Friends and Careers

Gosh, I have been terrible at blogging.... However, I saw I had a comment and that encouraged me to write the next post so here we go...

During the ten years that Friends ran, all six main characters faced many professional dilemmas, and in some cases they also faced the question of choosing work or personal life.

Rachel's character underwent the most transformation throughout the series. In the pilot, Rachel ran away from her own wedding to an orthadontist, and from her plan of becoming a housewife. She had not yet left the home and her father's funds, and was planning on having her husband then supply her with funds, never being independant. However, when she left home, she began working as a waitress and learning how to be independant. She and Ross began their relationship when she was at that job, and though there was some discussion over her lack of a professional job- "just a wiatress"- they seemed to be fairly happy with this arrangement. Joey and Chandler encouraged Rachel to pursue her dream of a career in fashion, and Rachel gets a job as an assistant at Bloomingdales, which takes a great deal of her time and energy. Ross is disturbed by this, and is jealous that Rachel spends a lot of time with her male coworker Mark, which eventually leads to their breakup. I find it interesting that Ross and Rachel's relationship problems only begin after she finds a job that she cares about. After some time, Rachel's department is dissolved and she once again has an entry level position. She then interviews for a position at Ralph Lauren, which she gets. Rachel's experiences at Ralph Lauren provide an interesting illistration of gender and sexuality in the workplace- she worries she only got a second interview because of an accidental kiss in the first interiview, she is excluded from decisions made during smoking breaks, there is a flurry of workplace gossip on whether or not Rachel is sleeping with the boss, Rachel crushes on and then dates her young male assistant, Rachel ends her maternity leave early because she worries that the man who has taken over her duties will be preferred above her, and finally she is fired when she is overheard interviewing for another job. I really have to wonder if these storylines would have been considered funny or relevent to women's experiences if the gender had been reversed. Finally, Rachel is offered a job in Paris, which she accepts, but then decides to stay in New York when Ross asked her to- eventually choosing personal life over career.

Pheobe's career and personal life first intersected when she was fired after she was caught making out with a client during a massage, and it was thought she was doing it for money. There are many gender stereotypes involved in this situation, and none of them are particularly complimentary to Pheobe. Pheobe eventually meets and marries Mike, and career was not particularly involved in their relationship, though Pheobe did worry that she may not make a good impression on Mike's upper class family.

Monica was a sous chef in a classy restraunt when the show began. She was eventually fired when she accepted gifts from a vendor, which she did not realize was againt the company's ethical policy. After a period of unemployment, including a job interview with an inappropriate man with a food fetish, she began working at a 50s diner which was a very derogitory workplace where the staff wore wigs, roller blades, and stuffed their chests to at least quadruple their real size. Se was quite offended when a billionare came to the restraunt and left a $10000 cheque. She resisted his attempts to date her until he offered her a job as head chef at his new restraunt. She was willing to take the job provided his feelings were professional- at that time they began dating and she did not take the job, thus choosing personal life over career. Eventually Monica and Pheobe are running a catering business together, when Monica criticizes a restraunt and is offered job as head chef. Monica and Chandler's relationship and marrage did not interfere with Monica's career until fairly late in the series, when Chandler gets a job across the country. Monica quits her job, choosing personal life over career, but is offered a job as head chef at a very elite restraunt in New York, which she accepts, choosing career over personal life. Fortunately, Chandler is very understanding and this does not interfere with their relationship.

Joey is an actor, and as such is constantly looking for work and working at poor jobs. In the duration of the show, Joey's best job was as Dr Drake Romorai on Days of Our Lives, for which he had to sleep with the casting director to get. Joey also never has a long term relationship- he did once fall for a fellow actor in a play, but she left to California to act there (choosing career over personal life) and he also fell for Rachel, but they were friends more than romance partners. Joey shows a third alternative to choosing career or personal life- choosing to have a variety of experiences without committing to one thing. The only constants in Joey's life are his family and friends- not a partner or career.

Chandler has one of the most successful careers on the show- he is a manager in a large corporation. Chandler loathes his job, but appears to make one of the better salaries of the group. His job does not interfere with his personal life until late in the show, the ninth season, when he is told to move to Tulsa for work. Chandler does choose to move, choosing career over personal life, and commutes back and forth to New York for weekends with his wife. He quickly tires of this and quits, choosing personal life over career. He then has a period of unemployment while he pursues a career in advertising, taking an unpaid internship to get a foot in the door, which looks at the idea of age in the workplace. Chandler is offered a position with the company he interned with, so he eventually gets to have it all- career and personal life.

Ross is the most highly educated one in the group, with a PhD in paleantology (dinosaurs). Ross is deeply involved in Rachel's story of career and personal life, as her emerging fashion career eventually led to their break up. He worked at a museum until the stress of his personal life (the dissolving of his second marrage and loss of his home) interfered with his interpersonal skills in the workplace. He was put on leave until a second incident culminated in his dismissal (or further leave, at any rate, he wasn't working). Hegomonic masculinity, or ideal masculinity, involves the idea that men should be able to comparlimentalize their emotions and not express their feelings- Ross's deviation from that gender led to his dismissal. Ross began teaching at the local university and actually dated a student for a time. At the end of the series, Ross received tenure at the university, and asked Rachel to stay in New York so they could be together, which they did. The show did not involve the idea of career versus parenting in Ross's story, which could have been very interesting, as he is a parent through almost the entire series.