This episode is one of panic for the office. The branch is being threatened by downsizing. Michael is not confirming nor denying that there will, indeed, be downsizing. To combat the nervousness of downsizing, he decides that he will throw a birthday party for the next birthday in the office; Meredith Palmer. Though her birthday is a month away, Michael insists on throwing the party for her. There is one major act of masculinity in this episode, this happens during the birthday party.

Masculine Actions-

  • Before getting to the birthday party, we need to address some of the smaller things that Michael does throughout the episode. The first one being that he called Pam a wet blanket and lifeless.
  • Michael walks into the Party Planning Committee and to the camera says the these are his “party planning biotches” (Pam, Angela, Phyllis)
  • He also insists that they get an ice cream cake from Baskin Robin because that is what he likes. He neglected to care about the fact that Meredith is allergic to dairy.
  • Finally, leading into the birthday party, we have the most masculine thing and most derogatory thing that we see Michael do in the show so far. The staff gets Meredith a card that they all sign. Michael needs to come up with the perfect message for Meredith. He comes up with “lets hope the only downsizing that happens to you is that someone downsizes you age.” Which is pretty mean. On top of this, he reads the jokes that did not make it. They are things like “Hey Meredith, Liz Taylor called, she wants her age back and her divorces back!” or “Meredith is so old that she went into a antique store and they kept her!”

Feminine Actions- 

  • In the very beginning of the episode, Michael says something that is very sweet. He says that when people are sad, an office cannot function that way.
  • He also says that he could never be like Donald Trump because he does not get pleasure out of saying “youre fired!” He then says that if he had a catch phrase, it would be you’re hired and you can work here as long as you want.
  • He also wants to try and make sure people are happy by throwing a birthday party for an employee.

It is the masculine actions that Michael is able to get away with because he is a male in a position of power and nobody wants to challenge him on this. He is assuming the role of the powerful man and getting away with it all episode. He does have a nice moment in the beginning though.

Shared by: Ian Chomeau
Image Credit: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0664523/mediaviewer/rm3837576704