1990's

About the 1990's:

The decade of the 1990's is most notably marked by its technological advances; the emergence of the World Wide Web occurred in 1992. This advent changed many aspects of life, largely the way in which individuals communicated. By 1998 100 million people were online which is very indicative of the rapid growth of this new world. Not only did this change the way individuals communicated but it also changed the ways in which money was spent. With internet connections powering monetary spending consumerism became more apparent. The 1990’s also marked the emergence of a new generation; this was a generation that set its own path and challenged the typical family structure as well as gender roles. This new type of family is most notable in the show Friends and the new role of gender and how it should be displayed was very apparent in Roseanne as well as Frasier. Friends redefined the meaning of family whereas Roseanne became a strong voice for working women while Frasier proved you could be a heterosexual male with once considered “feminine” qualities. Although these shows did contest present stereotypes there were also shows that reinforced existing stereotypes in new ways like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Banks family is very standard for family sitcoms, affluent and functional, with a new twist being that they are African-American. The 1990’s was a pivotal moment for television and produced many shows that shed light on stereotypes present in American culture.