Reversing Gender Roles

We've all seen the Bumbling Dad and the nagging mother in Sitcoms nowadays. But if I were to make a sitcom, I'd want to reverse this a little, and make a ditzy but kind mother, and a stern but intelligent father. I just want to make this clear that I'm not sexist towards men, just by making a women dumb. However, I don't think we should cut a woman more slack than a guy when she does something stupid. I believe in equality, and both genders should get equal punishment.

The mother is sort of like a female Smee from Peter Pan. She's just too kind and happy to be angry at her family. She's more child like, which is why she can be good with kids, because she can be just as excited as a kid.

The father does have more control over his anger than Homer Simpson, and he is more intelligent. But he is a bit more cynical than his wife, lecturing about the negative aspects of reality. I'd compare him to Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants. However, the reason why the mother and father stay together is because, she makes him laugh.

Yeah, there is no way this would go horribly wrong at all.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if it could go right at all either.

Actually, the Bumbling Dad started out as a subversion. Beforehand, in sitcoms, the Dad was the most rational person, and the mother was a bit of a ditz.

Now, I'm not writing a sitcom, but I am writing a group that has a family like dynamic. How I'm having it is that the Team Dad has a lot of practical knowledge, but the Team Mom generally has more wisdom.

I think the Bumbling Dad and Closer to Earth mom tropes started as subversions of the very, very old stereotype of women being childish and unable to control their emotions, and thus in need of a stolid, paternal husband to continue the role her father used to serve.

Write people, not stereotypes or inversions of stereotypes.

Seriously? Maybe I'm too used to Reddit, ninjaing isn't really a thing there...

edited 31st Jul '15 10:56:47 AM by CrystalGlacia

Keep in mind that the bumbling dad is the star of the show. His being bumbling is why he's funny, with the wife just being a straight woman for his shenanigans to annoy. That's why it's Everyone Loves Raymond and not Nobody Fucking Likes Debora. Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin carry their shows in a way that Marge or Lois can't.

The thing about all of these dads is that they're not just bumbling, but they're bumbling in ways that routinely lead to the creation of humorous conflicts. If the wife is just kind of soft and ditzy, and the father is rational himself, where are the plots coming from? Busting cliches is good, but you do need to think about all of the tropes involved and why they work in the first place.

That doesn't mean that you can't have a ditz wife or make an intelligent dad be the star, but either way your core humor is going to change, and you need to account for that.

edited 31st Jul '15 12:55:34 PM by Bloodsquirrel

I agree with Bloodsquirrel. Who's your star? Where are the stories coming from? I'd say you could make it work by reversing the way it typically goes and have a bumbling wife at the center but the way you describe it now sounds boring.

Isn't that Bewitched? Except Darren was never that smart.

It sounds more like a return to what really old stories had rather than something new.

In most sitcoms I see now, it's Bumbling Plain Father Small Business Owner and Attractive Dramatic Mother Who Will Do Anything For Fame.

Why only reverse a little?

Gender roles aren't locked to intelligence and kindness. There's also the matter of cowardice and bravery/strength, of breadwinner and homekeeper, or who's more likely to die and who's more likely to avenge that person's death by turning evil, or who's the star of the show and who's the supporter.

The Addams Family has gotten popular for its many subversions of gender roles, but I only notice them when it's pointed out because they don't only subvert that. Morticia and Gomez don't "put up" with each other's weaknesses but work as a team, they seem to have an uncommonly exciting sex life for being married, and Morticia being stoic doesn't mean that she's smarter or necessarily unkind. It just so happens that Gomez is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Subverrrsion! Also they're all goths or something.