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N ars ee Monjee Institute Of Management S tudies,
Bangalore School Of Law (SOL)
Sociology project
SOCIAL ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED IN F .R. I.E.N.D.S
SUBMITTED BY – Kratika Singh
REGISTRATION NUMBER – 81011219020
BA LLB BAT CH 2 019 -24
SUBMITTED TO – MS. S ukanya Ghosh
SOCIAL ISSUES HIGHLIGHTE D IN F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S is a popular American tv sitcom created by David Crane and M arta Kauffman .
The story revolves around a group of six friends named Mon ica, Chandler, R oss, Rachel,
Joey and Phoebe. This is a comedy which is well received and appreciated by my generat ion ,
Chandl ers sarcasm, Joey s humour, Monica s obsession with cleanliness, Ross s mistakes
and lastly pho ebe s soothing yet h ilarious music is how we identify FRIENDS in today s
worl d. FRIENDS has taught us how adults are progre ssing in the world in a very comical
way. This tv sitcom is considered a very progressive one for its s generation as it highlighted
problems which we re consider ed not normal to be discussed on a national platform like
television at that partic ular time. However , through this assignment I intend to highlight the
social issues that I observed in FRIENDS. W ritten belo w are the social issues I feel the tv
sitcom highlighted .
1. Y oung people who were very much on their own without significant
parental interaction .
Six friends named Joey, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Ross and Phoebe were dependent
on themselves .
By watching F.R.I.E.N.D. S. we c an observe that the young people in the show were
dependent on themselves . They are not dependent on their parents. They do jobs and
ear n their daily bread. Although they did face problems such as unemployment, not
having suffic ient money but we need to understand that bein g independent is not only
limited to earning money , being independent is also about learning to make yo ur own
decisions, facing difficulties and being both mentally and physically at peace w ith
oneself . Being independent is a social issue because it comes with a lot of challenges
which in this tv series was highlighted in a comical way.
2. Being of a different sexual orientatio n is completely normal
Carol w as the first wife of Ross, they were divo rced beca use Carol was a lesbian.
Carol was in a relationship with a girl named Susan , we even witnessed their
wedding. But what was more interesting was that Carol and Susan were raising Ben
on their own. This partic ular incident i s a social issue because belonging to a different
sexual orientation is no t accepted well in our society , because the mindset of our
society is limited only to hetrosexua l relationships but through this show the
ster eotype was broken as it was the first time a lesbian wedding was shown in
telev ision.
3. To take a stand for yourself
In th is point we are talking about how Rachel left her fianc? at the altar as she wanted
to live alone and away, although she did face difficulties like finding a job and
handling he r expenses as she came from a very rich household where servants were
always around her and whatever she desired was available but now, when she left her
life of comfort and went to earn a living herself. W e observed her progress in every
season of the s how including her ups and do wns, we saw how Rachel became
independent in every aspect. W e can say that Rachel was a portrayal of how a women
of this era should be.
4. Being a single mother is often considered a taboo
In this tv series we observed th at Rachel was bearing Ross s child Emma. Rachel
turned down proposals of both Ross and Joey as she wanted to do so. Rachel raised
Emma on her own by co -parenting with Ross . Being a single mother in our society is
con sidered a taboo as no body expects a wom an to raise a child alone because the
mindset of people in our society is limited to thinking that a woman can t raise a child
and manage herself alone. It is also seen in our society that a single mother has to face
harsh judgements of society as people have already started thinking that she is weak
but Rachel proved that she was strong and very cooperative with Ross as they were
raising Emm a together.
5. Be gender neutral rather than being sexist
Joey in a particular ep isod e is seen wearing a shoulder unisex bag for which he was
mocked and judged as people assumed him to be gay or girly this happened
bec ause society has a particular mindset of how a man should be or act like which is
sexist. W e have also seen how Joey expresses his liking towards applying makeup for
which he b ecame a laughing st ock for his friends. This is a very important social issue
highlighted in this tv seri es as a viewer we may laugh through out the episode bu t if
we introspect , we understand how liking more feminine things does not make one less
or more manly .
