kitchen sink
This series brings to mind the interesting question of whether portrayals of traditional gender roles support traditional gender roles, or vice versa. Obviously both statements are true, but the producers' intent is really what determines the order. Is Everybody Loves Raymond an unwitting proponent of traditional gender roles, or does it merely reflect what the general public feels is funny about traditional gender roles for those of us who either live with them or avoid them?
For example, if Debra avoids sex and Ray asks for it, is this arrangement because Debra is not controlled by sex and Ray is, or because women are not controlled by sex and men are? Either way, the series projects these traditional gender roles, and, either way, the topic should be good for laughs anyway because, ideally, the audience recognizes that Everybody Loves Raymond is still just a fictional TV program.
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