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Term Paper
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
B. A. Hons. in English
by
Ms Simran Mittal
(Note: This Proforma duly filled in all respects should be submitted along with 5 copies of the Term Paper)
I hereby declare that the term paper titled, “A Study of Gender Issues in Friends'.” submitted in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of B. A. Hons. in English is a record of an original research work
carried out by me under the mentorship of Ms Simran Mittal I further declare that the work reported in this term
paper has not been submitted either in part or in full for the award of any other degree or diploma of this University
or of any other University.
This is to certify that the Term Paper titled “A Study of Gender Issues in Friends” submitted by Mr./Ms.
Avantika Shukla In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of B. A. Hons. in
English is a record of an original research work carried out by him/her under my mentorship.
Signature
Department:
Date:……………
The term paper titled “A Study of Gender Issues in Friends” submitted by Mr./Ms. Avantika Shukla is
forwarded for further processing and evaluation.
Date:……………..
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inconspicuously displays various traces of gender issues throughout the 10 seasons. The
sitcom is a labyrinth as it makes you question your own beliefs, one route leads to sugar
coated humour filled with gender differences and stereotypes which are hard to go
unnoticed and another just some reckless addictive comedy. The overall purpose of this
study is to showcase the gender differences and stereotypes as well as the toxic
behaviour inhabited by certain characters. The following paper will investigate and be
the torchbearer to disclose homophobia, sexism, sexual harassment and body shaming
understand how gender affects the working of the characters but also to understand the
INTRODUCTION.
same show wasn't as easy as it seems because once you know the basics of gender issues
and discrimination, things are not as funny as you thought they were or we just don’t live
in a world where gender issues do not exist. A little background check - David Crane and
Marta Kauffman produced an American television sitcom 'Friends, which aired on NBC
from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting 10 seasons with the collaborative cast
starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry
production, in association with Warner Bros revolves around six friends in their 20s and
The show goes something like this- the bride-to-be Rachel runs from her
wedding to a dentist Barry and trips upon her high school aka childhood friend Monica
Geller in the nearest local café Central Perk. Monica is the controlling freak, Joey
Tribbiani, the womanizer friend who can’t get enough of food, the funky masseuse
Phoebe Buffay, sensible guy Chandler Bing who uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism
and Ross, a palaeontologist who is one of the greatest examples of male fragility not
forgetting the toxicity part (also used to have a crush on Rachel). Monica lets Rachel
move in with her in the massive apartment she lives in, which is also located across the
hall from where Joey and Chandler live and Phoebe and Ross live close enough but are
seen most of the time in Monica’s apartment. After Love-Hate aka toxic love cross of
Rachel and Ross and copious amounts of mischief involving plentiful coupling of the
Though the series was a worldwide success, it has mishandled some delicate
subjects throughout the show. In my thesis, I would like to elucidate upon the construction
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of female gender and sexuality subjectively while studying each character in depth.
Gender politics plays a very significant role in literature just as it plays an important role
in other fields. So, before we begin our discussion it is extremely essential to know the
difference between sex and gender. The concept was taken up by Stoller, who introduced
a distinction between sex and gender (1,2): sex refers to the biological fact being male or
found in a single person. Core gender identity is, to Stoller, the overall sense of "being a
male or a female," present in a child in the first year of life. Money and Ehrhardt further
defined gender identity as the private experience of gender role and gender role as the
LITERATURE REVIEW.
The friendship between six friends- Monica Geller the OCD Chef, with
parental issues and a perfect example of how it's important to lose weight to be accepted
by the people, Rachel Green the woman to leave a man at the altar, and later sleeps with
the same guy who assaulted her friend (Phoebe), Ross Geller the perfect example of
fragile masculinity and toxicity, who also has a crush on Rachel. Chandler the
Homophobic guy who uses sarcasm as a coping mechanism, Phoebe Buffay the masseuse
who get sexually harassed by Paolo, Rachel’s boyfriend. Joey Tribbiani is a womanizer
but unknowingly has been a victim of sexual abuse since the age of 15. The famous theme
song “I’ll be there for you" kicks in the nostalgia of our beloved show Friends being a
huge hit back in the 90s is still an obsession for many adults and teenagers. The show
revolves around friendship, love, comedy, sex and a huge catastrophe of gender issues.
The show is a roller-coaster ride of a group of friends in their 20s and ending in their 30s.
