Judith Butler provides a rather interesting understanding on gender. She recognizes how women's subordination to men has been common in most parts of the world. This has been accompanied by oppressions, exploitations, discriminations and humiliations. Women have received discrimination in several areas that form a crucial part of their life mainly because of their gender differences, though gender is realistic only to the extent in which it is performed. "Sex is considered a fact - one is born with either male or female genitalia. Gender is considered a social construction - it grants meaning to the fact of sex. Conversely, it could be said that only after specific meanings came to be attached to the sexes, did sex differences become pertinent". Gender differences; though man-made has been attributed to be the reason behind gender-based discriminations, which have been legitimized in patriarchal societies (Gender Performativity).
According to Butler, men have been considered superior compared to women, leading to “a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Gender Performativity). Butler explains to the reader that Gender results from hierarchical and unequal power relations that give men the ‘authority’ of controlling women’s sexuality, production and reproduction because it has emanated from how humans have acted over several years, how an individual looks and acts, and has been policed by the society. The nature of subjugation and control varies across different societies because of the differences in religion, ethnicity, class and socio-cultural practices (Gender Performativity). However, characteristics like control of women’s reproductive power and their sexuality tends to be common because a number of social practices and institutions like schools, family and society have legitimized the control.
Most societies assign women the responsibilities of nurturing and rearing children. From the first season of “Desperate Housewives” Lynette and Susan have had to drop their careers and concentrate on child rearing. “Patriarchal ideas blur the distinction between sex and gender and assume that all socio-economic and political distinctions between men and women are rooted in biology or anatomy” (Gender Performativity). From a traditionalist point of view, Gender has been considered a biologically determined factor, and, therefore, men and women should be assigned different roles since they have different biological make ups (Butler, 1992). Men have been portrayed as wealthy and expensive, they hold jobs away from home, and they make household decisions and buy women ‘goodies’ to compensate for their flaws. This has sparked criticism amongst feminists who despite agreeing that their biological differences can result to different roles, men should not be dominant in the sexual hierarchy. This enables one to understand that gender cannot be tied to the material bodily constructions, but is rather a social concept and a fictional construction that can only be described as man-made. Gender results from humans and has been developing through history because of the political and socio-economic arrangements of the society.
The “Desperate Housewives” act as a metaphor for gender by the modern woman. Each of the women in exhibit the true character of women and what the society expects from them, signifying the internal struggle that most women face. Feminists have come out and are aware of the unequal control in family, and society. For a long time, the society has downplayed women because of their gender identity, though all these downplay result from man-made assumptions, and would be non-existent if the society embraced a different lifestyle.
The woman in most cases is supposed to perform menial jobs around the house and take care of visitors and her children while men should bring food and provide security for their family. Women have been portrayed to wear make-up and tight clothes, and involved in relationship dramas. According to Butler, these kinds of gender stereotypes put women at a disadvantage over men and, therefore, make them vulnerable to different forms of injustices and discriminations in the society. These women become socially suppressed and economically exploited by the males transforming them into weaker sexes in the society (Gender Performativity). In addition, schools and media also shape the gender question in the society, since gender ideologies tend to be perpetuated by patriarchal constructions of knowledge. Most media and educational institutions dwell on male dominance and instill a sense of ‘unworthiness’ among females.
Concisely “This means that the truth is hard to handle, but even though it is, one has to accept it. The media portrayals put women down, and it is time for it to change”. This puts the man at a superior position symbolizing him as a provider and master who should be worshiped as a god. This furthers the notion that women are only sex objects who should take care of men, and this discourages most women from trying to succeed in attaining their full potential. Gender values controlling women’s mobility and sexuality became more effective during the past, though initially women used to get equal treatment as men in the society. All these might have resulted due to the emergence of class in the society and the increase of private property.
The media have the biggest responsibility of portraying women more accurately since they play a major role of educating the public. The content they display has adverse effects on the population and control the thinking of the society, “This means that love can be the most wonderful or most horrible thing that can happen. One cannot control whom he/she falls for, and one should not choose based off of wealth or attractiveness which is one false portrayal of the media”. From the eighth season of “Desperate Housewives”, women have been viewed as smart and successful, affecting what men and women view as socially acceptable.
Butler clearly recognizes that gender differences are the reason behind gender discriminations. In addition, these discriminations have been worsened because they have been legitimized by most societies. However, they are ‘man-made’, meaning they have only emerged because of the manner in which societies view different genders and assign them different roles. These discriminations would not exist if societies, media, and educational institutions would embrace the female and treat her equal to the male.
References
Butler, J. (1992). Feminists Theories the Political. London: Routledge.
Gender Performativity. (n.d.).
