One of the earliest and most striking examples in the show occurs when Meg's mother takes her to go shopping at the Mall. In an attempt to make Meg seem cooler and more popular, Lois (Meg's mom) offers to buy her shirts which epitomize the sexist slurs given to some women. One shirt, for example, bears the text "Little Slut," while another has the phrase "Cum Dumpster." In using these shirts as an attempt to be more accepted, Meg of course is willing to trade her pride and any sense of female empowerment by announcing her desire to do anything to please a man--if it means she'd be cool because of it.
In an all-too-common example of how social constructs influence children's views of masculinity and femininity, we have the boy that Meg attempts to date before and after her makeover. He is the coolest and most charming guy in school, and is of course blonde, wears a leather jacket, doesn't "play by anyone's rules but his own," and "doesn't even play by his own rules." He plays the typical high school jock, portraying to children that it's cool to be a rebel, to be dumb, and to be handsome.
The same school jock in one scene uses sexual language to belittle Meg. When she asks him if he'd liek to go out on a date, he responds with "I don't date dudes." Labeling a girl a tomboy is something that occurs constantly, and has always been an attack on their femininity. In a way, it's a bit liek saying "sorry, you're not doing enough to look pleasing for a guy." It is remarks like this type of remark (as well as the people who light themselves on fire and jump out of windows when they see her face) that eventually encourages Meg to get her makeover.
If there is one thing family guy is not, it's politically correct. Between slamming handicapped men around on tables and having a perverted neighbor hitting on young girls, this becomes pretty obvious after seeing a few episodes. It can avoid this political correctness in the form of humor, although at times the show can go very far in stretching the boundaries of what's acceptable. For instance, at one point in time P. Diddy ( I believe?), while acting as the family's agent, said "America loves hot, white, jailbait ass," to which Meg responded "I want to be exploited!" Although clearly satirical, there is some truth in young girls being willing to exploit their bodies in the name of popularity.
Lastly, there was an instance of racial language towards the end of the show as well, wherein the pet dog begins barking at P. Diddy veraciously (in an attempt to show that dogs are racist I would assume). That was overt racism, but more subtle was the fact that he called Diddy "brother," a few times, as if the best way to get in good with a black man is to refer to him in such a way. It was an interesting example of how a white man (or dog) believes it is necessary to change his vocabulary in order to better make a black man feel comfortable. There is also a hint of fear at being labeled a racist, as the dog asks his family " hey you guys know I'm not racist right? right?", and then goes on to say his racism comes from his father's blood.
There were countless other examples of the distortions of race, sex and class in this single episode, but these few seemed the most glaring examples.
Family Guy. “Don’t Make Me Over.”
Season 4, Volume Three, Disc One, DVD. 6/5/05
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: Beverly Hills, CA. 2005.
