It is not uncommon to hear the statement, “it is a man’s world”, in this day and age. With men generally making more than women and filling more of the top CEO and executive positions at large companies it could sometimes seem as though this statement is very true. Many political feminist activists work hard to create an equal playing field for women in the business world. In Mike Nichols’ 1988 film Working Girl, the statement “it is a man’s world” and the overall social norm/cultural value of women being inferior to men in the workplace is challenged by the protagonist Tess McGill in many different ways. The cultural values of competition, hard work ethics and romantic love are also shown throughout the course of the film. In the film, Working
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From day one, the audience knows that Tess wants to rise above her position as a meager secretary. She describes herself as having, “a head for business and a bod’ for sin”. She has ideas and ambitions and she is not afraid to show it. Early in the movie her boss, an average every day white business man, blows off her ideas but tells her that another executive wants to have a meeting with her to hear them. This so called “meeting” turns into her being disrespected and treated as though she is just another girl to have sex with. Tess, being the self-respecting woman that she is, quits her job and is transferred to another office. The next office that she is employed at is quite a change for the protagonist because much to her surprise her new boss is none other than a woman. When Tess meets Katharine Parker it is obvious that she is filled with shock at the fact that her new boss is not a male. She tells Katharine that she has “never worked for a woman before in her thirty years” which begins to help show the viewer how rare it is for a woman to be an executive in the business world and it challenges the cultural value that women are inferior to men in the …show more content…
“Hard work always pays off” and “you can do whatever you put your mind to” are both commonly used phrases in America and at the end of the film Tess helps to affirm the cultural value that hard work pays off when she is promoted to a higher position at work. The ending scenes are bittersweet and filled with an almost comical kind of irony when Tess realizes that she is no longer the secretary but instead has a secretary of her own when the person she mistakes for her boss asks her how she takes her coffee. This is ironic and yet heartwarming because in the beginning of the film she was in totally different shoes. Throughout the film Tess was able to jump through hoops and overcome any obstacle that came her way in order to achieve what she wanted. She persevered and was rewarded for her diligence especially when she was able to prove that the idea for the radio merge was indeed hers. Everything that she had worked so hard for finally came together and she was able to show everyone that she did indeed have the “fire in her stomach” and had what it takes to work in a “man’s world”. She achieved all of this by affirming the cultural value of having a good work ethic and working hard to achieve her
From day one, the audience knows that Tess wants to rise above her position as a meager secretary. She describes herself as having, “a head for business and a bod’ for sin”. She has ideas and ambitions and she is not afraid to show it. Early in the movie her boss, an average every day white business man, blows off her ideas but tells her that another executive wants to have a meeting with her to hear them. This so called “meeting” turns into her being disrespected and treated as though she is just another girl to have sex with. Tess, being the self-respecting woman that she is, quits her job and is transferred to another office. The next office that she is employed at is quite a change for the protagonist because much to her surprise her new boss is none other than a woman. When Tess meets Katharine Parker it is obvious that she is filled with shock at the fact that her new boss is not a male. She tells Katharine that she has “never worked for a woman before in her thirty years” which begins to help show the viewer how rare it is for a woman to be an executive in the business world and it challenges the cultural value that women are inferior to men in the …show more content…
“Hard work always pays off” and “you can do whatever you put your mind to” are both commonly used phrases in America and at the end of the film Tess helps to affirm the cultural value that hard work pays off when she is promoted to a higher position at work. The ending scenes are bittersweet and filled with an almost comical kind of irony when Tess realizes that she is no longer the secretary but instead has a secretary of her own when the person she mistakes for her boss asks her how she takes her coffee. This is ironic and yet heartwarming because in the beginning of the film she was in totally different shoes. Throughout the film Tess was able to jump through hoops and overcome any obstacle that came her way in order to achieve what she wanted. She persevered and was rewarded for her diligence especially when she was able to prove that the idea for the radio merge was indeed hers. Everything that she had worked so hard for finally came together and she was able to show everyone that she did indeed have the “fire in her stomach” and had what it takes to work in a “man’s world”. She achieved all of this by affirming the cultural value of having a good work ethic and working hard to achieve her