Karen, a college history student and aspiring author, presents her own views, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

At first, I was going to write about constructive criticism for the new series Surviving Suburbia, but as I looked over some links to sources, I began to think that the series will not be renewed for another season anyway, so any constructive criticism will be moot. I had wanted to discuss the ditzy and flimsy character of Anne Patterson whose role in the series was housewife. I also wanted to discuss strong and positive housewives from other popular series that the writers and producers of Surviving Suburbia could use to remodel the character of Anne Patterson into a stronger woman.

Well, although any constructive criticism is now pointless, the positive TV housewife examples remain. There is nothing wrong with women being housewives; the only problem arises when people assume housewifery should be the be-all of womanhood and not a choice. Feminism is a complex issue. To a large extent, participating in the workforce is one of the main feminist goals; millennia of patriarchy kept women shunned in their homes and denied them honorable jobs. The workforce and politics are the main areas in which women prove themselves equal to men, yet feminism is more than being able to hold jobs or to have powerful status. Women could have jobs in FDLS, for instance; and in Robert Jordon’s Wheel of Time, there were many matriarchal societies and institutions. However, in FDLS, women were expected to obey their husbands and give their paychecks to him; in Wheel of Time, despite all the matriarchy, Robert Jordon wrote his women as hormone-driven sex objects for men who did not want them.

Feminism is more than politics and workforce. Feminism is about respecting a woman’s individuality, body, and soul. All women whether they be housewives or career women deserve this respect. And so, I will discuss three fictional women who I consider very positive examples of housewives.

The earliest positive housewife that comes to mind is Marion Cunningham from the show Happy Days. Marion was self-aware, composed, and assertive in her role as housewife. Unlike Laura Petrie who went crying to Rob, if Marion heard an 8-year-old Richie cussing, she would march him straight to the bathroom and shove a bar of soap in his mouth. Marion rarely argued with her husband, but when they did get into a fight, her arguments were sensible and intelligent. Moreover, Marion’s sheer delight at “feeling frisky” indicates she is a woman who has control and confidence over her sexuality. The scenes in question can be found two minutes and five seconds into this YouTube clip under the section titled “Getting Frisky.”

Anne Patterson from Surviving Suburbia complied with her husband out of meekness and obedience. On the other hand, Marion was full of excitement and enthusiasm, an equal to her husband. In one scene, she and her husband were kissing; he pulled away to say something, but she pulled his head back for a deeper kiss. In another scene at a teen party, they both reminisced over their younger and more friskier days before running up the stairs together.

Another positive example of housewifery is Jill Taylor from Home Improvement. Like Marion, Jill was also self-aware, composed, and assertive. Jill often criticized her husband due to his tendency to blow things up. In the very first episode, Jill told Tim not to mess with the dishwasher, but rather than listening to her, he tried to fix it. The dishwasher exploded. She hired a professional repairman to fix household stuff near the end of the second season. Often in the series, she settled family disputes, advised her husband not to fix anything and doted upon her youngest son Mark. Without a daughter to share her interests, she often tried to get Mark interested in her same hobbies. Although her sense of sexual empowerment is not as obvious as in Marion’s case, – Home Improvement is more prudish than Happy Days – it is easy to infer from her intelligence and authority in the household that she was also empowered there as well. As her children grew older, Jill returned to college and got a job, no longer making her a housewife.

The last positive example of housewifery comes from a police drama The Closer. The mother of title character Brenda Leigh Johnson is every bit the strong-minded, intelligent, and assertive housewife. Due to her clever mind and quick-wit, Willie Rae is often portrayed as the domestic counterpart to her crime-fighting, workaholic daughter Brenda. When she first appeared, she discovered that Brenda had a live-in boyfriend – a fact Brenda tried to hide – by observing all the minute details in her house. Near the end of season hour, Wille Rae’s husband fell ill and required mediation. Her husband became healthy again, but he also whined and became listless, depressed, shirking off romantic occasions among other things. A paraphrased piece of dialogue follows:

Clay: I don’t know how the sunlight will interact with my medication.
Willie Rae: You better start thinking of how your medication is interacting with me. Now, I’m going to Hawaii with or without you.

Willie Rae is a strong and assertive character who never backs down from confronting a moral wrong. In many ways, she is the domestic counterpart to her daughter Brenda Leigh whose skill and strength has enabled her to defeat villains ranging from gang members to terrorists. The downside to domesticity is naivety; Marion was naïve, as is Willie Rae. Sometimes the antagonists of The Closer, despite their actions, are not evil; sometimes, they are good and decent people who made horrible decisions. When Willie Rae saw Brenda tricking one murderer who loved his younger brother to convince him to return to Los Angeles, Willie Rae confronted her daughter about her dishonesty. The lie was that his younger brother was dead, and he needed to pick up the body. Brenda pointed out that this man was responsible for the tragic deaths of two security guards whose wives and children were now forced to celebrate Christmas without them. Despite her clever mind and quick wit, Willie Rae’s housewife status made her naïve to the complexity and hardships of the world. This naivety is the ultimate downfall of domesticity.