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Running Head: GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 1

Gendered Concepts and Themes in Media: Madea’s Big Happy Family

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GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 2

Gendered Concepts and Themes in Media: Madea’s Big Happy Family

The society perceives different genders differently regarding duties, responsibilities,

power, and authority vested in them. The study of gender and the various perceptions, as well as

stereotypes associated with them, is conducted within a branch of sociology regarded as the

sociology of gender (Fineman, 2013). In this subfield, various theories and concepts, which

explain the relationship between men and women in society, are discussed. Such theories may

range from masculinity to femininity theories, and their primary objective is to elaborate the

expectations of the society from the members of the different genders (Kimmel & Amy, 2013).

Thus, this research paper is going to investigate the various stereotypes and expectations of the

society from different genders. In so doing, the research will take into account a movie by the

name “Madea’s Big Happy Family” to elaborate the various gendered themes and concepts.

“Madea’s Big Happy Family” is a movie where the main character Shirley a mother of

three, is suffering from a terminal illness and invites her three children, Byron, Kimberly, and

Tammy, over for dinner so that she can break the news to them (Put-Locker, 2011). Her family is

faced with many problems, and her children’s marriages are on verge breaking. The family

cannot even have a peaceful dinner with siblings fighting amongst themselves and quarreling

with their spouses as well. Due to the infighting going on, it becomes impossible to eat dinner

and the children eventually leave. The family is torn right in the middle, and the siblings are not

there for the other. When Bryon is arrested, his sister Kimberly, who later turns out to be his

mother, refuses to bail him out, and instead it is her husband, Calvin who bails him out (Put-

Locker, 2011). As the family drama ensues, Shirley passes on without having broken the news of

her illness to her children. Tammy and Bryon get to know about it when she is hospitalized, but

for Kimberly, she does not get to know about it until her mother passes on (Put-Locker, 2011).

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 3

There are various gendered themes and concepts evident in the movie, and some of them are

discussed below.

Inversion Femininity

Inversion femininity is a concept that defines female personalities who exhibit traits of

masculinity. The concept complies with habits, such as work addiction, pride, aggressiveness,

self-confidence, and non-conformity among others (Kimmel & Amy, 2013). In such a society or

such a setting, the female characters have the upper hand as compared to men, and in some

instances, their roles may even be inverted just as the name suggests. For example, in the movie

mentioned above, Madea who is one of the leading characters is characterized by inversion

femininity. She is a fearless, confident, and aggressive woman who does not conform to the

norms in most instances. For example, when Madea orders for breakfast and Sabrina, the

manager of the restaurant, rudely lashes at her telling her that the restaurant was not serving

breakfast anymore, Madea gets pissed off and crashes into the restaurant with her car, before

leaving (Put-Locker, 2011). In this scene, Madea is depicted as an aggressive and fearless

woman, unlike what is expected by the society. In a different instance, Madea portrays

characteristics of inversion feminism when a thief tries to rob her and brandishes a gun on her

face (Put-Locker, 2011). Instead of getting scared as is expected of female characters, Madea

turns on the thief, disarms him, and beats him up. She not only stands up and fights a man, the

thief, but she disarms him and even goes ahead to take his wallet from him. Thus, this shows that

the character does not conform to the norm, whereby she would be expected to probably scream,

hand over her valuables to the thief, and beg the thief not to harm her. The thief ends up running

after being overcome by Madea, which is a rare scenario for women to overpower men

physically. It so happens to depict another side of women, in which they are portrayed as

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 4

independent people who can defend themselves. The effect of this is to compel men to respect

women and not to perceive them as weak as stereotype perceives them to be.

Hegemonic Masculinity

Hegemonic masculinity is the current configuration of practice in the society that seeks to

legitimize male dominance and at the same time calls for the subordination of the female gender

(Fineman, 2013). The concept ascertains and explains the "why" and "how" males maintain their

dominance over females regarding social roles, and other identities related to gender (Fineman,

2013). Hegemonic masculinity concept intends to have males as the dominant gender in society.

