44 Years Later, Women Are Still Working “9 to 5”
So, here’s the breakdown – I sat down with the producers of the documentary “Still Working 9 to 5.”
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The clacking of a typewriter and Dolly Parton’s southern lilt singing “tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen/pour myself a cup of ambition” defined a generation of working women. The Oscar-nominated smash hit soundtracked the film of the same name, 9 to 5, in which Parton starred opposite Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dabney Coleman, and more. 9 to 5 was both far ahead of its time and right on time to become a rallying cry for the feminist movement of the 1980s.
9 to 5 offered a sardonically humorous look at three women at their wits’ end with their toxic boss Franklin Hart, who took revenge on him by kidnapping him. While he is in captivity, they incorporate a number of popular new policies, including the option for part-time work, childcare services for working mothers, and a bright new office space design brimming with potted plants.
In the end, the company CEO is impressed with the changes, and immediately assumes that Hart must have made them. A tale as old as time. Fonda tackled this very real subject matter as a comedy so as to entice moviegoers to enter theaters for the laughs, but hopefully leave questioning gender dynamics in the workplace. The film takes its name from a political advocacy organization of the same name, founded by Fonda’s friend Karen Nussbaum in Boston, Massachusetts in 1973.
The characters of 9 to 5 marked an important step in the film industry towards writing complex female characters into comedic films. Each character has her own unique sense of style, struggles, and battle against preconceived notions based on her appearance. The film’s ability to humanize working women who were viewed as the bottom of the totem pole in company dynamics of the time made it a rarity for the industry. This is especially due to the fact that only six in 100 women would be promoted to a management role from a typing pool in the 1980s.
The topics broached in 9 to 5 continue to manifest and impact the lives of women today. This is why longtime fans of Parton and the film, acclaimed actors, reality television stars, and now producers, twin brothers Gary and Larry Lane, decided to embark on documenting the inspiration that went into the film, in partnership with co-producer and co-director Camille Hardman. On the 44th anniversary of 9 to 5, the Lane brothers’ documentary, Still Working 9 to 5, hits streaming services amid anniversary screenings of its source material. Screenings nationwide are to be hosted in collaboration with the ACLU, the Female Quotient, The ERA Coalition, the League of Female Voters, and more.
Growing up as gay men in North Carolina, the Lane brothers often found solace in Dolly Parton’s music and message of acceptance. This initially inspired their first Dolly-centric documentary in 2011, From Hollywood to Dollywood. After connecting with Dolly on this award winning documentary, they wanted to take things one step further, and showcase more of Parton’s advocacy work.
“Being from North Carolina, our parents raised us with country music, so it was always Johnny Cash, Dolly, and Kenny [Chesney]. She's just a really kind person. You don't meet people that don't like Dolly. She's always got something amazing she's putting out into the world. Because we're Southern, we know what it's like to be Southern, so you have that core, and we see that in Dolly. I think that's why we can relate to her on a lot of levels,” said Gary Lane.
Lane went on to recount his first time seeing 9 to 5 during its theatrical run in 1980 as a child. “Our parents wanted to see 9 to 5, so we did see that one in the theater. We were young, and because we were identical twins, we had a lot of energy, so we did not get to go out a lot and do things like that. We were laughing at the boss floating in the ceiling and all of those things, not really knowing what the film was, or understanding what Jane Fonda and Bruce Gilbert were really trying to do with that film at that time.”
9 to 5 followed three working women in Los Angeles, each experiencing varying forms of mistreatment in the office. Parton’s Doralee Rhodes is sexually harassed, Tomlin’s Violet Newstead is looked over for a promotion on the basis of her sex, and Fonda’s Judy Bernly is berated for her troubles adjusting to working life after divorce. On a surface level, many of these issues no longer fly under modern HR practices. But the gender pay gap, the one unresolved issue in the film, remains pervasive today.
Also featured in the documentary is Zoe Nicholson, a lifelong feminist and LGBTQ+ activist. Nicholson was instrumental in lending a voice to the feminist movement of the 9 to 5 era, particularly due to her role as a lifelong member of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) roundtable. Nicholson has fought to educate generations of Americans on the dangers of sexism and the importance of equality in all facets of life, even outside the 9 to 5 hours.
As Nicholson states in the documentary, throughout history, “we go forward, and we go back.”
At 76, Nicholson continues to actively engage with youth activists, many of whom are fighting battles that she once fought before them.
“She's been on Zooms with the Young Feminist Party. They just protested in Washington. They stood out in front of the Supreme Court. They stood out in front of the Capitol building. She's seeing it, and she's loving it. So for someone like Zoe, I love to see that, because I consider Zoe a friend now, that she feels the energy in the air and she really feels like it's going to happen. I would love to see the Equal Rights Amendment ratified in her lifetime,” said Lane.
