Two and a Half REAL Men

Jonathon Fisher

Modern American men think of women as objects. Two and A Half Men represents women as objects to be possessed and consumed by men. In the Two and A Half Men episode where Charlie Sheen compares women to cupcakes,  Jake Harper, Charlie’s nephew, is asking Charlie about what he should do about this new girl he likes in his class, and Charlie uses cupcakes as a metaphor to explain to him how men should deal with women.

On the episode Charlie Sheen depicts women as food to be consumed over and over again. Jake thinks that he really likes this new girl and Charlie doesn’t think he should fall for her too fast. Charlie doesn’t believe that men should ever become too emotionally involved with just one cupcake for fear that it might end up being the only cupcake you try in your entire life. He thinks men should enjoy different flavors of cupcakes before settling on the one he thinks is his favorite. Charlie wants to teach Jake early that there are a lot of cupcakes in the bakery and that he doesn’t need to fall in love with just one. And if he has trouble finding that favorite cupcake he always has the option of choosing a Ho-Ho. He uses a cupcake as a metaphor because it encourages men to think of women as sweet small things, that are bad for you and having just one isn’t filling enough. Charlie Sheen doesn’t believe in being kind and loving to a woman and only thinks about scoring with them.

Charlie Sheen’s personal life off screen parallels his on screen character as a womanizer. In almost every episode of Two and A Half Men, Charlie is always bringing home women and sleeping with them.  In another episode, he exudes confidence when it comes to women. Confidence attracts women, unlike the character of his brother who is Jake's dad is portrayed as a “momma’s boy”. Women are not attracted to momma’s boys. In Rereading America it argues that women want a man that is manly and not afraid to take charge in their relationship but at the same time women also like a man that is sensitive enough to listen to their feelings and to be there for them. So there is a line in which being too manly is a turn off and being too sensitive is a turn off. Jake watches Charlie act the way he does and he looks up to Charlie as a role model. He wants to grow up and be like Charlie, a ladies man, and not like his own father who is anything but that. There is no one more opposite of Charlie than Alan his brother. He is always yelling at Charlie to set good examples in front of Jake, but Charlie never pays any attention to those remarks. He is going to live life his own way, which involves using his manly confidence to eat as many cupcakes as he pleases.

A typical stereotype of a man’s role in a relationship is to be strong emotionally, sincere, trustworthy and reliable. Everyday men try to fulfill their roles but sometimes they can go a little to far by having too big of an ego, which is what typically gives men a bad reputation.  They act like they have all the answers and know everything especially in the presence of other men. Men seem to think they need to keep up an image such as Charlie Sheen in Two and A Half Men. He is the perfect stereotypical example of how men want to live and behave among other men and women.