Gender Roles in Parks and Recreation

Alison Tobin

Blog #2

Gender Roles in Parks and Recreation

It is becoming a trend to see women have a prominent role in TV shows as feminism is becoming a widely supported cause.  Some examples of shows in which you can see this are New Girl, Supergirl, The Mindy Project, and Parks and Recreation.  It has become a business strategy for TV channels to include women in their shows.  Sarah Banet-Weiser discusses this in her article titled “What’s Your Flava,” and says, “In the current media economy it no longer makes commercial sense to ignore girls or people of color as important characters” (Banet-Weiser).  In Parks and Recreation, the main character played by Amy Poehler is Leslie Knope, a determined and dorky government employee who does not let anyone or anything stand in the way of what she wants.  The show takes place in Pawnee, Indiana, in the Parks and Recreation department of the town.  The producer of the show Daniel Goor says, Amy Poehler is very much the lead of this show, we’ve tried all along to make it her perspective and the perspective of a woman working in a man’s world” (Rosenberg).  Parks and Recreation is a perfect example of a popular show in which you can see traditional gender roles challenged in various ways such as the stereotype being proved wrong, women doing “manly” activities, and women being portrayed as real with flaws.

“If you want to bake a pie, that’s great.  If you want to have a career that’s great too.”

–Leslie Knope

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Parks and Rec watchers may have one specific episode that comes to mind when they think of gender roles in the show and that is “Pie Mary” which is episode 9 of season 7.  At this point in the show (SPOILER ALERT) Leslie is married to Ben Wyatt and Ben is running for Congress.  It is a tradition in their town of Pawnee Indiana that the wives of all of the candidates participate in a pie baking competition.  Leslie decides to not participate but she receives unwanted negative media attention and is attacked by reporters for not being a good mother and not valuing homemaking and family.  A reporter goes as far as asking her who is watching her kids as they speak even though Ben is standing right next to her and he is equally responsible for their kids.  Ben decides to switch things up and enter the Pie Mary.  Ben reacts to this whole situation with frustration towards the double standard Leslie is under and by allowing Leslie to speak freely about it.  Ben also asks the public why he is never asked about his kids or his role as a father and husband.  The traditional role of a candidate’s wife is to do the Pie Mary and simply be by their husband’s side for support.  However, the tradition is challenged by what Leslie and Ben do because of how independent Leslie is.  They show that just because Leslie is a woman and is Ben’s wife does not mean that she stays home, takes care of the kids and house, and cooks for her family.  She chose to continue on with her career and a lot of women are choosing to do that more and more often now.  Leslie is a very successful woman.  Another small detail to note in this episode is that a reporter refers to Leslie as “Mrs. Wyatt,” assuming that she took her husbands last name which is expected of women.  However Leslie kept her own last name and Ben makes that clear and corrects the reporter.  This episode involves women in the workplace and the media and it challenges the norm and the stereotype of what women should do with their lives.

What? I love garbage.” –April Ludgate

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A lot of the TV shows support and demonstrate the concept of “girl power” and Sarah Banet-Weiser discusses this in her “What’s Your Flava” article.  She focuses on children’s shows and particularly Dora the Explorer but we see the same idea of girl power in some of the adult shows today including Parks and Recreation.  Another episode that comes to mind is “Women in Garbage,” episode 11 of season 5.  Leslie Knope and April Ludgate, an employee of the parks department, spend a day as trash collectors in an effort to fight the sexism in the government and convince the sewage department to hire more women.  April and Leslie show the world that women can do jobs that are normally designated for men.  They challenge the role of women in certain jobs.  Another time that the show exemplifies that women can do “manly” things is in the episode “Hunting Trip,” season 2, episode 10.  Ron Swanson, Leslie’s boss, has an annual hunting trip but Leslie wants to prove that her and the girls can go so she invites herself.  Leslie is the first on the trip to shoot a bird, proving that women can be skilled hunters, another activity normally designated for men.  Ron accepts a challenge that Leslie cannot shoot more birds than him.  Eventually Tom, another employee on the trip, shoots Ron accidentally but Leslie takes the blame for it to cover up for the fact that Tom does not have a hunting license.  When the park ranger arrives at their cabin he is sexist in how he interrogates Leslie for being a woman and accidentally shooting Ron.  Leslie responds with a sarcastic use of excuses that are typically used to bring women down to show how crazy and wrong they are.  Leslie is a good hunter and knows it but other people doubted her and assumed she wasn’t because she is a woman.  The show clearly tackles these stereotypical ideas with girl power and proves them wrong.

“My instinct is to be mean to you.” –April Ludgate

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            While Leslie is the role model in the show because of her determination and is faced with gender roles and how women are supposed to be according to the media and society, we can’t overlook the important character of April Ludgate.  April is the opposite of the stereotyical woman and she is awesome.  Some people may consider April bitter or bitchy but that is the best part about her.  April is herself and her own person which happens to be not girly or overtly happy but that makes her inspiring.  She loves trash (as we learned from the garbage episode), death, and gross things but she is not ashamed of it.  April is the perfect role model to show that women are not meant to please you.  She most likely doesn’t want to talk to you and may be mean to you.  Her character in the show breaks away from the idea of the stereotypically happy and eagar to please woman.

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“Do I look like I drink water?” –Donna Meagle

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            Despite what TV, movies, and the media show us, we all know that women are flawed just like men are.  Women are not always shown with the normal, realistic flaws that they truly have.  Often women are shown as delicate and perfect and they usually get lost in the lives of their husbands or partners on the show or movie.  Parks and Rec has women characters that have complexity that not many other shows have.  As I have already discussed, April Ludgate loves trash and Leslie Knope is dorky.  Ann Perkins is pretty but struggles with romantic relationships.  Donna Meagle is rude and sassy but always truthful.  Women do have flaws and they are allowed to and Parks and Rec shows that which enables real women to feel that they are not alone.

            Parks and Recreation is not just a hilarious show but also has underlying messages including the challenge of gender roles.  The main way that the show does that is by having the character of Leslie Knope and all of the other ways fall under that because over all, Leslie is the role model of a successful woman in the world today.  She is not afraid to work and fight for what she wants.  It also helps that she has a supportive husband who respects her and how she is.  There are important lessons to be learned from Parks and Recreation that are relevant issues in  the world today.   

Works Cited:

Banet-Weiser, Sarah. "What's Your Flava - Race and Postfeminism in Media Cultures." Duke University Press (2007): n. pag. Web.

Rosenberg, Alyssa. "The Influence of 'Parks and Recreation'" Think Progress. N.p., 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.