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Lauren Reynolds

Professor Whittaker

Film 1070 Monday 5:30PM-9:20PM

9 April 2017

How Film Tried to Silence Second-Wave Feminism

Women Unite! rang out across the United States March 8th, 1975. Decades of silence

were coming to an end for women around the nation. It was time for a revolution, and thats

exactly what this wave of feminism was there to do. There were reflections of this movement

found in every source of pop culture: art, music, film, et cetera. There are two films that were

popular during this time period that have reflected that change was happening in the nation, but

there were still people in power that fought hard to have the hegemony, of white-patriarchal-

capitalism, stay the same. These films are Roman Polanskis 1968 film Rosemarys Baby and

Jim Sharmans 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It is important to note when and what changes these women were fighting for. What is

now known as second-wave feminism was inspired heavily by Betty Friedans book titled The

Feminine Mystique. According to the Library of Congress Friedans book influenced American

women, By debunking the feminine mystique that middle-class women were happy and

fulfilled as housewives and mothers, Betty Friedan inspired the second-wave feminist movement

of the 1960s and 1970s. Friedan advocates that women need meaningful work and encourages

them to avoid the trap of the feminine mystique by pursuing education and careers. (Books

That Shaped America). Friedan then went on to co-found the National Organization for Women

(N.O.W.) in 1966. According to Analoyce Clapp on the founding of the National Organization
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for Women, 28 women [including Betty Friedan] met to set up a temporary organization for this

purpose: To take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American

society now, assuming all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership

with men. (N.O.W.s Founding). N.O.W. inspired women to enter the workforce by gaining an

education and taking control of their futures, rather than relying on their husbands to do so for

them.

By this time, Rosemarys Baby was in the process of being created. When it debuted in

1968, more women were becoming independent. Looking back on Rosemarys Baby, it definitely

shows that the hegemony was trying to keep women at home and submissive to their husbands

needs. The main character, Rosemary Woodhouse, is a stay-at-home wife longing to start a

family with her husband, Guy. Guy is a fairly unsuccessful actor, yet Rosemary supports him in

whatever he does. Whenever he comes home from an audition Rosemary immediately stops

whatever project she is working on to greet him and ask about him, yet Guy has very little

interest in Rosemarys day to day life. This shows that being the breadwinner, which is a typical

male gender role of the time, is far superior to being the homemaker, typical of females during

the time, making women less than.

When Guy becomes successful in his acting career, Rosemary is finally given the

opportunity to get what she wants; a baby. Rosemary is only an object to the people in her life,

so when she wants to become pregnant Guy, and her neighbors are the ones dictating how her

pregnancy should happen. Rosemary is not even given the opportunity to choose when she

becomes pregnant and by who, as her neighbors have a plan set in action to drug and send the

devil to rape and impregnate her. Rosemary knows that she was sexually assaulted, but thinks it
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was her husband, so she dismisses it. Meanwhile Guy jokes about how he needed to cut his nails

because of the scratches on his wife.

Rosemary finally comes to realize that something is wrong with her pregnancy, and starts

doing research on witches. She learns that her neighbors are witches and have done something to

her baby. When she confronts her husband about it, Guy dismisses her as hysterical and throws

away her books. He has no regard for her personal belongings or feelings because he is the

dominant male. The use of hysterics at this time is still misunderstood by the public. According

to Bentham Science Publishers and BioMed Central, until Freud [1865-1939] it was believed

that hysteria was the consequence of the lack of conception and motherhood. (Women And

Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health). This allows those around Rosemary to dismiss her

real fears and claim is at hysterics as she is not in motherhood yet.

Claiming Rosemary as hysterical is important for when she goes into labor. This way the

witch cult is able to convince her that her baby had passed away while delivering. The male

neighbor and Guy are able to drug Rosemary anytime she wakes up controlling how long and

when she is awake, while also controlling what she does during her awake times. This usually

includes filling a bottle with breastmilk, and not receiving any information from the nurses that

are in the room with her. The female nurses in the film are also not given any freedom to make

their own choices. They are scared of the consequences of telling Rosemary what the men have

done with her baby, so they refrain from telling her any information.

With Rosemarys Baby, the recurring theme is men controlling women to do as they

want. We see it happen with Rosemarys pregnancy, delivery, and day to day activities. We see it

in the female nurses, fearful of speaking out when the patriarchy does not want them to. This
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film allowed women some sexual freedom, but in turn reminded them that it was the men who

were to be in charge.

This thinking of dominant males continued on throughout the decade. In 1971 the United

States sees the Equal Rights Amendment introduced into Congress sessions. The amendment had

three sections, the first being, Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged

by the United States or by any state on account of sex. (The History Behind the Equal Rights

Amendment). This amendment was only ratified by thirty-six states by the 1979 deadline, so was

not added to the constitution, but allowed for women to organize, to demand their birthright as

citizens and persons, and the Equal Rights Amendment rather than the right to vote became the

central symbol of the struggle. (The History Behind the Equal Rights Amendment).

In 1972 and 1973 the United States saw a change in the sexuality of women. In 1972,

Title IX was passed, which prohibited discrimination in education based on gender. Title IX also

brought to light sexual harassment within a school setting, and works hard to diminish it. Women

were not to be objects of sexual desire anymore. In 1973, the Roe V. Wade case took place. The

case came to the conclusion, which recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to

a womans right to make her own personal medical decisions including the decision to have

an abortion without interference from politicians. (Planned Parenthood, Roe V. Wade).

This was a time for women to explore and find their sexuality. The Rocky Horror Picture

Show focused completely on issues surrounding sexuality, but still holds women into traditional

gender roles. In the first scene Brad states that the new couple will be happy since, Everyone

knows that Betty is a wonderful little cook. (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975). This puts

women into their typical gender roles, women are only useful when they are cooking and

cleaning. Also seen in the first scene is the newlywed couples car, which has been written on
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saying, Wait till tonite[sic]. She got hers, now hell get his. (The Rocky Horror Picture Show,

1975). This was written by the guests at the wedding, so it makes it feel that the sentiment is held

by most. It also reinforces that men only get married so they can enjoy sexual activity, while

women only care about the wedding.

After the wedding scene Brad and Janets car breaks down, stranding them in the middle

of nowhere during a large rainstorm. As the man in the relationship, Brad suggests that he will

go back to the castle to find a phone call, while leaving Janet behind. This puts him in the hero

role which is typically reserved for white males, which is exactly what happens in this film. This

theme continues throughout the entire film, enforcing the patriarchy.

The next recurring theme found in this film, is how the world views those that have sex

outside of marriage or having sex for pleasure rather than procreation. Those individuals are

stereotyped throughout the film as aliens, freaks, and swingers. Dr. Frank-N-Furter is a character

that introduces Brad and Janet into the world of sexual activity, he ends up being an alien from

the planet Transexual. Frank-N-Furter is also portrayed as a cross-dressing man, wearing corsets

and fishnet tights, which is not something that a normal human would be allowed to wear.

Later, Dr. Scott references Frank-N-Furter as one with little morals and persuasion. The film

then goes on to stigmatize sex as an addictive drug. Sex is portrayed as the source of all evil-

doing and corrupts those that are pure, especially when it was a woman performing the sexual

actions.

The biggest example that is seen of a woman being corrupted from sexual activity, is

when Dr. Frank-N-Furter sneaks into Janets room and forces Janet to give him her virginity. It

first normalizes rape-culture. It also gives Janet the virgin-whore complex. Before Janet has sex,

she is seen as pure, dressed in all white to portray her angelic qualities. After her virginity was
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taken, sex is the only thing that she wants. She feels bad about it, but then continues to do it. She

is still too pure to have sex with her fiance, but will sleep with anyone else that is willing. When

Brad finally finds her, she is embarrassed to have had any sexual activity, since it is only

something that married women and whores do.

These films are a great example of how film held back and stigmatized women during the

second-wave of feminism. They did provide some more openness to subjects that werent

allowed previously, but it did not allow women the complete freedom they were asking for.

Although women were given some of the rights and privileges they were asking for during this

social movement, the hegemony was able to remain the majority holder of privilege. In

conclusion, feminists today are still fighting today for a majority of the same rights, the wage

gap, sexual freedom, and letting women determine their own choices, et cetera.
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Citations

Salinger, J. D., Ralph Ellison, E. B. White, Ray Bradbury, Allen Ginsberg, Ayn Rand, Dr. Seuss,

Theodore Seuss Geisel, Jack Kerouac, Harper Lee, Joseph Heller, Robert E. Heinlein, Jack Ezra

Keats, Maurice Sendak, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, Malcolm X, Alex Haley, Nader Ralph,

Rachel Carson, Truman Capote, Watson James D., Dee Brown, Carl Sagan, Toni Morrison,

Randy Shilts, Chvez Csar, and Margaret Wise Brown. "Books That Shaped America 1950 to

2000." 1950 to 2000 - Books That Shaped America | Exhibitions - Library of Congress. N.p., 25

June 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

"Founding." National Organization for Women. N.p., July 2006. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Tasca, Cecilia, Mariangela Rapetti, Mauro Giovanni Carta, and Bianca Fadda.

"Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health." Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in

Mental Health : CP & EMH. Bentham Open, 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"History." ERA: History. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Roe v. Wade." Planned Parenthood Action Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. Planned

Parenthood.

The Rocky Horror picture show. Dir. Jim Sharman. Perf. Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry

Bostwick. N.p., n.d. Web.

Rosemarys Baby. Dir. Roman Polankski. Perf. Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon. N.p.,

n.d. Web.