The Jcpenney: The American Family Model

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The American family model traditionally included the mother and father with two kids, a boy and girl. In this 1950’s family model the husband is seen as the breadwinner while the mother is the homemaker. This model is exemplified in the Battleship advertisement where the father is resting from a hard day’s by work playing a board game with his son. At the same time the mother is doing the days dishes with some help drying from her daughter. Today however, these rigid stereotypical roles are no longer applicable to the members of the modern family. With increases in divorce rates and teen pregnancy combined with the shift in economic roles of the majority of families, the traditional nuclear family is a minority (Wetzel, 1990). The JCPenny …show more content…

There are fashionable furniture and decorations in the room, all of them in gender-neutral colors. The family is well-dressed in soft blues and white. Every face in the ad is adorned with a tremendous smile. The caption in the upper-left corner describes “dad” as cool and a best friend, bike fixer, swim coach, tent builder, and hug giver rolled into one. Or two. The family includes a young daughter and son who appear Hispanic, and their two Caucasian fathers, approximately in their thirties. This stylish clothing advertisement not only sells JCPenney’s clothes, but also challenges the conventional roles and ideas that have been imposed on the American …show more content…

In the ad the homosexual male couple not depict any of the stereotypical gay attributes, besides being overly stylish. The stylishness of their clothing could be ascribed to the fact that the advertisement is in the end for JCPenney’s clothes. In fact, the ad argues against the stereotype of homosexual couples being unfit parents. One of the main arguments made by people who do not want homosexuals to adopt is that the child will not be able to adjust to the change in family structure and will develop psychological problems. There is no research for the basis of their argument and there is even some research refuting their ideas. In the ad it is plain to see that the children are happy and their needs are well met in the ad. This new parenting practice is based on loving parents and happy children. This ad aims towards the hope that society will not have interest in the constitution of a family terms of gender, race, and sexual orientation, but instead have an interest in what really matters to the family’s well-being: happiness, friendship, love, and

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