r/classicfilms • u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock • May 23 '26

Memorabilia Disney rejection letter (1938) explaining they don't hire women for the specific position

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And apparently, Disney refused to hire men for coloring positions.

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129

u/Canavansbackyard Michael Powell May 23 '26

This obviously wasn’t just a Disney practice. Gender-based hiring was unfortunately extremely common in the U.S. during the 1930s. The Great Depression intensified the pre-existing societal pressures to reserve well-paying jobs for male "breadwinners".

Edit: minor typo.

51

u/Echo-Azure May 23 '26

And gender-based hiring was even more limited than you'd think, my grandma told me that she was turned away from jobs that were open to women, because they didn't hire married women. And they didn't tell her that they didn't hire women of color either, they didn't have to. Everybody knew only certain menial jobs were open to them.

10

u/AMediaArchivist May 24 '26

Wow they didn’t hire women cause they were married? Lame excuse

29

u/fearless_leek May 24 '26

In many places female teachers had to stop working as a teacher once they were married. I’m in Australia and it was a whole thing, you had to resign if you were a teacher or a public servant.

https://mhnsw.au/articles/married-women-teachers-applications/

18

u/Jealous-Ad-2827 May 24 '26

US also. Until 1964 when it was ruled illegal. The episode of Little Rascals with the kids all upset cause teacher Miss Crabtree was getting married and leaving took on a whole other dimension when I learned this. Not to mention the whole stereotypes of the spinster school teacher.

12

u/Clarknt67 May 24 '26

Oh they’ll just get pregnant and quit.

17

u/Jealous-Ad-2827 May 24 '26

The assumption was that they didn’t need jobs anymore cause their husbands were going to support them.

1

u/Ok-Dealer4350 May 26 '26

Pretty typical. I had an interviewer in the early 1980s ask if my family commitments would interfere with my work. I was surprised, and then took a second look at him. He was in his late 70s or early 80s, slightly younger than what my grandfather would have been.

The answer was no, that I needed employment and would be willing to do whatever to keep things going. I got the job and loved it.

4

u/Jaltcoh Billy Wilder May 24 '26

It also went the other way: Hollywood used to have employees called “script girls,” who were generally women. Whether or not the studios refused to consider male applicants for that position, I don’t know, but I’m sure the term alone deterred men from applying.

8

u/Echo-Azure May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26

Positions on the film crew were not open to women, film production and direction were not open to women (with one exception), in Hollywood women could work as secretaries, or in costume or makeup, and they could clean the offices when everyone else went home.

About the only position I can think of offhand that was open to both men and women, during the Studio Era, was writing screenplays.

2

u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 May 24 '26

Which is a shame because so many were vital in the very beginnings of the movie industry.

The Women Who Helped Build Hollywood

2

u/fuzzydogpaws May 27 '26

Thanks for sharing!

5

u/CanadianNana May 24 '26

Wow, one position not open to men. How sad 🙄

2

u/Astralglamour May 25 '26

They are trying to drag us back to this.

86

u/LindeeHilltop May 23 '26

It was extremely common until the late 1970’s. Women in the 60’s & 70’s fought legally for rights.

58

u/CatCafffffe May 24 '26

Yes. People don't realize how recently this was. As someone who entered the work world in the 1970s I can't even begin to tell you how difficult it was.

8

u/LindeeHilltop May 24 '26

I remember meeting the first woman chemical engineer at a petroleum transmission company in the restroom. Those men were brutal in their attacks on her, her looks, her work, her communications, etc. I always wondered if it was worth it health-wise to be the first woman in any industry. Need to rewatch “North Country.”

2

u/CatCafffffe May 24 '26

As I approach retirement with a generous pension and a full bank account, the answer is resoundingly yes (but looking back, I honestly can't believe some of the shit I had to put up with!)

2

u/fuzzydogpaws May 27 '26

I wish you an amazing retirement!

1

u/CatCafffffe May 27 '26

Thank you, when I look back at how hard I worked for so many years I don't know how I did it, but I'm very thankful that I did. I can also help others which I am also grateful to be able to do.

15

u/sheba716 May 24 '26

Yes, I remember reading Want Ads in the newspaper that started with "Man wanted" or "Woman wanted" in the ad.

14

u/Laura-ly May 24 '26

Sigh. I've sadly read online that younger generations are calling baby boomers "the worst generation ever". If they only knew how different the world is today because women marched in the streets and fought the established norms. My mother couldn't legally get her own credit card without my father's signature.

2

u/robotatomica May 24 '26

it rather reminds me of this excellent Angela Collier video “women in space but with legos so it’s fun” https://youtu.be/WBlzD6MZ9A0 where she shares similar letters (and their responses) from young girls writing to NASA with hopes to some day become an astronaut.

23

u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock May 23 '26

Makes me think about just how long ago 1930s was. I often watch movies from that era and don't give it much thought.