Masculinity Expectations: Friends Season 5 Episode 22


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Rachel: Joey, y'know you get any mustard on that bag, you can't return it.
Joey: Why would I return it? I love this bag!
Rachel: All right, then you owe me $350.
Joey: Fine! Do you take Vasa or Mustercard? (He's holding the fake credit cards that come with the bag.)
Rachel: (glaring at him) Joey…
Joey: All right relax, look I'll pay you with the money from the acting job I am definitely gonna get thanks to you.
Ross: What's the part, Anti-man?
Rachel: Hey, don't listen to them. I think it's sexy.


Joey: (entering, with bag) Hey! I'm off to my audition. How do I look?
Rachel: Ahhh, I think you look great! That bag is gonna get you that part.
Chandler: And a date with a man!

The Casting Director: (stopping him) I'm sorry. Could you, could you try it without the purse?
Joey: Yeah, sure. (He takes it off and starts reading.) Well, you must be new here. Maybe we should—I'm sorry, can I ask you something? (He stops and asks a question.)
The Casting Director: Sure. What?
Joey: Well, first it's not a purse.
The Casting Director: Okay, anytime.
Joey: I mean if-if you're thinking it's a woman's bag, it's not. It's a man's bag!
The Casting Director: Okayyyy! Anddd, go!

Friends was a tv show created in the 1990's and ended in the early 2000's. This episode is mainly about Rachel who works at a fashion store, and her friend Joey has a big audition (he's an actor). She tells him to come into her store to get clothes for the audition. While there she tells him to try on this bag, he opposes at first but once he tries it on he likes how it looks. This notion of masculinity in our society has been intertwined with the social construction of what it means to be a "man". This tv show follows the typical script of our society by joeys friends comments. Joey is very confident when talking about his audition and his friend Ross goes "what's the part, anti-man?" and Ross and Chandler Joey's male friends start making fun of him, while Rachel tries to defend Joey and say's it's a unisex bag. When he goes to the audition the director asks him to put down his "purse". The whole episode was constantly making fun of Joey for having a bag because in that time frame specifically the gender expectations, as well as masculinity expectations, were very engraved in women do this, men do this and anyone who stepped outside of these norms was looked at and judged and or made fun of. This, unfortunately, causes many problems including oppression, lack of gender-fluidity, as well as an overall very unaccepting response to individuals who challenged and continue to challenge the societal norms of the past and present.

Rothenberg, P. S. (1998). Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study. New
York: St. Martin's Press. Part 1, Ch 1, 2, 5, 6. Part 2, Ch 2, 4. Part 4, Ch 2.

(n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2018, from

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