 - 178
Index No access Pages 179 - 184
About the Author No access Pages 185 - 186