Mothers and the Media

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Recommended: Stereotypes depicted by media

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the hit TV show, The Brady Bunch. The show was the rep-resentation of a how a blended family could become a close and loving family. There were six children between Carol Brady and Mike Brady. Mike Brady’s wife died and he was raising his three sons Greg, Peter and Bobby alone until he meets Carol Brady who is raising three daugh-ters of her own. It is not clear what caused Carol to become a single mother whether it was di-vorce or the death of her husband. The two get married and Carol and the girls take Mike’s sur-name and the Brady Bunch is born. I loved this show as if no one has ever loved a show before. I would make sure I was in front of the TV two minutes before it started because if my older brother, who I’m positive hated me as a child and cursed the day I was born, got to the TV before me, he would not allow me watch it. I learned to tell time very well because of The Brady Bunch. I often day dreamed that I was one of the Brady’s, that I was an extra sibling. I could see myself singing right alongside of them, Sha Na Na Na Sha Na Na Na. I admired Carol Brady and the gentle way she dealt with her children. I cannot recall ever hearing a harsh word come out of her mouth to any of the kids or her husband. She was always so calm and understanding, easy to talk with. She seemed to have all the right answers and she dished out her love without even thinking, unconditionally. I fell in love with the closeness she shared with her family. She was perfect, yes, I said it, Carol Brady was the perfect TV Mom. However, Carol Brady was not real, she was an actor playing a role but as a child, I could not tell the difference. In her real life, as Florence Henderson, she ... ... middle of paper ... ...or social transform to happen, the ridiculously unrealistic media created standards of motherhood have to be broken down. A process of media socialization must launch; stereotypes have to be recognized and destroyed. Additionally, this different treatment of everyday women must have a lifelong existence on television. As soon as the newness of celebrity mothers erodes, with any luck the shortcomings of "regular" mothers will be renowned; consequently reducing the stress on current mother has to have superhuman capacities in both the workplace and the home. Works Cited http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/hzi9401.html http://www.nunesmagician.com/2009/6/14/908274/people-who-blog-in-mothers Dougls, Susan J, and Meredith Michaels W. The Idealization of Motherhood and how it has Un-dermined Women: The Mommy Myth. Free Press, 2005

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