ITA agree with this re the clothes & IMO she started visibly relaxing post-Vogler. It was if she won that battle with someone like him & said she's got nothing more to prove.

With regard to Cuddy's clothing choices, I agree completely that she is expressing her freedom to do as she pleases in an area of her life that she controls exclusively. She dresses in a manner that strongly emphasizes her femininity because she can at last afford it, both financially and career-wise. I also think it is interesting to note that in the several instances we have had in which we have been given a glimpse into House's interior imagination, he dresses Cuddy quite differently from the way she dresses herself in real life. In "Three Stories," the Cuddy of House's account who discusses options with Stacy and who revives House's heart is dressed in staid collared shirts with dull flowered prints -- no clinging, no cleavage. Likewise in "No Reason," the Cuddy of House's unconscious longing dresses in a white buttoned-up shirt and red skirt combination or a dark dress that is professional but verging on the schoolmarmish. She looks nice, but the flamboyance, sexiness, and provocation are not there. Again we see a glimpse of House's inner Cuddy in "Top Secret." In the climactic dream sequence that reveals the solution to the puzzle, House dresses her in a close fitting knit shirt that is bright magenta, but she is also covered in a concealing lab coat and again there is no hint of cleavage. I think this pattern suggests that at least on a subconscious level House sees Cuddy as warmer, more conventionally professional, and less sexually aggressive than the view she projects of herself. He appears to see her as protective, professional, competent, comfortably sexy and invitingly feminine -- without the over-the top fashion statements that she currently favors. Maybe all of House's disparaging comments about her low-cut blouses and the outfits which "scream I am a woman" are meant to signal that he doesn't feel Cuddy needs to dress this way in order to attract his attention. She has captured it already.

Cuddy soo knows House would bop her in a millisecond.

Very smart catch, blacktop! :thumb up:

blacktop that's a very great intepretation on how House sees Cuddy and it kind of blows the whole "it's only about sex between them" argument out of the water.

Putting ythis here as I think LE had something very interesting to say about the baby arc and where it came from: I was flipping through the Fall 2007 issue of Bitch magazine (it's a zine featuring a feminist response to pop culture) and got a real surprise! There is a short interview with Lisa Edelstein by Bitch co-founder Andi Zeisler. I went to the website but there isn't a link. Bitch is always a great read and I urge people to seek it out. However, I'll quote a short bit that had to do with the show: Bitch: Cuddy is lately portrayed as something of a cliche - the successful woman who realizes maybe too late that she wants a family and starts to scramble to make it happen at any cost. How do you feel about that aspect of the character having become so prominent? LE: It's become so prominent in her life because it's prominent in my own life. I'm at that age, and when I got the job, I said "If this show lasts several years, it's possible that I'm going to want to get pregnant." So that's been part of the storyline, having Lisa trying to get pregnant so that if I get pregnant, it's in there. Even though it's a cliche, it's based in reality. She's running a huge hospital, and I don't think (wanting to have a child) has gotten in her way. It's been an opportunity for the writers to explore how work and your personal life collide. Every character you play, you bring your own to. With Cuddy, I really enjoy how smart she is - she's responsible for so much, and she's really good at it, even though she screws up from time to time. Andi & Lisa also discuss her other TV roles and her AIDS activism. Again, Bitch is a great read - check it out. Cross-posted to Lis Edelstein & Media threads

Thanks, fffaw, for that article! You know, about 10 years ago or even 5 years ago, I'd have called the 'wanting a baby' storyline cliche as well. Baby-shmabey! But now that I'm in my middle thirties... :shock: I literally have moments of panic about time running out, how old I'll be when the kid starts college, etc. It's nuts! There's a reason for the cliche, particularly for busy, professional women who are approaching their forties. And I actually appreciate the way they've handled it so far, with it not really working out for Cuddy. I actually also really appreciate that they've kept her quest for baby and her quest for love (or sex?) pretty separate.

