Overview

This book analyzes how situation comedies have provided cultural insight into both the good and the bad sides of American motherhood through the years. Judy Kutulas argues that while early sitcoms tended to reinforce conventional visions of motherhood, more complex and problematized mothers began rising to prominence as cultural norms continued to diversify. Ultimately, Kutulas explores and demonstrates how increasingly diverse depictions of motherhood reflect changing social expectations, new social and professional opportunities, and expanding debates about what it means to be a mother. Scholars of television, media, American, cultural, and women’s studies will find this book of particular interest.

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9781666934649

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Reviews

"Sitcom Mom: The Evolution of a Classic Television Character is Judy Kutulas's lively, ambitious discussion of the history of television's sitcom mothers. In a discussion of moms ranging from the prototypical June Cleaver, the fantastical My Mother the Car, and the iconic Claire Huxtable, Kutulas situates her discussion in sophisticated sociological theories of the changing American family. She demonstrates how the early and extremely influential television sitcoms gave way to the more modern and nuanced mom images of Roseanne's Roseanne Connor, Arrested Development's Lucille Bluth, and Modern Family's Claire Dunphy, as the configuration of the modern American family changed dramatically in the wake of the feminist movement, changing labor force, and changing norms about childcare, gender roles in the nuclear family, and what constitutes ""good-enough"" mothering. This exhaustive work is the definitive study of motherhood in television comedy. --Andrea L. Press, University of Virginia"

Author Information

Judy Kutulas is professor emerita of history, film and media studies, and gender and sexuality studies at St. Olaf College.

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