Though the show is famous for its comedy, the show has been criticized for
"Concept is OK, but the humor’s less sophisticated than expected from the
exec producers of HBO's comedy series “Dream On,” and the dialogue is not exactly
snappy. Ross: “I honestly don’t know if I’m hungry or horny!” Chandler: “Stay out of
my freezer.” Moral and health issues are sidestepped altogether: “Friends” touts
headedness. It’s not much of a positive example for juves, though.” - From Variety,
The toxicity of the sitcom is at its best, though being critiqued about the
unhealthy and offensive jokes the series is still the torchbearer of classic
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American comedy. The 90s may be called the age of leniency but in 2021 the
series should be taken seriously as the young audience is easily influenced. -From
the Washington Post, September 22, 1994 [not archived online, sadly]:
for Dockers or Ikea or light beer, except it’s smuttier. One character says he
dreamed he had a telephone for a penis and when it rang, “it turns out it’s my
David Crane, the witless duo who do “Dream On” for HBO, “Friends” is more a
scripted talk show than a sitcom. You keep waiting for Sally Jessy or some other
cluck to interrupt the jabbering. The show is so bad that Sally Jessy would
actually come as a relief. The stars include that cute Courteney Cox, formerly
funny David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry. They
all look nice, and it’s sad to see them degrading themselves.
completion was equated with having a penis, and narcissistic inferiority, proper to
women, was traced to not having a penis. For Freud, the bedrock of women was
penis envy, shame was a female emotion related to weakness, and repression at
puberty was required before the clitoris gave way to the vagina and masculinity to
METHODOLOGY
the world-famous sitcom Friends, though being a sensation and obsession for
more than an average number of people, Friends is a show that has mishandled
exposing how the sexist conclusion was derived from psychology's deep
androcentric bias where men are regarded as the ‘norm’ and women, by
Mustin, 1990; Mugnusson & Marecek, 2017; Tavris, 1993) and the
The inherent psychological necessity that men hold over women i.e.;
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what this paper deals with. The deep rootedness of men’s compulsion to
better understanding and bring in change, it’s important to study the topic
sex and gender & its construction, societal change, or a “cure,” can be
unconscious”.
Quoting Judith Butler the American philosopher and gender theorist “The
human is understood differentially depending on its race, the legibility of that race, its
verifiability of that sex, its ethnicity, the categorical understanding of that ethnicity.
Certain humans are recognized as less than human, and that form of qualified
recognition does not lead to a viable life. Certain humans are not recognized as human
at all, and that leads to yet another order of unlivable life. If part of what desire wants
recognition as well”
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partner. Ross's character is the most toxic and suffocating character in the whole
behaviour.
egalitarian’. And when these boys grow up, they become insecure men who
cope by attempting to dominate." As Dr. Narvaez writes, the fragile male "uses
Ross has a constant urge to dominate the women or mark his territory –
he makes his perfect place in the Patriarchal world. Ross marking his territory
usually marked over a piece of land. His dominating and possessive behaviour
York, he tries everything he could to make her stay back in New York. He
Ross: Not only did we go out, but we also did it 298 times!
Rachel: Ross!! Oh my--ugh!! You kept count?! You are such a loser!
the door.)
“We did it 298 times”- (Ross giving numbers to a salesman for how many
times he did it with Rachel, just to prove himself. Clinical psychologist Dr John-
Carta-Falsa (pers. comm. October 31 st, 1992) pointed out that, when men discuss
with one another their sexual relations with women, they are being (covertly)
sexual with one another. Adding to his observation that, when men get together to
talk about “fucking” women, “scoring” or their sexual conquests, they are
communicating to one another that, although they have sex with women, their
They are saying to their male companion “you are more important to me
than the woman with whom I had sex” (Perhaps this is why the individual females
with whom men have sex are not all that important to many of them.) They are
also communicating that their sexual relations with women are for exploitation,
such talk by men puts the male listeners in the sex act with the male speaker and
the woman. The companion is invisible, but they are there with the man doing the
"fucking" sharing in his victory of the exploitation of a woman, the men’s bonds
Graham. L.R Dee, Loving to survive: sexual terror, Men's Violence, and
Women’s Lives.
inflicting pain on women for many men to “come,” that is, to reach orgasm, or
even just to have a sexual, erotic experience. The fact that pornography is a
just a small minority of men who seek female degrading of their sexual pleasure.
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If men’s love for women is healthy or real it should not take degradation or
humiliation of women, or inflicting pain on us. – and perhaps most or even all-
with sex.
Ross to Rachel
The aforementioned behaviour of Ross puts across the idea of how men
don't see women as their competition like they see their fellow mates. Several
studies prove that men are more competitive than women and women perform
poorly just because they are afraid that they’ll lose. (1) “Women’s voices and
agency have been at the heart of this project. Mainstream feminists focused on
controlling political and economic power. They fought against the perception of
women as weak, often irrational, in need of protection and best suited for
domestic life. Salvation was sought from revolutionary feminist heroines willing
to stand up for women’s right and to speak out against patriarchal authorities and
power structure”. “Gender and development (GAD) advocate also placed women's
voice and agency at the heart of the struggle for gender equality, defining the
agency as the ability to recognize social injustice and to act/speak out against it”.
