It is apparent that the portrayal of women in images and television have helped negative and sexist stereotypes to flourish.
"Women are continually assaulted by images of other 'women' showing fragmented faces and bodies available for male pleasure. We need to 'reclaim' our faces and bodies from such appropriation and to 'put them back together' again if we are not to remain ideologically fragmented ourselves." - feminist Jo Spence (1978/79) This suggests that woman's perception of herself will change for the worse if we don't 'reclaim' the representation of females in tv/images.
Desperate Housewives, has been an off/on favourite TV show
of mine for a number of years. It however has many different stereotypes of
women which I shall go on to tell you about.
The name itself stereotypes
women before we have even started to watch it. Each housewife’s lives may seem to be a prim
and proper in this neighbourhood yet is full of dark secrets as these women
hide behind their conservative facade. Over the duration of the show, the women
have proven that they are capable of anything and I mean anything. I’m talking
from being a nurturing mother, to murder, alcoholism and adultery. Though at
first I did not notice, as I watched on, I found this show reinforces the
stereotypes of women and those made through the media.
The 4 main characters are Lynette, Susan, Gaby and Bree.
Lynette who is a mother of five children is a stay at home mother. Bree like
Lynette is an accomplished business owner and she prides herself on her home
and cleanliness. Both of these women represent the stereotype of the domestic
wife and mother. Gaby, who is a former model, prides herself on her personal
appearance and her beauty. She represents the role of the sex object. The show
presents a number of different stereotypes of women, including: the
wife/mother, the seductress, modern woman vs. housewife and the sex object.
Both Bree and Lynette are stay at home mothers, who face the
challenge of balancing the task of maintaining their social status and the
welfare of their children. They portray the roles of the wife/mother by sacrificing
their individual dreams to support their families. Bree is an obsessive and
compulsive housewife who is punished for being too perfect and is determined to
rescue her marriage. This represents women as not having independence if a man
is not present in their lives. Bree is described as “preppy-lovely…Her first
life was neat, her china polished, her designer ensembles perfectly pressed”
This description of Bree shows that she is exactly how every housewife wants to
be portrayed- stress free. However this perfect lifestyle seems to perfect and
is done to mirror how a ‘real housewife’ should be and disguises the real
problems she faces.
Throughout the beginning seasons of the series, Lynette could
be seen to challenge stereotypes through successfully attaining a high
management position at her job by hard work. She represents the wider debate of
the pressures placed on women in modern society- the career route or the family
route. When her husband needs her to be more there for her children, she is
faced with the decision to give up all her hard work for her home, where her ‘real
job’ is. Instead of trying and defending her years of hard work, she surrenders
her achievements for nappy’s and an apron and leaves behind her job. Also, when
she did work, it was in the same position as her husband, who hated the fact
that she was more successful than him. “I’m not gonna hide behind my wife’s
skirt!” was a particular quote that struck me, it showed he was ashamed that Lynette
was better at the same job as him, he found it unbearable because she was a
woman and as a man he felt as though he should be more successful than his
wife. This for me represents wider society as a whole and a real issue facing
the ‘modern woman’, we are constantly being told that it is impossible to be a
good mother and a successful career woman. Lynette is more often than not
dressed quite shabbily and looks tired, especially in comparison to Bree, this
suggests that the ‘modern housewife’-Lynette is struggling as opposed to the ‘traditional
housewife’-Bree.
Susan represents the more vulnerable and overused
characteristics of women. She is predominantly presented as a mother and kind
of reminds me of the stereotypes of a 1970’s women- 'weak, ineffectual and
victimised' as Barrie Gunter said in his 1995 work 'Television and Gender Representation'. One of her main storylines is her battle with another woman in the
show Eddie over a man named Mike. They fight and backstab each other in order
to get what they want suggesting women will do anything to get male attention. Susan
is also constantly always portrayed as having relationship disasters. She is
shown as weak because she always ends up in tears after a relationship crisis, emphasising "the typical gender expectation that women are to be weak and emotional" from Gender and Negotiation by Laura Kray and Leigh Thompson. Women are depicted as insecure because they
are unable to deal with rejection from the male.
Gaby solidifies the stereotypes of the sex object, the
seductress and the age old stereotype that women want to marry a rich man. As an older woman she dresses proactively and isn’t afraid to speak
her mind. Gaby is constantly dressed in tight clothes and high heels. Her
make-up is ALWAYS perfect, first thing in the morning-perfect, before
bed-perfect, in the shower-PERFECT. If I was to be analytical, I would say that
her heavy eye make-up and red lipstick show that make-up is used by producers
to stimulate sexual arousal. Gaby takes
advantage of her good looks to get what she wants, as does Carlos-her husband,
for his business purposes. When Gaby complains to him that one of his business
partners is constantly trying to “grab her arse” he laughs and says “If he
wants to grab your arse, you let him”. Now personally, if a woman wants to use
her sexuality to further herself in the world, I think it’s fair enough, if not
necessarily right/moral. But for a man to use a woman to further himself, that
is plain wrong, it suggests that she is his ‘object’ and his to use. Carlos pays Gabby's way in the world, she is reliant on him for money. She plays into the stereotype "that all women want to marry a rich man and live happily ever after" (Kray and Thompson)
Generally, I found that Desperate Housewives reaffirms to its viewers
the stereotypes that have been implanted in contemporary media and does not
allow us to see the true power women have over their lives. Feminist Germaine Greer writes "every women knows that regardless of her own achievements, she is a failure if she is not beautiful" I think this is a issue not properly tackled by the show, however it does need to be taken into consideration that this is JUST a show and is it their duty to tackle questions about society today?
Source:
Spence, J. (1978/79) "What do people do all day? Class and gender in images of women", in Screen Education. vol.29, pg 45
Gunter, B. (1995) Television and Gender Representation
Kray, L and Thompson, L. (2005) Gender and Negotiation. vol.26, pp103-182
