It is also a timely reminder of the slow and long journey of equal opportunity seeking for people of color and women in broadcast and other media. Watching HBO’s new “Julia” and recalling the television history made by the French Chef, it is a delightful experience.
As unpaid helpers, Sarah Child’s husband Paul and best friend Avis work alongside her to pay for the food at the green light tentatively given by Child. Initially, people laughed at the idea for the show, but Sarah Child Julia’s struggles to be taken seriously by the white men running the public TV station (WGBH in Boston) and (Lancashire in the UK) have been evident.
Alice Naman, a fictional character who works as a producer at Boston’s pioneering public television station in the 1960s, faces elitism and derision from her male colleagues as she fights to create a cooking show that takes credit for her ideas. She is sidelined by men who charge in to take credit for her French franchising example, among other approved ideas, both for convincing her own idea and often for the child they share.
The TV show Child’s may be a fictionalized version of groundbreaking success, but it portrays the struggles and fights for equality and recognition for women in an era where men were less paid, not considered for top positions, overlooked and talked over in meetings, and not given beats like crime or politics in newsrooms where coffee was asked for by the men.
The opportunities for women in broadcast and all sectors of media have significantly increased thanks to the women who filed equal opportunity lawsuits and fought to open doors for themselves and those who came after them, ever since the times of “The French Chef.”
According to the 2021 “Status of Women in the U.S. Media” report from the Women’s Media Center, women constitute over 44 percent of the local TV news workforce. Judy Woodruff is the esteemed anchor of NewsHour on public television. Women currently hold top positions in major newsrooms across the country, such as Sally Buzbee, who serves as the executive editor of The Washington Post, Kimberly Godwin, the president of ABC, and Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC.
Despite the slow progress, women are still making breakthroughs in positions of power, with less than a third of broadcast TV network heads being women, according to a report by the Center for Media Women’s Change. Even during President Obama’s tenure in the White House, women in high-powered positions struggled to exert their influence, as the Washington Post reported on how female staffers adopted a strategy called “amplification” to ensure their ideas were recognized. This strategy involved women repeating each other’s key points in meetings, forcing the men in the room to give credit to the original woman who made the point. It is important to acknowledge the contribution of women and give them the chance to claim their own ideas. As a younger woman, I haven’t personally experienced being talked over by older men, but I know that this issue persists.
The fictional scene in the French chef’s lecture by Child Julia promoted sexist stereotypes and was particularly awkward. It reminded us not only of the larger struggles for women’s equality, but also of the historic workplace struggles faced by women. Betty Friedan, the author of “The Feminine Mystique,” showcased the larger struggles for women’s equality as well.
Meeting them in person, there is no record of the points Post Washington made in the same year she published her groundbreaking book and launched her TV show in 1963. Friedan and Child, both graduates of Smith College’s Class of 1942 and Class of 1934 respectively, were classmates in real life.
They may be stuck in front of a hot stove, but they might be dreaming of France. By expanding their horizons, you are opening doors for women. I have seen your program, but it’s not helping things. Friedan takes the opportunity to chastise the child roundly. In the last episode of the show “Julia,” the creators dreamed up a scene where Friedan and Child bump into each other at a New York event.
Friedan inquires, “How can these women, who you have confined to the kitchen, possibly find time for anything else, let alone a career?”
Let’s leave the real cooking to the top-notch chef at “Julia’s” restaurant in New York City, where men will be the ones in charge. It’s a scene where outstanding chefs could be women, and seeing this bold and outspoken woman make such a success of herself is something to love. She was inspirational and aspirational, but I didn’t have the means or time to try many of Child’s recipes. My mother, who worked full-time and had no help around the house, treasured her 1966 edition of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which made me think of those early years watching Child’s show, “The French Chef.”
At the end of the day, “Julia” is probably a comedy that shouldn’t deeply mine feminist tropes and is also a good reminder to remember that Julia Child, a truly remarkable woman who worked for the OSS and brought success through her TV show and cookbook, helped open doors for other women in both the culinary arts and broadcast media.
Linda Kramer Jenning
Linda Jenning Kramer is an independent journalist who taught journalism at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Before moving to Bainbridge Island after several decades of reporting.
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