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Molly C Weinberg Thesis .pdf (430.03 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

The Quest For Power In Desperate Housewives: Ideal Femininity Through The Body, Emotion, and Employment

Weinberg, Molly C
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1395604282

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture.
One of the most powerful arenas where the construction of ideal femininity gets constructed is through the depiction of women on television. My thesis investigates one of the most popular television shows in the 21st century, Desperate Housewives. It explores how the female protagonists are depicted through the ways they attempt to maintain power within their suburban worlds. My thesis discusses how certain power is allotted within the narrative of the show. I investigate the implication that power is a good thing, and also offer analysis with some of the problems of gaining power. We not only see constrained power, but also see women in positions of status. Power within family dynamics, romantic love/marriage, and domestic and professional activities are central to my thesis. I focus on beauty and image through consumption, the struggles for women balancing their domestic and professional worlds, and alternative depictions of femininity through the repression of emotion. I use textual analysis to examine dialogue, plot and narrative, character development, genre, and aesthetics/formal elements within production, which include costumes, make-up, cinematography, editing, acting, lighting, and sound. My thesis draws on feminist scholarship within media studies and popular culture studies; specifically elements of sociological and psychological theory within the context of gender.
Becca Cragin (Committee Chair)
Marilyn Motz (Committee Member)
Sandra Faulkner (Committee Member)
70 p.
American Studies; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Personal Relationships; Sociology; Womens Studies
Desperate Housewives; Media Studies; Sociology; Popular Culture; Femininity; Mass Media; Gender Studies; Womens Studies; American Culture; American Studies; Visual Culture; Television Studies; Film; Film Studies; Social Roles; Social Norms; Power; Gender

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Weinberg, M. C. (2014). The Quest For Power In Desperate Housewives: Ideal Femininity Through The Body, Emotion, and Employment [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1395604282

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Weinberg, Molly. The Quest For Power In Desperate Housewives: Ideal Femininity Through The Body, Emotion, and Employment . 2014. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1395604282.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Weinberg, Molly. "The Quest For Power In Desperate Housewives: Ideal Femininity Through The Body, Emotion, and Employment ." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1395604282

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1395604282
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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.