Are Women Truly Accepted as Equals in the Workforce?

At the time of the movie, the status of women was not pretty. Yes, strides and progress were being made, but women were not seen in the light of being productive in the American employment industry. The majority of the jobs were still left for the male population and there was an understanding across the board that certain jobs, (i.e. secretarial or nursing), were for women and the other, (i.e. management or medicine), was left for men.

The rights and needs of working women were seen but not heard. Yes, the needs of working women everywhere was made open to the public, but the cries often fell on deaf ears. To be very honest and frank, the legal rights of women were next to nothing. Closely observing the film only shows that to be true. In the movie, we see one woman who was a working mom, another who was a widow, one who was a divorcee, another who was a married woman without children, and still another with an alcohol problem.

Problems Facing Women

The movie was created in response to numerous problems that were arising in the employment arena for women. Working women were having a problem in the area of equal pay for equal work. An example of this problem can be seen with Violet Newstead (played by Lily Tomlin). She had been with Consolidated Companies for years and she was passed

over many times for a promotion to a managerial position because of her sex. She obviously was not receiving equal pay for equal work. She was allowed to train people for managerial positions (particularly men), but she was not allowed to receive the positions herself. Also, she had not received a pay increase equal to her time spent with the company and her experience. She was well respected because of her knowledge of the job at hand, but she wasn't respected and appreciated enough to actually hold a managerial position with the corporation.

Another issue affecting women was the reasoning behind women's needs or desires to work. In Western societies, there is a work ethic: work is valuable and contributes to society and human development (Stetson, 1997). So it is an honor for women to have that desire to work. In turn, it will develop their minds, heart and spirit. It will instill in them a sense of pride in contributing to American society and to the work force. Much more popular is the belief that women work because of economic necessity, but not the same kind of necessity that puts men to work. Rather, women work when the traditional formula of male breadwinner and female homemaker fails - because of divorce, widowhood, single parenting, or the male breadwinner's inability to earn enough to meet the family's perceived needs (Stetson, 1997). This perception was very evident in the scene where Franklin Hart (played by Dabney Coleman) approached Tomlin to train Judy Bernley (played by Jane Fonda), a new employee. Tomlin was protesting and Coleman was telling Tomlin that Fonda was a divorcee so she needed the job. Tomlin was being rhetorical in turn by saying something to the fact of "if her husband had only died sooner".

Another issue facing the women in the film was sexual harassment. Doralee Rhodes (played by Dolly Parton) was often harassed by her boss. He made sexual advances toward her and often bought her gifts. He had even spreaded a rumor around the work place that the two of them were having an affair. Parton knew that she was experiencing sexual harassment, but she also knew that she could not call on it. She told Coleman in his office after she found out that he was spreading rumors about their nonexistent love life that "she allowed him to do what he did because she needed the job".

Feminists did not give the degrading experiences that women were experiencing on the job a name until 1975. At this time, after cries and protests by women, the feelings and experiences that were felt nationwide by women everywhere was named sexual harassment. By giving this experience a name, women were able to define what was going on and deal with it better in the legal arena. This was something that women were not able to do until this monster received a name.

Feminists claimed that since men dominate in the economic, political, and educational institutions, men can use their positions to coerce women to submit to sexual advances in ways that men cannot be coerced (Stetson, 1997). When men harass women on this level, it hinders them from excelling in economics, education and politics. These advances can affect women emotionally and mentally in ways that men may not be able to understand. Just by watching the movie, you can see the stigma that was given to Parton by her co-workers. They did not like her and everyone in the office ostracized her. To make matters worse, Coleman could not take her seriously as a professional woman because he only saw her as a play thing, or something to look at for his own enjoyment. When she walked into his office for secretarial duties, he had her stand and turn around for his enjoyment. He even stationed the pencils in a specific position on the desk so that he could accidentally knock them over for her to pick up and for him to enjoy the view of her cleavage.

A minor issue in the film that did not receive too much attention was the young man in the mail room who has been waiting for a promotion for a time at the company. What hinders his ability to receive a promotion is the color of his skin. At the end of the movie, he was still a mail clerk. He had not received a promotion yet based on his competence as opposed to his skin color.

Feminists did agree that the problems faced by minority women are on a different page than their own. White women do not have to worry about being singled out because of their skin color. They do not have to worry about being passed over for a promotion or a pay increase because of their skin color. True, Black women do experience discrimination on this level, but Black men do as well and this movie has shown that.

There are two protective labor laws that played a major role for women entering the work force: one that prohibited women from being employed in positions slated for male dominance, and another that regulated the conditions that women work in on the job. The first made it difficult for women to receive a job other than secretarial work in the work force. This was obvious when Fonda told her husband on her own doorstep that she was a secretary. What else could she have been other than a secretary? Especially when she had not been in the work force before and this was her very first time doing any kind of work outside of what she did in her home?

The other protective law made it difficult for women to work hours convenient to their personal demands at home as mothers and wives. One woman in the movie had responsibilities at work and at home. She needed to spend time at home with her children but she also needed the pay coming in from work. The demands of work and home made it difficult for her to divide her time equally between the two. What she needed was flex-time or part-time work, but Consolidated Companies did not offer it. Besides, that is a problem that women need to contend with on their own, not men because men do not have a need to worry about flex-time or part-time work. They can work the hours demanded of them without personal penalties!

Resolutions To Problems Faced

After the women kidnapped their boss and took over their part of the company, a lot of changes took place to better the working conditions of men and women alike. For one, the office decorum changed. The colors are brighter and the furniture was placed in a more personal position. This made it easier for the employees to socialize with one another. It also helped to improve productivity in the department.

