Family

Programme Outline

The programme consists of :

• extracts from television including situation comedies, soap operas, documentaries, advertisements, education programmes:
  • Bewitched (1964)
  • Oxo Advertisements (1955, 1985, 1995)
  • A Touch of Magic (1961)
  • Persil (1959)
  • Butterflies (1978)
  • EastEnders (1994)
  • House Husbands (1996)
• extracts from feature films and promotional films;
  • Why Study Home Economics? (1955)
  • A Day of One's Own (1955)
  • My Teenage Daughter (1956)
• statistical information relating to family life and the media;
• images from magazines, Women's Liberation campaign.

Extract 1:

Bewitched (1964)

American situation comedy ('sitcom') about a suburban housewife who also happens to be a witch!

Extract 2:

Montage of women doing housework.

Extract 3:

Sequence of shots of magazine covers directed towards women, and a look at their headlines.

Extract 4:

Oxo Advertisement 'Jackataties’ (1955)

Focus on ideal housewife as conceived by the advertising companies.

Extract 5:

Sequence of shots of magazine covers and their headlines.

Extract 6:

Why Study Home Economics? (1955)

American film made to promote education in Home Economics (Domestic Science). Focuses on the particular role of the woman within the family.

Extract 7:

Statistics showing number of UK households with domestic appliances in 1948.

Extract 8:

A Touch of Magic (1961)

American film made to promote domestic appliances.

Extract 9:

Sequence of shots of advertisements for domestic products. Focuses on responsibilities of housewife within the home.

Extract 10:

Persil (1959)

Advertisement for Persil. Focuses on image of ideal mother and housewife as conceived by the advertising company.

Extract 11:

Sequence of shots of agony aunt headlines from women's magazines. Focuses on dysfunctional elements within family life.

Extract 12:

A Day of One's Own (1955)

Extract made from film to promote British transport. Reveals recognition of monotony of housework and isolation of housewife. In this film the housewife 'escapes' temporarily.

Extract 13:

Sequence of shots of images from 1950s relating to teenage life. Focuses on American culture and its influence on the UK and the 'generation gap'.

Extract 14:

My Teenage Daughter (1956)

Three clips from this British feature film focus on the tensions in family life caused by a teenage girl having different attitudes and values to the mother and the mother's guilty feelings about having failed.

Extract 15:

Statistical information about amount of time spent on housework by men in UK in 1961.

Extract 16:

Butterflies (1978)

British situation comedy revealing attitudes towards both women and men's roles within the home.

Extract 17:

Sequence of shots from Women's Liberation campaign.

Extract 18:

Statistical information about number of marriages and divorces in UK in 1985.

Extract 19:

Oxo Advertisement 'Happy Christmas' (1985)

Focuses on change and continuity in attitudes to women's roles within the family since 1955.

Extract 20:

Statistical information about number of viewers of British TV soaps. Focuses on popularity of family life as entertainment and the more realistic portrayal of life in soaps compared to many other media.

Extract 21:

EastEnders (1994)

Extracts from Tv soap 'EastEnders'. Focuses on conflict between young mother and father about their respective roles within their family and their respective responsibilities towards their children.

Extract 22:

Statistical information about number of women who are the main family earner within contemporary Britain.

Extract 23:

Oxo Advertisement 'Flash in the Pan' (1995)

Focuses on change and continuity in attitudes to women's roles within the family since 1985.

Extract 24:

House Husbands (1996)

Documentary film about one couple who have reversed the traditional roles. Reveals that by mid 1990s such role reversal was a suitable topic for tv documentary.

Extract 25:

Sequence of shots of family life.