Tootsie and Gender Roles

  In the film, Julie's father tells Michael, "Years ago there was none of this talk about what a woman was, what a man was, you just were what you were. Now they have all this talk about how much you should be like the other sex so we can be more the same." The idea of equality between men and women is not supported in the film, but rather completely contrasted to show how different they are.

 In the beginning of the film, the audience sees how bad Michael's temper is, how aggressive he can be and that he's very serious about acting. This characteristic can be implied as a common male trait. That men are supposed to be the more assertive ones, rather than women who are the more emotional ones. 

 When Michael changes to his new persona, Dorothy, we see some of that seriousness and aggressiveness still embedded in her personality, but she does it in a way where it passes off as an emotion. She could be seen as a powerful symbol to women like she is to Julie. By the end of the movie, Julie has not only become so attached to Dorothy but also grew stronger because of her and learned to stand up for herself and make her own choices.

 In the film, Thelma and Louise, the two main characters also witness the same type of change. Thelma is one who gets taken advantage of more easily. She had a bad experience in her marriage and was looked at by her husband as a piece of property, she was the one who almost got raped, and the one who trusted a guy they just picked up who ended up robbing them of all the money they had. After that, it's as if she's had enough. She takes it into her own hands to return the money by robbing a store. By the end of the movie, Thelma is the one telling Louise, who is the stronger one of the two, to get a grip and focus on what the next move was. In a way, Thelma could be seen as Julie.

 Louise, who is stronger and more assertive, can be seen as Michael and Dororthy. In the beginning, Louise is the one who shoots the man that tried to rape Thelma, takes the lead on their escape to Mexico, but also the one who starts to break down. Like Michael did when he realized that pretending to be a woman will only hide his true feelings and cause more problems.By the end of the movie, the two ladies chose their own fate of driving over the cliff rather than turning themselves in or having their death chosen for them which would be by the cops.  

 The idea of equality in these two movies is not supported, instead the audience sees how different they really are. In this case, how the actions that men take affect what women do and their choices.