American Women In The 1930s

For a brief time in the 1930s, American life was represented by Hollywood films in a way it had never been before—and in a way that for decades after, it was not. Social and political conversations flowed as freely as the alcohol served, people made ambiguous decisions, and there was no air of inhibition around sex or sexuality. This led to women being portrayed as, well, the actual human beings they were, with full and diverse lives and personalities. Women were able to control their own images and were quite independent and reveled in new freedoms the American public had not yet seen. This was cut short, unfortunately, by the introduction of the Production Code, or the Hays Code, in 1934, but for those few years in the early 1930s, American …show more content…
New role models for women began to emerge during this time, however; as Franklin Roosevelt came into power in 1933, his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt took her rightful place in the political arena as well. Never before had a First Lady been so prevalent in political matters, and Eleanor’s strong presence partnered with the increased prevalence of “talkie” films—which allowed women, in a way, to speak out—encouraged more and more women to speak out about womanhood and join the feminist movement of the …show more content…
So rarely in film today do we see women who assert their dominance the way Alison does in Female, and not be seen as rude, bossy or controlling. While she is very strict in the office, ruling with an iron fist and taking no nonsense from her employees, outside of the office she is flirtatious and more relaxed. This surprises many of her “male suitors,” as one might call them; one, Jim Thorne, an engineer new to the company, tells her that she is very “interesting” because she is so different—so womanly—outside the office. His shock at her change in personality is an apt representation of a viewpoint that has persisted even until today: that women are not, or cannot be, diverse individuals who possess a wide range of character traits. All seems to be going very well for Alison for a majority of the movie; up until the last 10 minutes of the film, Alison is able to maintain her cool, professional, independent personality while juggling her romantic feelings for Jim Thorne. She tries desperately to gain his approval and win him over; when she invites him over for dinner (her usual plan), she says to him: “I think if you had yanked me into a corner and kissed me I’d’ve been terribly grateful; you would’ve made me feel more sure of myself. Someone would’ve wanted me for who I am, without [the company]." He succinctly turns her down,