The Gender Inequality In Mistresses

The females’ statues have been greatly improved since the appearance and fast development of feminist movements. The reflection on females’ statues in society and the problem of gender inequalities has been encouraged so more and more people started to think about these questions and to seek solutions to these problems. Many feminists are constantly thinking and promoting the development of the feminist movements. The American soap opera is a kind of art originating from life and reflecting the lives and values of American people. In this thesis, the author tries to find the gender inequalities at workplace, at home and in relationships and their causes in the American soap opera Mistresses.In this thesis, the author tries to show us the gender inequalities in three aspects in Mistresses and their causes in three chapters. First the author illustrates the existence of gender inequality in Mistresses using Laura Mulvey’s visual pleasure theory and analyzing how the four female characters have fallen into the objects of male desires. They are not treated as equal workers but as the objects of male desires. Examples of gender inequalities at workplace in Mistresses are given. Then the author tries to use Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of the second sex and analyze how the four female characters have fallen into “the other” to show the gender inequalities at home in Mistresses. In the last part, the author believes that gender inequality in relationships is partly caused by the society’s sculpture of females of femininity, and males of masculinity. The author goes deep in what the author believes is the main cause of gender inequality: a society of patriarch power. Nowadays, females are required not only to be of femininity but also some of masculinity to be strong enough to survive this cruel society. This is inevitable because we are in a society of patriarch power.This thesis presents us the gender inequalities at workplace, at home and in relationships under the theory of Mulvey’s visual pleasue, Beauvoir’s “the Other” and the patriarchy.