In recognition of the Women's rights movement, check out these videos from
youtube.com. Comment on the videos/stereotypes (refer to video title) and
reflect on how things have changed and how things have stayed the same. If you
aren't sure ask a working woman for her opinion. Any posts
after Wednesday, May 11th must refer to previous posts.
You will need to copy and paste the following urls to view:
#1 The Trouble with Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOxGRuKFwJg&feature=related
#2 Value of a Housewife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTLK9Q4sWT0&feature=related
#3 Before Women's Lib
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_9wu-KjTk&feature=related
#4 Harvey's Birthday Coffee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-0rJlj_vwA&NR=1
#5 Queen for a day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_j4o1vZX8U
ALL POSTS MUST BE COMPLETED BY MONDAY, 16th. Any posts after will earn 1/2 credit.
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63 comments:
All of these videos depict women negatively, almost as the servants (least educated, least capable, and least strong-physically and emotionally-) of mankind.
However, it is interesting that these video clips also show how it is really the men who fit the description of the women. For example, in The Trouble with Women, the man claims that women don’t have the qualifications for the job and makes a big production out of little life issues. But it is really this man who is making a big deal out of this “issue.” He’s the one dwelling upon the women’s weddings and activities because they supposedly interfear with his own life. This theme pops up again in Before Women’s Lib, when the dad says that women “do all right when they have all the modern conveniences,” and immediately after he asks his son for gloves, as he’s cooking on a grill. Women aren’t given enough credit during this time, and the men act like hypocrites.
Times have definitely changed. It seems as though women and men are finally treated as equals at home and in the workplace. Although their jobs and role may be different, men aren’t so down on women because of their “poor work quality” or “issues.” Women are now more integrated in the work environment, as companies are striving to create diversity. Therefore, the bias presented in these clips is no longer a major problem. For example, we no longer encounter such injustice and inconsideration in the workplace as seen in The Trouble with Women, and even at home, women aren’t judged as housewives by the small tasks they “must” perform everyday-such as making a cup of coffee- as pictured in Harvey’s Birthday Coffee. Women are no longer a minority in the workforce or home.
Maria Dutsar
Class 6
Like Maria dutsar said there is a negative aspect of women behind all of these videos.
For me, it's a little different to watch these because I find myself thinking about how the guy is acting rather than how the woman is portayed in each video...I think it maybe just my impulsive nature, but it's interesting to see that compared to today, men felt they were "entitled" way more than they are now. The leading factor behind this is that now, in a modern society, social stereotypes and prejudices aren't as common, but still do exist and the role of women has changed, defying the traditional practices of earlier days...In reference to harvey's birthday coffee, I found myself a little disgusted at how much of a scum, the woman's husband was. It looked as though she were almost brain-washed, considering she wasn't "fuming" from the fact that her husband said that other womens coffee was better. This shows the dramatic difference in household roles for a traditonal family back in the day...
Mason West
Period 1
Obviously times have changed.
I find Maria's word choice interesting in that she says the videos depict women negatively. And while today, yes, we think women were treated poorly, we have to remember that in the 60's women weren't exactly opposed to their lifestyle. Now before I get pelted with tomatoes, reference Harvey's Birthday Coffee as an example. Harvey, clearly an overbearing, stereotypical husband of that time, yells at his wife for making bad coffee, saying that women at the office make it better. And how does his wife react? Well, in today's society we'd expect the woman to yell back, throw a book or two, and tell Harvey to make his own coffee. But in the video, his wife explains to her friends how upset she is at HERSELF for not being able to make good coffee. This just shows that women in this time period weren't exactly fighting to get out of the kitchen.
This brings me to the Leave in to Beaver video, "Before Women's Lib." Wally asks his dad why women always cook inside and men always cook outside. His dad explains that its because women work better with modern conveniences and men are able to handle the rugged outdoors. At the end of the video, however, he asks his son to get him a glove, depicting the hypocriticalness. This is actually a similarity between that time period and today. Men typically cook on the grill, women typically cook inside. Now, this may not be true for every single family in America, but then again, what stereotype is? Another similarity comes from the idea of men trying to act very manly and rough, puffing out their chest and saying they can live in the mountains if they wanted, hunting for survival, while women "clearly" would be inside doing their hair. I see this quality in men today in my dad, my brothers, and even boys in our school.
"Value of a Housewife" shows an advertisement telling women how to be a good housewife. It tells them how to save money, can their own food, and explains to them that they need good cooking abilities. The advertisement, in total, tells women how to save money; how to make good meals they can be proud of, on a budget. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this advertisement could hold true today. In fact, I can still turn on the TV and see a Stouffers commercial that shows a women cooking in the kitchen with her children, narrated by a woman who explains how much money it can save a woman in making dinner (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE79cJmA0-Q).
Point being, obviously times have changed in that women are not just tied to the kitchen. They are now doctors, lawyers, factory workers, basically any job a man does, a woman can do too nowadays. However, stereotypes are not completely erased. We still laugh at the idea of Mr. Mom wearing an apron. So, although it is more socially acceptable for a women to work outside the home, it is just as socially strange to see a man in the kitchen, which is similar to the 1960's. I feel that with every year, we become more open to new ideas and new "gender roles." In 2078, it may be just as common for a dog to cook dinner as it is a woman. Who knows?
Justina
Class 4
Well to comment on the first video "The trouble with women", I thought that it was really amusing and funny obviously because of how rude men were back then, and the way women were portrayed. In the video, the men seemed to approach woman almost like babies or animals and they seemed to think that women didn't have any common sense or knowledge. The man complaining would complain about small things but since a woman was doing this the small complaint was blown up to be bigger than it should have been. When they showed a woman they would be talking in a normal voice and voicing their opinion while the man on the other hand would act annoyed and angered more easily.
Today this has changed dramatically and you could say women get more annoyed and angered easier than men. Most men treat woman equally and like any other human being. Women are now stronger and stick up for themselves and voice their opinions louder than before. Most of them make the same amount of money but jobs have been a big problem between men and woman. Overall I think it has been a nice transition for woman over the years and they are now considered as equal as anyone in America today. They should be proud of how far they have come over the years to change that.
Stefan Hennessey
Class: 6
I actually disagree with both Maria and Mason in that I don't think these videos (on the whole) are meant to portray women in a a negative light.
Take the first video, for example, "The Trouble with Women." In the video a man expresses petty issues, clearly supported by his own personal prejudice, about the problem with female employees. He is answered by a much more rational boss who insists that his female employees can work just as well (if not better, he emphasizes that there is an increased production rate) than men. the video ends with a question, "what is the trouble with Bill?" Clearly, this video is not intended to criticize women but to criticize the irrational men with inherit prejudices towards women working outside the home.It displays that there is a division of the sexes in society but it in no way demeans the value of women.
In the second video it discusses the value of a housewife, elaborating on the housewife's ability to cook good meals with little money available. again, this shows that there is a division of responsibilities in society between males and females, but it doesn't undermine the value of a housewife able to cook a good meal.
In the "Before Women's Lib" the father explains that men cook outside and women cook inside because women need modern appliances. He then proceeds to ask his son for cooking gloves. This hypoccrysy is to again emphasize that men and women have different roles, but that that doesn't mean men are more capable than women.
The true division between these videos and modern day society is the clear indication of the separate roles of men and women. We live in a society where often we go beyond shear equality of men and women in attempting to make the roles of men and women the same. The same, however, does not mean equal and a stay-at-home mother or housewife does not necessarily mean oppression and lack of freedom in society.
After watching these videos I agree with everyone that times have obviously changed. Men do not treat women like they did in the videos, and today women and men have equal rights in the workforce. Back then women were expected to stay home, raise the children, do the cooking, cleaning and shopping while the fathers worked and got money for their families. Today that would be the norm but there are many stay at home dads, back then all the fathers were expected to work. Women in the 1950s and 1960s were portrayed as in the “Trouble With Women” video as inferior to men, they weren’t as smart as men and they complained a lot. At the end of the video the question “What is Brad’s Trouble?” comes up and I after seeing the video I felt that the guy in the video was portrayed as a sexist person because he made a big deal of problems that weren’t that bad. He seemed like he thought that more women would ruin the company so he didn’t want to work with more women because he thought that women weren’t as smart as men and they are much harder to work with. The only complaint that seemed somewhat fair was when he mentioned that an employee that he trained the day before had not showed up to work, but I feel that a man could have done that too.
