UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: Motherhood, Occupational Prestige and the Roles of Women in Hollywood Films of the 1940s and 1950s A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology by Tracey Kim Hoover August 2010 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Toby Miller, Co-Chairperson Dr. Adalberto Aguirre, Co-Chairperson Dr. Scott Coltrane Dr. Ellen Reese Copyright by Tracey Kim Hoover 2010 APPROVAL PAGE The dissertation of Tracey Kim Hoover is approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree. __________________________________________________ (Signature of Committee Member) __________________________________________________ (Signature of Committee Member) __________________________________________________ (Signature of Committee, Co-Chairperson) __________________________________________________ (Signature of Committee, Co-Chairperson) University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I found the dissertation process to be a growth-fostering process. The relationships that have formed during this journey have strengthened my voice in so many ways and I would like to take this time to acknowledge and honor those relationships and the people who supported and inspired me. I would first like to recognize my relationships with the members of my dissertation committee, specifically, my relationship with Dr. Toby Miller as chair of my committee. From the first brain storming session, Dr. Miller has been my primary support for this project. He has been a mentor, advisor, and sounding board as I have waded through the dissertation process. I will be forever grateful to him. I would also like to thank Dr. Ellen Reese for being an unending source of encouragement during those seemingly unending times of discouragement. I would also like to thank Dr. Scott Coltrane for sticking with me even after leaving UCR for greener pastures, bringing unique insight to the process, and for challenging me to go just a little further. Finally, I would like to extend a special note of thanks to Dr. Adalberto Aguirre for stepping up to act as my chair within the department during a difficult time of transition, for always greeting me with a smile and being willing to talk to talk to me about my professional concerns. While the other members of the sociology department of U.C. Riverside were not directly involved in my dissertation process, I would not be the person I am, were it not for the relationships that I have encountered along this journey. Drs. Karen Pyke, Jan Stets, Peter Burke, Charles Whitney, and Dr. Masako Ishii-Kuntz, have all provided iv guidance, direction, and opportunities to enter into the dialogues that helped to shape my critical thinking processes. My dissertation would not be possible without that journey. And I would be remiss if I did not extend my appreciation to Anna Wire for everything that she has done for me (and all grad students in the Sociology Dept.) during my years at UCR. Her help along the way has been priceless. I could not have had the self-confidence to pursue a graduate degree and academic career without the encouragement and aid of my undergraduate advisors at Cal Poly Pomona. There were many, but the ones that have meant the most to me and continued to cheer me on throughout the Ph.D. process were Dr. Gary Cretser and Dr. Mary Danico. Dr. Cretser was my undergraduate advisor, my co-author for my first presented research and a wonderful sounding board for all of my ideas and concerns. Dr. Danico saw potential in me that I did not see in myself, and taught me the importance of believing in myself and not giving up on my dream. She also helped me understand the value of diversity, the ability to look beyond my limited experience, a perspective that is key to research based on social inequality. I would also like to offer a thank you to my colleagues and fellow graduate students in the sociology department at UCR. I am especially grateful to the women of the 2003 cohort, Michelle Ysais, Annebelle Nery, Christine Petit, Dolores Ortiz, Linda Kim, Linda McAnally and Brooke Johnson, as well as Diana MacDougall, Katrina Paxton and Terry Ubovich, who shared with me their gifts and talents in the educational process as we learned to be scholars together. I consider these women my dearest friends, and I hope they know how much they contributed to my growth. It was a rewarding, v although at times challenging, experience and I am grateful for the people who shared it with me. I also want to thank my family, all of whom have been an unending source of support. Most importantly, I could not have made it through this lengthy educational process without the support and encouragement of my soul mate, life partner and husband Clark Hoover, who stood by me through all the sacrifices and struggles, and understood how important this goal was to me and to our future. I would like to thank my mother Bobbi Dee, who acted as my research assistant as well as my friend, providing