Desperate Housewives

On week days during the afternoon, old episodes of Desperate Housewives come on the Lifetime channel. Today I turned on the show halfway through the episode, but the part that I did see contained messages about gender roles. Lynette Scavo found out that her pizza restaurant’s building license was no longer accurate. She couldn’t get in touch with her husband, Tom, so she had to take manners into her own hands and get the papers signed by herself. Later that evening when she told Tom about what she had done, he was very upset. He said that he had been trying for weeks to get the building owner to sign the papers but his wife was able to do it in one day. When Lynette asked him why it was such a big deal to him, he said it was because he was the MAN. He was the one who should take charge and get things done. Tom then tells Lynette that he also can’t get an exterminator or a plumbing person to come out. And when Lynette says she will take care of it, he gets upset again. “I’m a man. I don’t want your help. I shouldn’t have to run to my wife every time I can’t do something.” Tom’s attitude towards the situation reflects how much of society views masculinity. Some believe that it is the man who should run all the business matters and that the woman is not capable of doing it. However, Lynette was much more capable of these jobs than her husband. Tom was willing to sacrifice his business instead of asking for help from his wife, who he believes is inferior to him. This episode disproves the concept that women are inferior to men.