Gender Role Identity Crisis on Wisteria Lane: Desperate Housewives as a Metaphor for the Modern Day Woman

Carol Morgan
The compliaited issue of gender role identity is not dealt mi very often in the media. However, in order to see iis struggle in die modern day wommi, we need to look no irier i:m one l;unous street: Wisteria Liuie. In Ulis essay, die author mugues iat ie "desperate housewives" who live there collectively sene :LS a metaphor for gender role identity cri.Hes that nvmy modern day women experience. By exmnining each chuacter Irom a lcmimst/gender role identity perspective, a struggle am he seen heneen "Ihitasy" (what our society expects women to be like) and "reality" (what women are actwilly Uke). The author proposes that this "svet," :md ie women who live on it, represent tiie mtermd struggle ol ie average Americ.iui womiui. Introduction Supposedly, tlie most recent wave of feminism made life easier ;UH1 happier for modern day women. However, one has to step hack and ask, "is it re:ly easier and are iey rely happier?" Women of ie 195()s knew icir gender role. They were to get married, have babies, stay at home and niise tlicm. Now tlie choices arc not so simple. This complicated issue of iiegotiaUng gender role idcnty is nol dealt wiUi very often in die media. Yet Americmi society presents conllicting expecUons of what is means to be tlie "ideal wom;ui." I^or example, perhaps a modern day woman was niiscd to be independent, successful, :uid career-oricntcd, but when her older sister decides to (luit her job :uid stay home wii her children, her parcuLs praise her Ibr ie act. Where is ic consistency? The problem is, Uicrc is none. Most women iese days have ;ui ongoing internal struggle when de;Uing wii ieir gender role idcnty. Are icy a career woman? Are iey a moier? Arc they tlic perfect wife? Are iey ie sultry sex-kitten? Or arc iey all ol ic above:

C-ATol Morgan is m Associate Professor of Communication at Wiigfjl State University in Dayton, Ohio.

The Florida Communication Journal XXXIV, 2, 2007

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Gender Role Identity Crisis on Wisteria Lane

How can they be everyiiiig? These are the issues that modem day women face. In order to sec tliis struggle ilaycd out in national television, we need to look no fartlier tliaii one famous street: Wisteria L;uie. This is the site for the characters in ihe popular American program, Desperate Housewives. In this essay, I argue that the women who live on Wisteria Lane collectively serve as a met;iphor lor tlie gender role identity crisis of the modem day woman. By exiimining each character from a feminist/gender identity perspective, we can see tlie struggle between "fuitLsy" (what our society expects women to be like) and "reidity" (what women are actually like). This entire "street," and the women who live on it, represent the intemal struggle of die average American woman. Gender Roles and Feminism In order to critique the women on Wisteria Lane, we must first define "gender roles" and "gender role identity" ;uid tlieir relatioushii>s to feminism. In tlie social sciences, a gender role is defmed as a set of behaviond norms associated wii males anil wii females, resi)ectively, in a given social group or system. Most feminisLs ;irguc iat traditioiuil gender roles are oppressive for women. They assume tliat tlie female gender role was constructed as an opposite to an ideal male role, and tliat it heli)s to perpetuate jjatriarchy (Wood, 2004). Gender role identity is tlie how one views him/lierself in relation to the gender roles and ideals tliat their culture advocates. More specifically, it is infiuenced by socially enforced mies and values (Rosen,20i)l). For exiunple, in American society, die ideals for women's roles come in many packages: content stay-at-home mom, satisfied career wom;ui, beautiful anti skinny (tlius sexmdly desired l)y men), people-oriented, and emotional. But m;uiy ol tliese ide;ds conllict with one ;inotlier; to be one, you cannot be anotlier. Yon cannot be a successful career woman ;uid a stay-at-home mom at the same time. You must choose. Thus, it leads to intemal struggles for women. As iemides compare Uiemselves to tliese societal ideals, tlieir self esteem can be allected. If tliey live up to tliem, tiiey feel good about tliemselves. If tliey don't live up to them, it may lead to low self-esteem.

