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COOL DADS, MOTHERLY FATHERS, AND TYPICAL PATRIARCHS: THE MODERNITY OF MALE GENDER ROLES IN MODERN FAMILY Maud Beljon | S4753631 | American Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. F. Mehring | Second reader: Dr. L. Munteán Cool Dads, Motherly Fathers, and Typical Patriarchs Beljon | S4753631 2 Abstract The ongoing discussion surrounding the modernity of Modern Family focusses on inter- gender relationships, whereas my thesis will focus on the modernity in the portrayal of masculinity in the adult male characters of the TV-series Modern Family. In this thesis, the question is asked whether the depictions of masculinity in Modern Family’s characters Jay Pritchett, Phil Dunphy, Mitchell Pritchett, and Cameron Tucker are to be called ‘modern’, as the title of the series implies, when placed in the context of the American sitcom genre and its common features. This is important because of the lack of discussion of male gender roles in the pre-existing discussion surrounding Modern Family’s modernity. I will answer the question by analyzing the mise-en-scene of selected episodes with respect to wealth and sexuality, concluding that Modern Family is not ‘modern’ in this respect. Keywords: Modern Family, masculinity, sitcom, male gender roles, sexual expression, wealth, patriarchy Cool Dads, Motherly Fathers, and Typical Patriarchs Beljon | S4753631 3 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Modernity and Masculinity ........................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Relevance to the Discourse ........................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Hypothesis ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Methods ......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Expected Findings ......................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 Outlining the American Sitcom Genre ................................................................................... 9 2.1 Secondary Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 9 2.2 The American Sitcom as a Genre ................................................................................................ 10 2.3 Mise-en-scene as a Tool to Discuss Wealth and Sexual Expression ........................................... 11 2.3.1 Traditional Portrayal of Wealth Through Mise-en-scene ..................................................... 11 2.3.2 Traditional Portrayal of Sexuality Through Mise-en-scene ................................................. 13 Chapter 3 Wealth and Class .................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 Framing Wealth and Class through Mise-en-scene in Jay’s home .............................................. 17 3.1.1 Exterior Mise-en-scene ......................................................................................................... 17 3.1.2 Interior Mise-en-scene .......................................................................................................... 17 3.1.3 Striving to Provide for the Entire Family ............................................................................. 18 3.2 Framing Wealth and Class through Mise-en-scene in Phil’s Home ............................................ 18 3.2.1 Exterior Mise-en-scene ......................................................................................................... 19 3.2.2 Interior Mise-en-scene .......................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Framing of Wealth through Mise-en-scene in Cameron & Mitchell’s House ............................. 19 3.3.1 Exterior Mise-en-scene ......................................................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Interior Mise-en-scene .......................................................................................................... 20 3.4 Comparison of Wealth between the Characters .......................................................................... 20 Chapter 4 Sexual Expression ................................................................................................................. 23 4.1 Gendered Representation of Cameron & Mitchell ...................................................................... 23 4.1.1 Feminine men ....................................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2 Visibility of affection ........................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Gendered Representation of Jay .................................................................................................. 26 4.2.1 Fatherly Love and Romantic Affection ................................................................................ 26 4.3 Gendered Representation of Phil ................................................................................................. 27 4.3.1 Funny Phil ............................................................................................................................ 28 4.3.2 Silly but Sexy ....................................................................................................................... 29 4.4 Comparison of Sexuality between the Characters ....................................................................... 30 Cool Dads, Motherly Fathers, and Typical Patriarchs Beljon | S4753631 4 Chapter 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 31 Work Cited ............................................................................................................................................ 34 Primary sources ............................................................................................................................. 34 Secondary sources ......................................................................................................................... 34 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 36 Cool Dads, Motherly Fathers, and Typical Patriarchs Beljon | S4753631 5 Chapter 1 Introduction The American sitcom has continuously been important in popular culture studies over the last few decades, as it has been used to analyze the American nuclear family tradition. The Cambridge Dictionary describes a nuclear family as “a unit of two parents and their children” that traditionally consists of a mother, a father, and their children (“Nuclear family”). Modern Family, which premiered in 2009, has been one of the most successful sitcoms of the twenty- first century and has won several Emmys and Golden Globes. The title suggests that their aim is to be modern, and that is why it is interesting to look deeper into the concept of gender roles as portrayed in the series. The series revolves around patriarch Jay Pritchett, his trophy wife Gloria, their son Joe, his stepson Manny, and his adult children from his first marriage, daughter Claire and son Mitchell, who each have formed their own families. Claire’s family is a nuclear family, with husband Phil Dunphy and children Haley, Alex, and Luke. Mitchell and his partner Cameron have an adopted Vietnamese daughter named Lily. The three families interact with each other a lot and are often featured together as one group or as subgroups, with different members from the three families. The series differs from the regular sitcom genre in the sense that it is filmed as a mockumentary, which is parody form of documentary film style (Bishop 62). It does, however, still contain many traditional sitcom elements, which will be explained in the next chapter of this thesis. In academic research that has been done on Modern Family, the focus has mostly been put on racial aspects or issues of gender. I think the issue of gender roles and modernity, especially the role of masculinity, is not discussed in depth and that is why my main focus will be on gender roles. These relations have previously been discussed in terms of male versus female power, but this thesis will provide a new angle to the discourse by discussing gender relations between the different adult males, as this was missing from the pre-existing literature. This will be done by asking the following question: Are the depictions of masculinity in Modern Family’s characters Jay, Phil, Mitchell, and Cameron to be called ‘modern’, as the title of the series implies, when placed in the context of the American sitcom genre and its common features? 1.1 Modernity and Masculinity It is, of course, important to specify what is understood as modern for the rest of this thesis. The online version of The Cambridge Dictionary describes the term ‘modern’

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