MovieChat Forums > Petticoat Junction (1963) Discussion > Is anyone else bothered by this?

Is anyone else bothered by this?

posted 12 years ago by greenargyle42
49 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen all of this show, just a few episodes on MeTV, which I thought were cute. So when I found a dvd of highlights from the first seasons at my library, I checked it out. Is anyone bothered by the semi-mysonginistic tone of some of the early episodes? Repeatedly saying "A woman's place is in the kitchen" (said by Kate, and two of the daughters), Kate convincing Betty to purposly lose a horse shoe throwing contest to save a man's pride, and worst of all, forcing Bobby to go on a date, then forcing her to change everything about herself so that the boy would like her! I know, it was a different time, but I'm surprised that so many people say the first seasons were the best, and they don't seem to take notice of this.
I do really like this show, and generally I think Kate is a pretty strong female role model, but these episodes irritated me, especially as it was Kate who was forcing her daughter to go on a date, and then forcing her to change the way she dressed, walked, and spoke. It felt almost like she was pimping her out. It feels (to me, anyway) like this kind of "comedy" is beneath the show's caliber. Anybody else find these offensive?

[–] mbcullen 12 years ago

I bought an early DVD (with Gunilla Hutton as Billy Jo) and had the same thoughts. It's quite obvious Kate evolved over the years. It's kind of like Andy Griffith. In the early seasons Andy is more of a good ol' southern boy that evolves into the solid wise father figure. That transformation seemed to happen for Kate too.

[–] shopguyperry 11 years ago

There definitely was a transformation. Kate was very country looking during the first two seasons but as the seasons progressed she eventually became more modern and stylish.

[–] trollomatic 9 years ago

well, that makws sense since Oliver and Lisa Douglas moved into the valley during that time.

Okay, so they moved in near Hooterville.

They still took frequent trips.into Hooterville and vice versa.

[–] cmulwee001 12 years ago

Don't try to read to much into it. It's only a TV show. Just try to enjoy it for what it is, and you won't be bothered by it And I Think the early years WERE the best. I just like the rural feel of those early season. I ESPECIALLY like Season's 2 and 3 for their surreal and occasional slapstick humor.

Again those early years were the best. For me, the show fell apart after Steve and Betty Jo got married. Although it was sweet and heartwarming, it
changed the tone and feel of the series.
Also the series DID get kind of sexist after that. Steve didn't want his wife to run the train or play sports or any of the things she once did. I though Betty Jo was more fun as a tomboy.

[–] tv_misfit 11 years ago

Definitely agree with cmulwee001, sbraford and all who note the extreme difference in time from when "Petticoat Junction" originally aired and the 2000s. The OP just doesn't seem to get it. — * —

"Youth is wasted on the young." - W.C. Fields

[–] willowtara 11 years ago

Donna Reed, Green Acres and Dick Van Dyke all featured housewives. That was normal in the 50s and early 60s.
Later on, when Meredith Macrae became Billie Jo, she was encouraged by Kate to have a career.

[–] suzan28 11 years ago

why is it so different, then some of the other stuff...

when on national velvet....she couldn't enter the race because she was a girl...

her mother wasn't supposed to swim the English channel...

and all that kind of stuff....

yes, it is sexist in how we think today...but when the show first started...that's just the way it was....

and as the 60's rolled along...women started to come out of the work place

if you watched one of the waltons.....the guy makes the women work in the plant, while the men are away at war...but yet, he won't give them child care, or build a school on the property.....instead he's willing to give the men a canteen, but hey who cares about the kids of the women who work for him..it's their job to work for him and to also take care of the kids, right...

yeah now it's different, here in north America and most other places in the first world...but, it wasn't back then....

so...

just go with the time period that it was in..

susan

he didn't want her to when she was pregnant..but after she had the baby, I thought that he had no problem with it.....

[–] sjbradford 12 years ago

Uh, back in the early 60s, a LOT of people thought a woman's place was in the kitchen. You seriously cannot expect a 50-year-old show to reflect modern sensibilities. If you do, then you better avoid "I Love Lucy", because that has a lot of material that you will find "misogynistic".

[–] PaladinNJ (21510) 3 years ago

Exactly

[–] kjsullivan14 12 years ago

I think you need to relax.....or watch the original "Honeymooners" and see what 1955 was all about. Now "wiggle on over to the stove and cook my dinner".

[–] wannabertist 11 years ago

NO! It's freakin' 50's - 60's television. What else would you expect?

[–] aircrftmec 11 years ago

Surprisingly, a LOT of women WERE happy with the way things were back then, the same way many feminists are happy now(?)

[–] jddonigan-668-303295 11 years ago

I will say this, my mom was NOT at all happy how things were. And my dad, God bless him, was a true gentlemen.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sggar00 11 years ago

Nope...not in the least.

[–] joe_538 11 years ago

I think you're reading too much into it.
I don't think Kate telling Betty Jo to let the guy win the contest was misogynist, all he had in life was being good at horseshoes, it would be no different if she let a woman win a baking contest for the same reason.

As for forcing Bobby Jo to go on a date, she had fun. She even got a little man-crazy later on. Kate was exposing her to another part of life. My father encouraged me to get out more when I was a little younger than Bobbi Jo would've been, no complaints.

[–] madetwolastforever 11 years ago

Back then, it was all about getting - and keeping - a man. Maybe there were more decent men to reel in.