Roseanne TV Show and Family

TV in the modern world forms a crucial part in affecting societal perception on a number of issues. One of these issues is the family. The traditional family in the American context is closely knit and held around Christian norms. This means two parents and kids born within the marriage. This is commonly referred to as the societal norm format (sitcom), and it is common in the majority of shows. However, the Roseanne show presents a very different format for the family. For instance, the Conners are white and speak English, the family is a two-parent household, and fall to what is commonly referred to as the working class. in addition, the Conners didn’t have careers and at times, they even found it difficult to find jobs. They have three kids and they took one of their daughter’s boyfriends to live with them because his mother was abusive (Probyn, 1990). Given the problems that the Conners faced, they had different experiences and the problems didn’t have any easy and direct answer, which is probably what makes it relevant to viewers.
Essentially, Roseanne is a traditional family and typically takes the form of what is commonly referred to as a sitcom. The family has two parents and kids born within the marriage. It is a nuclear family, the main cast, but occasionally has some main or recurring cast members who are guests to the Conner family. The family setup is leaning towards matriarchal, with a very outspoken mother. Even though this could be attributed mainly to the role of the cast member Roseanne Barr, who acts as Roseanne Conner the wife, the father of the family, Dan Conner is also active but less outspoken, thus more of the attention goes to the wife.
Gender roles in Roseanne are generally conservative, but embrace the western notion of a working woman. As a result, family chores are primarily the duty of women. Cooking and cleaning are done mainly by the female gender while men are primarily involved in earning income. Nevertheless, women are also working, in line with the western culture of an empowered woman. in the show, there are no young children that require constant care, but both parents and in general, and mature folks have the responsibility of guiding the younger members of the family. However, outside these lines, the women in the show have other additional characters that make then stand out from the norms of the conservative Christian woman. for instance, Roseanne is a fighter, aggressive, pushy, and determined. Her sister Jackie is less determined and thus, she was unable to make up her mind on who she wanted to be with as a boyfriend when she grew up, despite the fact that she was 30 years when the show began. Roseanne’s mother was a nightmare. As a result, the show is considered to illuminate more light on the female gender and give them a preeminent position in the family.
Roseanne presents various shades of marriage. The Conner family is held together by two parents who are married. However, their daughter is cohabiting with her boyfriend in the same house. In addition, the show has promoted homosexual affairs. Since the show premiered, it was considered to promote the LGBT community. In 1995, the wedding between Loen and Scott with male strippers and flamingo iconography was the first homosexual instance in the show. In addition, there are several instances where the show uses gay language as if to encourage it.
In conclusion, Roseanne would be considered to be a perfect match for the norms of the American culture. It has both working and none working families, both men, and women are involved in income generation through the few opportunities, and even though women are given a more prominent role and voice in the show, this is considered to be part of the drama setup. To this end, if Roseanne would be considered to not affect or misrepresent the American family ideals. Therefore, rather than affect the American family through Cultivation theory, Roseanne is considered to represent the American family.


References
Probyn, E. (1990). New traditionalism and post-feminism: TV does the home. Screen, 31(2), 147-159.