Feminism_a_Dirty_Word

Feminism a Dirty Word' In Susan J. Douglas Where the Girls Are Douglas leads us on a journey of what it was like being a woman during the baby boom generation and the fear of being labeled a feminist. Douglas argues that the media has at the same time been both friend and foe, and as women “we love and hate the media, at exactly the same time, in no small part because the media, simultaneously, love and hate women” (Douglas 12). Furthermore, Douglas argues that the media has played a significant role in defining the roles deemed appropriate for women, causing what she calls a “media-induced schizophrenia” (Douglas 19). First, Douglas asserts that only by looking back on the “roller-coaster ride” mothers born in the 1920s-1930s went through, and the conflicting messages as to what was considered “proper female behavior” can we begin to understand their apprehension towards the mass media which would be passed on to their daughters. (Douglas 45) During the Great Depression married women were prohibited from working in some states and those who did work were in jobs considered “women’s work” i.e. teachers, nurses, secretaries. Just the same, if married couples worked together the woman would be fired before a man would be fired, as they were seen as stealing a man’s job as they had someone to take care of them. Yet, during World War II as many men left the work force women take over jobs, join military, doing what is considered a man’s job but still portrayed in a feminine light “soldier’s without guns.” But, the end of the war would once again see women forced out of the work force only by now women have begun to question why “men’s work” is called such if a woman can do it. In the chapter entitled “Mama Said” Douglas argues that the media’s falsely portrays women as having it made comparing them to the likes of June Cleaver and Harriet Nelson whose only job was to take care of the home and the family. And while these fictional characters portrayed women as having it made, in reality many women “worked outside the home” as “well as inside the home” (Douglas 43). Unlike most middle-class family sitcoms of the 50’s and 60’s where conflicts or situations were easily resolved by the end of the show (by the father), in real-life most fathers were not around to solve issues with the children. This role as well as that of cook, and housekeeper belonged to the mother, roles which “TV shows insisted that good mothers, like true princesses, never complained, smiled a real lot, were constantly good-natured, and never expected anything from anyone” (Douglas 44). Similarly, in the quest to return women back to fulltime domesticity women were bombarded with advice from psychologists who claimed that “women who wanted to continue working outside the home were nuts.” And in a book entitled Modern Woman: The Lost Sex, Marynia Farnham a psychologist, and Ferdinand Lundberg a sociologist wrote what they conceived to be women’s discontent with life; rejection of their designated domestic role. Farnham and Lundberg stated that “the only healthy woman was one who followed her biological destiny and procreated on a regular basis, learned to crochet, avoided higher education at all costs because it would make her frigid” and denounced feminism saying it was “at its core a deep illness” (Douglas 48). Douglas, like many other women found this book disturbing coming from a woman; an educated woman with a job outside the home. This book may be seen as one of the first instances of women against women as Farnham is sending mixed messages on what it means to be a woman and the beginning of what Douglas termed “media-induced schizophrenia” (Douglas 19). Douglas uses much of the first half of her book to give thorough analysis on popular culture of the 1950s and early 60s and the effects it had on women’s “proper roles” as she is urged by the media to be “pliant, cute, sexually available, thin, blond, poreless, wrinkle-free, and differential to men” as well as suggested women could be “rebellious, tough, enterprising, and shrewd” (Douglas 9). This in turn would lead Betty Friedan to write The Feminine Mystique (1963) in which Friedan examines the unhappiness felt by many middle-class housewives and would help spark the modern feminist movement. In the last few chapters Douglas explores the ways in which the media covered the women’s movement, and how it continued to divide women among themselves. In “The ERA as Catfight” Douglas explains how the media and male opponents of the Women’s Movement pits women against women specifically Gloria Steinem “who likens marriage to prostitution and insists that “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament” and Phyllis Schlafly “a successful wife and mother of six…who claims that feminism will enslave women and calls feminists a “bunch of bitter women seeking a constitutional cure for their personal problems” (Douglas 222). Thus the term “catfight” became a “metaphor for the struggle between feminism and antifeminism” which Douglas explains “made it into the mainstream in the 1970s and ‘80s”in shows such as Dynasty. (Douglas 222-23). In “Narcissism as Liberation” Douglas discusses how the corporate world sought to win over the feminist movement. Instead of presenting how the women shared a common goal and the rejection of how women were presented as objects rather than persons which characterized the feminist movement, “women’s liberation became equated with women’s ability to do what ever they wanted for themselves, whenever they wanted, no matter what the expense” and how advertising elevated “the perfectly sculpted, dimple-free upper thigh and buttock” (Douglas246-47). And though Douglas tries to find balance and gain a sense of ownership on behalf of all baby boom women in her final chapter “I’m Not a Feminist, But…” Douglas finds that a majority of women have accepted the goals of the Feminist Movement, but have been scared into rejecting the label because “Feminism is still an F word” (Douglas 269). Unfortunately, the media continues to hold control over how women should act, look, dress, and to some extent the type of job a woman should hold. The plastic and cosmetic industry continues to equate how one looks to how one feels about oneself, but more so on how others see us. Also, many men, and some women are still not ready for a female president as evident by the many jokes made referring to “I feel sorry for the country during that time of the month” or one that has been circulating for awhile “if we had a female president she would have questioned Bin Laden’s people so much they would have handed him over just to shut her up.” Consequently, young girls today are greatly influenced by the media and they are growing up faster and in alarming rates compared to other eras which may have something to do with mothers not wanting their daughters to be naïve or perhaps feel it will make them more independent or maybe it is because we continue to “wince at women’s cultural history: and in the process “seek to amputate ourselves from this…past” (Douglas 5). And as a result the media will continue to control our daughters, and their daughters, and so on. Works Cited Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1994. Print. Porter, Amy. The Great Depression. 11/10/2009. Porter, Amy. World War II and Women. 11/12/2009.