Following Stereotypes
Tami is seen as a very stereotypical woman, she is portrayed as dumb and that she has many different men in her life. To attribute to this her job is a hairdresser and there is a scene where Tami takes Lip to a nursing home where she does some of the ladies’ hair. This is stereotypical for Tami to do hair, but not stereotypical for Lip to follow her and do hair with her.
Xan comes back to Lip after her mom has abandoned her again. Lip takes her in and Tami shows more of a motherly side. Tami washes her up and makes sure to talk to her about what she has been through.
Debbie realizes after taking care of the bills and stepping up as head of the household, she realizes that they have not deep cleaned at all and it could be dangerous. Since she has a daughter this is more concerning to her. This motherly side is stereotypical of young mothers.
Liam wants to make extra money to try and help pay the bills, but he is only 9 so he decides to sell lemonade on the sidewalk. Liam is African American and he sells in front of a white woman’s house. She gets mad because they are “being disruptive” and making too much noise. Fiona sees this as being racist against her brother so she rallies up a lot of the southside and almost protests in front of the woman’s house. She overreacts over a small situation to protect her family which is very maternal of her which is a stereotypical characteristic of a woman.
Not Following Stereotypes
When Xan comes back to Lip, he takes her in to make sure she is okay. He is very compassionate and loving towards her despite her leaving him back to live with her mom. This maternal side is not usually seen in men and especially not men from the southside of Chicago.
Bechdel Test
Ingrid and Debbie are talking about how if Ingrid is going to stay with them that she needs to start paying bills and buying groceries. This passes the Bechdel test because they are talking about bills and not men.
Later on, Debbie is still talking about bills but to Fiona this time. Fiona has taken up drinking and doesn’t have her priorities straight so Debbie reminds her that she has to come up with some money to pay the bills. This passes the Bechdel test because they are talking about bills and not men.