For Better or For Worst...or until you start getting grey hair

Jennifer Smith
Nina Perez
WST 3015
3/17/10


The show Family Guy is a parody of American culture that takes everyday situations and lets viewers see how ridiculous some people and their actions can be. Its satirical writing also gives people a chance to laugh at some of the unbelievable characters shown in other sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond and According To Jim, in which the pretty wives have to deal with less attractive, crude husbands. In shows like these, men don’t treat their wives with respect, but since their spouses are “so in love," they are able to forgive them at the end of each episode.

Megan Seely continuously brings up media’s influence on our society. In “At The Table” she discusses how “women are not in the positions of leadership that would permit them to determine and direct our stories and images in the media” (102). Because of this, women’s lives are often “misunderstood and misrepresented” (Seely 102). In the Family Guy episode “Go Stewie Go," the focus in Peter and Lois’ marriage seems to be on Lois’ age and looks. Peter is rude and insulting, commenting on her gray hair and aging body. Peter has so little respect for his wife and her feelings that he insults his wife around company right in front of her, telling Meg’s boyfriend, “she ain’t what she used to be”(Janetti 3:31).

Lois is so desperate for male approval that after Meg’s boyfriend gives her a compliment, she automatically becomes interested, not caring that he’s her daughter’s boyfriend. It’s crazy that a little bit of flattery from a male affects her so much. Even when she is making out with Anthony later in the episode, she brings up her age and her gray hair; Peter’s words invading her mind continuously.

At the end of the episode, Peter admits that he was only insulting Lois because he was insecure about his own age and appearance. Keeping up with other sitcoms' predictable endings, Lois accepts Peter’s wrongdoing and forgives him for his hurtful behavior. Even though the show is poking fun at American culture, it is still perpetuating the forgiving role wives in sitcoms are given. Hopefully, because of the show’s satirical nature, people realize that, in reality, wives and mothers should be treated with more respect and kindness than on the television shows that depict them.

In this episode of Family Guy the women and girls that are in relationships are all treated badly by their partners. Peter insults Lois, Meg’s boyfriend cheats on her, and Randall treats Julie like a piece of meat. Paula Ettelbrick writes about how marriage is not a path to liberation (320). Although she is discussing marriage in relation to gay and lesbian couples, I think it also pertains to heterosexual couples. If women are going to be treated as secondhand citizens by their partners, maybe they should rethink the option of matrimony.

Works Cited

Ettelbrick, Paula. "Since When Is Marriage a Path to Liberation?" Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: MCGraw-Hill, 2010. 317-20. Print.

Janetti, Gary. "Go Stewie Go." Family Guy. FOX. 14 Mar. 2010. Television.

Seely, Megan. "At The Table." Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP, 2007. 93-121. Print.