help and inspiration throughout my life. My children, Amanda and Eric, have supported me with steadfast understanding, especially during those times when I had to be all student and an absent mother. I could never thank them enough for putting up with my constant preoccupation with the research I spent so much time on, and for the hours of isolation I needed to make sense of it. I would like to thank my father and step-mother, Dick and Lynne Haggerty, for their unflagging confidence in me, and for the financial support they freely offered at the most critical times. Finally, I want to thank my closest friends and supporters during the final stage of this project. In addition to those friends mentioned above, Stephanie D‘Auria and Kristy Shih have provided support beyond measure. They have been girlfriends with me during conferences, teaching experiences, lunches and emotional phone calls. In other words, during those times when there was life outside of the dissertation, my friends kept me tethered to reality. I will cherish their friendships always. vi DEDICATION Dedicated to my family (you know who you are). vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: Motherhood, Occupational Prestige and the Roles of Women in Hollywood Films of the 1940s and 1950s by Tracey Kim Hoover Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Sociology University of California, Riverside, August 2010 Dr. Toby Miller, Co-Chairperson Dr. Adalberto Aguirre, Co-Chairperson Cultural stereotypes and controlling images have been embedded in U.S. cinema, especially since the end of the Second World War. Women have been disempowered and marginalized by these images. It is important to explore the existence and prevalence of these images in order to understand the impact this medium has on women‘s occupational choices. It is particularly important to study the cultural expectations of motherhood for women, and the influence post-World War II films has had on occupational gender role expectations A feminist content analysis of the themes present in 104 U.S. films from the years 1939 to 1959, along with 11 remade versions (1978 to 2008) of films in the sample was conducted as a means to find evidence in support of intersectional feminist theory‘s position in regard to female representation in film, and the extent to which this representation has changed over time. The review of the 1,150 lead characters in the 115 films was done through the use of a content review sheet which was developed by the researcher through the use of prior research and previously used review sheets in studies viii using similar research designs. The analysis revealed themes and patterns, including but not limited to, the idea that careers should be secondary to romantic and marital relationships in women‘s lives; women appear in significantly fewer numbers than men in primary roles; women of color were portrayed characters who served white women; women are portrayed more often as mothers during the 1950s than the 1940s. In addition, non-white women are not adequately represented in the films. The films project the message that white women are secondary to men, and that women of color are secondary to white women. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv DEDICATION vii ABSTRACT viii LIST OF TABLES xii Chapters I. INTRODUCTION 1 Historical context 9 Research questions 15 Extent/scope of the study 17 Limitations and delimitations 18 Theoretical perspective 19 Definitions of terms 21 Overview of the dissertation 22 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 26 Feminist film theory and scholarship 28 Psychoanalytic theory 31 Feminist intersectional theory 37 British cultural studies 41 Media effects models 44 Cultivation theory 49 Summaries of previous investigations 52 III. METHODS 58 Content analysis 59 Feminist content analysis 60 Assumptions and rationale for design 61 Cultural artifacts 62 Role of the researcher 63 Data collection procedures 64 Unit of analysis and coding system 66 Heteronormativity and relationship status 69 Occupational status 71 Data analysis 72 x IV. RESULTS: THE DOMINANCE OF MALE CHARACTERS AND THE PROMINENCE OF MOTHERHOOD AS AN OCCUPATION FOR WOMEN 75 Heteronormative indicators 78 The rise of the supportive wife and mother 84 Figure 1 - The Number of Mother Roles in Films from1940-1959 90 The Family Index 91 The Child Index 92 V. RESULTS- MOMMY VS. MAMMY: THE WHITE PRIVILEGE OF MOTHERHOOD 103 Race Movies 104 The Integration Period 106 Imitation of Life: A case study in the representation of black mothers in film. 113 VI. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 122 Summary of research questions 124 The implications of race and gender relations 128 Strength and weaknesses of the research 130 Suggestions for further research 131 REFERENCES 133 APPENDIX A 150 Content Review Sheets (A-1, A-2) Codebook (A-3) APPENDIX B 153 Lists of the films used in the sample (B-1, B-2) xi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.a.