Chick Flick for feminist women raised in fifties households?
So this could be considered a chick flick back in the day. And it was probably marketed to women that were born and raised in the fifties. These were some of the first feminists. But, they were raised in a fifties setting where the man took care of the woman. And that was still ingrained deep down in them (like how many former girls that were flower children grew up, got married, had two kids and a station wagon).
This movie would appeal to them because the heroine seems like a feminist. She has a kid out of wedlock and isn't married. So she's not square like their mothers were. But then she finds an alpha male to take care of and protect her (kind of the fifties scenario that they were brought up with). So it would be appealing on a few levels. There were still many traditional families when the movie was made (I was a kid and my dad worked while my mom took care of the kids and the house when this movie came out). So I think this movie was very clever making it appealing to feminist and traditional woman of that time. And if it doesn't hold up, it's because things have changed a lot since then. But it still has that fairytale Cinderella story line that always seems to endure.
"Getting old is not for sissies."
Bette Davis