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Original poster

To loathe these sexist American sitcoms?

132 replies

Scarletohello · 28/04/2014 21:36

Ok so these are the culprits,

Everyone loves Raymond
Two and a Half Men
How I met your mother
Rules of Engagement

They are all different but the themes are pretty
much the same. Demanding women, guys that are players, unreasonable women, tacit acceptance of treating women like shit. Crazy women, empathy with the guys, point of view. Just sick of them, I know that they are supposed to be lighthearted and humorous but just feel that the drip drip mysogony infects the culture and makes it so much harder for women
To argue against this entitled behaviour by men as it is so normalised and if you argue against
it you are deemed to lack
A sense of humour, be demanding, neurotic etc..,

Do other people know what I'm saying or is it just me...??

OP posts:
saadia · 28/04/2014 22:23

YANBU about Rules of Engagement, it is very badly written. The episodes with Timmy are slightly funnier. Having said that it is really aimed at a male audience, the women are always wearing tight and revealing tops and at times I have been shocked at how much hatred of women is in the subtext.

I do like ELR although I agree about gender stereotyping. Debra can be a huge nag but I do like Marie and Frank. I think there are families like that though so I can see why it is popular.

Have never watched the other two.

TeaFor6 · 28/04/2014 22:30

Two and a half men is awful and makes me want to trow things at the tv screen. I cannot understand why its so popular or why so many actresses seem happy to degrade themselves by being on it.

Can't really comment on most of the others mentioned

kali110 · 28/04/2014 22:35

Love the tomorrow people and Brooklyn 99. Live modern family, think its hilarious.

kali110 · 28/04/2014 22:35

Love*

PrincessBabyCat · 28/04/2014 22:43

You've described every American sitcom. Wink

But they wouldn't be making them if people didn't give the views and therefore ad views.

Our shows are starting to get better. We have Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones (is that American?), Orange is the New Black.

EurotrashGirl · 28/04/2014 22:48

Then don't watch them.

SabrinaMulhollandJjones · 28/04/2014 22:52

Only watched Everyone Loves Raymond out of your list but yanbu on that basis. I habitually watched it when the dc were tiny, would do a bf/toddler breakfast in front of it, and got quite into it.

But, oh yes, the 'nagging' wife, 'controlling' MIL trope - and the 'player' men, trying to get away with stuff, just did my head in.

stillenacht1 · 28/04/2014 22:53

Phalanges... Modern Family. Totally agree its like The Office meets Everybody Loves Raymond. A poor (hugely over edited to within an inch of its life) imitation of ELR.

ELR finished around 2006 with the death of Peter Boyle (Frank). Ok hands up, big ELR fan hereGrin

Shewhowines · 28/04/2014 22:55

But they're so funny...

stillenacht1 · 28/04/2014 22:55

Sabrina.. I dont think Ray, Robert and Frank can be described as players- they were losers!

basgetti · 28/04/2014 23:03

I love ELR but sometimes it infuriates me. Ray is such a selfish manchild and never gets his comeuppance, and sometimes it goes beyond comedy into being quite horrible. Such as how he ruined her holiday to Italy by sulking and then on the last day when he suddenly decided he liked it after all she had to be grateful and happy about it. And when he was glad she failed at her job so he didn't have to help with the housework. She should have left him!

BlowTheBloodyDoorsOff · 28/04/2014 23:06

I second posters who love Brooklyn 99 and really recommend it for all you other posters who (like me) are tired of sexist shit.
3 female leads, not sexualised or degraded or brought to the 'sassy fat friend' stereotype, all good at their jobs and absolutely hilarious. Rounded characters not just the token women. AND their being women isn't even shown as noteworthy, they are all just part of the team, as it should be. Have a watch and tell me what you think!
Am v. fed up of some other shows and find the treatment of women in himym and taahm pretty disturbing!

