Downfall of Masculinity on TV leads to Dominance of Males

           When I first started reading this article and I read “[Paternity] as the source of power” (Marcotte), I thought this article was going to be about the dominance of men in television shows.  When I read this sentence it really struck me and I had to sit back and think about it.  Paternity as the source of power.  I kept repeating it in my head.  Why does paternity have to be the source of power?  What makes it so that males have all or at least most of the power in many different cases of life and they can never be broken down or fall apart?

            But as I kept reading this article, it became clear that majority of the shows Marcotte discussed are about tearing apart masculinity and making the oppressed, or in other words women, more powerful. “Americans can’t get enough of watching powerful men run into walls created by the limits of narrow, traditional masculinity” (Marcotte).  I found it really interesting when Marcotte discussed how shows such as Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad all start with a dominant male character who ends up falling apart and a woman comes into major importance in his life to get him back on track.  However, the show could not just start off with the dominance of the woman.  In order to be successful, the show has to being with a male who portrays the dominant masculine societal values and then it can go in any direction it choses, whether that is to have a dominant female show up in the picture or just stick with the dominant male. 

            So to go back to the beginning of my post, I guess paternity is the source of power in television right now even though there may be some shows that go against it.  But overall, majority of the television shows that are viewed daily display dominant male characteristics.