1. Gender representation in the T.V drama genre is used in various ways such as portraying
character status, power, or level of conflict with other characters. The various codes and
conventions were portrayed to present the different stereotypical and associated
behaviours of certain individual females and males. This especially was conveyed
throughout the Mildred Pierce sequence as the typical ideology of an American Dream
type of family is greatly implied. The physical appearance of Mildred and her husband, as
well as the mise-en-scene and camera shots all reinforce the multiple representations of
gender in the sequence.
The gender representation of Mildred Pierce being a stereotypical submissive housewife is
portrayed in detail in the sequence. In this opening scene, Mildred is seen cooking in the
kitchen. Which is usually an associated behaviour with housewives who stay at home and
are in charge of taking care of the children as well as preparing the food for the family.
Mildred is also portrayed wearing an apron to further reinforce the conforming of her
stereotypical wifely duties cooking. Her husband is contrasted with her, as his male gender
is represented with the stereotypical nature of performing hard practical work outside.
Such as watering the grounds in the sun and mowing the lawns. The associated behaviour
of Mildred Pierce representing a domesticated woman is further reinforced through the
mise-en-scene in the sequence. There is a contrast in lighting outside where it is brighter
where as while inside, there is much more low key lighting which is conveying a sense of
how she is stuck in her house while her husband is free to go about outside.
The gender representation of Mildred Pierce and her husband conforming to their
associated stereotypical behaviour is reinforced through their physical appearance as well
as their mode of address in the sequence. In the scene where the two get involved in an
argument in the kitchen, there is an obvious sense of power and status conflict between
the two different genders. Mildred doesn’t look at her husband when addressing him,
conveying an inferior personality in the argument. Where as the husband being a binary
opposite is conforming to the hegemonic viewpoint in the argument as he was on the
higher level while she was sitting down. Mildred questions her husband, “Are you going to
be home for supper?” which is representing her stereotypical submissive nature because
she doesn’t know whether he is going to come back or not and is not aware of what his
husband is doing during work. The contrast between the two is further reinforced during
the argument in the wide angle shot. Which portrays Mildred in the background while he is
in the foreground to further conform the husband being represented as a stereotypical
dominant patriarch. However, in the same scene, Mildred subverts the husbands
hegemonic viewpoint, as she is being more dominant by telling him what he should be
doing to run the house such as watering the gardens at night rather than in the day. Which
is representing Mildred with a sense of matriarchy.
The gender representation of a stereotypical female is further conveyed through the
panning shots of the cooking on the table to portray her domesticated lifestyle. In the
opening scene, there are also close up shots of her whisking with various selective sounds
of shaking and pasting to further conform to her domesticated duties. While the husband is
portrayed with the selective sounds of the lawn mower as well as the water tap turing as
the husband conforms to performing his manly duties. The female representation of
Mildred is performing her domesticated duties while being trapped in the house is
conveyed in the sequence because there are tracking shots of her husband being filmed
from inside the house as she watches him. There is also a distortion of the shot through
the window to convey a sense of mystery to the character. The 1940s type upbeat music
used in the sequence gives the viewers a false impression of the American Dream with a
great male and female marriage as there relationship is awful after the dialogue is

2. revealed with their argument. Also, in the same scene during their argument where the
husband is being portrayed as the more dominant person. There is a cutaway to the
portraits of the families in the living room, the music starts to build up again as the dialogue
starts to fade down to convey how the children and the family as a whole is of more
importance than the individual parent.
In conclusion, in this sequence of Mildred Pierce the represented individual characters’
genders were carefully portrayed in detail. As certain characters such as Mildred and her
husband are both blatantly represented through the various camera shots, sound, lighting
and mise-en-scene. The ideology of gender representation in T.V drama can be used to
portray a more true to life situation in the T.V series. Also, to conform to the realistic
stereotypical nature of males and females.