Women’s Roles in the Series Desperate Housewives: A Feminist Perspective

Abstract

Desperate Housewives, created by Marc Cherry and aired on the ABC channel for eight seasons, can be considered a representation of gender, specifically femininity, on the Television (Bignell, 2008). Its plot focuses on the lives of 4 women (Bree, Lynette, Gabriel and Susan) who represent the internal struggles of the average woman, such as disempowerment, restrictions, and the confusing relationships of modern women in society (Morgan, 2007; Coward, 2006; Sayeau, 2006). Although feminist movement emerged and passed through lots of phrases, it is still skeptical whether the women in the society, to be specific the 4 female protagonists who portrayed the traditional housewives struggled from making their own choices, and how the society reacted to them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to critically analyze the women’s roles in the series by using the Feminist Theory as a lens. Season eight of the series was selected since it is the latest and shows the conclusion of all the characters. The results of the analysis showed all aspects of women's roles which reflected the feminist theory in many ways.



Author Information
Cholawat Prawalpatamakul, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Suban Keowkanya, Khon Kaen University, Thailand

Paper Information
Conference: ACEID2017
Stream: Education: social justice and social change

This paper is part of the ACEID2017 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon