Reading 'Desperate Housewives': Beyond the White Picket Fence (Reading Contemporary Television)

The darkly comic series about the secret lives of Bree, Gabrielle, Lynette, Susan and the other ladies living on Wisteria Lane became an instant breakthrough hit when it premiered in the fall of 2004. Reading Desperate Housewives offers a wide-ranging critical assessment of one of the most talked about shows on American television, dissecting its appeal and tapping into early responses to the show and the controversy surrounding it. Essays consider such diverse issues as its representation of the war of the sexes and how it illuminates contemporary feminism, Republican politics and the rise of the Right, gender and femininity, motherhood and marriage--as well as the rumors surrounding that notorious Vanity Fair cover shoot. Also including an episode guide, this enjoyable companion asks: Has this show done for suburban women what Sex and the City did for the single girl? Introduction: Airing The Dirty Laundry / Janet Mccabe And Kim Akass -- Part 1: Culture -- 'w' Stands For Women, Or Is It Wisteria?: Watching Desperate Housewives With Bush 43 / David Lavery -- Still Desperate: Popular Television And The Female Zeitgeist / Rosalind Coward -- Having It All: Desperate Housewives' Flimsy Feminism / Ashley Sayeau -- Still Desperate After All These Years: The Post-feminist Mystique And Maternal Dilemmas / Kim Akass -- Part 2: Sexual Politics -- Desperately Straight: The Subversive Sexual Politics Of Desperate Housewives / Samuel A. Chambers -- What Is It With That Hair? Bree Van De Kamp And Policing Contemporary Femininity / Janet Mccabe -- As Kamp As Bree: Post-feminist Camp In Desperate Housewives / Niall Richardson -- Queer Dilemmas: The 'right' Ideology And Homosexual Representation In Desperate Housewives / Kristian T. Kahn -- Hunters, Heroes And The Hegemonically Masculine Fantasies Of Desperate Housewives / Brian Singleton -- Part 3: Genre, Gender And Cultural Myths -- Disciplining The Housewife In Desperate Housewives And Domestic Reality Television / Sharon Sharp -- Murder And Mayhem On Wisteria Lane: A Study Of Genre And Cultural Context In Desperate Housewives / Judith Lancioni -- White Picket Fences, Domestic Containment And Female Subjectivity: The Quest For Romantic Love / Sherryl Wilson -- Desperation And Domesticity: Reconfiguring The 'happy Housewife' In Desperate Housewives / Anna Marie Bautista -- Part 4: Narrative, Confession And Intimacy -- Dying To Tell You Something: Posthumous Narration And Female Omniscience In Desperate Housewives / Deborah Jermyn -- Desperation Loves Company: Female Friendship And The Façade Of Female Intimacy In Desperate Housewives / Sherianne Shuler, M. Chad Mcbride And Erika L. Kirby -- 'mother, Home And Heaven': Nostalgia Confession And Motherhood In Desperate Housewives / Stacy Gillis And Melanie Waters -- Desperately Debating Housewives / Jennifer L. Pozner And Jessica Seigel. Edited By Janet Mccabe & Kim Akass. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-239) And Index. Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Contributors......Page 16 Cast List......Page 22 Introduction......Page 24 Part 1: Culture......Page 38 1.'W' stands for women, or is it Wisteria?......Page 40 2. Still desperate: Popular television and the female Zeitgeist......Page 54 3. Having it all: Desperate Housewives' flimsy feminism......Page 65 4. Still desperate after all these years......Page 71 Part 2: Sexual Politics......Page 82 5. Desperately straight......Page 84 6. What is with that hair?......Page 97 As Kamp as Bree......Page 109 Queer dilemmas......Page 118 Hunters, heroes and the hegemonically masculine fantasies of Desperate Housewives......Page 129 Part 3: Genre, Gender and Cultural Myths......Page 140 10. Disciplining the housewife in Desperate Housewives and domestic reality television......Page 142 11. Murder and mayhem on Wisteria Lane......Page 152 12. White picket fences, domestic containment and female subjectivity......Page 167 13. Desperation and domesticity......Page 179 Part 4: Narrative, Confession and Intimacy......Page 190 14. Dying to tell you something......Page 192 15. Desperation loves company......Page 203 16. 'Mother, home and heaven'......Page 213 17. Desperately debating housewives......Page 229 Episode Guide......Page 238 Film and TV Guide......Page 244 Bibliography......Page 248 Index......Page 264 Everyone has a little dirty laundry.' The darkly comic series about the secret lives of the ladies living on Wisteria Lane became an instant breakthrough hit for ABC. 21 million viewers tuned in for the first episode and this figure has steadily grown as audiences from around the globe have switched on to the shenanigans in suburbia. "Desperate Housewives" was subject to a backlash in America, where advertisers on the ABC network were lobbied by Christian groups and Parents' Associations. But the sponsorship withdrawal that resulted did little to dampen the enthusiasm of its legions of fans. Recipient of several awards including the People's Choice Award and Golden Globe for Best Television - Musical or Comedy, "Desperate Housewives" is a hit. "Reading Desperate Housewives" offers a critical response to one of the most talked about shows on contemporary television. Leading scholars and writers dissect the appeal of "Desperate Housewives", tapping into early reactions and controversy. They consider the American sex wars, contemporary feminism, Republican politics and the rise of the Right, gender and femininity, motherhood and marriage - and that Vanity Fair shoot. The book includes an episode guide tracing all those goings-on beyond that white picket fence.