The Role of Women in the First Season of I Love Lucy - Coursework Example

The Role of Women in the First Season of I love Lucy With the ability to get the audience charmed even after, a time span of more than a half a century, I Love Lucy remains as one of the most popular situational comedies of all time. This show is founded on the life of “a talentless zany housewife ever hopeful of breaking into a showbiz”, named Lucy Ricardo. Based in the New York City, a woman, in her attempts to get a life exciting, defies her husband as well as get involved in a series of mishaps and schemes. Through the showcase of the comical talents of the star of the film, Lucile Ball, the show manages to gain the ability to entertain that is considered timeless. Astoundingly, the show not only has the entertainment value, but also a very rich cultural critique point, having been set in the 1950s. The show has, however, been accused of being in favor of patriarchal norms, hence, degrading to the women. Indeed, when viewed from the perspective of the contemporary times, the accusations have quite undeniable legitimacy (Andrews and Watson 5). Lucy and Ethel, her best friend, are more often than not, consumed in a series of petty material desires; frequently, they are depicted as being incompetent. Their considered-more-sensible and authoritative husbands are often the ones who constantly clean up their messes. With all these, the question that remains is what message actually the film depicts the most. In spite of the outward adherence of the show to the patriarchal ideologies of the time, it remained Lucille Ball’s vehicle for empowering women, within the world of the show as well as outside (Andrews 8). In order to get to understand the tremendous contribution of the film I Love Lucy, the show should be grounded in the period of between the early to mid-1950s in America. This is a period characterized by the postwar era of the late 1940s, which brought about the rise of suburban living. In this time, the American idea was mainly made up of single-family, strong patriarch and nuclear family. The breadwinner of the house was a man, with his wife’s sole duty being to raise children and make a home. Also, there was the simultaneous desire for more privacy and the community. Though not coincidentally, this era is the period that marks the introduction of the tremendous yet irreversible impacts on the lifestyle of the Americans (Brady 54). The episodes of the show follow format that may be considered as being fairly consistent: Lucy either wants to hide or wants something, making her pursue her desire in an outrageous manner. During the period of the setting of the show, the women were expected to play mothers and wives; nothing more. They were, thus, not encouraged to get into any career, nor any value put on their intelligence: the patriarchal dominance at its overt. Through watching the show, the degradation and sexism imposed on the women is very evident. For instance, in the episode, “Lucy Thinks Ricky is trying to Murder her”, Lucy gets consummated in a reading on murder mystery to a point that she begins to think that Ricky is plotting a murder on her. At some point, Ricky even slips a sleeping powder in Lucy’s drink because they feel she is acting ‘crazy’. Stunningly, Lucy gets relieved to find out that her husband had only put sleeping powder in her glass, rather than poison. She embraces her husband, as if the drugging that her husband did to her was any less a wrong move. From the episode, the main message is that reading of books is not encouraged for the ‘fragile’ mind of a woman (Halberstam 12). The other episodes are more or less troubling in the same manner. In the episode, “Be a Pal”, Lucy is working hard to recapture the attention of Ricky. This she does by following the advice she gets from a book, which was written by a man, which suggests that it is a woman’s fault when their husbands are not showing much attention. Through the desire of stealing the show, Lucy almost ruins the chances of her husband being cast in a Hollywood film (Ricky’s Screen Test). In the show, the women are depicted as being self-centered, needy, impulsive, mothering, foolish, wacky and funny, or a combination of the sort, thereof. Being emotion-driven rather; than by reason, their desires and opinions lead them to a misadventure, hence, a twist in the plot. In turn, their husbands, which they more often than not defied, played the role of ‘a straight man’, who cared for the women and even cleaned their messes. Virtually all the episodes of the film are centered on the various silly schemes that Lucy indulges in, which must ultimately be solved by Ricky. For instance, in the 37th chapter, (‘The Handcuffs”) whereby the woman handcuffs herself to her husband, it is he who must still get a solution, fighting with Ethel, her best friend in the 47th episode, (“The Club Elections”). The same may be seen in the 61st episode, (“The Ricardo’s Change Apartments”), whereby she insists on getting a bigger apartment and the 45th episode (“Sales Resistance”), whereby she falls prey to hawkers who are considered without any reputation. The theme that is most recurrent in the show is Lucy’s clumsiness (Marc and Thomson 87). Though the title of the 2nd Feb 1953 episode “The Inferiority Complex” asserts that her lack of talent lies in her head, Lucy’s true uselessness in any nondomestic thing is underscored. Fred, Ethel