Mrs. Doubtfire - Not a Threat?

So, in class we've discussed how women are pitted against one another.  However, it seems as women age they become less of a threat.  Mrs. Doubtfire is a playful comedy that has a father (Robin Williams) desperate to spend more time with his children, who are in the custody of their mother.  In order to spend more time with them he concocts this persona of Mrs. Doubtfire, an elderly nanny. 

Usually, the nanny is an evil character - either the children hate her or the mother hates her because she's generally younger and prettier.  In this film; however, the nanny is an asset to the family.  I theorize that not only is the nanny awesome (come on, it's Robin Williams), but she is an older character who poses no threat to the mother in any way.  In fact, Mrs. Doubtfire becomes somewhat of a confidante for her.  Almost motherly.

Of course it cannot be that easy.  Mrs. Doubtfire *does* try to sabotage his ex-wife's romantic endeavors, yet it's not because he's pretending to be a woman and that's what women do.  This unique twist, though, while apparent, only disguises how women are portrayed in film.  Viewers do not conceptualize this as a feminine attribute, rather as a desperate man going to great lengths to keep his family together.

With the exception of The Crying Game and Tootsie, I cannot really think of many movies (or sitcoms, for that matter - hello, Bosom Buddies) that have men dressing as women who are aesthetically pleasing/plays to the male gaze.

Response blog to in-class presentation

One of the in-class presentations dealt with women sacrificing their femininity in order to succeed in a "man's world."  This is extremely evident in the film G.I. Jane.  The setting is the ultimate male domain - the military. 

Women have long been called the weaker sex.  Obviously, this caused controversy over whether women should be allowed in the military.  In G.I. Jane, not only does a female want to be in the military, but she also wants to be the best of the best and join the ranks of the elite forces.  Naturally, this presents a huge problem.

Over the course of the film, Demi Moore's character goes through a transformation wherein she is forced to shed her feminine qualities in order to become on of "them."  She suffers torment by her peers and eventually is assimilated.

Interestingly, though, it is worth mentioning that the climactic scene in the movie - the "suck my dick" scene - her male peers show compassion towards her struggle, which seems like it would go against their nature.  One can interpret this in two ways:  her male peers realize that she is not receiving equal treatment, but rather degradation, torture, rape and the like, OR, they are somewhat mocking her because she is the weaker sex and cannot take it.  Of course, we'd like to believe it's the former.

Once she has abandoned her femininity she gains respect of her male peers, which further reinforces the concept of women as "other."  Until she becomes one of them she has little to no merit on her own.