A Perfect Union? by Cory Albertson

Author:Cory Albertson [Albertson, Cory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology
ISBN: 9781351801447
Google: NhBADwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-11-23T03:32:24+00:00

And “of course” Lee occupies, no doubt due to his greater emotionality, the archetypal feminine status of the caregiver. Domesticity (of which caregiving is a central component among many other duties) creates gender (Berk, 1985; West and Zimmerman, 1987; Hochschild, 1989; Brines, 1994). And societal standards have long espoused the idea that women inherently care for others (Chodorow, 1978). Meanwhile, the man is off at work and, thus, not expected to participate in caregiving. Although only ever truly existing for middle-and upper-middle-class white families, U.S. history has enshrined this separation of gender roles as the “natural,” “real” traditional family (Coontz, 2000 [1992]).

Interestingly, when Gaby mentions that she’ll “see” if Lee can look after her two daughters, the interaction of her actually asking Lee is never seen. Rather, and like the aforementioned public sentiment regarding women, his agreement to caregiving is simply assumed. Gaby does not say she’ll “see” if Lee and Bob can watch the girls; rather, she only mentions Lee. Both aspects highlight an important point regarding Lee. His status as caregiver seems either a commonly held piece of contextual information within the Wisteria Lane neighborhood or an idea formed as a “natural” progression from his already feminized persona. Regardless of the reason, Gaby’s assertion proved correct. When she arrives at Lee and Bob’s house, Lee is the one who walks out to converse with (and scold) her about having to care for her daughters longer than she initially told him. Then her daughters emerge hungry, leading them to have to relay that message to their primary caregiver. And where do they have to go to relay the message? They have to walk out of the house where Lee is standing to let him know. This means that either Bob is present in the house but not caregiving or that Bob is not present and thus not caregiving. Either way, Lee finds himself as the primary caregiver in this situation.

Lee and Bob’s own daughter, Jenny, is implied in this scene when Lee mentions how he and Bob hosted “another gay couple interested in adopting.” Out of all the season’s episodes, only one shows Jenny at home. In the scene (detailed in Chapter 5), Gaby sees Lee through the window of the home he shares with Bob. He is coaching Jenny on her violin – an activity he admits they do “two hours a day, five days a week.” And it is apparently an activity Lee does alone, as, again, Bob is not present. These two examples, where Lee is solely caregiving for Gaby’s daughters and then for his own daughter, cast Bob, by default, as a shining example of the true patriarch. For it is in his absence from the home that his roles are defined: He is the primary breadwinner and not involved in caregiving.

Like Lee and Bob, Cameron and Mitchell on Modern Family maintain the same gendered family dynamics. Flashbacks show Cameron being hyperemotional, specifically “freaking out” over the arrival of his and Mitchell’s adopted daughter, Lily.

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