A Difference of Opinion

Today’s media is full of sitcom shows that portray stereotypical gender roles for a clueless husband with a wife who keeps everything together. The tv show “Kevin Can F**k Himself” was released in 2021 and is a sitcom that starts out with stereotypical gender roles that put a slightly different perspective on things. The tv show gave a unique perspective to the audience which was done by switching between a live audience perspective (complete with a laugh track) to a different darker view when Allison leaves the main room view. This dramatic switch from the live audience perspective to reality view shows the contrast between the way she is around her husband and the way she is actually feeling.

The show is a dark comedy that quickly goes back and forth between the two views. It gives the viewers insight into Allison’s real emotions/feelings about the situation that she is in. She does not take the situation lightly and eventually takes action to try and make her situation better. Allison takes drastic action to fake her own death but ends up returning to her husband only to request a divorce as she does not like how he was benefiting from her “death”.

As the authors of Beauty and the and the Patriarchal Beast: Gender Role Portrayals in Sitcoms Featuring Mismatched Couples state, “the only female alternatives offered in the sitcoms present dire consequences—being alone or socially inept” (Contributors: Fürsich, Jefferson & Walsh, 2008,  p. 131). I think there has been a slight shift since this article was written in 2008 as there are more shows breaking stereotypes instead of reinforcing them.  In the show “Kevin Can F**k Himself” at the end of the second season Allison confronts her husband and requests a divorce ultimately ending up alone. Allison is alone in the end, but she is happy and liberated from the chains of her husband's incompetence.

Do you agree with the article Patriarchal Beast: Gender Role Portrayals in Sitcoms Featuring Mismatched Couples when it states that “the only female alternatives offered in the sitcoms present dire consequences—being alone or socially inept” (Contributors: Fürsich, Jefferson & Walsh, 2008,  p. 131)?