BlowTheBloodyDoorsOff · 28/04/2014 23:06

I second posters who love Brooklyn 99 and really recommend it for all you other posters who (like me) are tired of sexist shit.
3 female leads, not sexualised or degraded or brought to the 'sassy fat friend' stereotype, all good at their jobs and absolutely hilarious. Rounded characters not just the token women. AND their being women isn't even shown as noteworthy, they are all just part of the team, as it should be. Have a watch and tell me what you think!
Am v. fed up of some other shows and find the treatment of women in himym and taahm pretty disturbing!

BlowTheBloodyDoorsOff · 28/04/2014 23:07

Oops apparently I felt so strongly that I had to post twice Blush

TulipOHare · 28/04/2014 23:27

Parks and Rec!

(Antidote to the above)

Community & Arrested Development also wonderful.

SabrinaMulhollandJjones · 28/04/2014 23:28

stillnacht, I think Ray was a player, Robert was a loser, and Frank was a... lazy misogynist? Ray was always trying to get away from family life, and Debra was portrayed as a shrew - kind of a strong woman sometimes (but then, why did she put up with so much of Ray's crap?) but then also enabling him. It annoyed me so much, even though, I could put my feminist principles on hold to kind of enjoy it for half an hour Grin

I always felt sorry for Robert- but I liked it when Amy came on the scene.

Original poster
Scarletohello · 28/04/2014 23:29

Great comments everyone. I just don't get why in both How i met your mother and Rules of Engagement you've got an almost identical character, short, mousy, not that attractive, a massive player, but they ever get any kind of comeuppance. My God if you had a female character who was their equivalent they would have been severely punished for their transgressions by now ( which is why the character of Samantha in Sex and The City was so revolutionary as she was one of the few women in fiction who wasn't punished for having an independent sex drive...)

OP posts:
SabrinaMulhollandJjones · 28/04/2014 23:30

I loved Peter Boyle though - awesome actor - so sad when he died Sad

Original poster
Scarletohello · 28/04/2014 23:33

Love Modern Family ( mainly cos it's so funny) and also love Big Bang too, maybe these shows are worse as they are sugaring the sexist pill by being so entertaining and clever...

OP posts:
MoominAndMiniMoom · 28/04/2014 23:36

I quite enjoy HIMYM Blush

Can't stand 'Big Bang Theory' though. Degrading and nasty to women, whether they identify as geeks or not. Amy is irritating as hell and lacks social skills, Penny is portrayed as a 'normal' woman but her lack of superior intelligence is constantly mocked, and Bernadette is potentially more 'in the middle'/'normal' but still irritating and always seems dependent on Howard. The men always seem to come out superior to the women.

Plus people watch it and claim to be geeks/nerds Hmm

Louise1956 · 28/04/2014 23:36

i don't watch any of those, but Everybody Loves Raymond is one I have frequently read complaints about as showing men as stupid and incompetent, with the women always smart and superior. many people seem to consider it as sexist towards men rather than women.

personally, i prefer sitcoms where everyone is a bit daft, big Bang Theory is a good contemporary one for instance.

heraldgerald · 28/04/2014 23:40

Totally agree with you op. Add anger management to the list too.

basgetti · 28/04/2014 23:43

I really liked Big Bang in the early days, can't stand it now. None of them are likeable and nothing has happened in 7 years. Sheldon used to be great, now he is just a smug arse who treats Amy like crap. Leonard and Penny have zero chemistry, and he just seems to sleaze after her and she looks like she can barely tolerate him. Raj is pointless, Bernadette is a controlling bully and Howard is a perve.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 29/04/2014 00:07

YY to Parks & Rec as a good antidote - and also 30 Rock. I avoid E4 like the plague these days.

steff13 · 29/04/2014 04:02

OP, YANBU about ELR - I never understood the appeal of that show. Raymond was such a douche, I don't know how his wife put up with him. Ugh. I've never seen 2 1/2 Men or Rules of Engagement, but they both seem terrible. We watched HIMYM, and it was good in the first couple of seasons.

We love Brooklyn 99, Parks and Rec, and Community. Arrested Development was awesome. If you have access to Netflix, check out a series called Better off Ted. It was short-lived, but critically acclaimed. It was very funny, IMO.