Does desperate houswives offer new repesentations of women

career driven, as opposed to the traditional archetype of the female mother figure, as shown in some fairytales.The story of Cinderella shows a character that is motherless and lives with her step-mother. Because she doesn’t have a mother she is portrayed as being and outcast, rejected by the rest of her family and is kept away from society, thus emphasising the importance of a mother figure and the negative outcome if this role is not there.The typical mother figure is also represented in Greek mythology with Hera “Goddess of marriage, women, and childbirth, It is said that it was only when humanity discovered man's role in procreation that male gods began to be worshipped.  Instead of representing a more modern representation of women which challenge traditional stereotypes it could be argued that Desperate Housewives portrays some stereotypical roles of women who range from the trophy wife to the femme fatale (downfall of man) that originate from the idea of Adam and Eve. A femme fatale is an alluring and seductive woman who charms her lovers often leading them into compromising dangerous and deadly situations, such as when Eve tempts Adam into eating the apple. This role can be seen in the character of Edie Britt. Edie: “You’re a woman. Manipulate him. That’s what we do.”Christian ideology is often shown in desperate housewives where we see the women tempting men and the men being victimized and tempted. An example of this is where we see Edie trying to seduce Orson whom is married, and eventually gives in by kissing her. This reflects the Christian ideology that women cause the downfall of man, and that men are manipulated and victimized by women.Laura Mulvey’s idea of the Male gaze can also be applied to Desperate Housewives. Feminist Germaine Greer writes; “Every women knows that regardless of her other achievements, she is a failure if she is not beautiful”, Desperate Housewives suggests that not much has changed with characters such as Edie and Gabrielle conforming to the conventions of the beauty ideal established by the dominant ideology of a patriarchal society.  The 'male gaze' usually focuses on Gabrielle as she is seen as the sexiest character. Gabrielle is almost always dressed in tight fitting clothes and high heels. Her make up consists of heavy eye make up and dark red lipstick. She dresses to fulfil the male fantasy. In one episode her character fails to seduce her gardener john as he has a younger girlfriend. This represents Gabrielle as desperate and weak. Reflecting the modern ideology that youth is beauty and that women are failures if they are not beautiful. This shows the institutions western values and ideologies. In the 1970s “women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, and victimized women's interactions were very often concerned with romance” (Gunter, 1995) Susan represents an overused and more vulnerable characterization of women. Susan, one of the leading characters of the show, is predominantly presented as a mother. However her main attempt is to seduce one of her neighbours, Mike.Susan is shown as weak because the majority of the time she ends up in tears after a relationship crisis, this is a typical representation of women, to be tearful and victimized, and almost suggests that women are incapable of dealing with the rejection of men, representing women as vulnerable and insecure.  It could be argued that the women of desperate housewives are portrayed in this way as a male backlash at feminism and that men are happy in thinking that women cannot cope without them.