Tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition…
Tracie and Emily welcome a special guest on Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: Marian Berman, a.k.a. Mom, to talk about the 1980 film 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton (of blessed memory). For Marian, this delightful comedy showed her young daughters multiple ways of being a feminist woman claiming her own power–which is why 9 to 5 was on regular rotation during Tracie and Emily’s Gen X childhood.
What’s impressive about this classic movie is how it weaves cultural commentary and real feminist and labor activism with truly hilarious comedy–not to mention a banging soundtrack from Parton. All of this was by design. Though the movie was originally written as a drama, Tomlin and Fonda insisted on rewrites to make it a comedy. Fonda approached Parton to play Doralee because it helped expand the definition of a feminist woman (a label that Parton never embraced, although she certainly lived the ideals). The film shares its name with a feminist labor movement that explicitly sought the kinds of work reforms Fonda, Tomlin, and Parton’s characters enact at their office. By making us laugh and root for the three leads, Fonda helped normalize feminism and labor reform.
Throw on your headphones and take a listen—and we won’t judge if you want to play M&Ms at the same time!
We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.
We both have super-serious personas in our "day jobs." No, really. Emily is a Finance writer who used to be a classroom teacher. Tracie writes and consults on social justice and mindfulness and works as a copywriter and project manager for non-profits. If you really need to see the bona fides, please visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com
For our work together, what you need to know is that Tracie is older (3 years), Emily is funnier (by at least 3 percent), and we're both hella smart, often over-literal, and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction and murder mysteries, good storytelling with liberal amounts of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find there.
Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video version, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.
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