6. AVOID STEREOTYPES – WHEN ROSS COULDN T HANDLE
HAVING A MALE NANNY
In a particular episode we see that Rachel hi res a male nanny who s ext remely well
qualified but this does not go well with Ross . Ross basi cally represents a typical
mindset of a stereotypical society where men are supposed to do the work which
requires extreme labo ur and women are supposed t o be more homely or do work
which does not require much of the physical labour. In this episode viewers observe
how Ross is very adamant about removing the nanny from his jo b by mocking him
and it was done on purpose by Ross as he knew that n anny was sensitive.
7. W hen Ross was not a good role model for his son Ben
In an episode audience we see how Ben is playing with a barbie to which Ross reacts
in a very abrupt manner which can be defined as a male chauvinist and a very sexist
behaviour . Upon seein g barbie in the hands of Ben , Ross in shock and angrily asks
why is my son playing with a barbie? , Ross even blames Carol and S usan for
making Ben play with barbies , it is also seen that Ross tr ies to incline Ben towards
more boyish toys. During the end of the episode we see how even Ross was playing
with barbies and holding a kitty party in his garden. W e can clearly observe a n ironic
and hypocrite behaviour .
8. W hen Monica was fat shamed.
Throughout the ten episodes of FRIENDS one thing that was consistent was fat
shaming Monica. It was obvious that Monica was fat during high school bu t it became
a re lentless punchline whic h was very offensi ve. It was extremely embarrassing when
Joey shouts and says that some girl ate M onica when they were watching a video of
Monica preparing for her prom while eating a s andwich . In all the ten seasons
Monica s friends n ever le her forget about the time when she was fat. This is a social
issue because even in our society we have few people wh o keep reminding us about
how we look and how we should try and be more appealing .
9. Be inclusive and respect everyone , d on t be transphobic.
Its no secret t hat there was an underlying homophobic and tran sphobic tone to
FRIENDS, but particularly with the character of Chandler. Chandler s mom played by
Kathleen Turner was a transgender Vegas drag queen , something of w hich C handler
was constantly embarrassed . Chandler s dad was always a butt of jokes f or his sexual
orientation who is never referred with right pronouns . The gang does nt hold back
questioning the genitalia chandler s da d has which is super invasive .This is a social
issue as it creates signifi cant stresses for transgender people which can lead them to
feel ashame d, low self esteem, alienation and inadequacy. Transgender youth often try
to cope with the stress by running away from home, dropping out of scho ol, using
drugs or self harming.
10. W hen Ross became an obsessive and controlling boyfriend.
Ross became an obsessive and controlling boyfriend to Rachel, which was an
extremely toxic trait . He was so obsessive that he didnt even trust Rachel when she
went out for dinner with her friend Mike and stalked her co mpletely. Although it was
hilarious to watch back then but if you watch it with a perception in your mind you
happen to feel extremely uncomfortable and toxic.
11. N o job is small
Initially when Rachel was finding a stable job for herself she had to work in a coffee
shop called central perk. Rachel thought her job of being a waitress at the coffee
house extremely small compared to her friends who were all doing a well to do job. It
was then Rachel s friends made her realise that her job was no t small as she was
doing it for herself and not to appeal the masses. Through this epis ode we c an a lso
observe how difficult i t is to adjust in a new surrounding and starting from a scratch,
and all the jobs should be well appreciated in this societ y.
12. Age gap between the lovers
This point highlight s the relationsh ip shared between Monica and Richard. Often
society view s the relationship between lovers who share a huge age di fference in a
very pessimistic manner as they t hink that one or the other is either a gold digger or
for some o ther personal reasons they are together. However , FRIENDS showed the
relationship between Richard and Monic a in a very mature manner which is indeed
