ELLIOTT KATZ: ‘Father knows best,’ even in 2016.
The TV show Father Knows Best has come to symbolize the stereotyped gender roles of the 1950s. The father, Jim Anderson, worked as an insurance agent while his wife, Margaret, stayed home. Their three well-behaved children, Betty (“Princess”), James (“Bud”) and Kathy (“Kitten”) loved and respected their parents.
Presenting an idyllic family of the times, Father Knows Best ran from 1954 to 1960. It won six Emmy Awards and in its final year was the sixth most popular show on television.
In each episode Jim came home and dealt with problems in his family — usually involving friends, relationships or school. Following their father’s wise advice, the problems were resolved.
Over the past decade when the role of fathers is discussed, Father Knows Best is often cited as reflecting gender roles so out of date there isn’t anything today’s father could learn from the show. I disagree. As I watch the show today, I see important lessons for fathers that address common complaints wives have about husbands. These complaints include not paying enough attention to what is going on at home and not helping sufficiently with parenting — the kind of tensions that can lead to breakups.
Jim Anderson was a very involved father. In each episode, he was aware of situations at home that needed to be dealt with, and he dealt with them. Though it might be unrealistic to portray a father as being able to solve every problem, the important lesson for today’s fathers is that Jim stepped forward and got involved. He didn’t ignore what was going on in his home and expect his wife to handle it.
What I think is funny is that “progressives” are still rebelling against a show that went off the air before I was born. And, of course, the “Father Knows Best” stereotype has long been replaced with the “Dad as bumbling idiot” stereotype on pretty much every sitcom in my adult lifetime. And nobody worries that they might give kids negative images of fathers and fatherhood, because, well, that’s the point.