Women and the Workforce.

I decided to focus on the Coen Brothers' 1996 film, Fargo, and one of its principle characters, the female cop, Marge Olmstead-Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand. She is an extraordinary paragon of female competence in the workforce, especially when juxtaposed with the bumbling efforts of both her coworkers and the criminals she is pursuing. Marge is seven months pregnant while doggedly pursuing two career criminals who have botched what should have been a routine hired kidnapping and kill many people in the process. She is never actively undermined, but it can't clearly be discerned how her male coworkers feel about her continual ability to outperform them. Her husband assumes rather nurturing qualities with respect to her pregnancy, cooking her breakfast and bringing her lunch at work to offset what would perhaps otherwise be an overwhelming load. It is, without a doubt, a very egalitarian relationship. Marge often uses her charm in a particularly feminine manner to gain information on her case, and the film, which is classified as a dark comedy, often plays on the stereotypes of the inherent niceness of Minnesotans to develop her character in a way that would not be believable elsewhere.

What is interesting about Marge, and what makes her rather fantastical in terms of whether or not she could hypothetically represent a real person, is that she is not only in a highly dangerous position (she lives in Brainard, North Dakota, so mortal danger probably isn't a daily occurrence, but this movie represents a rather anomalous situation that she has the potential to be presented with at any given moment), but she is also pregnant while doing it, and the primary breadwinner in a time (late 80's) and place (the very conservative, backwoods Midwest) where that concept is either foreign or generally viewed without favor. There is only one other major female character in the film, the woman who is kidnapped, and she is a housewife who is portrayed as being rather annoying and doltish. Despite the aforementioned social constructs, her husband, Norm, is her gracious partner, accepting her dominance in the relationship power differential without any visible hesitation. I also find it a bit hard to believe that given her environment, Marge maintains her femininity so well and uses it to her advantage in ways that make her even more of an asset than her male counterparts. She cleverly plays on her pregnancy to force suspects to talk to her, always stating she is "carrying quite a load" before inviting herself to sit down and politely but pointedly question them. An article in Time from 1992 called "Are Women Better Cops?," relevant in terms of contextualizing attitudes of the previous decade, mentions specifically that "women tend to rely more on intellectual than physical prowess [and] from that standpoint, policing is a natural match for them" (Time). Again, I must harp on the idea of strength in difference, as I always do when gender issues are discussed. In essence, she offers a converse, if idyllic, prospective from the patriarchal assimilation that is so often cited as an early problem of women entering male-dominated professions. Marge, as a character, is so wonderful in part because all of the people around her are decidedly average, or worse, and I don't believe that that is how most women advance themselves in their chosen professions, but rather, by being equals to their male counterparts who may have preconceived notions about their ability or lack thereof. 

In terms of the interplay between her work and family life, her second shift will clearly be managed very well by having a husband who does not adhere to a gendered division of labor or assume male privilege, but many women are not offered this luxury. The film ends with them celebrating the impending birth of their child and that his wildlife art was chosen for a stamp, and again, this is a very subtle nod to their gendered role reversal (husband in an artistic, "soft" position, while wife pursues hardened criminals). In terms of audience perception, these cues are used with purpose to point out what an extraordinary pair we are witnessing, that their relationship is in no way common, perhaps not even normative, but something to which we should aspire. They are an entirely unassuming, average Midwestern couple, and yet, their relationship recalls Naomi Wolf's conceptions of "Radical Heterosexuality" in the ways in which they both repudiate gender privilege in their relationship. That is especially interesting, as it implies that the "traditional family values" mentioned with respect to the nuclear family can occur without a "father [as] provider [and] wife/mother [who] spends her days running the home" (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 303-304). This alone makes Marge a fictional role model for any ambitious woman.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Mcdowell, Jeanne, and Georgia Pabst. "Are Women Better Cops? - TIME." TIME.com. Time Inc., 17 Feb. 1992. Web. 08 Nov. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974878,00.html>.

Naomi Wolf's Radical Heterosexuality (handout)