The Lane brothers and Hardman were delighted to work directly with the entire cast of 9 to 5, and Nicholson’s perspective only wove an even more intricate tapestry of events that cascaded into feminism as the world knows it. Gary Lane reflected upon the important roles they play as male allies to the women in their lives, and the women they collaborate with in the entertainment industry.
“A lot of the acquisition teams at the streamers like Netflix, Apple, and Hulu are male dominated. So there's a thing underlying there that when you have a women's issues project, it's harder to get it out there. And case in point, Lilly Ledbetter has her film out there right now. Patricia Clarkson, who's an Oscar nominated actress, plays her, and they can't find a distribution or a streaming deal. Even though she has the most amazing story in the women's rights movement, they're having trouble getting it out there,” said Lane.
Lilly is close to the Lanes' hearts because the real Lilly Ledbetter lent commentary to Still Working 9 to 5. “There's an award winning director at the helm of that, and it's Lily Ledbetter's story, so we paid close attention to that, because she means so much to us being in our film, and they can't get that out there, so the viewer may not ever see that, and it's just a sign of the times of where Hollywood is. Not just America. Hollywood also has a bubble that needs to be popped. You see it in little trickles as it comes out.”
Still Working 9 to 5 features interviews with the original cast members of the film, screenwriters, and producers. A number of feminist activists who led the charge in the fight for more equitable labor practices for women workers in the 1970s and 1980s are the true heart of the film. Among them are Ledbetter, whose landmark Supreme Court case pertaining to discriminatory pay practices from Goodyear Tires led to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
The act was introduced by democratic members of Congress in 2007, and was later signed into law by former President Barack Obama. The law “prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.”
In spite of the law’s passage, the gender pay gap in the United States remains that women make 84 cents to the men’s dollar, as per 2024 Census Bureau Data. This number declines further for Black and Latina women, who earn 70% of white men’s earnings and 65%, respectively (via Pew Research Center).
Still Working 9 to 5, which initially premiered at SXSW in 2022, was six years in the making. The film ended on the hopeful note of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)’s road to passage, and a slowed-down rendition of the title track featuring Kelly Clarkson. The amendment bears a complex history. Initially drafted 101 years ago in 1923 by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, the article would prohibit sexism, and mark the first and only direct mention of women in the U.S. Constitution.
The most recent draft as of 1972 reads, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” The ERA was first placed before the state legislatures in 1972. Three fourths of the states, 38 out of 50, are required to ratify a constitutional amendment. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify this amendment – 39 years too late. The deadline for ratification was in 1981.
Despite the century-long fight for the ERA, state lawsuits in support of ratification continue to emerge. In 2020, Massachusetts filed a lawsuit in support of the amendment, with California following suit in 2024. As of today, President Joe Biden has expressed interest in its passage before the end of his term.
On the 44th anniversary of 9 to 5, the Lane brothers and the rest of the documentary team hope to call attention to the importance of the ERA, especially in a post Roe v. Wade America. As a second Trump presidency looms over America, the ratification of the ERA would protect women’s autonomy and abortion rights in an increasingly right wing government. It would additionally lead the charge towards equal pay.
The Lane brothers hope that their documentary shines a new light on 9 to 5, especially given the upcoming adaptation produced by Jennifer Anniston, to be written by “Juno” writer Diablo Cody. Little information has been released about the upcoming adaptation, though it is likely to broach more contemporary issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
As far as the iconic theme song’s cultural relevance, Lane feels that the Kelly Clarkson version featured in their documentary certainly paved the way for new listeners to appreciate the lyrics of the track, and pass the torch to a new generation of musicians leading the crusade for equity.
“Dolly’s creative manager Steve Summers said ‘I've seen Dolly perform that song on stages around the world, but I've never listened to the words until I just heard that slow, haunting version.’ They played it for Dolly, and then Steve called us the next day, and he goes, ‘are y'all sitting down?’ I was like, ‘we are now.’ And he goes, well, ‘Dolly has had a spiritual awakening.’ So we look at each other and we're like, well, ‘we don't know what the hell that means, but it's going to be good.’ She squealed three times, and then she played it over and over, and she said, you know, this song is meant to be a duet,” said Lane.
The final note of 9 to 5 being a duet serves as the perfect analogy to what American feminism has always been and will always need to be. It is a duet among sisters from different wombs, walks of life, and workplaces. Until everyone is free, we will all be Still Working 9 to 5.
To encourage congress to move ahead with the ratification of the ERA and eliminate the previous deadline, you can call your local representatives here. Still Working 9 to 5 is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.
This interview has been condensed for clarity.