Ricky as well as the psychiatrist hired by Ricky team up to patronize the woman, pretending that her poorly told jokes are funny. The psychiatrist even goes as far as wooing Lucy, claiming that she is a “gorgeous creature” and a “living doll”. In the end, however, she is depicted as a big baby who needs constant appeasement who wails whenever she does not get things her way. In this era, women are depicted in a similar manner to Lucy, hence, needing constant manning by their husbands (Morella and Epstein 32). Even in “The Beverly Hillbillies”, Elly May, the voluptuous tomboy; an asexual personality that refuses to be citified nor feminized- is always coerced into putting on dresses and controlled from climbing trees. A character that stands as somewhat the exception is Jane Hathaway, the bank assistant. However, the developers of the show outline that, unlike Elly May, she jettisoned her desires to be a mother as well as wife. In the episode, Gloria Buckles is complimented by Hathaway, who considers her as dedicated to her job and for portraying the ‘modern’ woman. Though mousy, she manages to display the qualities considered very rare in any typical modern girl; willing to work, loyal to the bank and eager to earn. “.. . Unlike so many other girls, this girl is not here to find a husband. She is here to work. Right, Gloria?” (27th Episode: March 1963). In this episode, the humor stems from the way in which Gloria Buckles transforms from the plain-Jane to a pin up by the change of clothes turns out to be nothing but a gold digger who is after Jed’s millions (Oppenheimer 43). If perceived, the accusation of the show reinforcing patriarchal ideology becomes very difficult to refute. The depiction of the couples portray Ethel and Lucy as the more foolish pair, while Fred and Ricky as being smart enough to either manage to stay out of the shenanigans that the girls create or regularly involved in cleaning up their messes. This view is easily subscribed to (Sanders and Gilbert 30). On the contrary, there is a very different view of reading the show. During the era, most of the TV shows depicted ideal families, which is still the case even after several decades. The show, however, depicts a woman turning against the domesticity prevalent at the time, with women of the house refusing to settle for the expected housewife lifestyle (“Television in the Home”). The creators of the show managed to successfully balance the view of the society of domesticity with their own, developing a TV couple that managed to live by the acceptable standards of the society, which was only possible through the rejection of those standards in reality (Spangler 9). The show was received in a very perfect manner since it managed to challenge the existent strict gender roles within the domestic realm, modeling a televisual reality, which more closely, managed to represent the everyday experiences of people. Quite strange, though the main objective of the show was to critique the domesticity, it does this to the effect of the comic. The sitcoms of the American TV shows are very vital as they are points from which people manage to develop a culture (Spangler 31). Lucy points out the power relations that exist between men and women. Hence, the show forms a very vital agent of the struggle for the so demanded gender equality. In paying particular attention to the friendship between Lucy and Ethel, the viewer is lead to deduce the unique bond that holds them together. From this, the show may be read as a story depicting a sincere friendship of two women trying to deal with the oppression imposed on the middle-class women by patriarchy. The principal basis of the conflict that arises between the genders is the struggle by the women in order to break free; while the men, on the other hand, struggling to maintain control over them. Hence, the two pairs always scheme and plot against each other; Ethel and Lucy are considered as creating a subculture of resistance. Through the alliance portrayed in the show by the two women, the desires of the female viewers are very easily satisfied, hence able to rise actively up against the patriarchy (Brady 54). The star Lucy Ricardo like many other female fans exhibited a struggle against the confinement of the domestic spheres. The woman displays aspirations that are beyond the mere dull housework life, with too much spirit of being a dutiful mother and wife as idealized in the era. More often than not, she was talked to like a child, with her major worries being money, making her husband happy and her image as a whole. Though loving her husband, she sneaked around most of the times as he would not let her do all she wanted-nonetheless; she had to do it. During this era, there was a need by the women for a woman who shared in their challenges to identify and rebel with. A woman free of those problems will not prove very worthwhile to them, will they? (Brady 60). Lucille Ball was a representation of a concrete alternative to the then lifestyle, in which so many women felt trapped. At the age of forty years, Ball, who had by then become a radio and a movie star, got to start the show, I Love Lucy with every episode revolving around her. Through here diligence and insistence, her husband Desi, is cast as Ricky, regardless of the possible public reaction worries that could come about as a result of the Cuban heritage. She manages to work in favor of the