overlap

One of the things I really enjoyed about Christmas Day, other than the peace and quiet, was watching Working Girl, and not just for late 80s fashion delights such as this magnificent big hair. Ok, so I've always been a sucker for the kitsch end of lighthearted romance, but it later occurred to me that it has something else as well. In common with Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead and I suppose the business deal section towards the end of Just Like A Woman, it has that plot device of someone dressing up as someone else, which is an idea I can't deny I relate to. But it struck me that there's a distinction to be drawn there between gender role and societal role; that is to say that it's the element of doing someone else's job that leads to the appearance of 'being' someone else, and yes there's the disguise of borrowing someone else's clothes, but I'd call that more of a side-effect than anything else. In exactly the same sense that smarter clothes can make one more confident of appearing professional in a job interview situation. I can't imagine it's something that anybody was losing any sleep over, but I'll take my odd moments of insight where I get them! * Footnote: I should add that the item I was searching for has turned up, so normal service of shuffling piles of stuff around the room may shortly be resumed.