Women in work and the changing ideas behind feminism.

In the last fifty years or so it seems that the idea of feminism and what it means to be a feminist has seen some significant changes. During the 1960s and 70s feminism involved fighting for women’s equal rights and independence, being different and outside of the social status quo. However in today’s society, where it is normal for women to work and it appears there is nothing left to fight for, feminism seems to be more about having a successful career while maintaining feminine qualities such as sex appeal. It seems that most women today aspire to fit into the social status quo, to be the same successful, independent, beautiful, affluent, sexy working woman that they see gracing the covers of magazines or appearing in films – they are aspiring to be ‘Barbie’ as Naomi Wolf suggests.
These changes in the idea of feminism seem to have begun in the 1980s, where over half of married women worked, not only in service or so called ‘un-skilled’ jobs but also in business and economics. These changes caused a shift in the social status quo regarding working women and it became normal to see women in the workplace. This is why during the 1980s various childcare and maternity leave programmes were introduced.

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/AB70615/Taxi

The first image I have chosen is of a stereotypical 1980s working mother. From looking at this picture we assume that she is a career woman working in a well-paid job, most likely in the city. We assume this because she has the same qualities as every other image of 1980s working women that we’ve seen. She is wearing a ‘fashionable’ suit, talking on a brand new mobile phone, her hair is short and neat and she appears to be sitting in an office. The fact that she is holding a baby makes it clear to us that she is a working mother. The fact that this image is stereotypical of working women at this time suggests that feminism had already begun to change, from a fight against the social status quo to a fight to fit in with it - to wear the suit, to have the mobile phone and the hair style etc. However, the image, along with other similar images, also suggest that it is still a ‘man’s world’ that she is working in. We can see this through the fact that she is wearing an oversized plain suit, she is covered up showing no curves or shape, and she is wearing no jewellery apart from a plain silver necklace and little (if any) make-up. She appears more masculine in her work attire than any woman would today.



http://www.theinsider.com/news/1330864_Kate_Beckinsale_talks_about_her_diet_and_body_image_in_Elle_UK_magazine
The second image I have chosen is of the December 2009 cover of ELLE Magazine, featuring celebrity Kate Beckinsale. ELLE Magazine is a worldwide women’s fashion magazine, with the majority of readers being between the ages of 18 and 48 years old with a median household income of around $60 000. ELLE is therefore a magazine which is consumed typically by middle class, affluent women with an interest in fashion and beauty. This issue of ELLE includes a feature on ‘Day to Night Dressing’ which is commonly found in such magazines and focuses on how to dress fashionably for both work and play.
Here Kate is wearing a suit-type outfit but we can see obvious differences between this outfit and that of our 1980s working mother. Although still fairly formal, the outfit shows off Kate’s shape with a belt synching in her waist, the neckline is low and her legs are on show, her hair is long and messy and she is wearing super high heels. She looks feminine and oozes sex appeal at the same time as conveying her success, and although I’m sure most women would not wear this outfit to work, the readers of ELLE will have most certainly tried to mimic this look because of what it represents.
I think as we have moved from the 1960s right through to today we have seen the issues of inequality between men and women diminish, and although there are still issues of inequality, such as that of equal pay, I think that the majority of women today feel equal to men. I think that as a result of this women are more interested in fitting into the ‘Barbie’ stereotype because of what it stands for – success, beauty, independence and wealth.