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Michaela I. Williams
Professor Missy Finan
ENG 112 DC
11 September 2014
Not Your Typical Slumber Party
The Cosby Show was an African- American sitcom from the 80’s with a setting in
Brooklyn, New York. This show is about to Huxtable family and portrays this AfricanAmerican family in a very positive light. The father, Cliff Huxtable, who is played by Bill
Cosby, is an Obstetrician on the show. The mother, Clare Huxtable, is an attorney. These two
have five children, Theo, Rudy, Vanessa, Sondra, and Denise Huxtable. Stereotypical gender
and race roles played in this episode are not the typical stereotypes that you are used to with
African – American families and male and female gender roles.
In this episode, the youngest daughter Rudy was very bored. Just like any normal child,
she was bored but any idea you gave her of things to do was not good enough. She moped
around the house until her dad, Cliff Huxtable found her, making an international call out of
boredom. She tells her daddy how bored she is and brings up the idea of having some friends
over for a sleep over. Dads are easy to convince sometimes, so it didn’t take much convincing
for him to say yes. His wife, Clare Huxtable is an attorney and had a work function that she
would be working late at. When she hears about the slumber party she thinks it will be a bad
idea as she will not be home to take care of the children. This assumption is that her husband
can’t handle taking care of all the children because she usually does that job, as the mother.
Most female gender roles have to deal with the woman staying home, cleaning, cooking,
and taking care of the children. In this episode, the woman is the one working as an attorney, at
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that, and doesn’t have time in her day to take care of the children. Cliff and his oldest son Theo
were mainly in charge of the sleepover. Cliff entertained the children and Theo took care of
dinner, cooking hot dogs for the kids to eat. Although Vanessa was home that night as well,
Theo took the responsibility of cooking showing the reversed gender roles of this episode. A
gender role of the male is to protect the females of harm, especially from other males. Two of
Rudy’s friends whom spent the night are twin sisters. These sisters played a hand game where
they say “I met my boyfriend at the candy store.” Cliff then stops the girls, concerned that they
might really have a boyfriend at this age and just like any dad would think, that is unacceptable.
Additionally, there were many reversed racial stereotypes viewed in this episode of The
Cosby Show. Typically, you do not see African- American families shown in a positive light.
The Huxtable family is a special case. This is a middle class family living in a big house of
Brooklyn, New York. The parents of this family are both college educated, the dad is a doctor
and the mother is an attorney at law. These are very prestigious career paths and their success is
what motivates them to push their children to strive for greatness. They stay on top of their
children for schoolwork, friendships, and just staying involved and being active. This support is
what leads to the success of the Huxtable family, an African- American family in a 1980’s
television sitcom.
In conclusion, this television show is just a comical television show from the 80s. When
you take a closer look you will find a true message behind everything that goes into the show.
Would this television show be different if this was a Caucasian family? Would this Slumber
Party episode be different if the Clare Huxtable was able to be home with Cliff and the children?
It is important to notice these differences so you can understand the true underlying message and
seeing these reversed stereotypes of gender and race.
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Works Cited
The Cosby Show. The Cosby Show Season 1 Episode 22 The Slumber Party. Online Video.
YouTube. 8 July 2014. Web retrieved 14 September 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCdq1KG5mgE