Analysis Of The Dumbing Down Of Dads In Modern Society

I. Introductory paragraph: The focus of my discussion in this paper is the “dumbing-down” of dads in our modern society. In researching this topic, I came across the following comic strip that illustrates quite clearly how dads are often depicted/ portrayed to children, especially in the media. In the image copied below, we can see how the representation of the dad has changed over the years. The children comment that they are watching an old show where the father was actually an intelligible being and there ensues the laughter on the part of the mother and the children. I feel this is a theme that has come about as comic relief, but also as a way of demeaning men as partners and parents. As a mother, I know I am guilty of this, and as a society I think we propagate this concept way too easily.

(Image credit- Kirkman and Scott, "March 17, 2015")

II. Body/Narrative: As written by Sara Petersen of Deseret News, in her February 2013 article, if you watch current TV shows, commercials, even Disney movies you will witness “the overbearing portrayal of the modern-day husband and father as

We can beg the question, is life imitating art, or vice versa? As reported by Scribner in Deseret News in his 2014 article, “Do families seen on the small screen reflect the families of today?” He includes the impressions of Dr. Carole Lieberman, a media psychiatrist as part of his article: “ 'When you put it in a movie or television show and you exaggerate it in a different way, to be funny for example, that has a bigger impact on the person watching it than the person who’s writing it, ' Lieberman said (Scribner, “Do families seen on the small screen reflect the families of today?”).” So as children grow up watching shows like “American Dad” or “Modern Family,” they compare their own families, even if they are meant to be a caricature of current household