Essay: Mary Poppins, of hoe een magische nepmoeder een dolle suffragette de les leest - De Britse kiesrechtstrijd in de Amerikaanse populaire cultuur van de jaren zestig

In: Tijdschrift voor genderstudies, Band 16, Heft 3, S. 54-60

Abstract

In her contribution Mineke Bosch tries to explain the success of the major box office movie Mary Poppins that came out in 1964. Feminist critique of the movie seems by and large rather predictable in its presupposition that popular success means ideological weakness. Especially the comic representation of the suffragette mother of the children is seen as meaningful in this respect, and the movie's main message is read as enforcing family life. More positive assessments of the movie, on the other hand, emphasize the vital role of Mary Poppins who teaches feminine values in a non-linear and fragmented way that leaves room for multiple interpretations. However, Bosch argues that the magic of the movie is mainly in the figure of Mary Poppins, who incorporates two aspects of feminism: equal rights feminism as symbolized in the umbrella and a feminism that is defined as 'spiritual motherhood'. God knows what the second wave of feminism owes to Mary Poppins!