Another video that stuck out to me was the coffee ad, I would definitely agree with the title “Sexist old coffee ad - Harvey’s birthday coffee” because like others have said if this happened today the women would slap the men and start yelling at him, but in this video the women blamed herself for not pleasing his husband on his birthday. This video also portrays women in the 1950s and 1960s as wives that would do anything to make their husbands happy. After all these years much of what was portrayed in these videos has changed, and it has changed for the better.
Edith Campos
Period: 4
These videos depict how women were expected to do things according to the men in their lives.
The first video, “The trouble with women,” expressed that women weren’t as valued in the work force as a man was. The woman, as qualified as a man, was reprimanded for things which she, along with a man could encounter in their lives. (ie, marriage, absence, personal issues, lack of understanding.) The woman however, was said to be, (unfit.)
The second video, Value of a Housewife, and the third video, Before Women's Lib, expressed the idea that women were expected to be the only ones working in the kitchen. With the talk of meats, foods, and cooking, the man stayed out of the kitchen, waiting for his wife to make the meal. And only a good wife could make a good meal out of something only so-so. Now a days, while many women may work, and cook in the kitchen, unless it is said as the most common, “Woman in the kitchen” joke, they are not always expected to make the meals. It is very common now for a man to be making the dinner, or setting the table.
The fourth video insinuated that a woman is no good if she cannot make a good cup of coffee. This may relate to anything in terms of coffee, dinner, or breakfast. Many men back then viewed as the guy reading the paper at the table and enjoying his morning, while the woman slaves over the meal. This is not the case that often now. Many spouses do things separately, making things for themselves when they have time.
The last video showed what women were expected to give up. The woman stated that her husband had a job but it wasn’t the greatest. Yet, despite her surgeries, she quit her job.
The expectations of women are much different now. Women have the opportunities to have great jobs and go to prestigious schools. Men are not always “sitting around” at home. Many men now help with the cleaning, cooking, and other needed chores. The roles may not have switched but they have become a little more even. Despite the progression there has been towards equality, there are still some traces of “tradition” in our lives. This may or may not changes depending on other opportunity which open up for women, along with men.
-katie Shirley
After viewing all of these videos, it is clear to the viewer that there were many stereotypes associated with women during the mid and late 1900s. Most of the videos displayed women as inferior to men, in particular their husbands. In the video, "Harvey's Birthday Coffee," the wife allows her husband to critique and scold her. She doesn't argue with him; instead she tries to imporve her coffee-making skills in order to please him. Also, "The Trouble With Women" demonstraated the idea that women are inferior. The male worker in the video thought he was far better and skilled than the other workers, mainly because he was a male and he thought that women do not belong in an office setting. These videos also demonstrate the stereotype that women belong in the kitchen at home. In the "Value of a Housewife" video, the announcer emphasizes how women do all the cooking in the house. He would say phrases like, "this meat is available to the housewife." This shows how everyone in society associated women as the "housewives." Also, in the "Before Women's Lib" video, the father tells his son that "A women's place is in the home." These videos demonstrate the stereotypes associated with women.
These stereotypes about women have greatly changed. Nowadays, it is just as common for a women to make dinner and clean the house as it is a man. Also, women are not inferior in society anymore to men; many woomen have well-paid, professional jobs that were previously only held by men. For example, many women today are CEOs of large companies. However, some stereotypes still remain today. Although it is just as common to see a male doing the cooking and shopping, society is still a little surprised and in shock when they see the father taking over this role. This is because many people still expect the mother to complete these tasks. Also, whenever I hear that one of my friend's dads does the food shopping or the laundry, I am always surprised. This shows that stereotypes about women are still present today.
Jess Haitz
class 1
I agree with Stefan in that men approached women and treated them as if they were undoubtedly going to make a mistake. Especially in "The Trouble with Women", the viewer immediately gets the sense that men have a condescending attitude toward women in the workplace. There is a tone of superiority in their voice. They often have little patience when it comes to womens' mistakes. From their point of view women belong in the home being the primary caregiver. This is seen in "The Value of a Housewife" when they discuss how "the cooking ability of the housewife becomes highly important". It seems to me that having all of these household abilities is expected of women. When the narrator says it doesn't take much skill to make a dinner, one could imply that the skills women do have are "nothing" compared to those of the men in the workplace. This is also seen in "Harvey's Birthday Coffee" when, as Justina mentioned, the husband yells at his wife for making coffee that is not up to par with the women in the workplace.
In a way, portrayal of women in society hasn't changed much. Although much less common, people still implicitly view women as the home and kitchen being their domain. Men still often crack the "make me a sandwich" joke, which clearly shows that the male gender hasn't yet completely gotten over their feeling of superiority. However, we find that situations have progressed in the workplace. Women are treated with an equal playing field and more opportunities. They can be just as successful if not more than men.
Maddie Dorso class 1
These videos are all VERY sexist. How women didn't stand up for themselves earlier on I do not know. I agree with Maria as well as Mason's point of view. These women are belittled and reduced to mere objects for satisfying their husband and families needs.It's almost as if the man needs to prove himself as the dominant sex by criticizing and critique the woman in every video. In the first video "The trouble with woman" the man micromanages the woman in such an extreme manner that it is purely obnoxious. He breaths down her neck and constantly interferes with her work as if he needs to prove himself as knowing more and being dominant. In the Folgers coffee commercial he belittles the woman and puts her down by saying that the woman at work make superior coffee. Once again the man is putting down the woman in order to lift himself up. In the "Before woman's Lib" video when the father talks to his son, he justifies the grilling of the meat outside as "manly" and "traditional" while simultaneously putting down his wife that cooks in the kitchen saying she belongs in the house, and if shes in the house she might as well be in the kitchen. The underlining message that he conveys to his son is that his wife would be incapable of handling the extreme heat and ruggedness of the outdoor patio and grill. He insults her by implying that without the technological advancements in the kitchen that his wife would be utterly helpless. All of these viewpoints are extremely insulting to woman and why they took such abuse and didn't say anything is simply mind boggling, especially in a country such as America which preaches equality and freedom to all.
Cassie Fallon
class 1
In all of these videos, they displayed women as the inferior gender and as though they were simply there to do things for everyone else, but they don't do it well.
In the clip Harveys Birthday Coffee, Harvey complains that his coffee isn't good enough for him and that the girls at the office do it better. It made me think that if he didn't like this coffee then why doesn't he make/get his own coffee? In the clip Before Womens Lib, the father says how women stay in the house because they just do all right when they have modern appliances. This clearly shows how men of the time viewed women as needy and incapable of doing anything without help. Also the son absorbs this all in as if he is oblivious that something is wrong here. By the father telling his son this it just starts the cycle again that women aren't as smart or capable as men.
This has changed significantly in todays world. Women often show men what to do and hold higher positions than them. the idea that men are superior to women still exists, however, it is less common and easily proved wrong. Women of today's time don' need a man to live or get by. Many women even choose not to get married so that they can have a successful career.
Meredith Bridges
Class 6
I agree that these videos portray women in a negative light, but also that we should take into account when watching them that this wasn't considered sexist or misogynistic in this time period and that the women in the videos did not think much of their position and didn't feel like they needed much power. In modern society, if any of us were to treat a women this way, she would instantly stand up for herself and refuse to be condescended down to.
I believe this is a testament to how much things have changed. Women are much more powerful now, and this time period in general is looked back on with shock and many times amuse, as Maddie said men still often crack the "make me a sandwich" joke, almost in a way to poke fun at the way America was in this time.
