Dec 24 2008
Essay for one of my classes thought it was relevant
Elizabeth Taylor And Audrey Hepburn: How They Influenced the Women’s Rights Movement
Women have always looked to confident and successful individuals to put in the place of role model so that they have something to aspire to. In the 60s women didn’t have very many options outside of homemakers, education, or nursing. Although there were a number of women in the entertainment industry there were not that many in high ranks, with the death of Marilyn Monroe and a few budding stars there weren’t that many. Elizabeth Taylor hit her peak in the 60s and was the highest paid actor, at $1,000,000.00 per movie. Taylor was and is a strong, confident women who was never afraid to live her life the way she wanted to, despite how the press may dig their claws into it, besides the fact that the characters she played were emotional they also represented strong females such as Cleopatra. Audrey Hepburn was a classic beauty with on screen charm and charisma and portrayed women as strong but subtle, very different from Taylor’s volatile females but nonetheless effective with their new image of women portrayal. How women were viewed in the 60s started to change with the progression of women into higher places in the work force and I believe that Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn with their success in the entertainment industry, and strong characters, overall confidence and zest for life helped change the view of women in the 60s and aided the women’s rights movement.
The entertainment industry in the 60s was on its way down, studios were being bought out and more foreign films were being shown that domestic. Not only was there financial peril but the industry was for the most part made up of men, there were very few highly successful women with the exceptions being Marilyn Monroe, before her death in 1962, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. The big successes of the 60s for these two actresses were “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe”, “Doctor Faustus”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “My Fair Lady”. The films created by these ladies in such a desperate time for the film industries put notice to the strength and power that a female could possess and it was a different view on women because most women were homemakers, and reserved not outspoken or “different”. What these films portrayed of women was that they were not only beautiful and charming but they were powerful and smart and capable of just about anything that a man was capable of, such as ruling a country as shown in Cleopatra. These women’s successes and strong female characters slowly started to reshape the view of women in society and I believe influenced some part of the feminist movement.
Not only did Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn have such strong and outspoken characters but they also had extremely vibrant personalities off screen. Elizabeth Taylor lived her life the way she wanted to no matter what the press or society had to say about it. Not only that but her co-stars and husbands even began defending how she lived her life saying that she had no reason to hide how she likes to live, better to live it out in the open then to be caught in a scandal without ever suspecting. Audrey was focused on her career and even called off a marriage in favor of moving forward in her career, most women in the 60s would never have called off a wedding unless there was something terribly wrong with the situation. She did marry twice formally and had 2 children while still working, she was doing everything and not caring what a woman was “supposed” to be doing but just doing what she wanted and thought would be best for her. It can be said then that these two women helped with giving the idea that women are allowed to think for themselves outside of their homes and family structures. To them and increasingly more women of the 60s their lives became more about them and what they wanted and desired and less about what was expected of them, society began to realize that women have wants and desires and will strive to achieve them no matter what.
The 60s along also brought in the notion of more than one marriage in life is allowed and the thought that you didn’t have to marry a man to have intimate relations with him. It was a time of freedom and experimentation as well as women striving to become equal to men. Both Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn lived and slept with men that they weren’t married to on top of having more than one, and in Taylor’s case many, marriages and divorces. Being the in the top wrung of female actresses they were role models for all women alike who looked up to the famous for advice and suggestions on how to lead one’s life. The Women’s Rights Movement focused on empowerment and equality, which is what Hepburn and Taylor represented, women who could compete with men in their own battlefield, live their own life and not have the power to do what they wanted. With it the 60s brought the pill, female’s first contraceptive method aside from abstinence or having their tubes tied. Women who were in the spotlight such as Elizabeth Taylor had to make the public wonder if she was protected or if it was all up to the man and if she got pregnant it was her fault. Both Hepburn and Taylor being strong confident women would probably have instilled confidence in women who wanted to use the pill but were worried about the image that would present them with. The feminist wave that shook the 60s took with it the doubts about women being able to go against the norm and fight back against a patriarchal system.
Although all women may have had different role models while going through the 60s and other eras, I do not think that could have escaped untouched by the presence of either Audrey Hepburn or Elizabeth Taylor. They were beautiful, famous, successful, confident and most of all different. They were two different types of women with the same instinct, Taylor was vibrant and extremely public about her life and her opinions, Hepburn was a bit more reserved but spoke her mind and was confident to not let anyone run her life unless it was her way. Not only did their presence in the entertainment industry survive the 60s but also it survived on their terms and they did what they wanted to with their careers not at the command of the public or others, if they wanted something it was almost always theirs. Much like the feminist movement where women got equal pay, equal rights and equal treatment at home and in the workplace. Later in life both of these stars opened up charity foundations Elizabeth Taylor’s being for Aids and Audrey Hepburn’s Children’s fund. They were charitable, caring and businesswomen. Not exactly the type of woman that you would expect if you were just leaving 1950 these two iconic legends are changeable with the times, society and their fans. They can be whatever they want to be and the world would have loved them for it. Most people deny it but humans are a vain people and the beautiful and famous are almost worshipped for their looks. If you had the looks you had the power to use them to influence others, I feel that Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn did just that.
No matter what the current issue or political debate women will always look to women in positions of power, influence, authority and appeal. Every decade has its women and what made them “The Women” of that time; in the 1960s there were a handful of women in the industry but none so noticed as Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. It would be no surprise to me if many of the women who were avid participants in the Women’s Rights Movement were fans of Audrey and Elizabeth with their confident air and do it themselves attitude any women would be inspired to reach for her dreams or goals. What women wanted at that time was equality and freedom of choice in their lives without the restrictions of their husbands, employers etc. Why not look to females who have done that and done it successfully to end up at the top of their industry above the men. To me Audrey and Elizabeth personify what the feminist movement was trying to achieve, minus the emotional meltdowns and melodrama, the goal of life without restrictions placed upon them by men, equal rights in society and equality with men. These two proved that you can be a whole woman without a man and still be successful. It is for these reasons that I have mentioned why I feel that Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn had an influence on the women involved in the Women’s Rights Movement and the feminist wave that wove through the sixties political and social scene.
Bibliography:
Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund (2006) Audrey Hepburn Life & Career. Retrieved from: http://www.audreyhepburn.com/ on November 27, 2008
Author Unknown (2008) Feminist Movement. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_movement on November 26th, 2008
Cox E., (2007) Audrey Hepburn – Sixties movies, retrieved from: http://www.loti.com/sixties_movies/Audrey_Hepburn.htm on November 26, 2008
Dirks T. (2008) Film History of the 1960s. Retrieved from: http://www.filmsite.org/60sintro.html on November 27th, 2008
Turner Classic Movies (2008) Elizabeth Taylor. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?participantId=189524 Retrieved on November 29th, 2008
Bobbi (2008) Audrey Hepburn – Her Story. Retrieved from: http://www.divasthesite.com/Acting_Divas/Stories/Bio_Audrey_Hepburn.htm on November 28th, 2008
Allan (2008) Elizabeth Taylor – Her story. Retrieved from: http://www.divasthesite.com/Acting_Divas/Stories/Bio_Elizabeth_Taylor.htm on November 28th, 2008
