Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Savannah Chiu
Professor Granillo
English 103
12 November 2019
Finessing Feminism
Many of these female characters are portrayed in ways that fictitiously demonstrate the struggle
of a woman’s plight as they are in reality. In the reality of women living in the era of the 1950’s
females were still marginalized by a patriarchal society. In the television series, The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel, the main character, Miriam Maisel, is a woman portrayed as a typical housewife of
the “ideal” nuclear family in the 1950’s. In the episode “All Alone”, there are significant
Miriam Maisel faces. Although our society has progressed in the division of gender impartiality
since the 1950’s, there are still many concerns of gender inequality that are shown in the series
that mirror our present day society. Despite the growing awareness of feminist knowledge and
ideas, there are many instances of gender inequality that continuously marginalize women and
the feminist agenda that have been present since the 1950’s that can be seen in “All Alone” .
In the hit television series, the protagonist, Miriam “Midge” Maisel, can be described as a
character that blissfully lives in ignorance in the Upper West Side of 1950’s Manhattan. Living
in the Upper West Side, Miriam’s character enjoyed all the spoils a privileged Jewish family
offered. Her traditionally nuclear family followed the “norms and values” (Tyson 81) of a
patriarchal household - consisting of two children and her husband Joel Maisel. The family
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followed traditional gender roles, meaning Joel was cast as “rational, strong, protective and
decisive” where contrastingly, the female characters followed as “emotional (irrational), weak,
nurturing, and submissive” (Tyson 81). All these characteristics reinforce the ideas of
patriarchal ideology, furthering the abdication to traditional gender roles. The characters in the
series similarly remained captive to the societal norms of the time and did not challenge the anti
feminist culture - except Midge. Over the course of her adult life Miriam filed for divorce from
her husband after discovering he had an affair. Post divorce, Midge was able to pursue her
dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian in a society where misogyny was the norm. By the end
of “All Alone” Midge was able to persevere enough to land a tour in Europe with fictional singer
Shy Baldwin. Although beginning a career in an industry that was predominantly male subjected
Miriam’s character to sexism, her character was able to challenge the societal norms.
Through the use of the feminist concept “materialist feminism”, the series was able to
portray Midge as a woman seeking a way out of the confines of the patriarchy. In the episode
“All Alone”, Miriam is faced with conflicting decisions. After acquiring her dream of being a
stand up comedian that can travel the world, Midge was faced with the decision between
marrying a potential new suitor and caring for her children, or be able to lead a celebrated
lifestyle typical of an independent male. The consideration alone is enough to illustrate Miriam
in a light that parallels materialist feminism. Defined as a “feminism that insists on examining
the material conditions under which social arrangements, including those of gender hierarchy,
develop … materialist feminism avoids seeing this [gender hierarchy] as the effect of a singular
… patriarchy and instead gauges the web of social and psychic relations that make up a material,
historical moment; … materialist feminism argues that material conditions of all sorts play a vital
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role in the social production of gender and assays the different ways in which women collaborate
and participate in these productions” (Gimenez 20). According to materialist feminism, women
are not defined by their roles as caregivers to children and domestic homemakers. Although
these ideals are highly purported by the patriarchy, materialist feminists argue that a woman's
role is not defined by the gender hierarchy but instead by the societal values imposed on them -
normally in accordance with gender roles. In the 1950’s the societal values that defined gender,
assigned women to that of oppression via the patriarchy. Miriam defied the “social production”
of gender by making her newfound talent a priority. She chose to not participate in her societies’
definition of gender by rejecting her marriage to a male and focusing her efforts on a career
rather than her own children. Miriam proved her role in society was not defined by motherhood
or wifely duties. In this instance Miriam undermined patriarchal ideology, therefore promoting
her character as an individual by way of materialist feminism. Midge was able to continuously
Miriam’s character defied the patriarchy in many ways including her ability to seek
guidance from another woman. When faced with a difficult situation or requiring assistance,
Miriam did not turn to her male counterparts as would a woman who follows traditional gender
roles would. Instead Miriam relied on her comedy manager and friend Susie Myerson. In the
episode “All Alone” Miriam was able to secure a spot on a comedy tour of Europe, because of
her manager Susie Myerson. In a culture that made women dependent on the money and
attention of men, Miriam was able to be successful without either. According to Simone De
Beauvoir, women “ lack a concrete means for organizing themselves into a unit. ... They have no
[collective recorded] past … no religion of their own. … They live dispersed among the males,
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attached through residence, housework, economic condition, and social standing to certain men -
fathers or husbands - more firmly than they are to other women” (De Beauvoir 11). Traditionally
women have more of an allegiance to men than women, even if these women are in the same
class, race, or religion. It was the custom for women to look for guidance in the male figure as
women traditionally viewed themselves in relation to men and not as separate entities. In the
series, Miriam is able to defy patriarchal ideologies by uniting with a fellow female from a
different social class. Miriam’s friendship with Susie is very homosocial and promotes the idea
