Family In The 1970s And 3rd Rock From The Sun

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The 1970s and 1990s were very different times in American culture. The 1970s were characterized by the fight for equality as well as the defense of the traditional family (The 1970s) while the 1990s were characterized by prosperity and progress (Anderson, 2015). That 70s Show and 3rd Rock from The Sun depict these two different eras in different ways. Both of these shows depict families, in the respective eras, and the ways that those families interact with other people in their communities. Different types of families are depicted in each of these shows. That 70s Show depicts the main family as a two-parent income family with one child still living at home and the other has moved out to live at college (1998). This was often seen as the typical American family. 3rd Rock from The Sun depicts a different kind of family dynamic. In this show, the family is actually a group of aliens who travel to Earth to study humans and have to pretend to be a human family (3rd Rock from The Sun, 1996). With this dynamic they are not considered the “typical” American family. The family is depicted as a single father and his three children living together in an attic apartment (3rd Rock from The Sun, 1996). This show aims to prove …show more content…

In That 70s Show, the wife is respectful of her husband and his opinion but she is not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself (1998). While the mom does cook and take care of her family she is spunky and has a mind of her own which challenges the stereotypes that a woman is the homemaker and her husband makes all of the decisions. In 3rd Rock from The Sun, the father figure is in charge which is considered typical but the daughter speaks her mind particularly when it comes to equality for women (1996). This show also depicts them men in the family as stubborn which is a stereotype of men that has been around for a while (3rd Rock from The Sun,

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