MISOGYNY IN HISTORY – CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT
This was inspired by an exchange on a friend’s timeline after Lyle Waggoner
died. You remember Lyle, right? He was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show
and was one of the stars of the 1970’s Wonder Woman series, portraying Steve
Trevor alongside Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman.
You’d think that willingly being to co-star to a female lead back in the
1970’s would prove he was safe from accusations he had issues with women, but
of course not.
In the comment section of the death notice someone shared on their page, one person had to bring up the fact that he at one time said that Lynda Carter was “blessed by the chest fairy” as something horrible he’d done and equivocated it to the “me too” movement. I thought it was overreacting from the start, and made the statement that saying things like that wasn’t a big deal. The response was essentially “wrong is wrong” and I couldn’t really be a woman if I was defending him.
I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I can remember watching these shows at the time. Many shows that we laughed at back the day are cringeworthy now. I find that a lot when I watch the old shows, as much as I enjoy them. One of the most flawed characters when we look back with hindsight is Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H. In nearly every episode he is trying to get in bed with a nurse, and what he does is most definitely sexual harassment when looked upon with eyes and standards from 2020. Yet, we laughed at it at the time and for many years forward. It was considered one of the best shows on television and won many awards. Alda himself won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the character.
Lynda Carter herself posted on social media how much she cared for and cherished Lyle, even though their time together was infrequent as the years went on. She did not seem to harbor any ill-will against him.
Context is everything. At the time these shows were made, they were within the standards of the time. At the time Hawkeye’s behavior and lines were written, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it. At the time Lyle Waggoner made that remark, there likely wasn’t anything wrong with it, and I’m not sure there is anyway since he was simply stating a fact of what helped Lynda Carter get noticed in Hollywood at the time. Pretty women with nice chests tend to get roles, right or wrong.
I remember when I wrote reviews for Epinions and I was reviewing the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVDs. I always made sure to watch all of the commentaries and special features on the discs. In one of the commentaries, one of the producers made the comment that they made their casting decisions for the female characters based on who looked good in the uniforms. I called them out on this at the time (early 2000’s) in my review. I received an email from an anonymous email address that likely came from one of the people who had said this or was involved with the decision chiding me for calling them out and dismissing my opinion. Just having that opinion was not the norm in the early 2000’s – can you imagine calling people out for something similar in the 1970’s?
If there is anyone out there who honestly thinks their fathers and/or grand-fathers or uncles or anyone in their family never make comments like this and everyone saw it as “okay”, they are naïve and don’t understand history. There are behaviors women had to tolerate and accept in their lives for a very long time. I can remember someone rubbing up against me in the subway. I countered by stepping back onto his foot and turning so I hit him in the face with my purse “accidentally.” At the time, if I had gotten the police involved, they would have laughed. We dealt with it. We rolled our eyes at the comments or laughed along with them so we kept our jobs. Most of the time, it was good-natured teasing – at least what I experienced. I did see plenty of times when it went over into sexual harassment (even by the standards of those days) and nothing was done.
I’m glad times have changed and so much of the harassment doesn’t go on any longer. That said, we can’t go judging the past by the standards we have now. I’m thankful Lyle Waggoner was man enough to play second fiddle to a female lead. Lynda Carter, along with Lindsay Wagner, were two female role-models for me in the 1970’s. A generation of women admire him, and one comment in the context of the times, should not define him.
In the comment section of the death notice someone shared on their page, one person had to bring up the fact that he at one time said that Lynda Carter was “blessed by the chest fairy” as something horrible he’d done and equivocated it to the “me too” movement. I thought it was overreacting from the start, and made the statement that saying things like that wasn’t a big deal. The response was essentially “wrong is wrong” and I couldn’t really be a woman if I was defending him.
I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. I can remember watching these shows at the time. Many shows that we laughed at back the day are cringeworthy now. I find that a lot when I watch the old shows, as much as I enjoy them. One of the most flawed characters when we look back with hindsight is Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H. In nearly every episode he is trying to get in bed with a nurse, and what he does is most definitely sexual harassment when looked upon with eyes and standards from 2020. Yet, we laughed at it at the time and for many years forward. It was considered one of the best shows on television and won many awards. Alda himself won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the character.
Lynda Carter herself posted on social media how much she cared for and cherished Lyle, even though their time together was infrequent as the years went on. She did not seem to harbor any ill-will against him.
Context is everything. At the time these shows were made, they were within the standards of the time. At the time Hawkeye’s behavior and lines were written, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it. At the time Lyle Waggoner made that remark, there likely wasn’t anything wrong with it, and I’m not sure there is anyway since he was simply stating a fact of what helped Lynda Carter get noticed in Hollywood at the time. Pretty women with nice chests tend to get roles, right or wrong.
I remember when I wrote reviews for Epinions and I was reviewing the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVDs. I always made sure to watch all of the commentaries and special features on the discs. In one of the commentaries, one of the producers made the comment that they made their casting decisions for the female characters based on who looked good in the uniforms. I called them out on this at the time (early 2000’s) in my review. I received an email from an anonymous email address that likely came from one of the people who had said this or was involved with the decision chiding me for calling them out and dismissing my opinion. Just having that opinion was not the norm in the early 2000’s – can you imagine calling people out for something similar in the 1970’s?
If there is anyone out there who honestly thinks their fathers and/or grand-fathers or uncles or anyone in their family never make comments like this and everyone saw it as “okay”, they are naïve and don’t understand history. There are behaviors women had to tolerate and accept in their lives for a very long time. I can remember someone rubbing up against me in the subway. I countered by stepping back onto his foot and turning so I hit him in the face with my purse “accidentally.” At the time, if I had gotten the police involved, they would have laughed. We dealt with it. We rolled our eyes at the comments or laughed along with them so we kept our jobs. Most of the time, it was good-natured teasing – at least what I experienced. I did see plenty of times when it went over into sexual harassment (even by the standards of those days) and nothing was done.
I’m glad times have changed and so much of the harassment doesn’t go on any longer. That said, we can’t go judging the past by the standards we have now. I’m thankful Lyle Waggoner was man enough to play second fiddle to a female lead. Lynda Carter, along with Lindsay Wagner, were two female role-models for me in the 1970’s. A generation of women admire him, and one comment in the context of the times, should not define him.
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