Made In Dagenham - Sociological Approaches Assessment

I have applied to the movie Made in Dagenham, is Feminism. The movie follows female machinists employed by Ford based in Dagenham, in their fight for recognition and equal pay at work. Feminism is divided into five different strands which are Liberal, Marxist, Radical, Socialist and Patriarchy. Each of these strands are used to describe the form of Feminism being practised.

I have chosen to apply Patriarchy Feminism to this film based on the key features of this strand. In the movie, men are shown as the leaders in society, for example, there were only one hundred and eighty-seven females employed by Ford, Dagenham, compared to the fifty-five thousand male employees. This suggests that Ford favour male employees which is proven by the difference in wages and working conditions between the sexes. Ford described the female employees as “unskilled workers” which began their famous strike for gender equality. It was portrayed in the film that woman were expected to be in charge of all the household duties and care of the children on top of her job, while the man was only expected to work, and only his work truly mattered.

There was a scene in which Rita has been protesting with her colleagues for a number of days, which results in her husband having to take on the responsibility of the children and housework. It is abundantly clear that he is struggling to manage. He later attempts to talk his wife into forgetting about the strike action so that he can return to work, as his job is superior because he pays the bills with his wage. This shows the power relations between man and wife at that time and what society deemed appropriate from either gender. There are a number of scenes in the movie that showed how men and Ford objectified and exploited woman.

An example of this is the very opening scene of the movie which shows scantily clad women sprawled across Ford cars for a TV advert which is objectifying and sexualising women to encourage sales of their product. Another scene shows the machinists at work, having to strip down to their underwear due to the lack of adequate cooling systems in the factory in hot temperatures which is exploitation of the female employee through poor working conditions.

Since the women won their strike, the Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970, and many other equality acts since added such as Sex Discrimination Act 1975, woman are now treated as equals in the workplace and employers can face legal action if they discriminate. By investigating Feminism within Made in Dagenham, I have identified how Patriarchy feminism was undeniably present. The male gender was favoured throughout the film showing men in dominant roles such as male teachers, all male bosses at Ford and breadwinners of the household. In today’s society, woman are seen as equals in all areas such as work, family and education.