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The layers of makeup, elaborate hairdos and drop-dead gowns seem a far cry from the ideal of "natural" beauty that arose in the 1960s and '70s. Yet the actresses so lavishly accoutred insist that their roles are not a step backward for the feminist movement. "Natural is wonderful, but natural can also get a little boring," says Fairchild, 34. "I think the women's liberation movement finally has come full circle. Women have come to be confident enough in themselves that they don't feel they have to be stripped of everything to be taken seriously, that they can start having a little of the fun of being a woman again."
Indeed, beneath all this ornamentation lie a number of strong, independent female characters, who represent a big advance over the homebound, second-banana roles to which TV once relegated women. Alexis Colby is head of an oil empire. Fairchild's character runs a top modeling agency. Even the fun-loving private eyes are doing work formerly reserved for men. "Lynda Carter and I play two working women," says Anderson. "We rent a house, and a man is our servant. Women want to see women being both strong and glamorous at the same time. To be glamorous doesn't mean that you are frivolous."
Of course, these "strong" women are often hard to take seriously, given the baroque fantasy worlds they inhabit. Moreover, the strongest among them embody one of the culture's most retrograde stereotypes: the conniving bitch. Such roles are an "outlet for women and their fantasies of power," suggests Tania Modleski, professor of film and literature at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. "But these fantasies are also negated at the same time, because it's not right for good women to lust for power. So they are put in the person of a villainess." Most feminists, however, seem to regard these characters benignly. "The dragon-lady character has always been a stereotype," points out Susan Brownmiller, author of Against Our Will and Femininity. "But shows like Dallas at least give women the illusion that there is a way into power for them."
The most avid supporters of these roles are, not surprisingly, the women who portray them. "It's fun," says Merrill, whose wealthy character on Hot Pursuit has her husband murdered and frames an innocent woman for the crime. "You get all the aggressions out of your system." Diahann Carroll, who joined Dynasty at the end of last season as the haughty Dominique Deveraux, announced proudly that she would be playing "TV's first black bitch." On the other hand, Collins insists that there is more to Alexis than malevolence: "Women look to her struggles, her strong sense of identity, her feeling that she will never give up. She is a strong believer in herself, and I think that's what a lot of women identify with."