IS IT REALLY A MAN’S WORLD ON A DAY MEANT FOR LOVERS?

“Valentine’s Day, A Day for Sexy Undressing”, that was my intended blog for today, but I woke

up this morning and decided it was obvious, too obvious….I was already bored by it, and much

has happened in the last 24 hours. We all woke to the chatter and Facebook posts cheering

and maligning a man who’s dangerous decisions against women cannot be understated.

Misogyny and sexism are alive and well despite his passing.... but lest you think this is going to

take a political turn I assure you, I am going to blog about pajamas.

Adam’s Rib came on TV and I could not think of a more appropriate blog topic than that movie

airing on this particular Valentine's Day. I’d forgotten how creatively it tackled chauvinism and

feminism while also displaying the obvious love of a man and a woman. The scenes of Hepburn

and Tracey, battling in the courtroom over the fate of a woman who shot her scalawag of a

husband were funny, touching and ground breaking. They blew kisses under the table at one

another in the middle of questioning potential jurors who openly admitted to the belief that

women were inferior to men, and Hepburn paraded woman after woman to the stand to show

that women are strong (so strong in fact one of them lifts Tracey off the floor and on to her

shoulders), smart and equal to men. Within all of these scenes, whether at home or in the

courtroom, the wardrobe is the star, it was remarkable in the constant juxtaposition of

masculine and feminine. One night Hepburn is undressed in a sexy satin slip with an equally

feminine dressing gown which she throws to the floor in a hurry and challenges her husband to

get dressed faster than she does. The following night she emerges in a bold, man tailored

houndstooth robe, and her femininity never suffers, it's present, it's bold and it is only

enhanced by her strength, the two of them prepare a late night dinner together, equal partners

in the kitchen, Tracey in a suit and Hepburn in that robe and she is stunning, you can't take your

eyes off of her.

Her courtroom attire is soft but suit like and showed she meant business, she used the

wardrobe as much as she used her skills as an attorney, as she should…Tracey had no such

armor and it also showed, the poor guy never had a chance. The movie ends with each of them

standing firm in their opposite corners in the battle of the sexes, but Katherine Hepburn won

the war of the wardrobe.