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Popular Culture Review
through his fingers, and he strives to get it back. The fact that the children
cannot avoid interacting with the outside world, because of their schooling, puts
them in a position to reflect upon the interaction of the family with society. They
force Bill to question his own masculinity through the recognition of his
differences as compared to other men. Their outside interests also expose them
to influences which threaten the authority of the father-figure and thus detract
from his power and, in turn, his masculinity. When taking into consideration
other contemporary television series that revolve around family life, such as
Roseanne (which aired during the late 1980s and early 1990s), it is evident that
“the man of the house” has lost much of his stature as compared to the man of
1950s television. The transformation of the man—from authority figure to a man
subjugated to his wife—may be seen as a reflection of the rebalancing of power
in the American household.
As the man loses his place as authoritarian, his role as defender is also
brought into question. The final failure of Bill’s masculinity is his inability to
defend his family from the dangers of the outside world. The primary danger
from the exterior is that of being revealed as polygamists, and despite the
precautions taken to ensure their security, in the last episode of the first season,
the Henrickson’s secret is publicly betrayed, and they are forced to admit that
they are in fact practicing polygamists. There is also a danger of physical
violence which Bill must keep at bay if he is to match the ideal, because any
injury to his wives or children would be a direct hit to his masculinity.
Throughout the first season, more and more outsiders become aware of the
Henrickson’s polygamous union. Sarah befriends a coworker who is supportive
of her family situation, Bill is forced to hire a security company to outfit all of
the houses with an elaborate alarm system, the family lawyer must prepare wills
for all three of Bill’s wives, and a nosy secretary comes to her own realizations
about their arrangement, but the most dangerous complication results when Barb
is nominated for Utah’s Mother of the Year award. As a finalist for the award,
she is invited to a ceremony given by the First Lady of the state, and it is here
that the secret of the family is revealed. Bill’s father-in-law, Roman G Ʌ