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Kaila Lewis
Film and Culture
Reddoch
30 April 2013
Views of Women in the 1950’s
Women have been in the film industry since the beginning of its time. Their roles never
as strong as that of men, but still they have been a big part of the culture of film and help play
key roles in showing how it has changed over the decades. As society has grown, so have the
portrayals of women. Before the 1950’s women were seen in a more conservative light. They
played roles of the typical house wife, keeping up to the stereotypes of every woman. But the
coming of the 50’s Americans felt a new wave, sex appeal and objectification of women had
people flocking to the big screen. Movies, still keeping to stereotypical roles, showed male
dominance. Changes occurred in that women could now be seen as more independent, but when
compared to men, they always were at lower stance. Suburbs starting popping up in all big
American cities and with suburban life came the social pressures that women now had to keep up
with. Looking at movies made in the 50’s now, Americans can see almost exactly into a
woman’s eye back then. In today’s time, film critic’s view 1950’s views of women in film are
confined to stereotypes, objectification, and the pressures society put on women, something that
can still be seen even in todays modern films.
During the 1950’s, women were seen wearing shorting clothing, were more promiscuous,
and were falling out of the “house wife” stereotype. Although seeming to be becoming more
independent, they still played the object of every man’s wants and desires. A major film star that
had every man taking a second look was none other than Marilyn Monroe. In almost all of her
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films, Monroe is depicted as the blonde bombshell. Cameras take shots of her with the “male
gaze”, and every angle is objectifying and makes her desirable to men. In the 1959 film, Some
Like it Hot, Monroe is the object of Joe and Jerry, even disguised as women they can’t seem to
be attracted to her, and they try and woo her throughout the film. From her lines to her actual
name in the movie, Monroe drives sex appeal that every man wants. “Bearing the name Sugar
Kane and purring such lines as "I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop."(Anderson) Monroe
steals the screen from even Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag. Dressed as a woman, Jerry is
objectified by the millionaire Osgood as he tries to win her over through the movie, going to
show that anybody in a dress, make up and high heels can be the object of a man at the time.
Today Americans see Marilyn Monroe as a pure sex symbol from the 50’s. She was what
every woman wanted to be at the time and what every man wanted. Society sees how she was
objectified on screen and taken as promiscuous. “Feminists today are citing her life as an
example of how sexism objectifies women, ruining their lives in the process. She has become for
them a potent symbol of how bad things were for women in the 50s, when the job options were
simple: housewife or sex kitten” (“Happy Birthday”). Feminists see her as a symbol of what not
to be in America. Her appeal to men, and being exploited for her looks only gives them hope that
society today will change, and see women in better light on and off camera.
Another movie showing women’s roles of the time is the 1954 movie, Woman’s World.
In the movie the men are competing for a job title and the winner are based off of which has the
better wife suited to be the wife of an executive. In all ways, this movie shows stereotypes of
typical roles of the wife at the time. Katie the wife of Bill, is clumsy and ditsy and in no way
shows to be as equal to her husband. She plays the typical southern woman, but she never holds
up to the social responsibilities of the “typical woman” of the 50’s. The viewer also gets to see
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the gold digger type of woman, who is in it for the money, which happens to be the character of
Carol. Only in it for the money, her actions to seduce the leading executives including Gifford
are purely so her husband can get the job and so she can live lavishly. Her husband Jerry seems
fine with it throughout the movie as he seems to be a materialistic person as well. In fact, Carol
seems to be just another material object to Jerry, her sex appeal feels like the only thing he stays
interested in and he enforces that in trying to gain a job. Then there is the All-American 50’s
couple Elizabeth and Sid- Elizabeth know she won’t see her husband if he gets the job, but she
stays focused and loyal through the whole process.
All three women appear to portray aspects of their husbands and similarities which are
why lead executive Gifford decides to take them into consideration. The audience sees how the
men had more stature then the women, their jobs were dependent on how their wives behaved
and acted. Also looking in to the time the movie was created, viewers can see the exact roles
women would have had. They were expected to be that perfect executive wife and compliment
their husband in the job he had. A clumsy woman such as Katie could never hold up to the
standards society placed on the wife of an executive. Males had control over this reason of
women’s life, and in society now Americans would see the pettiness in them. In the 50’s male
dominance was defiantly clear. “A diligent housewife had dinner on the table precisely at the
moment her husband arrived from work. A wife was a "good" wife only if she carried out her
man's every order and agreed with him on everything. In fact, even if she wanted to voice an
opinion, her education, or rather lack of thereof would not allow it.”(“Role of Women”).
Ironically enough, Woman’s World could only be that if controlled by a man.
