How Women of Desperate Housewives Are Stereotyped - Movie Review Example

HOW WOMEN OF DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ARE STEREOTYPED AND REPRESENTED i. Introduction Today, female stereotypescannot apply in describing the ideal woman because of the increasing modern feminism unlike in the twentieth century where women knew their roles revolved around marriage, having children, looking stunning and maintaining their homes. All the same, feminism continues to increase today, as women become more sovereign and prosperous in different aspects where men originally dominated. Typically, the idea of women taking on any role makes the definition of the feminine stereotype multifarious; however, the bright side is that through the different developments, women have more respect and privileges today (Morgan 2007). Unfortunately, female stereotypes expect the female gender to take on their roles on home economics and looking after the children and at the same time, practice independence through pursuing careers and always look the best. Desperate Housewives, one of the ABC’s popular shows is a demonstration of the old fashioned and contemporary female stereotypes; naturally, it entails the lives of four women living in Wisteria and they are in their early thirties. All the main characters signify customary stereotypes and contemporary stereotypes with the script and the storyline depicting than women have challenges in maintaining the two typecasts. The characters act their parts well, and from the first episode, one is able to identify different aspects about them based on the behavior, career and roles in the community. For instance, Gabrielle deceives men using her career as a model, Mayer is the divorced mum, Lynette resigns from her work to stay home and take care of her family, Kamp is also a mother who stays home, but more of a Martha Stewart and perfectionist (Alex 2012). Despite the fact that Desperate Housewives in produced in 2000s, the context deviates away from what most people expect; an independent woman who is all psyched up and determined about her career. Nonetheless, the characters dwell on the past, the common homemakers, by focusing on the tradition and outdated stereotypes affecting the general perception of the stereotypes in this decade. ii. Discussion Gabrielle is a clear representation of the customary typecast that labels a woman to be a sex object; correspondingly, feminists argue that a woman is a failure even if she achieves all the other things but neglects her beauty by lack of expression through the way she dresses. Concurrently, this character’s ways of dressing attract a lot of attention through the tight dresses, skirts and the high heels; additionally, the hair and make-up are always perfect in every scene (Alford 2014). Furthermore, the character that Gabrielle plays is always at home and very few times is she not in the boudoir; nonetheless, when she out in the streets or at work, there are always men gazing at her body and almost every time she displays a lot of assurance. The confidence portrayed by Gabrielle creates the understanding that she is aware of the notion that every woman should look stunning for men. Resultantly, her character uses her good body and appearance to gratify the male gender and for her profession as a prosperous model, a career she took on since she was a teenager. Logically, Gabrielle’s career in the show exemplifies the contemporary typecast for females through bragging to her friends on how rewarding modeling is; however, any one watching the show would understand that she would not have amounted to anything with the attractive looks and body. Nonetheless, her profession and image of a sex object resemble and definitely, one would never work without the other because today, it is more of a belief that a model must have seductive looks in order to succeed in the business. Generally, Gabrielle illustrates the challenges that come with women having a successful profession relative to having good looks and a body with an attractive figure as a necessity for independence. On the other hand, Susan Mayer, the divorced mother also portrays the contemporary stereotype that it is more of a trend for women to get a divorce in this century. Susan seems independent and joyful but in real sense, it is devastating that her ex-husband had an affair, making it clear that she would do anything to get him back. In the twentieth century, women seemed puny and incompetent hence the oppression; concomitantly, these are traits reinforced in Desperate Housewives (Morgan 2007). Most of the time Susan turns out as a feeble character because of giving into her teenagers’ deceitful acts prompting her to long hours of crying after her impractical relationship fails. A strong single parent is a modern day typecast expressed by Susan, but it is clear that she lacks buoyancy and stability hence still holds the customary typecasts of women being dependent on men. Lynette is the true representation of the traditional typecast, being a mother that stays at home doing her chores and typically, anything that deals with the home economics. However, this is not the foundation of her character, as her original intentions were becoming a successful businessperson until her husband crushed her dreams by asking her to become the mother that is always at home (Cheryl 2014). Essentially, Lynette gives in to her husband’s demands overlooking her pride and years of stressing and hard work, that led to multiple accomplishments hence focusing on looking after her children. Definitively, this depicts that even if women have the freedom of taking on professions today; taking care of children is still among their core occupations. Comparatively, Lynette is always in voluminous clothes and no make-up like her counterpart Gabrielle; moreover, most of the time she looks exhausted and lifeless displaying her extensive efforts of being the flawless traditional homemaker. Largely, Lynette’s character in Desperate Housewives bases on showing that it is almost impossible to combine the customary and contemporary female typecasts. Extensively, the show’s Van De Kamp appears as the most customary of all the other characters, mainly because of her fixation of traits of Martha Stewart. The other women often antagonize her with comments about her celestial meals, impeccable house and her vast and extraordinary skills as a compere (Kiran 2008). Additionally, she is always happy about taking care of her children even after she gets a divorce. At a particular point, Kamp seems to be the perfect one, common for the modern stereotypes. Later on, her son comes out of the closet and her daughter gets pregnant; however, as much as this would stress many parents, it does not change anything for Kamp. In fact, she accepts her children because such outcomes are common in this century and people have no choice but to accept circumstances as they are. Kamp’s role is set out to show that the perfect customary typecast cannot survive in the present and that contemporary feminism is more accurate. iii. Summary and Conclusion Desperate Housewives shows that despite that, women can be prosperous and liberated today; they still dwell on customary stereotypes for some of their aspects in life. All the same, there still lacks a clear establishment of the modern female stereotype but people can identify a number of traits and different concepts on the same as times passes by. Largely, the show exemplifies contemporary female typecasts through the four women with each representing a single impression of a customary typecast that they cannot let go (Kristin 2007). The expectations of the shows outcomes from the audience, relative to the happenings of this century, act as a barrier of the utter comprehension of the modern female stereotype. However, Desperate Housewives puts impressive effort to create an understanding of the conventional characters of the female gender from Kamp as the perfect mother to Gabrielle as the trophy wife. Resultantly, this grasp of the concept makes it an example of a misrepresentation of women using customary typecasts and overlooking roles of women in the current times. The title of the show is also substandard and impertinent with the deleterious implications that cause hullabaloo in places like the United States with different television organizations arguing that the producer should have used a more palpable title. Additionally, some of the women rights consortia give their perspective of the show as that which takes the seriousness out of unfaithfulness and treats sex as complimentary (Lawrence 2011). However, some blame the women because they allow attacks like those encouraged by the Desperate Housewives. On other hand, fans of the show say that it strengthens the society’s view on roles of the different genders and typecasts. The four women represented lure different personalities in men hence encouraging the female gender to uphold their roles; moreover, to an extent, their representation and the title diminish women in the society. A proof of this is that women do not take any actions or intervene as a way of fighting for what is right. In conclusion, shows such as the Desperate Housewives attract a lot of audience, the core reason why they exemplify and underpin most people’s perception of the western culture enticing them to be more patriotic. Relatively, the stereotypes in Desperate Housewives appear because the television industry has always looked down upon women and in most of the programs, there is the customary detachment of work in matrimony and typically, women appear as underlings to men. 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