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Tliey may not even recognize ie contradictions between ie roles, which would lead to even greater dissasacon. r Gender roles and gender role idenly arc centred to feminist eriques (Rosen, 2001). These kinds of rcseardi studies are avenues lor women to claim a voice m defining who iey are ;iiid what rights, roles, and opi>ortiinies iey should have (Brownmiller, 2000). Most leminisLs WIKJ do iesc eriques also argue iat women's experiences are not incorporated into socieLy (Kaplan, 1992). . Crides coming from a feminist perspecve queson ;irtilacLs to discover wlieier iey allow women's views to be voiced (Barhc, l^iirrell, G:irner, Geiger, Joeres, Lyons, Maynes, Milelchldt, Prell, mid Ste.nhagen 1989)) It is important to identify how texts construct social realies and how iey can be deconstructed. In order lo understand the control systems used by society, ie symbolic construcdons of reality must be ideiiied (Reinharz, 1992). The Desperate Housewives on Wisteria Lane Desperate Housewives is primetime soap opera iat debuted m September, 2004 Lo unbelievably strong raugs. The hit series has been dubl)ed a "dark comedy" iat looks at suburbia, where ie secret lives ol housewives aren't always what iey seem. Tlie series began wii the eharacter M:iry Alice Young commitle( suicide. Via voice-over, she talks to ie audience "from the oier side and t;ikes iem into ie lives of her family, friends iuid neighhors, while commenng from her "heavenly viewpoint." And from Uns unique posion, Mary Alice sees more now ian she ever did alive, ;uid she too slKires :ill the delicious secrets iat hide behind every neighbor's closed door on Ulis seemingly jerfect Americiui street. .. . ,r , As I argued in ie beginning, Mary Alice's circle ol girlfriends on Wisteria Lane collecvely serve as a meUiplior lor ie modern day wom:ui s gender ideiity crisis, hi Uns secoii of ie essay, I will analyze eacli resident on Uns street to show how ieir dcpicon represents iis crisis. UI ie four main characters, two represent reality (what lile is really like lor ie average woman), and two of iem aie a blend of reality and lantasy (what American culture says women should be like).

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Gender Role Identity Crisis on Wistciia L;uif

The character who (li.si)lay.s llic mosL rc;ilistic struggles ol tlie modern day womiui is Lyiinettc Scavo {played by Felicity Hulmui). Her gender idenlily crisis is obvious. When the series began, she was a sUiy-athome-mom who g;ive up her very successful career to raise her lour childreu. Here we see the very real struggle between "career wom;ui" or "mom." Ill die Hrst season, Lyiielte was clearly lioL happy being a stay-athome-mom because her iree boys are wild and made her crazy. She frequendy craved tlie exciting business world tliat she left behind. Nol only does Lynette Scavo rci)rcsenL llie internal struggle !)etween career woman ;uid mom, she also i)resents a re;ilislic picture of moUierhood. In Americ;ui culture, llie general feeling is (liat women who stay at home with tlieir children should be content doing so. Rarely does tlie media address llie enormous stress of constanl child ciire. However, in lilis character we can see llie reitlily of women's iiiteni; struggle as well as the "not so pretty" picture of what it is like to be a stay-at-home-mom. This season, however, Lynette returned to her fast paced career in advertising while her husband slayed home witii tlie kids. This arrangcmenl didn't last long because he soon was desperate to get back inlo tlie workplace. A grim reality is represented hy tlie Scavo lamily; cliild-re;u-ing is still the woman's job and she can "last longer" doing il tli;ui a man. The oilier realistic ilcpicUon is Susan Mayer (played by Teri Hatcher). She is a divorcee and single mom who will go to extraordiniiry lengtlis lor love. She lliouglit she was happily married until her husband cheated on her wii a younger woman. Suddenly, her world went from "perfect" to "all too real." She was alone and wounded. This made her )arcularly \'ulnerable to men, and tlie characterization of Susan is not afraid to show il. She lives up to tlie cultural stereotype of an emotional woman who is constiuitly looking for love - usually ni ;11 tlie wrong places. Susan represents a grim reality lor women because many are facing tlie siune sLniggles as tliis cli;u-acter. Her husband left her for a younger wom;ui, and she is dealing willi lliose emotional scars. Unfortunately, tlial is a common scenario in life. In adilition, some real women ;ire divorcees who are attempting to balance moierhood, a job, and possibly a love life, just like lilis character. The balance is not easy, and it can take a toll on women's emotions, jusl as it lias on Sus;ui.

