Unconventional Woman in Spaceship Earth? Your thought....

[JMOJD]

I have been to Disney many times and only as an adult did I make this observation on Spaceship Earth. Let me point you to the area of the ride I refer to. You know the scene where they start talking about computers and how computers used to be so big they would take up an entire room? Well in that scene, to the right is the “large computer” and people in white lab coats. One of those people is an African American lady wearing a white lab coat, a big afro, a very short mini skirt, stockings and vinyl black platform boots up to her knees (I think this more or less describes her). Remember it now?

Anyways my issue is that every time I see this I think the same thing: More or less by the clothing, I’m thinking the time era being depicted is the 70’s. First it’s great that they put a woman in this professional role with her “very official” lab coat during this era in time; however, do they have to demean her by putting her in a very short mini-skirt and these vinyl platform knee high boots while at her “professional” job? I mean her outfit and the way she looks is so out of place from the setting. It’s difficult enough to know that during this time when computers were just starting and like in all these professional settings in the 70’s and even 80’s women were just entering the workforce. Difficult enough to fit in, they put a female in this very important position yet they mess it up by her outfit.

I know what you’re thinking...they only dressed her like that to show the fashion of the time and that is all ….I’m reading too much into it, right? Well,…you probably are right. Please note, although I post this friendly discussion, I point out that this is all this is… I don’t think enough of it to let it actually bother me to complain or anything like that. It’s just an observation I wish to point out and laugh at it possible, like I do every time I ride the ride.

I just think it’s one of those things the designers did without really thinking but I think it says a lot on its own.

 

[cbg1027]

I always thought her outfit was weird for setting too. I didn't read it in too much, but always give it a laugh when I ride by.

 

[GJF323]

Ha ha!! Every time I see her I think of a certain character from the Austin Powers movies!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_Cleopatra

 

[mesaboy2]

I guessed who you were talking about before opening your thread. Still, I don't read anything into it. Her outfit reminds me of the female crewmembers on classic Star Trek.

 

[KellyNY]

Never crossed my mind but I think they just tried to represent era by showing fashion everyone could recognize. I also think that if they had double meaning here,then maybe the message was to show that woman can care about fashion and still do important job, I mean less skirt,does not mean less brain, after all it is not about clothes and style but what you can do.

 

[GJF323]

Here's my soundtrack for that scene (don't know if Judi Dench would agree to voice it, though):

http://www.hark.com/clips/skjxpblcfv-lotta-woman#

 

[sharadoc]

As someone who lived through the 70s I can tell you that her outfit is not unconventional, it absolutely was the style. I wore skirts that short and I had vinyl boots in black, brown, blue and white!! There was no real "professional" dress for woman in offices like there is today. Suits were not the norm and neither were knee-length or longer skirts until the late 70's/early 80's.

My mother managed a computer room just like that in the 70's. It's the one thing I must say every time to DD in that spot "Grandmom used to work in a computer room just like that at the phone company." My mother tended to go for the polyester pantsuit look, though.

I never viewed that scene as demeaning at all.

 

[MomofKatie]

I was a kid in the early/mid 70's and I remember my teachers dressing the same way- very short minis worn with what we would now consider "go-go boots". It was just what many women wore during that era.

 

[disneysophie]

Clever observation OP. Now I will forever laugh when I ride it!

 

[Bradsdadg]

Not something I bother thinking about, to be honest.

 

[Deb & Bill]

As someone who lived through the 70s I can tell you that her outfit is not unconventional, it absolutely was the style. I wore skirts that short and I had vinyl boots in black, brown, blue and white!! There was no real "professional" dress for woman in offices like there is today. Suits were not the norm and neither were knee-length or longer skirts until the late 70's/early 80's.

My mother managed a computer room just like that in the 70's. It's the one thing I must say every time to DD in that spot "Grandmom used to work in a computer room just like that at the phone company." My mother tended to go for the polyester pantsuit look, though.

I never viewed that scene as demeaning at all.

Exactly. Women didn't wear the suits and little silk bow ties until the late 70's and early 80's. That was totally acceptable office wear in the earlier 70's.

 

[robinb]

I always think of Uhura from Star Trek .

 

[Finally08]

I have always referred to her as Foxy Brown.

 

[DeepSouth]

As the others said, this is exactly what women in professional settings wore in the mid 70s. As with most things Disney, the details are spot-on. You shouldn't be offended by Disney, you should be offended by the 1970s.

 

[duffy]

I always thought this scene was from the 60s, not the 70s.

Check out these outfits flight attendants wore. I realize they're flight attendants, not lab workers, but still show attitudes towards professional outfits.

I think her outfit is very fashionable for the times, but it's more unlikely that a woman was in that job at all. In those days, a woman would be more likely to be in a low-level, secretarial job, than wearing a lab coat.

 

[CathieArms]

I always thought this scene was from the 60s, not the 70s.

Check out these outfits flight attendants wore. I realize they're flight attendants, not lab workers, but still show attitudes towards professional outfits.

I think her outfit is very fashionable for the times, but it's more unlikely that a woman was in that job at all. In those days, a woman would be more likely to be in a low-level, secretarial job, than wearing a lab coat.

I'm not so sure about that; at least not for the big computer companies like IBM. I'm pretty sure that - while they weren't equally represented, probably - the big computer companies like IBM had a fair representation of professional women working on computers. When I worked at IBM back in '92, there were professional women there hitting 25 and 30 years and retiring.

 

[NancyIL]

I was in high school and college in the 70s, and thank goodness I never owned any vinyl go-go boots! My skirts were short in the early and mid-70s, however.

 

[Cee]

At least they didn't put her in Hot Pants!

 

[FigmentChick]

aww...c'mon....hot pants would have been fun!!! NOT lol

Anyway, like others I agree that that was the style at the time....many women did not wear suits to work, even if they worked in a lab. And (please don't take this the wrong way), but I definitely think you're thinking too much into it and here's why:

I am a professional accountant. I wear 4 inch heels to work everyday (mainly because I am super-short, but I also like the way I feel when I wear them). Also, my skirts tend to be on the shorter side - about an inch about my knee. I still think I look like I can do my professional job. As a matter of fact, I know I can do it and still look good. It makes me more confident to dress this way.

Just my two cents though.

 

[TDC Nala]

I've seen people wear shorter skirts and higher boots to work.

My dad was in that kind of job (for the federal government), there were plenty of women working in his office as systems analysts.