Glad to share, blue! I forgot to share one other funny part of the interview. In the intro this comment is made: But for the past few years she's been far more memorable as acid-tongued, hard-assed Dean of Medicine Lisa Cuddy on House, inspiring pangs of jealousy in those of us who can only dream of essaying sexual indifference toward Hugh Laurie. That gave me the giggles something fierce. :-)

This is from a really snarky post about a "bridezilla"* over at the blog Jezebel, but I would love for this to be origin of Cuddy's password. "We called her 'Party Pants.' The reason was that someone uncovered a spread from Mademoiselle magazine about 'What is your favorite item of clothing?' Elana was pictured in her leather pants (yes, leather pants), saying something like, 'I just love my leather pants. I call them my party pants. When I wear them, I know I'm ready to party!' Cuddy + leather pants = :shock: In general I'm not a fan of leather (especially apparel), but . . . Cuddy. Leather pants. Guh. If Cuddy was ever in a sorority and had that kind of love about a pair of leather pants (much more understandable as an undergrad than as a grown woman, YMMV) PartyPants would def. be her nickname. And I can see House hearing that through the college grapevine and remembering it forever. *I kind of hate this word.

I love this idea for the origin of Cuddy's password! She would look extraordinary in leather pants -- whether as a college kid or as Dean of Medicine -- and House would definitely appreciate the view and the swishy sounds of skin against skin. I think that Cuddy is in fact a secret biker chick, what with her low-cut blouses, scandalous pencil skirts, death-defying pumps, and ocassional index finger silver rings. She enjoys (and supports) the defiant streak in House precisely because she is a closet rebel herself.

(I wasn't sure if this should go here or in the most recent episode thread, but it's pretty Cuddy-centric, so this seemed better.) Cuddy's character has a particularly delicate balancing act for her role on the show, because of its structure - if she stops House from doing whatever crazy thing he thinks will help patients, she looks like an idiot, because he's (nearly) always right. But if she *doesn't* stop him or argue with him, she looks weak, because, well, he's *crazy.* But I think bringing Foreman in as her personal House-keeping minion could be a pretty genius move to neutralize this problem: nothing in the show's dictates keeps Foreman from being regularly pwned, and I for one could happily watch her putting him in his place every week. (Side note: and Foreman, to my eyes, seems to enjoy being pwned by her, so it's really win-win!) So, well done to the show on that one. Also, "Um...I've always felt my breasts were my best feature!" *Adorable.* Oh, Cuddy.

m_supercomputer, I think you have correctly identified an important new dynamic at play as the show goes forward this season. So deliciously complex! In "Mirror, mirror" Cuddy was by turns funny, desperate, childish, adamant, manipulative, quite fetching, and as always one step behind House. How juvenile to think that switching his Vicodin for laxative would make any change. In fact, I think that House thoroughly enjoyed the battle precisely because it got sillier and sillier. Likewise, by the end of the episode, I think that Cuddy definitely enjoyed the restoration of the right order of the universe. House brandishing his cane in triumphant cavorting at being "proven" alpha top dog once again was hilarious, sexy, and hilariously sexy! What to make of House's threat to sabotage Cuddy's birth control pills? How does he know she is taking them? How does he know where she keeps them? How does he have access to them? Why does she take his threat seriously? And why does House mention the possibility of Cuddy getting pregnant to Foreman? Foreman's reply, "What does you having sex have to do...?" is cut off at a tantalizing point by House. So inquiring minds want to know: have Cuddy and House already hit the sack and we have just been left out of the fun?

Hm, I bet we weren't supposed to take Foreman's line seriously - mostly because, well, when has Foreman ever been right about interpersonal/romantic issues? *g* I like that it was left ambiguous, though, because I'm always pleased by the kind of shipper candy that can be believed or not based on the viewer's own preference. (I can see the arguments of people who don't like them and/or think they're cop-outs, but I like that they're leaving their more hardcore fans some wiggle room.) Man, I was taken aback by Cuddy being on birth control pills. Her wanting to have a child was a plot point, to varying degrees, for over a year - were we supposed to notice some sort of change of opinion about this at some point? I'm sure it was probably just one of those jokes they didn't entirely think through, but still. Interesting.

Cuddy's character has a particularly delicate balancing act for her role on the show, because of its structure - if she stops House from doing whatever crazy thing he thinks will help patients, she looks like an idiot, because he's (nearly) always right. But if she *doesn't* stop him or argue with him, she looks weak, because, well, he's *crazy.* ITA, I've always felt like she's in a no win situation with the fans. In the role that she has, there's no way she can make everyone happy. Also, "Um...I've always felt my breasts were my best feature!" *Adorable.* Oh, Cuddy. Given the tops she wears, I'm inclined to believe her. :wink: