Women at Work

The situation of women in the labor market has changed dramatically since World War II. Cinema has documented the big changes in the participation of women in the labor force and the many difficulties that both white-collar and industrial female workers have encountered in the process. The films about working women are often compelling because they depict courageous characters fighting against traditional gender roles and domesticity expectations. These films have also expressed the anxiety of male audiences and filmmakers toward working women. Inevitably, sex has also formed part of the representation of the role of women in the economy, either through sex workers or through the implicit exchange that working women are expected to put up with in abusive corporate environments.