show, albeit the pregnancy that was thought as being able to get her way. Funny enough, she insists on not hiding her pregnancy. Instead, she twists the traits of pregnancy such a food cravings to work in favor of the show as comics. She was the first pregnant actress to play the reality pregnancy. Because of this, she manages to portray the case of a pregnant woman managing to continue with her work, and proved to be very capable in spite of her physical condition (“Television and Gender”). Through the combination of Lucille and Lucy, a very empowering model was made for the women. The gap was further lessened by the knowledge of the creative partnership and marriage between Arnaz and Ball. The life of Lucy seemed almost in reach, moreover, the life of Lucille got grounded in reality. Together, Lucy and Lucille managed to enlighten the women of the possibilities in their lives through being sympathetic to their struggles, yet at the same time portraying a capability of overcoming the struggles (Halberstam 41). By trying to reconcile the constant problems to do with gender representations as portrayed by Lucy, the show has to be considered to the culture at that time, just as noted earlier on. It is very hard watching the sexism; however, the cultural climate of the time’s responsibility may not be possible to put on I Love Lucy. The show merely used the cultural climate for its backdrop. Over the years, the various proliferation channels have managed to create room for alternative visual expression modes. Fortunately, some have managed to succeed, making the sitcom receive the wave of feminism through portraying the women with the ability to access the various resources such as education, power and employment. Over the years, an increase in the civil rights has also increased over the years, with women even getting involved in the traditionally considered as left-for-men duties. The top rated television shows of today tend to demonstrate a general failure to address the oppression that the women face, rather, they act to encourage it. For example, in the various advertisements, in most cases the women are depicted with very minimal respect. The situation is even worse when it comes to the movies producers, whereby the women are misused, raped, and even slaughtered. The male counterparts are, on the other hand, given the very respectful positions, which are barely met by the women themselves. Albeit the efforts by the television sitcoms to transform the roles played by women in the 1970s and 1980s, women, mainly the mothers have been abandoned to seeking the opportunity to express their maternal and feminine outside the realm of the family hour (Spanger 43). Though I have not seen an episode of the show in the last ten years, I remember watching it when a kid, and still love it to date. I was quite surprised to hear the criticism of the show for being sexist. Though I am now able to see it in that very perspective, I still hold onto my assertion that its effect on women was very empowering. Messages, regardless of how right they may be, are very dependent on the effectiveness of the manner they are communicated. I Love Lucy may not be the most perfect show, however, the context of the culture at the time of its production successfully displays many continually developed qualities to do with gender representation. The constant defiance of Ricky by Lucy remains very acceptable to date on the grounds of the entertainment value that comes with it, besides the reassertion on the male dominance at the conclusion of each and every chapter. Nonetheless, the audience always knew Lucy would defy her husband again in the next episode (Word Press par. 2). In the total opposition to the societal expectations of gender, Lucille Ball stood, not only as the dominant force of the show, but also, as a very outstanding physical comedian and producer. Through the combination of Lucille and Lucy, she was made a truly empowering yet sympathetic example for the females. Lucy/Ball’s influence is persistent even today in the various ways in which representations of gender are viewed, how people are educated and even how the women view themselves. Indeed, the show remains the first in a long time that has both molded and mirrored the gender roles, more so the maternal. Work Cited Andrews, Bart and Thomas Watson. Loving Lucy: An Illustrated Tribute. New York: St. Martins Press, 1980. Print. Andrews, Bart. The "I Love Lucy" Book. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1985. Print. Brady, Kathleen. The Life of Lucille Ball. New York: Hyperion Publishing, 1994. Print. Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993. Print. Marc, David and Robert Thomson. Prime Time, Prime Movers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992. Print. Morella, Joe and Edward Epstein. Forever Lucy. New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1986. Print. Oppenheimer, Jess. Laughs, Luck...And Lucy. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1996. Print. Sanders, Coyne and Tom Gilbert. Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. New York: William and Morrow Company, Inc., 1993. Print. Spangler, Lynn C. Television Women from Lucy to Friends: Fifty Years of Sitcoms and Feminism. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2003. Print Word Press. “Research report.” Web. 17 November, 2014. http://blogs.evergreen.edu/rc1jackie/research-report/ Read More