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Bree Vaii DeK:mip (played by M;u-a:i Cross) is one o lhe chiracLers iaL is a blend ol' reality and fantasy. FirsL, she is the epiLome o ie iradional female gender role. This is obviously a lanLasy depicon because mosL women do not have ie Ume, cflorL, or desire Lo be hke Maria SLewarL. The ]>ro(lucers mighL as welljusL have called her Maria, because iaL is who her characLer mimics (wii die excepoii ol ie billionaire sUiLus). OuLwardly, Bree is perfect. She runs ie perlect household, had a spoess living environment, is a phenomen; hosless, iuul aui ouL-cook anyone. Aldiough Uie recent wave of feminism supposedly bmiished Ulis gender ideal, L sll exisLs. American cuUure expeds women to be a hleiid of LyneLLe Scavo (moUier/career wommi) and Bree Van DeKiunp (Mardia SLewarL). As "perfecL" as Bree appears, her characLer is ;ilso rooted m reity. T h e relaouships she has wii her children are atiyiing buL perfecL. Her son is a paUiologied liar and crimiiu. He hit a neighbor's moier-in-law wii his e;u- on ie street and Look olf (hiL and run). NoL only did he leel no remorse, he became belligerenL because of iL. T o Lop iL all, much Lo Bree's dismay, he is also a receny ouL-of-ie-closeL homosexual. He ireciuenUy bullies his moier and is a general disgrace lo socieLy. This is a realisc porLrayal of the often Lense relaLionsliips modiers have widi ieir teenagers. Gabrielle Solis (played by Eva Longoria) is anoier cluirac Ler which is a blend of laiiUtsy and reidiLy. l l i e imiLasy is iaL she is ;ui ex-model wii everyiing she's ever wanted - a rich husband, a big house, and all ie Ume Lo go shopping iaL she needs. She is ie sLereoLyjje of a rich, spoiled "Daddy's girl" who aspires Lo noiing in life except Lo have everyimg she ever wanLed bc luuided Lo her on a silver plaLLer. This is playing iiiLo ie stereotype UiaL all women waiiL Lo marry a rich m^ui ;uid live liapi)ily ever afLer. T h e oier aspect of ic lanLLsy wii Gabrielle is iat she is ie gender ide: in Lerms ol' physic beauty. T h e average Americmi wom:ui is a size 12, and she is i)robably a size zero. Men desire her, ;uid she knows iL. However, jusL like her neighbors, Cabrielle's lile is ;so rooted-in "realiLy." She is iioL hai)pily married. She is noL living happily ever alLer WI1 her rich prince. This W:LS demonsLraLed as Uie series opened: she was having an affair wii her leenage gardener. She is beauful, skinny, and could have any man she wants. YeL she is so miserable in lier "i)erlecL marriiige iaL she seeks ouL coniforL in ie irms of a 17 year old boy. 'Hic

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depiction of Gabrielle Sohs is one where women want the fantasy of being beautiful witli a rich husband, but tlie reality of tliis situation is tJiat it can be very lonely.

Conclusion Clearly, tliere are gender role identity crises happening on Wisteria Liuie. Even tliougli tliis issue is not dealt wifh very much in tJie media, tlie women on tliis street t;ike a step in die right direction. Through a diirk, soap opera-hke comedy, women's experiences are being "heard" by tlie patriarchal culture. Much like rap music served as a voice for young Alrican American men, Desperate Housewives serves as a voife for women: "Our choices and expeet;iti(>ns are too mueh. Sometliing needs to be done." Anotlier interesting point is tliat the series does not f//>cT/r address tliese issnes, which is very consistent with femides' huiguage style: indireriess. Even tliough it is not a straight-forward m;uiner of delivery, the message is still clear. Most women want to live up to tlie expectations of American culture, yet tlic re:ility is tliat most do not do so. Patriiirchy has forced women into yet uioier corner. This time it is not the house and ilie kids, it is tlie elioices ;uid die pressure of doing it all. The recent wave of feminism has made women's lives wonderful in niiuiy respecLs, hut it has also complicated (Jieir lives. Changes still need to be ma<le in society. Perhaps if Aniericiui social institutions recognized women's need for balance, time for themselves, and the importance of the role of men in tlie fmnily, it would ease ie pressure on tlie women. Then they would not have to "be evcrytliing" and "do it all." They would liave help from men and society at large. Alter all, isn't tliat tlie wliole point of leminismP For men and women to be etinal in ;di spheres of life? Unfortunately, our friends on Wisteria Umc tell us tliat we still have a long way to go.

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References
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