By Stella Nichols –

Desperate Houswives’ risqué plots and conniving characters have attracted both harsh criticism and a cult following. While the show has pushed the envelope that other shows haven’t even bothered to touch, this ABC hit is guilty of exploiting racial, gender and class typecasts that we, as viewers, are exposed to on a day-to-day basis.

Perhaps the one character that completely relies on cultural stereotypes is Gabrielle Solis, the typical over sexualized, domineering, money hungry Latina played by Eva Longoria Parker. And yet, there are many loyal viewers who will justify this show’s antics. Can this show be seen as a satirical portrayal of the non-existent perfect suburban life? Or does it simply perpetuate the clichés that we are bombarded with so often? Is Longoria exposing the stereotype or simply enhancing it?

From the unrealistic beauty standards that she obsesses over to the cheap and watered down use of sex appeal, all that Longoria’s character has to offer is the usual controversy. Many popular shows share the same blueprint. When imaginative and stimulating plots are scarce, insert sex.

Gabrielle Solis became aware of her sex appeal at a very young age. She came from a poor Mexican family and was sexually abused by her stepfather at the tender age of 15, prompting her to run away from home and maintain a deep resentment towards her mother.

At the age of 20, she used that sex appeal to seduce a photographer and become a model, developing a lifestyle that is completely dependent on her appearance.

Longoria had a roller coaster of a character to play. Gaby married Carlos Solis, a proud Mexican who openly admits he is a possessive man. During their marriage, she cheats on him with her underage gardener. Needless to say, Gaby has a very active sexual appetite and is willing so sacrifice her self-respect to have her needs fulfilled. I hate to break it to you folks, but adult viewers are just as impressionable as the teenage ones, and characters like Gaby are sending the wrong message to our hermanas.

I can fight Longoria’s character until I’m blue in the face, making the argument that Gaby is not an appropriate representation of Latinas. But ladies, this is not a one-woman battle, and I would be lying if I said I have never met a Latina who was as self-absorbed and needy as Gaby. These labels that we have to face everyday exist because we allow them to, and we accept other people’s definition of who we are instead of defining ourselves.

After a series of events, she and Carlos divorced. Modeling was no longer an option due to her age, forcing her to become a mentor for aspiring beauty queens. She eventually found love after Carlos and married mayoral candidate Victor Lang, who we later discover was using Gabrielle to obtain Latino votes for the election. Once she finds this out, she runs back to Carlos who consoles her and they eventually remarry.

Longoria’s character is every feminist’s nightmare. So you could imagine how shocked I was when I found out that Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry used to be a writer/producer on the last few seasons of The Golden Girls, one of television’s few feminist-friendly sitcoms.

The entire show cultivates a sense of competition among women rather than any kind of unification. Longoria, an actress who has gone on the record to say how proud she is to be a Latina, but she willingly plays a character that dehumanizes us. Longoria depicts an egotistical, self-centered, codependent Hispanic woman with a constant air of entitlement, and she depicts it well. Perhaps the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.