Male dominance was a big influence of the 50’s era movies and television. I Love Lucy, a
popular show of the time always showed women who needed there husband and the typical
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stereotypes that came along with being a housewife. A big picture that shows women’s
dependence on men and their fortune is How to Marry a Millionaire. Starring the most
glamorous women of the time, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, this movie
shows how a man’s fortune influenced women of the 50’s. Being held to be either a pin up doll
or a housewife, women looked for men with wealth or status in this time period. A lot of it was
actually influenced by film. Women saw how beautiful Monroe or Grable was and idolized them.
Having a wealthy husband allowed for women to concentrate more on their children and houses,
and less on their job.
In How to Marry a Millionaire, the three women are all looking for the perfect husband.
Their dependence on finding a wealthy man is key to their happiness, and even Loco who
believes in love, realizes that the money is more important. The costumes and sets in the movie
are lavish, trying to show that these women are all for money and materials. The movie is
comedic and it pokes fun at some the stereotypes of women at the time, Monroe’s character is
ditzy and all three of the women again are played as objects of man’s desires. The women want
to be objects of man and are dependent on finding that perfect man.
This movie today would feel very anti feminism. It looks at women as purely objects and
the viewer sees no independence for the three women. The main goal for these women is to find
someone to depend on, and women in society today would feel that as lowering themselves and
showing men they have the dominant hand. And although comedic, the movie has a slight hand
at poking fun at the ditzy side of women. Monroe’s character, Pola is funny, but sort of that
“dumb blonde” type. Today, movies allow for women to have stronger roles and play more
independent characters than back in the 50’s, leading to less male dominance of the women in
them.
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Men and women had clear roles in the 1950’s, men were always the bread winner of the
family, they had the highest paying job and were see as masculine and more mature then their
wives. Women were always cooking and providing for the family, and always trying to please
their husband. Women were allowed to have jobs at the time to support the family, but they were
never to exceed the duties of being a mother. It was very rare to ever see a woman without a
suitable husband in suburban life, and socially it was felt frowned upon. All That Heaven Allows,
the 1955 melodrama looks deeper into the life of a woman without a husband, and how society
looks at her because of it.
Social norms were definitely placed on women in the 1950’s and Jane Wyman’s
character Cary was deep in the middle of it. Recently widowed, she is expected to find the
perfect husband to take on her and her two children and keep her family in place. She falls in
love with Ron Kirby, a gardener who is also younger than her. Everyone in town looks down on
it, and every one gossips, even her children can’t see that their own mother is happy. They are
pressed on how society should see them and are outraged that Ron is younger than their mother.
They don’t see the simplicity of Ron’s lifestyle and society’s pressure ultimately leads Cary to
leave Ron. Ron is not that perfect man in society that Cary should be seeing at the time the
movie was made.
Director of the film, Douglas Sirk, was an outsider of the United States looking into
suburban life of the 50’s. Because he did not live in the actual society Cary was in, he brought an
unbiased approach to the film, and Cary’s problems felt more real due to that. She struggles to
choose between the role society wants her to play, and the actual love she has for Ron, and the
way she feels she wants to live- a dilemma a lot of women probably felt at the time. “With her
husband conveniently out of the way, her financial concerns apparently well-managed and
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planned for, and thirty years or more of existence still ahead, Cary has both the perfect
opportunity and the vexing dilemma of deciding how to fill that empty space in her life. The
prospect of putting ourselves in her position and having to decide what we would do, given her
choices, raises wonderfully intriguing ethical questions.”( Blakeslee)
The 1950’s was a very different era for women. Their rights and obligations were slowly
becoming closer to that of man, yet they still had the pressure of society to deal with. Movies of
the time captured the realism and aspects women faced, through stereotypes such as “dumb
blonde” character and the typical housewife duties. Because women were now allowed to
express themselves more, they became objectified. Sexuality and promiscuity was shown to
objectify women and Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe fell to the desire of men’s wants.
Society’s pressure to be a wife and care for her husband and family all while maintaining a job at
times become difficult for some women, and melodramas such as All That Heaven Allows
captured the social norms of women perfectly. Society now looking back on those times, can see
the difficulties women faced and comparing them to now, Americans see how it has become
more acceptable for women and men to share the responsibilities of each ones gender roles.
Movies almost become a history book to look back on when studying society and the social
aspects of not only men, but eras as they pass through the times of everyday life.
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Works Cited
Anderson, Jeffery M. "Some Like It Hot (1959)." Combustible Celluloid. N.p., n.d. Web. 02
May 2013
Blakeslee, David. "Criterion Reflections." : All That Heaven Allows (1955). N.p., n.d. Web. 07
May 2013
"Happy Birthday, Marilyn." Marilyn Monroe: Feminist Icon? N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.
"Role of Women in the 1950's." Role of Women in the 1950's. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013.