For this week’s assignment I chose to watch the film 9 to 5. The film’s main characters include three women that all work in a corporate office, Consolidated Companies, Inc. Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda ) is the most recent employee; the office being her first job after her divorce from her cheating husband. Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin) is a very organized office supervisor and Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton) is the boss’s secretary. Their boss, Hart, continuously disrespects the female employees; sexually harassing them, discrediting their ideas, viciously yelling at them, spreading sexual rumors, and being gender-biased regarding promotions. When all three of the women befriend each other at a local bar, they share their desire to seek revenge from their sexist boss that has made their workplace insufferable.
After a series of unforeseeable events regarding their believed-to-be-dead boss, the women recollect themselves in the ladies room. They discuss their favorable luck of their boss turning out to be alive and knowing nothing of their scheme, until Hart’s sneaky assistant overheard their conversation while hiding in a bathroom stall. Hart then threatens to have them prosecuted for attempted murder if Doralee refused to spend the night with him.
The women then decide to kidnap him, of course, while trying to blackmail him through an embezzlement scam he was involved in. Hart eventually succeeds in escaping and covers up his crimes of theft by returning the items. While their boss was kept prisoner away from the office, the women make several beneficial changes around the office that didn’t go unnoticed by the Chairman of the Board. The Chairman was so impressed with the office’s productivity that he employed Hart to work at their office in Brazil. The film ended stating happy endings for all three of the women; Violet was promoted to Hart’s position, Judy fell in love, and Doralee became a country singer. Unfortunately, Hart’s ending was not so happy due to the fact that he was captured in the jungle and disappeared forever.
From a feminist perspective, 9 to 5 certainly challenged “conventional” gender norms. There are several gender-related issues that exist throughout the film that support the gender-gap in the workplace. Amongst many other social movements, the second wave of feminism began in the 1960s and sustained until the early 90s. During this time, issues such as gender equality were of upmost concern for feminists. This film emphasizes the frustrations of women in the workplace that were often overworked, poorly paid, and undermined by male employers and employees.
The film did well in depicting gender inequality and the challenges women faced in order to gain respect in the workplace. The film’s female lead characters challenged stereotypical gender-norms by challenging their male employer and becoming “bosses” themselves. They confront many feminist issues such as sexism, unequal pay, and gender-biased promotions. I found the film to be very entertaining and I enjoyed its historical relevance to feminist issues and the second wave of feminism.
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