In simple terms this patriarchal society can be considered silent, which brings up
the concept of the silent zone, Ross not thinking of a girl child as a competition to
his male child brings out more clearly the above concept as he is talking about
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someone who is yet to be born, which shows that this concept is deeply embedded
in him. Men deny the fact that female sexuality exists and has importance in a
society where both the sexes live. "In Season 3, Rachel is called a "useless girl,"
Monica is mocked for being competitive "as a boy," and Phoebe flashes her
breasts to earn points — an apt example of how society views women and how
the same episode, Ross declares, "We are not going to lose to girls”.
“On Friends, Joey was a womanizer, but we enjoyed his exploits. He was
a solid friend, a guy you knew you could count on. Joey was deconstructed to be a
The above statement made by one of the producers of the show elucidates
This also illuminates the intention of the show that is women exploitation
taken as fun. The most beloved character of the series is a solid friend, a guy you
knew you could count on but not someone to admire or look up to. Throughout the
series, Joey does nothing but objectify women by comparing them to ice cream
flavours and choosing a roommate solely based on her "sexiness". His never-ending
sexual remarks towards the female members of his group or simply obsessing over
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women making out adds the cherry on top of his character. The female characters of
the show never correct him and always ignore his behaviour by saying 'its Joey being
Joey'. Though he is a great friend, his behaviour is sometimes unacceptable. The show
has objectified and disrespected women by orchestrating it secretly with comedy. Not
forgetting the time when the video was taped for Emma’s 18th birthday on her very 1st
birthday and Joey tries to hit on her and her friends, while in knowledge of the fact
apartment where all of them are gathered for thanksgiving. Chandler kissed
Kathy due to which Joey refuses to forgive Chandler. He tells Joey that he’ll do
anything he says, to which Joey decides that Chandler has to spend six hours in
a box, the equivalent amount of time Joey was locked in the entertainment
center. Though Chandler gets into the box but doesn’t take the punishment
seriously, making sarcastic jokes and comments which he always upsets Joey
even more, ensuring Chandler changes his behaviour. The incident is followed
by Kathy breaking up with Chandler as she doesn’t want to be the person who
broke Joey and Chandler’s friendship, while he is still locked up in the box and
isn’t supposed to speak. Making Joey realize how Chandler values their
friendship, he forgives him and tells him to go get Kathy. - The following
incident elucidates upon Luce Irigaray essay ‘When goods get together’
exchanged by men and among men. The essence of kinship among men is
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achieved through the exchange of women among them. Men always tend to
dominate women as they think women are to them. So in such an exchange based
social organization, men are socially linked through the mutual exchange of
women as goods. When Kathy breakups with Chandler saying doesn't want to be
the one who ruined the friendship between them bring in Irigaray's borrowed idea
silent in the system of language. Lack of Homosocial relation between women can
also be seen in the series- season 1 episode 11. Monica and Phoebe fight over a
guy in a coma who is a stranger to them. Women tend to fight over men which
works in the favour of men, making them more authoritative. Freudian concept of
phallocentric states that the phallus of man holds the highest position, women
suffer from penis envy as women are defined as someone who lacks a phallus.
Sexual harassment
Season 2nd Episode 1st humorously brings in Joey being molested ever
since he was a kid by his tailor. Joey sends Chandler to his family tailor, who did
Joey’s 1st suit when he was 15. When chandler returns he rages that the tailor did
some ‘cupping’ during the fitting, to which Joey heckles and says, “That’s how
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they do pants!”. Not forgetting that Joey calls his father right after the incident
and tells him that’s not how they do pants gives us the clear image that not only
Joey but his Father too was sexually molested. The deep rootedness of the whole
relationships, explaining his behaviour and his father's cheating on his mother.
The incident also makes him question everything, showing the mark that
among males (7). In the case of females, there is a higher incidence of depressive,
anxiety, eating, somatic, and dissociative disorders; all of these are associated
with a high incidence of sexual abuse in early life (2 or 3 times more common in
[The one with the dozen lasagnas] When Rachel introduces Paolo
to Phoebe: "Phoebe, you're gorgeous too! If you're all this beautiful I'll
move right here!" – Paolo sexually harasses Phoebe while she gives him a
massage and he harasses her by grabbing her butt then exposing his penis
to her.
Phoebe is worried that Rachel will be mad at her. Rachel is shocked, but not
mad at Phoebe. Paolo later arrives to leave on the trip. Rachel dumps him and throws
all of his clothes off the balcony. Later in season 2 Rachel sleeps with him- not even
thinking twice that he made a move on Phoebe. The whole scene makes Paolo look
like he did something acceptable and eventually gets back with anyone despite him
harassing someone.