Ishaar Gupta
Period 6
Women in these videos were not being dehumanized, men simply never thought of women as not human enough to be treated equally. By using the term "housewife" to further stray away from a close relation to men, they were treated like a machine or cattle. In "Harvey's Birthday Coffee" the wife is eager to please her husband, which is one of her purposes along with providing and caring for HIS children.
And in "Queen for a day" the men don't even think to do anything that directly helps the woman or makes her actually feel like how we would expect a Queen to be treated. In the time period, it was hard to think of a women in that sense.
Don't get me wrong, i think its great that they helped her son and made her life easier, but it seemed like actually making the women feel pampered or respected personally was such an impossible concept to grasp.
Today, women are put on a pedestal and respected a lot more in certain situations, especially as mothers, but in the workplace things are relatively unchanged.
Men (and boys)constantly make comments about how a woman can't run the country or do good work. These ideas are still lingering today but these outdated, immature, and disrespectful ideas are generally frowned upon today.
It seems that in all of these videos, women are seen as the lesser sex in this society. You can tell that the men were definately in charge during this period and could basically boss the women around to do whatever they wanted. I think it's interesting that the complaints the man made about the women in "The Trouble with Women" are still sometimes heard today. For instance, men still often complain that, while men will easily accept change, women often fuss and complain about how they have gotten comfortable with the way things are at the time.
In "Before Women's Lib.", it is clearly seen that the expected place for the women of this time was in the house, specifically in the kitchen making meals for the family. I think this standard has changed today because, while women often still make meals for the family, many also work outside the home and men are now seen making meals in the home as well.
In the Birthday Coffee video, I was suprised to see that all the husband cared about on his birthday was how bad his wife's coffee was, and the fact that she accepted this as a failure and sought to improve her coffee making for her husband. This shows just how inferior women were in this time compared to their male counterparts.
In all, I feel that times have deffinately changed for women in that they not only have more power in today's world, but they are also treated more as equals then they had been in the past.
-Erin T
I found it really interesting in the first video, "Trouble with Women", how Mr. Bradshaw and the Manager saw the woman inspector. Right away we can see that Mr.Bradshaw doesn't treat women with respect. With the woman working the radio he is very condescending and treats her like a little kid by constantly telling her shes not doing it right, "do it my way: I'll show you: keep trying". However when we meet the manager, we see a different perspective on the view of women. He tells Bradshaw that she's one of the best and to giver her a chance. He doesn't base her skills off of her gender, rather he respects that she's the best. He sees women as being good workers with a lot of patience, catching mistakes and Bradshaw counters this in saying women are a problem because one woman didn't want to move her work space.
At the end of the film it asks "What IS Brads Problem?", and I feel as though he, as well as most of the men in that time period, had trouble accepting that maybe women were better at things then men. They didn't want to face the fact that women were stepping up in society, making them feel inferior.
Today, like Troy said, a lot of jokes about women are still around but are seen as disrespectful and rude. It may be more discrete but I think there are still some men who still see women as inferior to them. And in the workplace, men sometimes do have a higher advantage, however this is changing immensely.
Nicole Rotante
Class 6
In the videos, it is astounding to see how stereotyped women were during that time period. They were looked down on like they had no abilities outside of cooking and cleaning. For example, in the video “Before Women’s Lib,” the husband commented on how women were only able to prepare food with modern appliances, like they completely relied on the machines and could not possibly cook dinner on their own. “Harvey’s Birthday Coffee” makes women out to be incapable of doing anything good on their own as well, like making a decent cup of coffee. The only reason the husband was pleased with his wife’s second cup of coffee was because it was made with a product that was probably created by men. Women were thought to be burdens and nuisances, like in “The Trouble with Women,” when Brad told his boss about how all the women in his department were inconveniencing him with their stubbornness, marriage complications, and inability to do their work correctly. Back then, it was assumed that the man was the backbone of the family, and the woman was completely dependent on him.
Now, women receive much more respect from their male counterparts than they used to. Men and women have more equality in the workplace and have almost all the same rights that men have. Gender roles are changing greatly as well; they say that almost a half of all US medical school students are female now, while male admissions to nursing schools are beginning to rise. Women are on more equal terms with their husbands or boyfriends. There are many women these days who are the primary income earners, and there are many more stay-at-home dads as well. The most common change, though, is the co-contribution to the family income and domestic responsibilities. Like Katie said, a husband and wife will work together to complete household chores like cooking and cleaning, and many spouses make just as much money or have just as respectable a job as the other. Times have changed tremendously, not only in the lives of women, but in the lives of men too. And I think it is for the better.
Erin B.
Class 6
It is clear from these 5 videos that women were treated much differently than you would find now. The most alarming stereotype was the idea that all women were "flawed" and inferior to men. The best example of this belief can be seen in the video entitled "The Trouble with Women." The manager truly believes that men workers are better than woman workers. He cites examples that end up revealing him to be the true issue at the company. He views women as being too emotional, needy, and uneducated. While some men may have not held this belief, a similar message in the video "Before Women's Lib" suggests that others did express this idea.
The second video "Value of a Housewife" expands on the expected role of women in society at that time. They were expected to cook and clean for the whole family. Women were expected to put the needs of their family before their own. As Troy said, this can be seen in the "Queen for a day" video. This mother does not address a single want or need of her own when asked what she would do if she were queen for the day.
I agree with Justina when she discusses a common woman's view of these stereotypes. Many really believed themselves to be flawed and only capable of housekeeping. In the video "Harvey's Birthday Coffee", the wife holds herself responsible for her husbands rude actions and remarks. She feels it is her role to please her husband no matter what and to cook well.
I believe it is fair to say that as a society, we have evolved from this simplistic state of mind. We have become more accepting and now these stereotypes about women are far less prevalent. Many women, including my own mother, have joined America's workforce and compete for the same jobs as men. In some instances the idea of women being inferior is still prevalent, but from a wider perspective most humans view each other, be it a different race, gender or nationality, equal. We cannot ignore this issue until it stops occurring in the workplace and in everyday life. Even still we have made great progress but we must continue to provide equality to all humans.
These videos really tend to show the magnitude of how things have changed. The main theme that I noticed was how women seemed to be judged primarily on their effectiveness regarding domestic duties, usually cooking. This was demonstrated particularly in the video "Harvey's Birthday Coffee", in which it seemed like Harvey only cared about his wife when she produced a satisfactory beverage. If that is the only source of his love, they probably shouldn't be married. Also, as Justina pointed out, the wife blamed herself for this shortcoming, as though her husband's narrow-minded, caffine fueled scorn was justified. Why the women didn't stand up for themselves earlier could be for any number of reasons: they might have been trying to keep the peace in the house, it might be a result of their upbringing/experience during the war to stay at home (in country) and keep things working while the men were abroad, or due to a desire to avoid the stress of the world's politics or business. This is obviously not the case now, since women are much more actively involved in business and politics, and have the option of holding almost any job a man can have.
What's more, as demonstrated by the "Leave it to Beaver" clip, the men back then seemed to think themselves capable of providing for themselves without modern appliances, unlike the women, who were seen as being dependent on technology to produce anything worthwhile. In that way the women become little more than an accessory, which, as most of us with stay-at-home moms can attest to, is not a truth.
These videos reflected that in this time era it was like women were almost less of a person than men. They were like accessories for men, especially in the "would YOU like to be Queen for a Day" video. They weren't really expected to have much of an affect in society, they had their role as the housewife and that was that. That is why when they began to become more individual men reacted very strongly against it. They didn't want change in their everyday office and routines. For example, in the first video the man would complain about every little thing women did. I think that women are portrayed as weaker and less important figures in society. However, I do agree with Mikaela on the first video. I also think that this video was criticizing the ignorant men in the every day work force. His boss, the highest power in the office doesn't even understand his train of thought and thinks his problems are foolish.
Obviously, things have changed a great deal in America. I truly believe that women and men are finally looked at as equal in the everyday work force. However, even I tend to only think of rich, high powered CEOs and owners as men. Hopefully this tendency and stereotype that men are always in charge will soon change.
Will Fletcher
Class 4
I think that Troy’s statement, “Women in these videos were not being dehumanized, men simply never thought of women as not human enough to be treated equally” is a perfect statement to summarize all of these videos. In “Trouble with Women,” women were subservient to men; the boss treated women like objects and described them as unreliable and incapable of performing good work. The boss described in this video that women take small things and make big productions out of it; however, I believe that it is the men who made the biggest productions. Just like Michaela said, “there is a division of the sexes in society but it in no way demeans the value of women.” It is not the women who are being dehumanized, but it is the sexist men who are incapable of treating women equally and with respect. In the video, “Before Women’s Libs,” the husband describes how a women’s place is in the home and in the kitchen. This stereotype was consistent all throughout this era, and just like Katie Shirley said, “women were expected to do things according to the men in the lives.” The job of a woman back then was to serve to men’s needs at all times.
Things have definitely changed. In our society, it is perfectly acceptable to see women work outside of the home and women and men have definitely become more equal. Women have become more independent and starting doing jobs for themselves, not just for men’s needs. However, Justina makes a good point about one thing that has stayed the same. Although women have now become lawyers and doctors, society still views a man in the kitchen as strange. However, each year brings more equality and more ideas about men and women.
Amanda Stanton
Class 6
As Stefan said, it is amusing to look back and see how sexist and prejudice things were back then. Women were looked as a lower class, a lower species, who's goal in life was simply to please their superior male figures. The video "Harvey's Birthday Coffee", the husband was constantly bashing his wife and disrespecting her. This was a totally accepted practiced as seen when the wife is discussing with her friend how to improve her skills in order to make her husband happy. This is completely different than today. Now, women would not put up with the constant negative comments because this would be seen as verbal abuse. The main reason why women would put up with this abuse is because it was socially unacceptable to get divorced in the 50's and 60's. Now, with one in two marriages ending in divorce, the goal in life is no longer to appear perfect and conform to social standards, but the pursuit of happiness. That is one main change from that time period to now.
I think a lot of people missed the point of The Trouble with Women video. It does not display women as worse then men, it shows how the manager didn't believe that the women were as good as the men. The video was made to show people that that kind of thinking was flawed. To interpret it as anything else is also flawed thinking that misses the entire point of the film.
I do agree with Justina that the Value of a Housewife video would still be relevant today. Making good meals for a family is still an ideal that most suburban Americans hold, and it is usually the woman who cooks, so that is who the advertisements target. The Harvey's Birthday Coffee also does this. They are trying to sell a product to people and the target is women. They, as most companies do today, make people feel bad about themselves(your husband doesn't love you enough) then say their product will fix that(your husband will love you more). Thats not sexism, it's clever advertising.
Things have changed and genders are more equal, but there are certain things that are not. Men, in general, are stronger, therefor more productive at physical labor, therefor will, and should, be payed more. Men use more gray matter, and therefor are usually better at processing information News article leading to higher pay in jobs thats need that skill.
I agree with Maria and many others who have posted about how these videos put forth negative stereotypes about women. To reference the first video "The Trouble With Women", women are treated as an inferior species in the work place. Just as Stefan said, men seemed to have believed that women were incapable of doing a "man's job". The stereotypes of women not being as obedient or efficient in their work may have been plausible before Women's Rights came into play in the United States because men assumed that they were of the dominant sex, and everything that they do is better than anything that a woman could do. In the film, Mr. Bradshaw also accuses that women bring their personal life into the workplace. The video clearly depicts an enormous gap between both sexes, whereas in this day and age, that gap has been closed.
When you look at the workplace now, or when you look at life in general, both men and women are of equal status. It is acknowledged that both men and women are capable of working efficiently. They can do the same jobs, they can both live up to expectations and exceed expectations as well. These days, it all depends on the person. Some men could be poor workers, as can some women. But that doesn't prove any stereotype directed towards either sex. In truth, we all have potential, no matter who we are. Generalizations about women before Women's Rights can be reiterated in the modern day, but they are no longer relevant, because they proved that they are not inferior. It goes to show that we're all equal and that if you've seen one star, you haven't seen them all.
- Sage Musk
Class 6
In "The Trouble With Women," women are depicted as absent, inconsiderate, and overdramatic people. Brad describes his women employees as less capable and more problematic at their job than the men. However, his boss says they have better qualifications. As Maria and Mason said, it's easier to focus on the men in this video than the women. In a working environment back then, women weren't taken as seriously as men, even when they were qualified. No one could look past the fact that they were a woman. Today times have changed. Women have earned more respect in the workforce as men. Although they are not always completely equal, more and more these days you see men and women looking at the same jobs and have similar qualifications. Now it comes down to that rather than gender.
Also, in the video "Value of Housewife," it depicts a typical woman. A mother whose job is to do the grocery shopping and cook for the family. It shows an ideal woman being able to have the proper skills to cook and shop well. Although not every woman is the stereotypical stay at home mom and does not always have these jobs, I agree with Justina. Today, women are still shown as the cooks and shoppers of the family and TV commercials and magazines are aimed at them. Times have changed, but there are still many stereotypical gender roles that remain.
Nicole D
Class 1
After watching these videos, it is clear that women were inferior to men during the mid 1900’s. Men expected their wives to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Interestingly enough, the women in the videos do not object to these expectations. They take it upon themselves to act in such a manner. For instance, in the video, “Harvey’s Birthday Coffee”, Harvey yells at his wife for not making good coffee. As Justina said, in today’s society the woman would yell back at her husband and tell him to make his own coffee, but in the video, Harvey’s wife gets upset with herself for not being able to make good coffee. Also, the video, “before women’s lib” stereotypically portrays women as inside homemakers, and men as the more rugged ones who can handle the outdoors. The dad says to Wally,” a woman’s place is in the home”. Furthermore, the same stereotype is portrayed in the “Value of a housewife” video. As Jess said, the announcer emphasized how the food products were available to the “housewives”. This shows how society expected women to do all of the cooking.
Although the portrayals of women have changed, I do not think that the stereotypes for men have changed greatly. For instance, in today’s society, it is acceptable for a woman to be a mother, and also have a full time job. On the other hand though, it is uncommon and laughed upon if a man does the cooking and cleaning and takes care of the kids. A man is still expected to be the one who provides for his family. Also, in my family, both my mom and my dad will cook outside, but only my mom will cook inside. The expectations of women in today’s society have changed more than the expectations of men. I think men still feel that they should be the ones who go to work and “bring home the bacon”. While this was the stereotype for men in the 1960’s I think that today people think of it more as tradition.
Emily Kopcik
class 1
I feel that these stereotypes that women are suppose to stay home and do all the cooking and cleaning have been starting to fade more and more. Now you see women that are taking the places of what used to be "mens jobs" where really either gender can do them if they wanted to. I mean now you are even seeing women running for presidency. I have to agree with Mason that lately the role of women has been changing. I am starting to meet more families where it is the father that stays home and works from the house. Now maybe when the children were much younger the mother stayed home but as soon as the kids got older the father cool be the one to work part time and take care of the home (which I feel that is a huge job with in its self).
I also felt in "Before Woman's Lib.." the guy contradicts himself by saying men do all the tough stuff then he asks for the asbestos gloves to that he wouldn't hurt his hands. It is pretty funny to because the kid picks up on it and questions his father.
Peter Kerns
Class 4
In video 2, the house wife is refered to as the cook and caretaker of the house. It is her decisiopn on what foods to buy and is expected to make a quality meal out of low quality food.in video 3, the father tells his son how the wife is expected to stay in the house and if she is in the house, she might as well be in the kitchen. The father continues on saying that it is the mens job to do things outside because they are tough and more like cavemen. Even though these videos are mainly stereotypical about women, not all house holds are like this. In society today, many women stay home and are in charge of taking care of the kids and cooking. Yes, there is a smaller percent that do work but most women are stay at home moms. I agree with Mason about the fourth video. Harbey's wife looked completely brainwashed and the short clip was extreamly unrealistic.
All of these videos seem like caricatures of the 1950's that would be played on television shows like The Simpsons, which makes it all the more shocking that they actually existed.
Some of them, viewed in a modern context, seem almost to be mocking themselves: "hand me my asbestos gloves," for example, being said right after detailing how women are better suited for the kitchen. As we now know, asbestos is highly dangerous - but back then, they thought that it was perfectly safe; just like the prevailing belief used to be that all women should stick to the kitchen.
Even the videos that (as Chad pointed out) were trying to be somewhat sympathetic to women, were still, A) Called "The Trouble with Women," and B) still portrayed women as nagging and mostly incompetent unless guided by a strong willed MAN.
I agree with what Maria says about the videos depicting women in a negative way and the hypocrisy found in each. The man in The Trouble with Women is the one making a big fuss, the dad in Before Women’s Lib asks for gloves, etc. Plus, with the exception of Harvey’s Birthday Coffee, each video is from the perspective of a man. This just points out the fact that men didn’t think their ideas and perspectives were important, which I think is where Justina’s argument faults. No disrespect to her, but she says that women weren’t fighting to get out of the kitchen, but none of those videos support her statement. In Harvey’s Coffee, the wife was upset that she couldn’t please her husband, which is a common desire, even today – people tend to want to make their spouse happy, especially on their birthday. There are many women today who would tell their spouse to make their own coffee, but that doesn’t mean that women in the 50’s and 60’s didn’t want to get out of the kitchen.
Emily uses the word “inferior” in her post – which is perfect because women were thought to be inferior to men. That’s why the boss in The Trouble with Women makes such a fuss – he thinks a man could do the job better than a woman, whether he is more qualified or not. This happens today, too. Times have changed but not as monumentally as women would like, I think. Even today, women are still discriminated against in job settings and tend to make less money than a man. There are jobs which are still associated with genders and if men and women were truly equal, there would be no distinction. Secretaries tend to be women still because it seems like a suitable place for women and women are thrown back into the kitchen with the phrase “Go make me a sandwich.” I know a woman named Sarah who works with boat mechanics – she and her husband own a business repairing boats. She told me that when she shows up to a job, often before even starting on the boat, clients will either look at her as if she doesn’t belong or sometimes tell her that the job is for a man and request that another employee come back to help them. Sarah is no less qualified than anyone else, but people still assume her job is for men and that she is, in fact, less qualified based on her gender. Of course, that doesn’t mean that women haven’t made leaps and bounds – as Justina pointed out, women are now doctors, lawyers, executives, ect. Women now work jobs that used to be only for men and their acceptance into these jobs has greatly increased over the last 40 years, but women are nowhere close to the word “equal” as people would like to think.
Colleen Cosgrove
Class 4
After watching the videos that where posted on the front page and reading my classmates comments I have to say that I was surprised and offended at the videos.
I was very surprised that this is really how people viewed women in past years. The one that really surprised me and angered me was the first link that I watched. "Trouble with women" really angered me because it clearly is shown that the man who is complaining has the problem not the women. This is similar to what Maria and Eidith states as well as many others. I am surprised at this video because it is how people about 30 years ago looked at women and people still do so today.
Lastly I was only able to view the "Woman libs" from Leave it to Beaver. This shows how men think of themselves as rugged and the women as the ones who should cook inside. I disagree with this completly. Women and men can be good cooks whether they are in doors or out doors. Once again this is segregation. I hope that many males do not think the same way as the videos show other wise they have another thing coming.
Lisa Ferrari
Period 1
I agree with Maddie about men treating women unfairly. They just assumed that women were going to do something "wrong". While watching "The Trouble with Women", I got the feeling that men dont give women any respect during work. And the men seemed to get upset whenever a woman made a mistake, instead of being understanding. The men believed that women should stay at home and take care of the kids. I agree with maddie about Harvey's Birthday as well, because it is completely ridiculous that the man was upset because the coffee wasn't as good as the coffee in his workplace. Today, women are treated much better, and are given every opportunity to succeed and be free to live how they'd like. They have just as many opportunities as men.
Jake Tolson class 1
As Maria said earlier, every one of these videos shows a negative depiction of women. They all make women out to be brainwashed servants, tending to every need of the men. This shows a huge development in America's views of women. I wish that I could say that nowadays, women are viewed as equals, that there is no discrimination between gender, but it's not quite true yet. Women do statistically make less money than men And there are still plenty of sexists left in the world- whether they are just a product of their generation, or upbringing, there are sexists, plain and simple.
In the first video (the trouble with women) I found myself disgusted with the men claiming that women cannot achieve or understand any of the things that men do.It made women look ignorant and ill-experienced. And in the third video (Before womens lib...) In this video, the father was telling his son that womens role is in the house and, more specifically, in the kitchen. There have been many jokes coming about that are extremely sexist, and many of them involve women being in the kitchen. I just thought that it was interesting to see the similarities between the different generations.
Times have changed, the roles of both men and women have drastically altered and the viewpoints of these videos in our society are seen as the people in that society treating women poorly.
In the first video "The Trouble With Women," right from the start the title contains a negative connotation about women. This was filmed in 1959 and most likely, you would never see the roles reversed and placing that same image but with "The Trouble with Men" unless it had some sort of comical theme. The first scene contains a male telling a women how to work a contraption, talking with a prestigious tone as if the women won't and will never know how to do this more than he does. Then, another women walks into the room and announces that she is his new investigator and has to sit around multiple times for him to get himself together. In today's society you would see a male serving a women in the workforce depeing entirely upon the ranking or position that the women holds. In the 1950's this would be highly unlikely.
In the video "Would YOU like to be queen for a day" women are dressed in advertisements that the main male is describing to an eager audience. You would never see the reversed roles of a male inside the costume of consumerism and a female speaking to a crowd about what it holds to satisfy a person. Even in today's society it would be unheard of to have a male on a game show walk around the shiny new car that the audience wants in their own possession so badly.
The roles of women are seen in today's society as a blurred image and also inhumane considering the ways women were depicted back in the day. Through time everything has potential to change, and as Justina was talking about, in the future roles may have reversed so much that they wouldn't be able to tell what living in our generation as a women was like.
Julie Ficks
Class 4
Obviously, each of the clips depicts women through stereotypes and discrimination, but I find what Justina said very interesting and true. As she said, the women themselves are fitting the role assigned, such as in the Harvey's coffee commercial where the wife is upset that she can't give her husband a 'good cup of coffee', but we must remember that doesn't change the implications of the video. Both the men AND women in the clips serve to put down women 'into their place'. We can hardly make the assumption that the housewives of the 60's weren't opposed to their roles from propaganda like clips.
As many other people stated, including Maria and Mikaela, the movies may have really been intended to satirize the racist people. Yes, they follow the stereotypes of women, but the clips the Trouble with Women and Before Women's Lib the men are actually being undermined. In The Trouble with Women, the idea is presented that the problem lies with the man and not the women, and even ends with the question "What's wrong with Billy?". In Before Women's Lib, the father goes on about women needing modern appliances, then himself asks his son to fetch the mits. It's mean't to be comical, but it does portray a skepticism on the racist viewpoints. I think the videos really were showing that women are equal without totally undermining the jobs that they do have.
Times have changed. The difference between now and then is that women are given a choice. Being equal means given equal opportunity. Today, women are given the choice to work in the office, laboratory, hospital, or home. They can pursue a career, or be a housewife. It's up to the individual, which is the way it should be.
-Alex Klein period 4
Similar to what Mason, Katie, and Jessica said these videos depicted women in a very negative way. I actually find it hillarious that this at one point was the steryotype for women during that chapter in American history.
Adding on to what mason said, it's interesting to see that compared to today, men felt they were "entitled" to treat women lower then themselves. But times have changed, in this modern age the steryotype of the stay at home mom has greatly deminished and I believe we really owe that to the hard work and determination of women's rights protesters.
Currently things aren't really equal across the board, but I feel that as time goes on this will eventually fix its self.
After watching these videos I agree a lot with Mikaela. These videos may have stereo types of an “ideal women” but they are only social norms for that time. Most of these videos (if not all) are before the women's liberation movement and the counter culture of the 60's that would question these “norms” and eventually change them forever. I thought it was interesting how the man in “the problem with women” video realized that the problem never lied in women, just how he perceived them. During the time of women's liberation it became important for women to get across the point that they are equal to men, no matter what certain men may think. I couldn't help but laugh at “the value of a housewife” because it basically explained.... self explanatory things. I feel like any normal woman would laugh at this today but would get a little offended like I did at the part where it says “at this point, the cooking ability of the housewife becomes highly important”. These videos, especially this sound like training videos for a Stepford Wife. Although they might offend people these days, its part of our culture and our history and we should happy to live in a time far more advanced in its equality than this.
I agree with Mikaela. I think that these videos are not to depict women negatively, but more toshow how much things have changed since back then. I think that showing how much things have changed, is important because our generation, for instance, did not live in that period and it is hard to understand what things were like by reading about them.
Through watching "The Trouble With Women", it really showed just how much things have changed since then. Women were all stereotyped as sensitive, unable to keep up with "A man's" work load, and not being able to follow directions as a man could. On th other hand, this video does show how some things remain the same when compared with current times. In the workplace, a woman is often considered to not be able to do or keep up with a man's work load. Another example of this would be the fact that on average, women make less money in the workplace doing the same job as a man, simply because they are a woman. Overall, I think that since the 1960's, women have gained much more independence, and more rights, but still remain at a disadvantage in many workplaces.
I agree with Peter that he stereotypes are slowly fading. But I feel like they do still exist a lot. Many men still view women as the gender that is supposed to stay at home, take care of the kids, and clean. The videos all showed how women were not exactly people but merely objects. They were men's accessories. They were to look good and stay out of the way. Today there is a role reversal. Men stay at home to take care of the kids while the women go out to make money for the family. This is huge progress! Although some things are the same, women have come far in society. And maybe eventually we will be viewed as equal.
I have to agree with Ishaar when he said " these videos portray women in a negative light, but also that we should take into account when watching them that this wasn't considered sexist or misogynistic in this time period." I know that many of the domestic roles of the mother and the jobs she was expected to do have changed completely since these times, but we have to remember that at these times no one, not even the women though the views were sexist or out-of-the-ordinary. I'm not promoting the behavior, in fact i'm against it, but sometimes we all have to take a step back and remember our imperfect selves as just that, imperfect. I was surprised however at the extent of women's struggling when i saw the "Queen for a day" video. It shocked me that we've changed so much in so little time.
All I can say after I watched these videos was wow. I think that my favorite was the coffee one. It just seemed unreal; I was surprised that this was actually a commercial that was shown through out the United States at the time. I disagree with Mason that a negative light was given on women in these videos. When we watch these videos we have to remember that this was in a different time period, women did not have a voice yet and could not stand up for themselves as they would to today. As Justina had said about he videos Harvey’s Coffee, that is not how a women today would react to their husband saying the girls down at the office make coffee better. I think that even in the “Trouble with Women” video the man is just being stereotypical which for that time period was come on. Again if a man said that today he would have probably gotten in trouble for saying something about a fellow co-worker.
The only video that really bothered me was “Queen for a Day”. When she was talking about her knee surgery the host kept cutting her off and criticizing her on doing things for herself when she should be just focused on her son and her family. This bothered me because the host did not let her say anything. But I guess that that’s just how that time period was, I am glad that this has changed.
I have to agree with my main man Jake daddy on this topic, in that men in the past have often times treated women unfairly.
I found these videos to be shocking. In the video, value of a housewife, the narrator says "if the housewives time is not too highly valued, this can be a saving". I found the wording of this quote interesting they could have just as easily said "if you wife isn't too busy, this can help save money" instead it is worded in a way that we can infer that the husband is the one who decides whether the housewives time is valuable.
I think one way we can tell that things have changed alot is the reaction of the class when we watch similar clips in class. Often times we laugh at these exerts because the ideas are so old fashioned that they seem incredibly preposterous.
-This is Carson Leon-Gambetta, over and out
To go off of what sage was saying, I also agree that there was a very dominant stereotype of women not being as efficient as men in almost any way. In “The Trouble With Women,” Mr. Bradshaw lashes out on the entire female gender as a result of problems that clearly happen within both sexes. Everybody has personal issues (as the boss states), but Mr. Bradshaw only picks out the ones with women because of his sexist tendencies. I would also like to talk about the “Queen for a Day” video. The host of the show makes the contestants share all of their personal, motherly problems on public television for pleasure. This is also sexism. One weird thing that I found out about though, was that my grandmother won this show at one point. My dad told me how she one a good amount of prizes on this show before he was even born.
Nathan
Class 6
I agree with Jake and Maddie in which they both stated that men treated women unfairly. It's not right for men to just assume a women is going to do something "incoorect". During the video "The Troubkle With Women", I kept thinking that it's so not right how these men are treating these women. It wasn't right to see them get so upset when a women made a mistake or did something wrong. There was no respect whatsoever. "The Value of a Housewive", also showed me crazy views I didn't like. The point made where it spoke about how a wife is expected to be a good cook and good in the kitchen is insane. It's highly sexist and just wrong.
The narrator was almost mocking women by saying it doesn't take much skill cooking dinner.
I do however feel things have changed now and women are treated much better. They have same opportunities as men now and are seen in very high positions ans opposed to just being in the kitchen to cook. This is good to see the change that we need for women and other things.
Brendan DeAngelis Period 6
Many of these videos showed a sexist view against women. For example, the first video "The Trouble with Women," portrayed a man who viewed his female coworker as incompetent because of her gender. Her credentials qualified her as fit for the job, yet the male worker disliked her rank in their company.
Another video that oppresses women was "Before Women's Lib." When the son asks why she only cooks the meals indoors, his father states that "as long as shes in the home, she might as well be in the kitchen." This quote shows how society, but mainly males, viewed women and their duties in life. Also, this reminded me of the more modern joke of men ordering women to "go make a sandwich."
After watching these videos, I have been given a perspective on how much women have achieved as a gender. Less than half a century ago, all women were objectified and viewed as property by their husbands. In modern times, women are beginning to take higher, more powerful roles in society, getting higher educations, and proving themselves as highly successful individuals. This progress directly correlates to achievements made towards women's rights and the opportunities that later arose from them.
However, some female stereotypes remain because of common family convention. As Nicole Davis mentioned, "Today, women are still shown as the cooks and shoppers of the family and TV commercials and magazines are aimed at them." As mothers, women will always be nurturers and maintain the role of "housewife." I don't this stereotype or family dynamic will ever be replaced by the father. Instead, it will remain because of the natural tendency for women to assume this responsibility.
Jessa Mason
Class 1
All of these videos seem to share in common the view that women have a significantly different role and responsibilities than men, specifically that woman should primarily be homemakers, cooks, and caretakers of the children while the father works. This is reenforced the by the first video, "The Trouble with Women" when the the man complains about the women working in his department to his boss. He mentions such stereotypes such as that they are too emotional and irresponsible (like waiting until the week before to report she is getting married and taking time off.) I agree with Stefan in that this would not be an issue in this case if the man would treat the women that work for him the same way he would interact with a man, instead of being condescending towards them. Like the man's boss said, it is only due to the way he acts, not them.
The other clips, particularly "Value of a Housewife" and "Harvey's Birthday Coffee" continue to perpetuate the 'woman in the kitchen' stereotype by depicting the kitchen as the sole domain of women and not acknowledging their capability to take any other roles.
It is obvious that women have come quite a long way since the 50's and 60's , despite some of these stereotypes still in existence. Women can now be both wives and hold high positions in the workforce if they choose. I predict that advances will continue to be made until no distinction is drawn between men and women when it comes to gender roles.
- Kevin Moses
These videos truely show a time where woman are on a completely different lower level then men. It depicts them as the ever typical 'housewife' who does all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, and has no business being in the workplace with men. I find it interesting how Maria says that men are the ones who actualy fit fit the description of woman. I feel that this is extremely accurate as it shows how men view woman as emotional weak and imcompetant people, yet they themselves are complaining and being emotional about working with them. As Justina said, the men in the movies were just being hypocritial.
I think that today things have changed alot as although many people still feel that women belong in the kitchen like the father in "Before Woman's Lib..." many others view woman and men as equals and agree that in some cases woman are better in a specific work force than men. Things have improved ten fold since the 1950's however, men and women are still extremely seperated as you see commercials specified directly to men or woman based on the physical or maternital needs of the product beign sold in the commercial. I know things are far better off now than they were, but we still need to work on actually achieving that exact equality that has been dreamed about for so long.
Erin Cunnignham
Class 4
Society today does try to make women appear equal with men. By allowing them to do almost all that men do, we have really made it so the difference in our gender equality is almost unnoticable. However, like Maria said the videos still depict a negative connotation to the role and "value" of women compared to that of men. Women still are not considered to be fit for things like certain jobs and activities. Ultimately, despite what our society makes it seem, men and women are still not completely equal.
Kyle Wilcox
After watching these video clips and my classmates responses, I have come across one that I agree the most with. As I read Jake's post "While watching The Trouble with Women, I got the feeling that men dont give women any respect during work. And the men seemed to get upset whenever a woman made a mistake, instead of being understanding." I realized that I agree completely. The stereotype of women doing other jobs besides the job of being a housewife badly has almost completely diminished over the years. Today, most men understand that women are capable of the same work as they are. Most men understand that sometimes women have better abilities to multitask, which makes them wonderful office assistants. There are just as many opportunities for women in 2011 as there are for men. I am glad that our society has come such a long way. Because in the past, women were treated so poorly. Also, Jake mentioned in his response that women are given the same amount of opportunities as men now. I also find this statement very important because in the past, the reason women were not succeeding was because they were not given the chance to succeed. Once you let someone free to complete more, they will usually always find a way to do so, no matter how long it takes. It is extremely important that gender does not matter in the work force.
I actually agree with both Michaela and Maria. Michaela talks about how the videos do not have a negative connotation, whereas Maria says that they depict all women as less superior and less educated. I think that the videos both show the positive and negative sides of women.
Like Michaela said, the first video, "The Trouble With Women" does include the boss, that explains to the other man that women really aren's so bad. He mentions their good qualities and talks about how they are qualified. However, he does still say that the only reason that she is getting the job is because there is not a man available to do that job. This is where Maria's point of view comes in. Clearly, both men do not see the women as equals, but you can tell that there is progress in the right direction. I think that the big issue with the first video is that it really depends on the way the viewer wants to look at it. A man that is against equal rights would look at this video and immediately side with the other man. He would think that all the points being made by that man are completely accurate and make complete sense. If someone was watching the video and was pro-equal rights, then they would side with the boss and wonder what was wrong with the other man. This video in particular really depends on what the viewer wants to see in it. It is hard to watch it and be completely objective.
As for the second video, I agree with Michaela on the fact that it does show the strengths that women had in those days, but I also find it slightly degrading because in the way that it is protrayed, it shows women as though that is the only thing that they are capable of doing. Also, the fact that it does not even give a hint that a man would be doing that job shows the inequality between the genders. Men during that time thought the shopping and cooking was to be done only by the women, which should not have been the case.
Like Maria said, times have changed. Women have obtain a lot more equality, which has proven to be a great thing. It is nice living in this day and age, as a female, and not having to worry as much about being looked down upon. Although there are still some prejudices against women, we, as a country, are moving in the right direction.
-Jess Lynch, Class 1
Back then, the accepted livelihood was that women and men had distinct, but different, roles in society. These days, the border that separated these differences has long since vanished. Due to a number of people being single for longer periods of time (as opposed to the '50s where people were getting married as soon as possible), the increase in divorce, and the fact that society has opened its doors for equal opportunities for men and women, it has become more a world of self-reliance. With colleges and jobs, both men and women need to know how to manage their own homes as well as their outside life if they ever hope to thrive.
This is definitely a step up from how women were treated in the '50s. As many other students have stated before me, women were portrayed in a more negative light. More specifically, they were seen as incapable when it came down to successfully maintaining a job. The first video demonstrated the apparent traits by exaggerating their incapability to the point where it seemed as though women were a burden that was only hindering the company (i.e. women being too stubborn with their workplace, women leaving or being absence without previous notice). These days women seem to outnumber men in different areas of the workforce and are often more competent. The cliches highlighted in the movie are virtually nonexistant.
As Peter K. referred to in his blog, there are many fathers who are taking up the role as stay-at-home dads, while the mother goes off to work. This is actually the case with my father, as he is the one who does all of the cooking and cleaning in my house. My mother meanwhile, works at home. This contradicts the cliche presented in "Before Women's Lib" that while a woman's place is in the home, they might as well be in the kitchen. It also contradicts the "Value of Housewife" because even though my mom works at home, it is her that takes care of the business-related work while my dad takes care of the housework. These days both men and women are learning to become independent. There are no longer any guidelines for what duties one spouse has to the other. It is certainly a far cry from the "Sexist old coffee ad" video, where it seemed as though a woman's most critical duty was to make a proper pot of coffee. Even the husband looks as duty as so critical that he becomes frustrated at his wife when she fails to accomplish the "task". These days, it would probably be one of the most sexist things to comment over.
Charlie Pryor
Period-6
When you look at any of the videos, your initial reaction is how sexist and degrading they are. But we need to take into account that these views and positions in society were the norms of that time period. It was not out of the ordinary to think that women were not equal. Sure, we look back on it now and cringe at how offensive it is but it was not viewed as wrong. We know now that it is, in fact, completley wrong and immoral because woman do have the same qualifications as men in every field, contrary to the belief of the man in the "Trouble with Women" video.
As Ishaar said, I believe that this video is truly a testiment on how far women have come. We have migrated from the kitchen, where they were expected to stay back then, to every other place where women were not allowed before. The work place, behind a counter, working a buzz saw, running a company etc. I am truly proud of how far we have come.
Nora
Class 1
I agree with Chris, it would be nice to say that we have changed so much that women are now viewed as equals in the workforce and in general but if we were to say that we would be lying to ourselves. Although women aren't quite equal yet it is not to say that we haven't come far in the push for equal rights. These videos show women as people who just stay in the house and do things for the men but it is not the same today, there are many women in the workforce and now there are even "stay at home dads" although still rare they do exist back in the 1950's-70's it would be almost impossible to find a woman who works and a man who stays at home. Even though we have come far we still have a ways to go before women have absolute equal rights as men do.
i agree with Justina. Its definately not right that women were treated so differently then men. I agree with maddie that men assumed that becuase of the stereotypes that women would be bad at the jog. the man from the trouble with women was definately wrong in assuming that every woman is the same. He may have had a few women that worked for him not not everyone is the same. he should not have based every woman on the stereotyps of women in the past.
In the Value of the Housewife, it tells women how to be a good housewife by saving money, cooking food and canning food. there is just so much more that women can do. today there are not only stay at home moms but stay at home dads as well. today the stay at home dads are doing everything the women should be doing based on their stereotypes. i talked to my neighbor who was a stay at home dad until about a year ago. he said he loved everyminute of it. taking care of the kids and the house. he liked having dinner ready for his wife when she got home. he did it all without complaining. times have definately changed in the 60s you wouldnt fing a man who would be willing to clean the dishes or do the laundry becuase only "women do that".
Shannon
Period 6
I strongly agree with Maria Dutsar that women are portrayed as these like delicate, unintelligent, eye candy for the men. All of the clips involved some sort of female stereotype. The “The Trouble with Women” video seemed to portray the women in the office as the intellectually deficient, problem causing nuisances. It’s strange because nowadays you will see comedy parodies of videos such as these but the actors and actresses in these are completely serious. It makes me wonder about the self esteem level of these women. It’s probably that society was just telling them over and over that they were this cookie cutter female stereotype until they accepted and conformed to this. However, today the view of the working women is a completely different one. In most cases a women is seen equal to her male counterpart in the workforce. Because of the women’s suffrage movement we have been able to rid our society of the previous female stereotype and incorporate them as a major part of today’s workforce.
Sean Fahey
Interestingly, I got the feeling that Brad in the first video was supposed to be wrong, and was supposed to be seen as overreacting. However, the rest of the videos seem to go with the formula of dehumanizing women. Notably, in the second video, the woman is not given any benefits or guarantees for being a housewife. She is simply being told what to buy and how to prepare it for her family.
The good thing today is that videos like those would be claimed as misogynistic and never see the light of day. Overall, women have gained a bigger presence in the workforce and are usually not turned down for jobs for being a woman. However, there are still subtle examples of gender discrimination that linger. Some examples are in statistics like one that shows that women on average make 70% of what men make.
While I do think that there has been progress in the workplace, I agree with Troy in saying that some men still don’t believe a woman can work or run this country. I think a big factor in this happening is that when some men think of feminism, they think of men hating psychopaths who want to commit gendercide. The actual definition of feminism is that women are equal to men, a concept most people can grasp if it was shown to them.
After watching these videos, I have realized that woman were really viewed as inferior and unable, according to men, during this time period. The video, "The Trouble with Women" portrayed many of the stereotypes of woman at this time. Also, it showed why these things were bad about women. For example, Brad says that woman are making things difficult for him because of marriage and personality problems. He also says that men have never given him these problems. It is true that woman were put down and were not given equal rights compared to men, but like Ishaar said, at this time women were not striving for equal rights. They sort of just went along with the motions because they were happy the way they lived their life. But now, if woman are judged like they were in the first video, they would be offended. This shows that times have changed. Also in the video, "Harvey's Birthday Coffee," it is shown that during this time women were expected to do nothing but be the homemaker. Like I said, if this were present day, women would take offense to this, but the woman in the video did not seem very distraught, but just a little bit confused and upset. This was not because her husband wasn't treating her right, but because the coffee she made was not good enough for him. These videos give a clear view of women during this time period and how they were not treated right. Fortunately, times have changed up to today, but there is still some sexism that arises at times with things like job opportunities. Hopefully in the future though, society will be able to achieve complete equality between men and women.
The stereotypical references in these videos shows the negative view of women in the working world. Certainly we have now recognized that women have just the same amount of potential as women, and sometimes greater potential. And in the 'Trouble With Women' video the doctor has a point about the work ethic of certain women he worked with, and it gives reasoning to why he dislikes some of his female assistants. But it could be the same with a male assistant as well in some instances, so he needs to recognize that gender doesn't fully determine who you are. Nowadays we trust women to some jobs men would not want, and vice versa. An elementary schoolteacher job would most likely be held by a women, as a construction job might primarily fall under men. And this is not a bad thing at all, but simply the way that many men and women want to live their lives. I agree with Katie in the fact that also nowadays the role of the home keeper can be held by men or women. To better support the household, if a women has a more significant job than the man, it should be the mans duty to the family to stay home and care for other tasks while the woman is making a family living.
I agree with Cassandra and Will that these videos would, today, be considered very sexist. Basically, all of these videos portrayed women as inferior people to men or their partners. The women in these videos may very well been considered property rather than actual people. This is demonstrated in the video “Trouble with Women” when the man went on about the negative sides of the women at his work to the boss. I don’t believe that the man intentionally wanted to insult the ladies. Rather, the man just didn’t know any better. He treated his co-worker ladies as speed-bumps; slowing down production and all in all just an inconvenience to a “man’s job”. Another video that represented a woman being sufficiently inferior to her male partner is in the video “Sexist old coffee ad- Harvey’s birthday coffee”. In this video it shows a husband being very rude to his wife about the terrible coffee that she makes for him. He tells her this by insulting her and not even kissing her goodbye. This ad is sexist because it assumes that it is the woman’s job to satisfy her husband’s wants and needs- in this case his coffee. Not to mention, when the male went off to work during the day, the wife was shown as staying home and doing nothing of importance except for trying to figure out a way to get better coffee for her husband. All in all, all of these videos show a very gender-divided society. Things have definitely changed from then to now. Particularly in the last decade woman’s roles have really stepped up from what they previously were. Today, it is not uncommon to see a woman head of a company, not a typical “stay at home mom”, or making a living for themselves without a man. Sure, there is still some gender discrimination, but it is progressing. But for how far we’ve come up to this point, I think we deserve a pat on the back.
Lauren Bauer
Class 4
Its interesting to see how much of a lesser being women are portrayed as compared to men. Growing up I know women have not always been treated 100% equal but i was not used to seeing that degree of how terribly inferior they were treated. it also was shocking how open they were about how women were lesser people. I agree with what mason said when he said "I found myself a little disgusted at how much of a scum, the woman's husband was. It looked as though she were almost brain-washed, considering she wasn't "fuming" from the fact that her husband said that other womens coffee was better." I know that most men now would never even consider saying something like that to their wives. That is just a terrible idea and would not end well for men but then it is still amazing that men could get away with that.
Brendan McNamara
class 1
sorry had a game Monday and forgot to do it so im doing it now
The seriousness of these clips has been completely lost through the vessel of time. The views of the videos are completely ridiculous in context to today's society. I liked what Jess said about the housewife having to "please" her husband. The men in these videos talk down to their female counterparts, dumbing down their words. Being a wife was much more of a job then. Even just the idea scenario in the first video that the woman leaves her job when she gets married proves this. Her boss would become her husband. Although our culture has drastically changed, I agree with Katie that some "tradition" still exists within our society. My sister, who is 22 is a professional chef, and for the most part she is usually the only woman in the kitchen of this male dominated field, which has ironically always been this way. I know that she has to over compensate for the fact that she is a woman and not all of the other people working take her as seriously at first. Sexism still exists, even though it has vastly changed.
Dana G
Class 1
I feel as if Justina hit the nail right on the head when she said "So, although it is more socially acceptable for a women to work outside the home, it is just as socially strange to see a man in the kitchen, which is similar to the 1960's." Compared to that era, society is making a great deal of a change with each gender's role. But at the same time there is still feelings of taboo associated until it is all deemed normal. For decades our culture has seen women as in capable of doing certain jobs or earning proper wages to support a family. Only until recently have we been able to view families where the father raises the kids and the mother is the bread winner. These sorts of families only prove that we are indeed created equally and the world needs men just as much as woman, if not more. In todays world, a woman can be the Speaker of the House and a man can cook and clean and keep tabs around things in the household. In "The Trouble with Women" video I was actually taken back somewhat with how blatant the insults to woman were and how the man had zero confidence in the woman's ability to do that job. The accomplishments women are making today completely refute these stereotypes.
Oh, how those were the good ole days.... hah just kidding. Those videos were so blatantly sexist.. I can't even imagine those being aired today. How did women see that and not take offense to it? Men had it easy back then. Now-a-days you have to listen to them, be there for them, and always treat them with respect. Don't get me wrong, I think women should be treated that way no matter what, because you know me , I'm a ladies man, and i always treat them great. But at the same time its so hard to believe men could get away with treating them so poorly.. like in that commercial about what "a housewife was good for" they said something like, "if she is exceptionally good she will make a meal out of cheap beef, not just expensive meat." that makes it seem like you are just marrying women for how good of a housewife, like they are just objects not actually human beings. That is more than wrong if you ask me.
I agree with what Mason said, in the sense that I wasn't much paying attention to what the woman was doing but more to the way that the man acts. It seems to me at least, that men act the way that they do as though they are given the right to do that when they are born a man. These video clips broadcasted how exactly the women were treated and expected to be treated.
Nicholas Crudo
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