Reading Gloria Steinem's essays and articles and watching documentaries on the women's right movement during the past few months has changed the way I think about feminism, as well as the current and former roles of women in the United States.
I'm sorry to say that although I've always wanted the same opportunities available to any man, and believed that all women should have them, I had never, until the ripe age of 30, really understood feminism or known the long struggle that brave women have endured to attain greater equality.
Now that I've had my eyes opened to the full reality of the women's movement, it's very difficult for me to watch old TV programs and films that I once enjoyed, like "I Love Lucy," for example, without critically analyzing how women are portrayed (or portray themselves) to viewers and treated by their onscreen counterparts.
Looking at this show from a feminist perspective (as many feminists have), Lucy Ricardo is constantly trying to break out of her stifling, unsatisfying role as a housewife (and later as a stay-at-home mom), but is always blocked by her traditionally-minded husband Ricky, who wants her to stay home, clean the house, cook his meals, and, in a nutshell, behave herself.
Her outright refusal to obediently stay home and be just a housewife naturally lands her in hot water in nearly every episode. She wants to be a showbiz star (or, really, anything other than just a housewife), while her husband basically confines her to their home, treating her like an authoritative father would behave towards a rebellious, irresponsible child instead of viewing her as his wife and equal partner. She has no income of her own (Ricky sometimes gives her an allowance...again, evidence that their relationship is more characteristic of parent and child than marriage partners), and her attempts to earn her own money always result in utter disaster. In essence, she has no life apart from him, few rights or privileges, and little freedom, by his design.
A clip from the "Equal Rights" episode of "I Love Lucy"
(Funny, yes, but also sad)
Was that all part of the 1950s landscape for most marriages in this country? Perhaps, though Lucille Ball
(who played Lucy Ricardo) was an indisputably intelligent, powerful,
influential, talented woman and performer (pretty much the polar
opposite of her flaky onscreen character).
I'm glad female roles have changed and will continue to evolve throughout the 21st Century. We (I'm including myself as a newly awakened feminist...better late than never, I always say) might not be where we want to be (or should be) in terms of equality with men, but if we keep questioning the status quo, challenging norms, and fighting inequality, we will get there eventually. And, in the meantime, we can celebrate the amazing opportunities, once unthinkable and unreachable, that we've earned through the unyielding force of those efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment