The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Alison Owings, and the Experience of Second-Wave
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Reality and Perception of Feminism and Broadcast 1968-1977: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Alison Owings, and the Experience of Second-Wave Feminism in Broadcast News A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Sarah L. Guthrie June 2010 © 2010 Sarah L. Guthrie. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled Reality and Perception of Feminism and Broadcast 1968-1977: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Alison Owings, and the Experience of Second-Wave Feminism in Broadcast News by SARAH L. GUTHRIE has been approved for the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Patrick S. Washburn Professor of Journalism Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract Guthrie, Sarah L., M.A., June, 2010, Journalism Reality and Perception of Feminism and Broadcast 1968-1977: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Alison Owings, and the Experience of Second-Wave Feminism in Broadcast News (132 pp.) Director of thesis: Patrick S. Washburn This thesis examined the media portrayal of liberation and feminism in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (TMTMS) during second-wave feminism and contrasted it with the real-life experiences of Alison Owings, who worked in broadcast news at the same time. Interviews with Owings, Susan Brownmiller (a prominent feminist) and Treva Silverman (the primary female writer for TMTMS) were conducted, Owings’s personal files were mined for primary source documents from the period, and numerous popular and scholarly books and articles addressing the impact of TMTMS were studied. It was found that Owings’s feminist conscience grew steadily through the 1970s and spurred her to take action to address discrimination against women in her profession. The arc of development of TMTMS rose at the beginning with the influence of two burgeoning feminists, Silverman and actress Valerie Harper, but the final years of the show worked to trivialize and contain its limited feminist message. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Patrick S. Washburn Professor of Journalism iii Acknowledgments The author would like to acknowledge Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism, its professors and support staff for providing a truly excellent and meaningful learning experience. Professors Joseph Bernt and Marilyn Greenwald were a pleasure to work with as a Graduate Assistant, and boundless thanks are offered to Professor Patrick Washburn for his serious pursuit of truth and meaning combined with his delight in a well-told joke. The author expressed deep and sincere appreciation for the participation of Alison Owings in this project, she is a talented writer and a gracious hostess. Appreciation is also expressed for the work that she did in broadcast in the 1970s to help open up the field to women and make the profession face up to its biases. Susan Brownmiller has worked tirelessly on behalf of women, and was most gracious with her time and input in her phone interview. Thanks to Treva Silverman for sharing her stories of breaking barriers in comedy writing that have allowed women to access a field – the field of humor – which was formerly reserved for men (and bearded ones at that). iv Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Chapter 1 – Women in the Media: Behind the Scenes and Center Stage ........................... 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Research .......................................................................................................................... 5 Research Methods ........................................................................................................... 9 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 - The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Feminism and Media .................................... 20 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 20 Background on TMTMS ............................................................................................... 22 Mary Richards as a “Liberated Woman” ...................................................................... 26 Mary Richards’s Working Life ..................................................................................... 31 Roles Mary Played ........................................................................................................ 38 The Feminist Conscience of TMTMS .......................................................................... 41 Chapter 3 – Riding the Wave: the Evolution of a Broadcast Feminist ............................. 48 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 48 Owings’s Story ............................................................................................................. 51 Implications .................................................................................................................. 66 Chapter 4 – Mary Richards Compared to Alison Owings ................................................ 75 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 75 Similarities .................................................................................................................... 77 Dissimilarities ............................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 5 – Television Feminism, Fact and Fiction ......................................................... 97 Marketing ...................................................................................................................... 97 Mediating Convention and Change ............................................................................ 100 Authorship Mattered ................................................................................................... 102 Women’s Relationships with Women and Men ......................................................... 110 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 114 Backlash ...................................................................................................................... 116 v Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 123 Unpublished Documents ............................................................................................. 123 vi Chapter 1 – Women in the Media: Behind the Scenes and Center Stage Background The decade of the 1970s witnessed a sea-change in gender role perceptions and relations in the American workplace. Although women had been moving steadily into the workplace throughout the twentieth century, a stereotype persisted in the social consciousness of the nation that the proper place for a woman was in the home. This stereotype was reinforced by television shows such as Ozzie and Harriet (1952-66), but from 1960 to the middle of the 1980s the number of so-called “traditional families” made up of a working father and stay-at-home mother with their children dropped from sisxty- two percent to ten percent of American households.1 Drastic changes in women’s position in society preceded what became known as the second wave of feminism. The first wave, or women’s suffrage movement, culminated in national passage in 1920 of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote in elections.2 The shortage of males of working age due to conscription into the armed forces during World War II resulted in an unprecedented number of women taking jobs outside the home, especially in fields formerly reserved for men. During this time, women’s clothing and hairstyles changed to accommodate their more active, professional roles. With the return of the soldiers following the war, women were encouraged to return to the home and once again keep house and care for children.3 There was a push for a return to more domesticated fashions and pursuits for women. Although middle-class, suburban households were not the predominant living unit in the 1950s, they dominated television portrayals of families. Media gave social approval and created value for that particular lifestyle.4 The 1950s saw an idealization of the nuclear family in which dad worked, mom stayed home, and their two or three children found everything they needed in the safe embrace of the family and the community.5 In reality, many women felt stifled by their limited roles as housewives, unfulfilled by housework, and desperately unhappy.6 Many women felt they had no identity distinct from their families, and some even turned to prescription medications in order to combat tedium and depression.7 Middle-class women were overeducated for housekeeping and bored with their limited engagement in the world.8 Women kept moving into the workplace throughout the 1960s for a variety of reasons.