A day care center was created for working moms who needed to bring their children to work for lack of a babysitter. This made it easier for women, either married or single, who needed to work and could not afford to forfeit an income for lack of day care, and who simply had no babysitter in sight to help. This also helped to improve productivity in the department.

An alcoholics rehabilitation program was created for employees who had an alcohol problem. This program was serviced and financed by the department. This helped one employee in particular who had a problem on the job, but went unnoticed probably because of her sex or lack of interest on the part of the job. Now that the department did take notice of this problem, the employee was able to receive the kind of help that she needed to recover and maintain employment with Consolidated Companies. This move also helped to improve productivity within the department.

A disabled worker was also shown towards the end of the movie. This person wasn't shown throughout the film, so we can conclude that the Disability Act helped this individual to get a job with the company. Looking at the format of the office, the extra space helped this individual maneuver very well through the office, something that wasn't made possible in the beginning of the film. Now that individuals with physical disabilities have a better opportunity to move around in an office, this can help to increase productivity magnanimously in any department.

Flexible hours became possible during Coleman's absence. People had the opportunity to create their own work schedule, 9-5, 8-4 or 10-6. This was not possible in the beginning of the movie and it created a problem with absenteeism. To help this situation even more, people also had the opportunity to work part-time if needed, because everyone cannot work full-time. When the women introduced this idea to the department, the problem with absenteeism decreased and productivity increased greatly.

A new salary policy was introduced, but you can hear the founder of the company saying to slash it because that is something that simply cannot be done. We can say that this problem still exists because women who actually do the same work as men with the same time on the job are not being paid equally for the work. Wage gaps are still prevalent in society and it was quite obvious in the movie. Tomlin was a prime example. She had trained her boss along with other men, but again, she was not receiving promotions in job titles or pay.

After the Storm

Since the film, revisions have been made in the bills passed after 1980. For example, in 1988 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) broke down the definition of sexual harassment to make employers more responsible for the actions of its employees. This was made possible under Title VII.
In 1991, Congress was considering the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which would allow victims of sex discrimination to collect up to $300,000 in damages who sue under Title VII.

Miscellaneous

There were other items in the movement that stood out and warrants discussion. On a couple of occasions, Coleman called the women "bitches" in the film. Coleman also called the women "girls", "pretty face", "dumb secretary" and other insulting words or phrases instead of their actual names. The women were also used as errand boys. They made the coffee, bought presents and put gas in the car when needed. They were not taken seriously at all as smart and intelligent women. In the copy room scene with Fonda and Coleman, he remarked to Fonda during the mishap, "Any moran can operate it!" He also threatened her with the possible future of her job.

It was considered a taboo to discuss your salary within the department because of the inequality in pay rate. Often when you did you were immediately terminated. What also stood out was the comment made to Tomlin when she was passed over again for a job promotion, "Companies deal better with men when it comes to business". In the same token, Tomlin demanded from Coleman that she is treated equally and with respect regardless of her sex. Unfortunately, Coleman did not take this seriously because he only laughed. Obviously he did not respect her because every idea that she passed on to him for approval he took and made it his own.

When the ladies went out for drinks after the office chaos came to a head, Tomlin referred to their current working conditions as the "the pink collar ghetto". In the same respect, they mentioned about, "playing good girl" and "playing it safe" in order to keep their jobs. This was in conjunction of why they could not call out on Coleman's blatant disrespect towards the women and the unfair working conditions that plagued them every day. Another scene that stood out was after the women "kidnapped" Coleman from the hospital. After the officer pulled them over and Tomlin was trying to talk her way out of a ticket, the officer questioned if she was a doctor and was surprised after she pointed to her coat and responded yes with a rhetorical comment.

It was interesting to see that smoking was allowed in the workplace and it was done freely and without subtlety. Also, the women wore dresses like they were going out of style. Towards the end of the movie, Tomlin wore pants at Coleman's home.

There is a scene where Parton uses reversal of sexual discrimination on Coleman. She says to Coleman who is trying very hard to resist her advances to, "make your pants tighter", "unbutton your coat and shirt", and "take off your tie". She asked him the kind of cologne he was wearing and it was called "stud cologne". She was also disrespecting him blatantly and laying his head on her breast. She made comments like, "let's be friendly", and "you have to be cooperative if you want to keep your job". Watching sexual discrimination reversed like that appeared out of place because who can really imagine a man receiving abuse on that level at work? At the same time it was funny because you had the opportunity to see how it feels to be discriminated against as a man and disturbing because incidents like that take place at work with women.

Conclusion

Since the creation of the film, a lot of positive changes have taken place such as the EEOC and the Civil Rights Act. But other changes have occurred as well, such as more women in the fields of law and medicine, the military and actively taking part in politics. We have women sitting in the high courts and taking on nontraditional female jobs such as police officer, fire fighter and construction.

We also have more women in colleges and working outside the home. A trend that society has been seeing more of is women saying no to marriage and yes to careers, instead of yes to marriage and no to careers. There has also been a trend of more women either keeping their maiden name, adding on their husband's name, or men simply taking on the name of the wife.

There are issues that still remain since the film, such as job promotions and wage discrepancy based on skin color as well as sex, the wage gap between working men and women, and the glass ceiling that still exists in some professions. For example, is this country ready for a female president? Only time will tell.

Bibliography

Stetson, Dorothy McBride. (1997). "Chapter 7 Work and Pay." Women's Rights in the USA (pp. 218-252). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.

Stetson, Dorothy McBride. (1997). "Chapter 9 Sexuality." Women's Rights in the USA (pp. 316-320). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.