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Fat shaming
The fat Monica is the first thing that comes to mind when we think about
the famous name of Monica Geller. The fat Monica first made its appearance in
the second season – revealing that Monica in her younger years was chunky. She
was called Fat Monica, being defined as “Fat Monica” i.e. Simply putting a label
on person, as for Monica we see throughout the series that how important is it to
have a certain body type to be accepted by society and to attract opposite gender-
“In one episode, the friends are watching an old home movie in which Fat
dress, waiting for her date. She’s delightfully unselfconscious. She seems happy.
But the audience laughs because a fat girl eating a sandwich is somehow funny.
Joey, who is only familiar with the current iteration of Monica, all lean-muscle
Homophobia
hides his vulnerability has many levels to unfold. He tries to hide his
Monica about his Father makes him one of the most authentic characters of the
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Chandler isn't a fan of his father, from a very young age his resentment for his
his parents makes him question his commitment to his wife-to-be, Monica. The
most common joke is vague sexuality. Chandler is always mocked for being a
little too feminine. The very first time the issue comes up is in season one’s
episode ‘the one where Nana dies twice’. Chandler is notified that the first
impression everyone had of him was that he was ‘gay’. He questions if that's
something because of the hair to which Phoebe replies 'you have homosexual
hair’. He's always hinted towards being gay, wearing a bonnet while playing
‘cowboys and Indians’ and always being trapped with Janice despite him not
liking her. The way every character in the series interprets him as gay and even
mocks him draws the line leading straight up to homophobia. Chandler may be
interpreted as gay but he himself resents his father, making him an intense
homophobic. Chandler isn’t the only one who is seen as homophobic, Ross
hates his ex-wife's girlfriend Susan though the reason is valid as his wife comes
out as gay and leaves him in season-1 'the one with candy hearts' Ross goes on
date for the very first time after his divorce, unfortunately for Ross, Carol and
Susan also eat at the same Japanese restaurant and are seated at the same grill
table, Susan leaves on an emergency and Ross insists Carol to come over to his
side of the table, his date Kristen feels uncomfortable and leaves. To which he
tells Carol “Let's you and I give it another shot. I know you’re gonna say
you’re a lesbian but what do you say we just put that aside for now” not only
this, his constant long lesbian jokes or simply using the term ‘lesbian lover’ is
hard to go unnoticed.
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His homophobia does not end there; it goes on and on throughout the series.
One of the most noticeable and hard to forget incidents is season 3 - episode 5 He
resents that his son Ben loves Barbie dolls and not a GI Joe. Susan and Carol drop
Ben off, Ross freaks out thinking that they are influencing Ben, he forces Ben to
CONCLUSION
reason is valid). Not denying the fact that it has made us fantasize about friendship
goals but the sitcom has some questionable narratives and themes. The show can't be
celebrated or looked up to. The only way the show is acceptable is because of its fans
but they should know that these characters are flawed and shouldn’t be taken as
inspiration.
the big newspapers and social media elaborates upon how great the show is.
Laughing on offensive ignorant jokes has made the show run for 26 years
and still a success ignoring injury the show would have left on transgender,
homosexual and female friends all around us not forgetting about body shaming,
sexism and toxic masculinity. The 'I'll be there for you' theme kicks in adrenaline
but Media influence is the actual force exerted by a media message, resulting in
audience may take body shaming, sexism and toxic masculinity as souvenirs
exploiting others.
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Notes
2. Stoller RJ. Presentations of Gender. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press; 1985.
p 10-24.
3. Money J, Ehrhardt AA. Man and Woman, Boy and Girl: the Differentiation and
4. Friedman RC. Gender Identity and Male Homosexuality. In: Topkis G. Male
5. Bagley G. Issues of Gender. In: Swift D, Editor. The Medical Post 1997 National
6. Freud S. The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex (1924). In: Strachey J, editor.
Disorders. 4th ed. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1994. 80 Brown A,
Finkelhor D. Impact of Child Sexual Abuse: a Review of the Research. Psychol Bull
1986;99:66-77
8. Irigaray Luce.- ‘when the goods get together’(1977). In: Ce sexe qui n’en est pas
Works Cited
“Friends”: The Complete Series, Written by Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, Directed
by Kevin Bright, Warner
Brothers,2004.
https://www.netflix.com/in/title/70153404.
Lyons, Margaret. ‘What the Critics Said About the 1994 Debut of Friends’ 2, JAN
2015.
https://www.vulture.com/2014/09/friends-1994-critics-review-roundup.html.