were raised to believe that the apex of their life was getting married. Nothing else was as important. Marla's husband was ok with her coming back for the next season. That makes him in 1940's a spineless henpecked loser. In the 80's and 90's it makes him awesome spouse. It's all relative.
shareThat was the apex of most women in 1943, Since the only careers for women at the time,were school teachers, nurses or secretaries,and I'm pretty sure that those fields paid nothing at the time, certainly not enough to survive on.
In fact, most women until about the late 60s, only attended college to find a husband or to get their "MRS".
Sigh. Guess I was born 40 years too late. Oh, well.
"My hypocrisy goes only so far."
That was the apex of most women in 1943, Since the only careers for women at the time,were school teachers, nurses or secretaries,and I'm pretty sure that those fields paid nothing at the time, certainly not enough to survive on.
yes.
My mom had two parents who worked outside the home in 1950's and 1960's....she was not 'working class' either. Both of her parents had college level education.
Her mom was regarded as 'odd' by a lot of the neighborhood families. What was wrong with her?? Now it's not a big deal but of course back then anybody who did not want to just stay home and pop out kids was 'ill'
Playing pro baseball = apex of most people’s lives who are lucky enough even to get a shot at it.
shareThe movie explores the conflict between the current expectations placed on a wife and the desire to play baseball pretty well. Remember the central character quits the league the moment her husband comes home, because she thinks marriage is her "real job"?
Most of the married women on the team were quite aware that the circumstances were unusual and they were getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to both stay married and play baseball, because their husbands were away at the war. And sure enough, when the men came home, the women's league went out of business.
Remember the central character quits the league the moment her husband comes home, because she thinks marriage is her "real job"?
Um.... that was never said nor implied in the film. She said a number of times that she was happy with married life. Is that a problem for you? If a man says that he's happy with married life and bases life decisions on the wants or needs of his wife does that make him less of a man to you? I'd also like to point out that the AAGPBL went on for 9 years after the end of the war. Not exactly how you framed it. Minor sporting leagues come and go like that. The war ending certainly didn't help them but it didn't doom them either.
What really happened was the Dottie just watched a woman lose her husband the same day that Bob are back. It doubtlessly made her reassess her values. She already seemed set to leave the league when he came back as it was but this really drove the point home. I will say that it wasn't great that the team had just made the world series just as she dropped out. I guess it made for an extra point in the movie but I can't imagine that Bob (who was still on the mend) would have wanted for her to walk away at that point.
Dottie made in clear that she would leave the league the minute Bob came home, long before anything had happened with Kit or Betty. She told Jimmy that on the bus. She didn't even want to come in the first place, but did so mostly for Kit, because her sister didn't have anything else in her life at that point. Dottie was content to stay on her parents farm in Oregon and wait for Bob to come back.
shareYeah, that's why I said: "She already seemed set to leave the league when he came back as it was but this really drove the point home." But bringing up the point about Kit is also something to consider and it's good to be reminded of it.
shareI never said there was anything WRONG with quitting the league the moment her husband came back! She's a grown woman, she has a right to make her own choices according to her personal values.
The fact that her husband encouraged her to go back and play in the championship actually made it seem like she was making a reasonable choice, the audience might have hated him if he'd just said "We're getting you pregnant tonight, and going back to Oregon in the morning". But he was supportive and enjoyed the baseball, he looked like a real keeper.
Marla was raised by a single father. She was probably taught that because of who she was she'd have to be non-traditional, perhaps work. The scout came along purely by chance and was infact going to leave without her despite her skills just bc of looks. She wasn't raised to husband hunt at all.
The men she was playing with for the scout were older perhaps too old to draft etc....my maternal grandfather was not drafted but he and a bunch other men who were immigrants from Germany did work in the factories assembling equipment for the American troops.