The film Made in Dagenham presents both traditional and non-traditional roles of

gender. Traditional views of gender have been around for thousands of years,
from the start of mankind and still exist today, yet to be abolished. Men and
women are still yet to be treated as equals and detach themselves from the
stereotypes they were raised with, such as things like women should be a good
wives stay at home, cook and look after their children, men should be
breadwinners; earning the money and supporting the family and even little
things like girls should like pink and boys would prefer blue. People have fought
passionately for gender equality over the ages and have finally reached what we
have today. The film Made in Dagenham directed by Nigel Cole in 2010, shows
a glorious fight women have put up in England contributing in creating a society
where men and women are equal. They become the first women in history to
strike for what they wanted equal pay. After many obstacles and hardships, the
women finally achieve their goal. It shows many examples of men and women
both fulfilling and subverting stereotypes of gender. Made in Dagenham presents
the protagonist Rita, who both fulfils and subverts gender stereotypes. It also
shows male dominance, a traditional gender stereotype of males, ruling over
females as shown by men at ford that fulfil gender stereotypes with the
exception of Albert. In contrast to male dominance, the film also presents female
dominance which is shown by the secretary of state who subverts gender
stereotypes.
Rita OGrady is the protagonist of Made in Dagenham, and the heroine that leads
the women through the strike. She is a complex character who both fulfils and
subverts gender stereotypes, making her a three dimensional character. She
fulfils gender stereotypes as she is shown to be a good mother and wife as
shown in the mise en scene, where she has an apron on and is surrounded by
laundry around the beginning of the film. She is also shown as good mother who
cares about her children as she went to talk to Mr Clarke about hitting her son.
As the film progresses, Rita begins to subvert gender stereotypes. One of the
most significant scenes, include the meeting with Ford. Rita stands up for the
women at the factory against the men at ford who were ignoring the fact that
they were there. She says Were going to do what we said we were referring to
striking, standing up to a man of importance at Ford. After the death of her close
friend Connies husband and the encouragement of Lisa Burnett, Rita decides to
continue the Strike, but is confronted by her husband Eddie OGrady, who wants
to talk. Eddie takes out all his stress on Rita about, not being able to do what a
man should, trying hard with the children etc. Rita responds by asking So youre
a saint now Eddie? As she responds, there is a low angle shot, giving her power
as she talks to her husband, obviously firm about her beliefs, she clearly states
that what Eddie did were rights not privileges.
Male dominance is shown in the film through Ford, the car producing company
who are against equal pay, is fulfils gender stereotypes. They have a very sexist
and traditional view of women and what they should be doing. This is shown by
the poor working conditions that they have provided women. The womens
factory is shown to be badly ventilated as the women always have to work in
their underwear, it is shown to also leak during rainy weather as the women had
to put out buckets and umbrellas. At one stage when an important man in Ford
converses with Albert he quoted another man saying Men write their own
history, thats men Albert! this shows his complete sexist view towards women.

Another example is shown during the Ford meeting, there is a close up of the
mans face showing surprise when he is interrupted by Rita and his attempts of
regaining control such as calling her miss to belittle her, showing that men want
to be in control, to be dominant. When the Minister Barbra Castle wants to meet
with Rita and the other women at the factory, a man from ford came to see her
and when he was unable to convince her not to go see them, he says Well take
our work elsewhere knowing that the English economy will be at an great
disadvantage without Ford. This shows that when men dont get what they want,
they will resort to blackmail.
In contrast to male dominance, the film Made in Dagenham also shows female
dominance, this is shown, by the Secretary of state, Barbra Castle, whose
position already shows her subversion of female stereotypes as she is above
many men. Her first appearance was in her office, she is first shown as if she
didnt have the power, but it is realised shortly that she has the power as soon as
she stands up. She talks down to the men showing that they are inferior to her
despite their constant attempt to regain the power. Her superiority is also
emphasized by their awkward expressions. It is also shown that since she is so
dominant, she has been viewed as a man, as the Prime minister says, You are
the best man in my cabinet. It shows that she is so unnaturally dominant for a
woman that in a sense she can no longer be considered a woman. Towards the
end of the film, when the men question her decision to meet with Rita and the
other machinist, she claims that the women were better than them saying And if
you two werent such a pair of egotistical, chauvinistic, bigoted dunderheads you
would realise that, it shows that she has the power and is in control. The mis en
scene of the mid shot of the minister at her desk shows that she is finally alone
in her large office surrounded by phones and paper work, further emphasizing
her importance.
The film Made in Dagenham presents many views concerning gender stereotypes
as the characters have both subverted and/or fulfilled their gender stereotype. A
character that both subverts and fulfils gender stereotypes is Rita OGrady, who
begins challenging her gender stereotype more and more as the film progresses,
she eventually leads the women to success and gain what they strike for. The
film also presents male dominance which is shown by Ford and their sexist
attitude towards women. In contrast to this there is Barbra Castle who is a
perfect example of female dominance. Made in Dagenham is a film presenting a
variety of views to gender, though through Ritas success of striking for what she
believed in, the fact that we see Fords treatment towards women as unjust, and
the respect Barbra gained from being dominant, we are encouraged to break
gender stereotypes.