Television programming and role modeling

Television programs receive extensive attention for how they characterize different racial and gender groups. Many sitcoms pay particular attention to avoid racial stereotypes and portray minority families in positive relationships with successful lifestyles. Programs that fail to do so are criticized for perpetuating negative images and attitudes of these groups. In a similar way to minority groups, women are depicted as competent and balanced, often juggling a career and childrearing with ease. Fathers and husbands, on the other hand, are frequently depicted as bumbling, lazy, incompetent, and even superfluous. Sometimes it's as if the man is just another one of the children that mother must take care of, rather than a dependable, contributing leader of the home. This modeling of husband and father gives an image of men's familial roles that can be discouraging and disappointing for both men and women--for men in light of their roles, and for women in their relationship to men fulfilling those roles.