War of the Sexes

It's everywhere, he versus she, Obama versus Clinton. The country is seeing something unimaginable only ten years ago: the possibility of either a woman or Black President. With all the world abuzz about that tearful moment, turning the tide for Clinton as her sisters rallied around her, I happened to catch a movie that was a feminist war cry, only a few decades ago--9 to 5. This movie, seen in the year 2007, is quaint, kitschy, and yet, the anger, outrage expressed by the three women is still relevant today. Yes, not all secretarial pools (they don't even exist, and if they do they would be referred to as the assistant's lounge) are gender specific. Right? Well, one would hope.

9 to 5 is of its time, when feminism was about competing with men, or rather, women being like men. This definition of being like men was displayed in women dressing like men, carrying brief cases, and casting off any of the trappings of femininity, as to not appear like a woman. I am of the generation, raised on movies like "Working Girl" where women still strive for that office, but falls in love along the way, so that we get our Prince Charming and the corner office. What's striking in comparing these two mvies is how much more progressive 9 to 5 was in its feminist politics. The males in this movie is ultimately expendable. Only one character is married, but the husband is rarely seen. The other two are divorced, single, trying to create a life for themselves after marriages had come to an end. It's the absence of men in their lives, other than the boss, that is striking. Men still rule their world, obviously, but they don't figure in quite a dominant thematic manner as in "Working Girl."

If one were to do a true feminist critique of these two movies, some ideas would be apparent--the slide backwards in philosophy of feminism, as a whole. The days when Betty Friedan was preaching to her sisters is truly a distant hum. The world has changed, most dramatically in gender roles and its definitions. And in its wake, the world is mixed up, messier, and more complicated. See, we, women can now have it all, the world likes to remind us. Except the rules of the game haven't really changed. Instead of previous role definitions, we are now expected to be income earners, mothers, wives, and still make a pot roast on Sundays. If you lack in any of these areas, well, the world can be quite unkind. And not to indict my own sex, but women are the least empathetic toward their own. We are the first to judge our peers for whatever lapses they may face in their quest for perfect womanhood.

This idea of perfection, something that is the new disease of this new millennium, manifests in all the wrong ways. I relish this political season. It will become more divisive as he versus she becomes a war cry. They will all talk about change, but really, we all know how little the world has changed since the days when three women, secretaries, felt they had to lock up their male boss in order to make changes to their world.