The concept is portrayed in several occasions in the movie “Madea’s Big Happy Family” (Put-

Locker, 2011). The first instance where it is portrayed is where Madea advises Tammy’s

husband, Harold not to take any form of disrespect from his wife. Madea tells him that he should

be the one in control and not his wife (Put-Locker, 2011). In her advice, Madea tells him to be

rude if his wife tries to question his word and he should interject her by banging the table rudely

to show her that his word was law in the house (Put-Locker, 2011). As expected, when Harold

tries it, his wife gets terrified of him and tows the line. In so doing, she learns to respect him and

take instructions from him. Therefore, it is a clear indication that the society expects women to

be dominated by men in a family setting as a way of ensuring that there is some form of

hierarchy and order within the family. To ensure this, men ought to assume an authoritative tone

when passing instructions to their female counterparts, and more so, in a family setting. Uncle

Joe Simons, who despite his old age and frail body, puts it into practice, hence commanding

respect from the females in the house, including Madea who is a little bit too aggressive and not

conforming to the expectations of the society. However, whenever Uncle Joe Simons gives her

orders, she obeys even though she fidgets or has something to say back as she executes them.

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 5

Uncle Joe Simons always carries a walking stick in his hand as a sign of authority. Despite his

old age, Uncle Joe Simons authoritatively raises his walking stick when issuing orders to Madea

or any other female characters in the movie as a sign of authority within the house (Put-Locker,

2011). It further shows that hegemonic masculinity is meant to ensure order within families by

clearly stating who is in command.

Infantile Femininity

Infantile femininity is a feminine concept, which describes women who may not fully

show the characteristics of inversion femininity, but also show an absence of conformity

(Kimmel, 2016). These types of females have a desire to be in control of other people, they lack

empathy, conformity, and they depict elements of intolerance (Kimmel, 2016). Additionally, the

maternity and family values are not dominant among such women as evidenced in the movie

“Madea’s Big Happy Family” (Put-Locker, 2011). Kimberly, who is Calvin’s wife and Shirley’s

daughter, is the principal character who represents this concept in the movie. Kimberly, who is a

real estate agent, is a workaholic and has little time for her own family (Put-Locker, 2011). She

is overly controlling and always wants to have everything done her way whenever they have

anything to discuss with Calvin, her husband. Her character does not stop in their private

conversations. Instead, she portrays the same controlling character even when she is with Calvin

in the public domain. For example, during dinner at Shirley’s home, Kimberly shouts to Calvin

authorizing him to follow her home after she quarreled with her sister (Put-Locker, 2011).

Further, when Calvin tries to pamper their son, his wife Kimberly confronts him and yells at him

stating that her son ought not to be brought up like a spoilt brat by Calvin (Put-Locker, 2011).

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 6

Further, Kimberly lacks empathy as depicted when her mother walks all the way to her

house at night to ask for Kimberly's assistance in bailing out Bryon from prison, but she declines

by stating that she did not have money to waste on a criminal. When her mother knocks on her

door, Kimberly does not even have the decency of welcoming her into the house despite

realizing that she had walked a long distance because there were no buses at that hour of the

night (Put-Locker, 2011). Instead, it is Calvin, her husband, who welcomes his mother-in-law

and offers to go bail out Bryon, who is Kimberly’s brother. Kimberley's actions show that she

did not have any family values. She even further accuses her husband of disrespecting her by

offering to bail out her brother. When Kimberly is requested by her mother to visit her, she

declines and instead decides to go on with her work as usual without much regard for her

mother’s plea. When Madea opts to fetch her from her work, she still refuses to go with her, and

it is after Madea threatens to chase away her clients that she half-heartedly agrees to visit her

mother later. However, by the time Kimberly goes to visit her ailing mother in the hospital, she

finds her already dead (Put-Locker, 2011). Hence, it is clear that Kimberly lacked both empathy

and family values. Her character prompts Calvin, her husband, to pack up his belongings and

leave with their son. The concept shows how non-conformity with the norm may negatively

affect families and marriages. Women with such characteristics are forewarned of the

repercussions of their actions if not kept in check. The movie seeks to discourage women with

such character and instead compel them to tow the line by conforming to the norms, which call

for women to be submissive and empathetic in addition to promoting family values.

Emphasized Femininity

The concept of emphasized femininity calls for women to conform to the desires and

needs of their male counterparts (Kimmel, 2016). The theory holds the traditional belief that the

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 7

ultimate reason for the existence of a woman is to satisfy the desires of a man. Further, the

concept calls for women to be submissive to men and not to ask questions, but do what they are

asked to do by men (Kimmel, 2016). The aspect of emphasized femininity is evident on several

occasions in the movie. First, when Madea scorns Kimberly and Tammy for not being

submissive to their husbands, it is evident that the society expects a wife to be submissive to her

husband at all times (Put-Locker, 2011). As a result, Madea goes ahead to advise Tammy’s

husband on how to overcome her wives disobedience and in the process make her submissive.

Once Harold heeds Madea’s advice, Tammy tows the line and learns her place in the family. She

becomes submissive to her husband and learns to take whatever instructions her husband gives,

without asking questions. As a result, the problems that characterized her family are resolved,

and they live in harmony with her husband. The main character of the movie, Shirley portrays

submissive character right from the way she talks. She is humble and treats her sons-in-law with

much respect. She even complains to her daughters for not treating their husbands with the

deserved respect and blames that for the problems they are facing within their marriages (Put-

Locker, 2011). Thus, it is a clear indication that the society advocates emphasized femininity as a

way of safeguarding marriages and families against misunderstandings that may tend to arise

between a husband and a wife. Hence, it means that if women conform to emphasized

femininity, then marriages would prosper even more.

Complicit Masculinity

The concept of complicit masculinity refers to men who do not fit the characteristics of

hegemonic masculinity, but on the other hand, they do not challenge it (Kimmel, Hearn &

Connell, 2005). It means that these men have the same characteristics of hegemonic masculinity,

though they may not be so pronounced. Such men are of good physical strength; they can

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 8

suppress their emotions for long and may not be very dominating as compared to those

characterized by hegemonic masculinity (Kimmel & Amy, 2013). This concept is depicted by

one character in the movie. The primary character who exhibited this concept in the movie is

Calvin, Kimberly’s husband. Despite the annoying character of his wife, Calvin suppresses his

emotions until after so long when he decides to leave Kimberly, but he comes back after her

mother’s death (Put-Locker, 2011). Calvin cites disrespect as the main reason why he leaves

Kimberly, meaning that he expected Kimberly to conform to the norm, and submit to him, but

could not force her to do so prompting him to leave when that did not happen (Put-Locker,

2011). Therefore, it is eminent that complicit masculinity expects women to be submissive,

failure to which families may be torn apart, or things in society may not turn out as expected.

Notes

Shirley is the main character in the movie and represents the concept of emphasized femininity

in the movie.

Madea is a major character in the movie and she mainly exhibits characteristics of iversion

femininity.

Kimberly is also a major character in the movies and she clearly depicts characteristics of

infantile femininity.

Uncle Joe Simons and Harold are supporting characters who subscribe to the concept of

hegemonic masculinity

Calvin is a supporting character who exhibits characteristics of complicit masculinity

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 9

References

Fineman, Martha. 2013. Exploring Masculinities: Feminist Legal Theory Reflections. New York:

Ashgate Publishing.

Kimmel, Michael S. & Amy, Aronson. 2013. The Gendered Society Reader (5th Edition).

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kimmel, S. Michael. 2016. The Gendered Society (6th Edition). Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Put-Locker. (2011). Madea’s Big Happy Family. Retrieved on 18 October 2017

(http://putlockers.fm/watch/EdBa79Gj-madea-s-big-happy-family.html)

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 10

Appendix

Put-Locker. (2011). Madea’s Big Happy Family. Retrieved on 18 October 2017, from

<http://putlockers.fm/watch/EdBa79Gj-madea-s-big-happy-family.html>

Shirley cooking for her son and sons in-law. portrays (emphasized femininity)

Kimberly scolds his husband Calvin in front of her family (portrays infantile femininity)

Kimberly blatantly refuses to bail his younger brother out of jail, she even doesn’t let her mother into

the house but her husband Calvin does both (this portrays infantile Femininity)

GENDERED CONCEPTS AND THEMES 11

Madea scolding her nieces for not respecting their husbands (This shows societal emphasis on

emphasized femininity)

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