that women can be friends with one another, without the interruption of man. THe relationship
between Susie and Midge is a direct contrast to the patriarchy. In “All Alone” Miriam depends
on the support and consultation of Susie to make a large life decision. A typical woman of the
1950’s would rely on her husband for any economical, political, or psychological support -
furthering their oppression and playing to patriarchal gender roles - but Miriam relies on the
support of another woman. This friendship directly contrasts the patriarchy furthering Miriam as
Although Miriam was an outlier in her feminist conquests she was still subjected to
patriarchal ideologies. When remembering her initial courtship and marriage to Joel, Miriam is
depicted as a woman that was still uncomfortable with the idea of marriage. When Miriam was
asked for her hand in marriage, she had difficulty with agreeing to the proposal “Uh. I have to
think about it. Pay the bill first?” (“All Alone” 00:04:17-00:04:37). When thinking of being tied
down to a singular male and adopting her new role as a married woman in a patriarchal society,
Miriam was hesitant to agree. Upon returning to Miriam’s current post divorced life there was a
sense of self and pride in the individuality she had found as a woman. Many of the women in
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Miriam's life would not have been able to cope with a divorce and assuming the patriarchal
gender roles, the women in the series would have contrastingly stayed with their husbands
instead of divorcing. It is assumed that the women were not capable of independence from men
because “women are trying to escape their own freedom to fulfill their own potential in the
world, a freedom that they often try to avoid because it is frightening: it demands personal
responsibility while offering no guarantee of success or even well-being” (Tyson 92). When
faced with the difficulty of a divorce, Miriam persistently made economic and societal choices
independent of the influence from the men in her life. In realizing her own subjugation via
marriage, Miriam was able to escape the confines of traditional gender roles. When attempting to
fulfill her own potential freedom Miriam succeeded. In this fictional representation of 1950’s
society, Miriam may have felt successful, but was still defined by her incongruent behavior.
Throughout the episode Miriam is characterized as a woman who behaves wildly outside
the boundaries of the traditional gender roles. As a comedian, Miriam focused a lot of her
material on the idea that she had the same feelings and desires as men. Unfortunately this did not
resonate with the men who resigned to toxic masculinity. It was out of character for a woman to
be so rash and bold, yet Miriam continually defied the patriarchy. Miriam’s character did not
identify with such minimal and one sided traits assigned to women - accordingly her character
felt equally inclined to perform as the men did. Since Miriam did not fit the traditional gender
norms, much of the antiquated male comedian characters subjected her to sexist comments and
behaviors. Miriam's perseverance can be categorized as an example of a “bad girl” implying that
“if a woman does not accept her patriarchal gender role, then the only role left for her is that of a
monster” (Tyson 85). Miriam Maisel could not identify with the traditional gender roles assigned
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to her and consequently alienated herself from many of her family members, including Joel. In
many cases Joel saw Miriam as a selfish for choosing a European tour and could not agree with
her career choice. It can be assumed Joel preferred Miriam when she was a quiet housewife and
domestic servant. As a strong individual character Miriam was able to equate many of the
feminist ideals to personal growth and did not feel compelled to resume the assigned the gender
roles.
The show directs its attention to how life in the 1950’s was oppressive to women and
through uses of feminist ideas displayed how unfair life was for a woman when she demanded
progressive society - can learn how to adapt feminist ideals and apply them to our culture for
equal opportunity benefiting all genders. Although society has progressively worked toward
gender equality, there are still many instances where anti feminist notions are present. Miriam
was a feminist anomaly during her time as a working mother, but in present day society, “as
more and more American wives take jobs outside the home, while they still perform the lion’s
share of domestic labor and child rearing tasks, Delphy’s analysis seems especially relevant to
the lives of American women today” (Tyson 94). Women continue to be subjected to child
rearing and domestic services in congruity to working a full time job. The idea that women bear
the majority of this work contrasts the idea of materialist feminism where women are capable of
productive materialism that is not imposed by society. Despite the progression of feminist ideas,
many of the issues Miriam’s character faced can be mirrored in present day American culture
As society advances, television shows that depict powerful female characters can serve as
examples of the type of woman the nation should aspire to have in society. These gender
sterotypes and anti feminist notions benefit as historical indicators that we can learn from in
modern society. For Miriam, she wanted to be recognized as an equal in the field of comedy,
however, in reality women should be treated with equal rights in all aspects of humanity -
societally, economically, politically etc. As Miriam attempted to create a role for herself in
comedy, she also challenged the societal norms. In the end, Miriam benefitted both genders
because she showed that women were capable of working with equal skill and talent as men in
this comedy culture. If viewers could take certain feminist aspects from the show and apply it to
all subcultures - not just comedy - society would benefit by having gender equality and impartial
Works Cited
“All Alone .” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , season 2, episode 10, Amazon Prime Video , 5 Dec.
2018.
De Beauvoir, Simone. “Introduction.” The Second Sex. Rpt. in French Feminism Reader. Ed.
doi:10.1163/9789004291560_007. 18-28.
Tyson, Lois. “Feminist Criticism .” Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, 3rd ed.,