Gabrielle Solis: The Desperate Housewife

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Recommended: Gender inequality in the media today

“It is not gender which is destroying our culture…it is our interpretations of culture which has destroyed gender equality.” - Cambodian Civil Group

Being masculine or feminine is something that has become a limiting factor recently and in past history. Society views a person based on their sex; male or female, and categorizes the individual according to their gender (Cambridge, 2011). For centuries, women have been associated with certain characteristics such as being weak, domestic, and not capable of responsibility yet, men are seen as strong and dominant (Keller, 1994: 234). The entertainment industry gives people the image that males are more dominate over females by showing females as the foremost parental figure, homemakers, and sex objects. Culture has set very defined roles for each gender, and these roles are driven and promoted by the hit television show, Desperate Housewives.

Desperate Housewives is an American comedy-drama series, which focuses on the lives of four women whom work past domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their, striking and apparently perfect suburban community. The portrayal of these women is very patriarchal, as they are all seen as stay at home moms, who are dependent on their male partners. The shows suburban community is based on the advancement of men; and women are marginalized and diminished in stereotypical roles, undoubtedly portrayed through the character of Gabrielle Solis, played by Eva Longoria. Consequently, Gabrielle is a prime example of how Desperate Housewives upholds the hegemonic ideology that females are docile, dependent and domestic beings.

“Every woman knows that regardless of her other achievemen...

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Radway, Janice A. 1991 [1987]. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Culture. Reprint edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

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