Presentation on crossing over class boundaries represented within the films Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan

The topic for the presentation will discuss highlights the US as a society that has class and social structures in place despite the myth that the US is a classless society. Using films such as Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan these will provide the emphasis that in order to rise up the social and class structure put in place, then you have to change your physical appearance and act according to customs in that social class. In mirroring the way the upper class act, they become transformed into a new identity, leaving their past one behind. Drawing upon Ehrenreich comments also, I will comment upon how the working class are often ‘invisible’ to higher classes and have to disguise themselves or change their appearance in order to be noticed.

Both these films are from a post feminist context and it will also discuss the dominant theme of patriarchy holding the power over these women, which suggests how they are still the dominant gender. The films imply that the only reason these woman are able to ascend up the career ladder or class status is because of their interest and money put into ‘making over’ them. This will thus be critiqued, as it implies that without the ‘hero’ saving them from the poor and working class status, they would not have changed and stayed at their low level struggling. It is because of the male focus that the women are the ones adjusting to suit his needs and his world.