By: Sarah Green
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR VARIOUS SHOWS.
For the past few months, I have dived deep into the wonderous world of sitcoms, from Seinfeld to
Brooklyn 99. Needless to say, I absolutely love them. However, I, a once pretentious 14-year-old, saw
sitcoms as a way to hold civilians hostage for hours. Essentially, I believed sitcoms gave no meaningful
contribution to society. Boy, was I wrong.
Brooklyn 99. Needless to say, I absolutely love them. However, I, a once pretentious 14-year-old, saw
sitcoms as a way to hold civilians hostage for hours. Essentially, I believed sitcoms gave no meaningful
contribution to society. Boy, was I wrong.
Despite the seemingly shallow nature of sitcoms, these shows have made me cry substantially more than a
deep drama, like Oppenheimer. One character has made me teary-eyed more than any other: How I Met
Your Mother’s Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr., a former Canadian popstar turned New York City reporter.
She was a mixture of several archetypes. Most notable was her embodiment of the career woman, and just
like many other career women in sitcoms, she was punished gravely for her choices.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves. What exactly is the career woman archetype? Prior to the 1970s,
women’s representation in sitcoms were limited to the doting housewife with children. A clear example is
June Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver. These characters were pushed to its limits on occasion in the social
climate of the 1950s, such as aspiring actress Lucille Ricardo, the titular character of I Love Lucy.
Viewers did not see a “true” career woman until the time of Murphy Brown and similar sitcoms. Murphy
Brown was a character in her 40s who was an investigative reporter. By season four, she was still
unmarried and had a son. While the show itself celebrated Brown’s unconventional lifestyle, then Vice
President Dan Quayle criticized Murphy Brown heavily. He stated during a reelection campaign, that the
show was “mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another
‘lifestyle choice'” (Fortin, 2018). Another White House spokesperson agreed with him (Fortin, 2018).
Despite increasing rights for women, American ideologies were still rooted in the submissive housewife
concept.
Surely, you say, ideas have changed. After all, this was in the 80s. The career woman still drew criticism
in the late 90s, as seen in the (not exactly a sitcom) show Sex & the City. The show focused on the lives of
four women that were not necessarily interested in finding a husband. Critics drew their swords at the
consumerist agenda the women, especially Carrie Bradshaw, represented. It was a poor quality to spend
hard-earned money on their particular interests (in this case, shoes). Interestingly, the consumerist attitude
of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother is rarely mentioned. Albeit, he has many flaws worth more
conversation space. Yet, his massive television that takes up an entire wall (I am not exaggerating) and
his expensive suits are both clear signs of materialism.
Regardless, American audiences celebrated the story of an up and coming career woman: Rachel Green
from the hit show Friends. Audiences’ acceptance came with a costly sacrifice that every career woman
must take if they want a happy ending. Like many career women before and after her, the choice was
between her worked-for career or someone she loves. Rachel is set to move to Paris and work at her
dream job. Ross, however, decides at the very last minute that he loves Rachel and does not want her to
move to Paris. What is the choice she makes? Rachel gives up her dream to be with Ross; ironically, it
slightly defeated Rachel’s arc about gaining independence. It would have been much more powerful for
her to find her own footing in a new city. But then again, why not sacrifice it all for an on-and-off again
relationship (no hate towards Rachel and Ross shippers though, they have their moments)?
This was the new trend of the career woman, appeasing both feminists and more traditional viewers. The
career woman has her success, but then realizes she can only be fulfilled by a husband and kids. Many
characters in Sex and the City also followed this pattern.
This was the new trend of the career woman, appeasing both feminists and more traditional viewers. The
career woman has her success, but then realizes she can only be fulfilled by a husband and kids. Many
characters in Sex and the City also followed this pattern.
Enter Robin Scherbatsky, a character poised to defeat the cycle. From the very beginning, it is established
that Robin is focused on her career as a reporter and not planning on getting married with kids. She
maintains this view throughout the show, until she establishes a romantic relationship with Barney. He is
completely comfortable with her lifestyle and is shown to be the most supportive of Robin’s career.
However, Robin’s choice to dedicate herself to work had to be narratively punished. In an out of character
argument, Robin and Barney break up. By not choosing her relationship with Barney, Robin becomes
more and more isolated from her friend group. Eventually, she becomes a famous, albeit lonely, news
reporter. She is only saved from her isolated punishment when she chooses Ted Mosby, the protagonist.
In these shows, there are countless examples of women who do not want children, then end up with kids.
Others get married after objecting to it before. In sitcoms, the career woman is welcome as long as the
“career” part of the job description is temporary. If it is not a phase, then the writers’ room will swing their
pens to provide swift narrative punishment.
For more diverse storylines in sitcoms, there has to be different motivations for each character; a career
woman should get exactly what she wants: a fulfilling career.
