I think that June was over-protective of Beaver, especially in the earlier episodes. Often times, she wanted to be "in control" making sure that Ward wasn't too hard on him. I don't think that Ward was ever "too hard" on Beaver. I think she spoiled Beaver a little a little bit as well. By the second and third season, June is a little less "domineering" but still sticking her nose in places where it doesn't belong. She would always want to listen in on other people's conversations (especially telephone conversations) often times meddeling when she could have let the kids work things out for themselves. By the time we get to season 3 and behond, there are times when she is firm with Beaver and would never had been this way in season one. When Beaver doesn't like Brussles Sprouts, she stands her ground insisting that Beaver eat them (episode, "Beaver Won't Eat') and Ward is the one who doesn't care. This is one of the few times she actually gets pissed at Beaver. (If Beaver would not have liked Brussel Sprouts in Season One, she would have said "Oh, that's ok.") Ward might want him to eat and June would say, "Ward, don't be hard on him." So, this episode shows a more "determined" June. June became less protective of Beaver as the series wore on.

Jack

You noticed the same thing about June sticking her nose into the boys business too, huh? Remember the episode where June made a date for Wally without even asking Wally? Even my mom had to comment on that episode.

Originally posted by Jenny
You noticed the same thing about June sticking her nose into the boys business too, huh? Remember the episode where June made a date for Wally without even asking Wally? Even my mom had to comment on that episode.

My mom is awful about doing things like that to me! Not making dates for me, I couldnt handle that, but things like agreeing to things for me without asking. Mostly saying I will babysit for someone without asking if I want to. Ok, that ticks me OFF!! If someone wants me to do something, they should come to ME, not my mother, and second, my mom needs to run these things by me before she goes sticking her nose in my business and makes plans for me. I HATE IT. I am 18 freakin years old, I can make decisions for myself dang it!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I guess you noticed that this really bothers me. Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations. :rolleyes: :crazy:

Originally posted by BeaversBiggestFan


My mom is awful about doing things like that to me! Not making dates for me, I couldnt handle that, but things like agreeing to things for me without asking. Mostly saying I will babysit for someone without asking if I want to. Ok, that ticks me OFF!! If someone wants me to do something, they should come to ME, not my mother, and second, my mom needs to run these things by me before she goes sticking her nose in my business and makes plans for me. I HATE IT. I am 18 freakin years old, I can make decisions for myself dang it!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I guess you noticed that this really bothers me. Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations. :rolleyes: :crazy:

I know the feeling BBF. My mother does certain things that bother me too. She doesn't schedule things behind my back for me to do, but does other things that annoy me.

I think she was overprotective of the Beaver. She always said that "He's just a baby!". I thought it was cute and funny though.

i think you have to remember when this show was made sometimes. none of the stuff any of them did back then would fly now. i used to really dislike june when i was younger, but now that im a geezer, i think she's pretty awesome.
have you guys ever seen one of the later episodes, i forget what it was called. wally had a date with a box office ticket taker, and she turned out to be a really wild girl and took wally to a "beer joint". and wally was uncomfortable and went home. i thought it was really cool that when wally came home early and ward and june asked why he was home, he just said i ghess we just didnt hit it off or something like that, and they trusted wally enough to accept that obvious shading of the truth and let him go upstairs, no further questions asked. an interesting sidebar to that is that when the girl was over earlier for dinner, she made a great impression on ward nut june didnt like her because she wore too much makeup. some things never change

I don't know how agreeable y'all will find this opinion, but June represents one facet of an older (though not completely gone today) female stereotype of the wife and mother who had no business or other interests outside her home and family, and that's why she could be so absorbed in trying to see to it that things are perfect in her view. She knew Wally wanted to date a girl he hardly knew, for instance, so she contacted the girl's mother and arranged the whole thing because she thought it was a good match.

As for Beaver, more than Wally, she did want him to remain a "baby," as she declared in "Beaver Runs Away," because she wanted him to depend on her to take care of him; that was much of her livelihood. Perhaps that is not really so bad, except when she does things that are embarassing to the boys. But one part that really annoys me is that she thinks it's always Ward's job to "speak to the Beaver" when he needs lecturing or he has to give up on something he wants. She wants to be a comfort and good news only.

I think June's overprotectiveness sort of represents everything a 1950's wholesome family would be. You think back on shows from the 60's,70's, 80's and now the current sitcoms in each era the families became more and more liberal. The Cleavers are what America wanted to see on television, no the average 1950's household was not that way , but that is what people wanted to see on t.v. now people want reality. I love the show and everything it represents its definitely classic tv at its best

Having been born in '52, I can tell you that there really are certain truths the how the family is protrayed in LITB. First of all, don't forget, the whole show ran in the late post-WW2 era, when the country (and by this I am talking of White Middle Class America because that's what all tv was about) was very unified and still settling back down after the war. Then you have the Kennedy years. LITB ended just months before JFK was killed. The assassination was a huge fracture in the country's consciousness, equal to what has happened at the World Trade Center. I say that in how it affected us, not in the number of casualties. I remember sitting in sixth grade on a Friday afternoone and the principal announced it on the PA system and I thought the world was going to end. It was the first time I ever thought of things as being out of control.

So back to the Beav, but I did want to give you the historical context of the show. Very nuclear family, father and mother and two kids. Maybe three. Father went to work. Mother never did. This would imply that the father could not support the family. Mother's job was exactly what June did -- run the household so that everyone else could go out into the world. I think women had more of a social network than June has. I remember my mother having friends who would come over for coffee in the morning. Next door neighbors who they interacted with and such. June and Ward only go out with other couples occasionally. Ward plays golf and so he socializes that way. But women in the fifties and early sixties took care of the families, it was what they did. I don't remember any mothers I knew working or feeling frustrated. If they did, they certainly wouldn't have told me anyway. I knew one person who was divorced and that was a HUGE deal.

Also, the father in the family was usually seen as the ultimate disciplinarian. The mother was the softer parent and the kids would go to her for comfort, but don't forget, they were around her more and she was the nurturing one. The father was away all day and tired at night. Parents didn't talk to their kids the way they do now. I've seen eps where Ward tells Beaver to leave the room because he wants to discuss something with June and that was exactly how it was.

Like I said, I think it would have been a little truer to life had June had more of a social network.

As for being overprotective, I think she is fairly appropriate that way and lets go when she has to.

Good points above, except Ward had to be the breadwinner. In those days, the stereotype of father=breadwinner and mother=homemaker was THE norm. I couldn't see June working outside the home anyway. Her home was HER shrine (and probably the Cleavers had their own unseen cleaning lady....actually there are two episodes with a housekeeper involved.) (Captain Jack, and the other one where Mrs. Manners comes over to help out, but the time she can't make it so her daughter Margie comes, and Wally falls for her.) For June to leave the home, it would frazzle her too much. (There are at least two instances where Ward asks her to help out with something, and she says, she can't because she's cooking something.) Take June away from the kitchen, which was her centerpeice of "control" and she'd become as nervous as Larry Mondello's Mother! haha. Kudos to Ward for dealing with all of the problems of home and the office for the show's roughly 6 year run!

Rest in Peace Hugh Beaumont

Jack