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Movies | Society
The (Non)Feminism of ‘Grease’
Gender is a tool used to police women within ‘Grease’
At a certain point in the film ‘Grease’, a member of the Pink Ladies, Betty Rizzo finds out she is pregnant and she sings about this experience in the song ‘There are Worse Things I Could Do’. In it she sings about being ostracized by the community, by her peers, by her friends, by the people she thought she was closest to. Those who were supposed to support her are now ignoring her.
In the song, she muses on what she did. She sings; “… even though the neighborhood thinks I am trashy and no good, I suppose it could be true …” She begins to internalize the ideas others have of her. They think she is “no good”, so she begins to think that she is “no good”.
At a certain point she tries to rationalize what happened to her: “I could stay home every night, wait around for Mr. Right. … Throw my life away on a dream that won’t come true. I could hurt someone like me, out of spite or jealousy, I don’t steal and I don’t lie, but I can feel and I can cry, a fact I’ll bet you never knew, but to cry in front of you, that’s the worst thing I could do.”
And instead of rationalizing, she finds herself reflecting on the way her community has policed her — and her gender. This was done through the policing of her language, her behavior, her attitude, and all of it stemmed from a single act: she got pregnant. Rizzo shouldn’t have gotten pregnant. For the Pink Ladies, and the women of ‘Grease’ in general, pregnancy is an unwomanly thing to do. As soon as she got pregnant she was no longer accepted as part of the community.
I would like to remind readers that the above (and the following article) is simply my interpretation of the events of the film and not objective representations of the events of the film. One is free to interpret the film however they see fit. I choose to believe that Rizzo was ostracized by her community upon finding out she was pregnant. I am aware others see this event differently within the film. I simply ask that you read a different interpretation of the film.
