Shameless Family

Shameless defies the idea of a normal family home. The show challenges many of the societal ideals and the ideas that come with being a low-class family. The show covers the theoretical concepts of a one parent household, challenging the social ideas of a low-class family, the idea of being gay, and the idea of children working to keep the house running.
In Shameless, the mother is no longer around and the dad is left alone with six kids. However, he does not seem to fit the mold of a single parent. He appears to fall into the lifestyle of drinking and wasting his welfare checks. This is odd and unusual for a parent because he does not take it upon himself to be the provider and caretaker in the home. Another way that he does not fit the mold of a single parent is that he begins to treat his oldest kids like they are his friends. In the one scene, he gives his oldest daughter and her boyfriend a condom and sends them upstairs. This defines how society views fathers because usually they are perceived as protectors of their daughters. This all being said; the household still runs well

However, it is the complete opposite of what people would usually think about a family who is struggling with money. At the beginning of the show, the Dad is quoted saying, “We may not have much, but all of us, to a man, knows the most important thing in this life we know how to fucking party” (Shameless, ep.1). Most people assume that families that are struggling with money do not have time to have fun and let loose because they are always working to make ends meet. However, the Gallagher family appears to make time to enjoy themselves regardless of the situation. Also, the family seems like they are always happy and in a good mood. This is different than how many people would perceive a family like this because they think they have too much to worry about and thus cannot be happy and enjoying