"Family Guy and Feminism, Lois Griffin and Progressive Values" by Robert Loughney

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    In this article, Loughney suggests that behind Family Guy's brutal humor, there is some sense that presents the realities of society. Lois Griffin is used as an example when it comes to exaggerating sexuality and progressive values for people to become more outspoken in society and to express their opinions. This article supports the theory that Family Guy uses satire to emphasize the popularity of sex in our society specifically with our youth. The author analyzes the values behind Lois and the message they present to viewers of the show.

            Loughney focused a lot on feminism, but I felt that his argument also supported sexuality with the specific traits he used to describe Lois. Loughney brought up some characteristics of my own observations. He talked about how Lois partakes in sex jokes, slept with all the members of Kiss, and her remark regarding the marines. He also added additional details when he talked about Lois admiting to have "driven down a dirt road so that the car would bump around a lot for the sake of sexual pleasure"(Loughney, 5).

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    The author brought up a "leftist academic", Jeremy Winewski, who was against Family Guy believing that it lacks reality and that it will ruin the values of modern America. Reflecting my thoughts, Loughney agreed that this show is for the most part a menace to society, but that some reality lies behind it. He used the character of Lois and applied her to society implying that even though some of her characteristics are for the most part satirical, they do reflect that she does have a somewhat realistic personallity.

            To support the relevance behind Lois's character in terms of how she has some realistic values, Loughney brings up many arguments supporting his stance. For instance, he talks about how people have at some point of their life had multiple relationships and he brings up the fact that people do have a sex drive. Loughney supports the exaggeration factor when he compares Lois to characters of sitcoms like The Simpsons and Friends. He talks about Marge Simpson and how she reflects the traditional mother, while contrasting her to Lois who is more sexually open and more outspoken. Some important quotes he provides that reflect this behavior are when she tells her daughter Meg: "meth is a hell of a drug" and "if you smoke and drink a lot during a pregnancy then chicken out halfway, you end up with Chris". No mother is this open towards her daughter with sexual topics like these, and in these ways Lois Griffin is used to exaggerate these traits of sexuality that plague our society today.