Women's Decisions

My first item is the trailer to the 1980’s film “9 to 5”. It revolves around three working women living out their dreams of getting even and overthrowing the company’s sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical boss.



The issues that the trailer show is the fact that even though women are at work, and are in the process of becoming equals, they’ve got a long way to go. They do the work that the men don’t want to be involved in. The men want to be the front cover, the one who gets the credit but doesn’t have to do any work. And the women should be fine with this because they’re getting what they wanted, to have equal rights to get a job.
At the time in which this film was released, women in the work force were rapidly increasing. Between 1980 and 1985, the percentage of women in jobs increased from 15% to 71%. This film proves that there is a place for women in work. Although I don’t believe it is the “right” place. I think men who watched this film who had very old-fashioned views on women at work, may have changed. The qualities that women hold could become useful in certain areas shown in the trailer; such as organizing, putting other people first, obeying orders and being on time.
Throughout this time period, the second wave of feminism was in full swing. Women had added to their equality demands and wanted equal social, political, legal and economic rights. I haven’t actually watched the film, but from the trailer, it seems that the women do not have an equal social standing as the men in the film. Nor do they have economic rights. But I feel that they have same equal societal rights. The way they are dressing and presenting themselves is equal to the rules that the men have to follow.


My second item is a blog post from Bethany Joy Galeotti. She is an American actress from One Tree Hill and uses her voice to share her views. There is a post from January 29th 2011 on the decreasing amount of class that women have in society and within their work choices.

http://www.bjgofficial.com/2011/01/sweetheart-close-your-legs.html

It was at 8.30 in the morning when Galeotti saw a “weathered young woman with bleached extensions, wearing almost nothing, and singing to a hypnotized audience of men, women and children.” And the lyrics were not much better.
It comes with the over load of “trashy” reality TV, such as Jersey Shore that show the type of work choices women are making now-a-days. I think that there is this perceived view that being famous is the “perfect life”. Rich, fabulous and people actually wanting to be them is probably the most aspired dream in today’s life. Women have come so far in their work and social rights – well in developed countries that is – that they’ve been clouded and are heading to a different end then they first dreamed during that first wave of feminism.
They are choosing work that will get them famous for wrong reasons but they don’t see it because they’ve got their 15 minutes of fame.
I believe that following Jersey Shore will come a variety of teenagers exaggerating their lives to have that over-night fame. But surely that is just showing men and the world that the only way to feel recognised is to drink, party, have sex and not have a care in the world after it all? Because that is what feminism, and life, is all about isn’t it. The need to be recognised in the world, to have that belief in yourself, assurance of who you are and that you are destined for something. (And too many people believe they can only feel this destiny and assurance by fame.) Because it’s the easy way out. A way out of finding something that they are passionate about and fighting to become somebody in that world. It’s easier to be on the television drinking and partying, because not many people can fail doing that, and they’re scared they may fail if they try to do something else with meaning.
Coming back to Galeotti’s post; there a women who, because of their new “rights” have lost something on the way. Something, which in turn, made them lose their class.